Wanderer Above the Sea of Mist ANALYSIS

The painting shown above is titled Wanderer Above the Sea of Mist. It was created by Caspar David Friedrich in 1818, during the Romantic period. In my opinion, this painting greatly expresses many of the popular ideals from the Romantic period. The first ideal comes from the fact that this man is this man, the wanderer, is completely alone in this vast landscape. As we talked about in class, many paintings from the Romantic era depict humans alongside nature. The inclusion of natural landscapes (as opposed to industrial landscapes) is used to express the Romantic ideal of straying away from society. Unlike artwork from the enlightenment, which often showed people of specific class status in cities and towns, romantic artwork would often represent humans as an abstract object, simply part of nature. This painting differs from some of the other artwork we looked at in class, as the human in this case is actually meant to be the center focus. Other artwork would show humans in the corner of a vast landscape, barely noticeable. Although the human is not represented as that insignificant in this painting, he is still shown as puny in comparison to nature.

The fact that this painting has one solitary person, right in the middle, expresses another Romantic ideal. The subject is portrayed in a heroic manner, seemingly conquering the land. Heroes were a big part of the romantic period, as society began to greatly admire individuals, such as Beethoven and other artists of the time. Furthermore, the "hero"'s positioning represents another romantic ideal. We can only see him from behind, as he is staring out, contemplating. This is similar to a painting we examined in class, where the man was leaning over a railing, staring out. The idea of dreaming and abstract forward-thinking was definitely a big part of the Romantic period, and is further expressed by our hero staring out over the endless landscape, in deep contemplation. 

Mozart, Piano Quartet in G minor

The piece I chose for this assignment is the third movement from Mozart's Piano Quartet in G Minor. Now, while the entire quartet (and name of piece) is in minor, this particular movement is actually in G major. The parts of the movement I will be examining are the opening two phrases, which together create the opening period.

Above is my phrase diagram of the opening period. I identified the meter as 2/4, however I was hesitant as whether to call it 2/4 or 4/4. In a 2/4 metering, each phrase has 8 measures. Both phrases are melodically identical, barring their endings, or cadences. Thus I labeled phrase 1 as "a" and phrase 2 as "a'" (or "a prime"). It was a bit tricky finding the cadence note for the first phrase, as the everything does not end nicely on one note. Rather, there is a quick note from the piano accompaniment. After first identifying and humming the melody's tonic ("do"), I then hummed the cadence note for the first phrase. I found that it was "sol" (the 5th), therefore meaning phrase 1 ends on an IAC. Like I said before, the second phrase follows essentially the exact same melody, however, this time brings it back home (to tonic) and ends with a perfect authentic cadence (PAC). These two opening phrases compose what is known as a "Parallel Sectional Period". 

I thought it was interesting how even though the two phrases of the period are identical melodically, they somehow sound very different. This is because of the vast difference in texture. While "a" is only one piano playing the melody, "a prime" consists of that same piano playing along with what seems like a full string quartet. The youtube video I've posted is actually very interesting as it shows a visualization of each instrument, similar to the graphs we *attempted* to draw in class.

While analyzing this period, I realized that it truly does capture the essence of the enlightenment. We talked in class about how music from the age of reason was generally very symmetrical. This period exemplifies that as does the rest of the piece, through the repetition of phrases. Another main aspect of the enlightenment that is shown through this piece is the idea of rationalizing a problem, and then coming to an agreement or conclusion. This period does that exact thing. In the first period, it is a lone piano, trying to come to a conclusion by itself. It does not really succeed, ending in an IAC, leaving the listener with an incomplete feeling. However, the piano then gets some help from the string quartet. This symbolizes, if you will, the idea of working together as a group (as opposed to just one person) to find an answer. This "answer" is shown musically with the PAC, as now the listener is left with a sense of completion.

The Enlightenment

Over the past few classes, we have been discussing the "Age of Enlightenment", and the ideals that were present during said time period. Two of the most important topics we have discussed have the presence (or lack thereof) of the juxtaposing ideas of individual liberty and social control. 

In a sense, I feel that the most important aspect of the enlightenment is the increasing demand for this "individual liberty", or freedom, if you will. This is exemplified by the also-increasing democratic views and ideals of society in Great Britain and it's colonies. 

However, while these ideals are a major part of  the period of enlightenment, they are not its only defining characteristics. In fact, the movement of individual liberty and freedom did not come out of thin air.  Rather, they came from the new and largely-increasing middle class, who became the face of these ideals. A whole new social scene- the middle class- brought new art, music, etc. with them. As we saw in class, much of the artwork created in the enlightenment depicted scenes of middle-class citizens in "every-day" settings. This is opposed to the common classical and baroque period paintings, which seemingly only depict scenes from the extreme upper-class. 

However, although the middle class was on the rise, that's not to say there was a large upper-class, albeit decreasing in size. Another painting we saw in class was a satire, showing a wedding between an upper-class man and a middle-class woman. It showed the obvious separation between the two classes. The comically snobby rich juxtaposed to the common working man.

Another major aspect of the enlightenment was the advancements in science. Along with this, of course, came new ideas and opinions regarding religion. While before, NOT believing in God and practicing christianity was almost unheard of. However as people (women and men) became more educated and knowledgeable, new ideas came about. Once again, this all relates back to the rapid increase in demand for individual liberty, as people began to want religious freedom as well.

Defining Folk Music

Over the past week, a main objective of our class has been to find a suitable definition for folk music. At first glance, you wouldn't think this would be a difficult task. However, it is not that simple. Should it be defined by it's social importance, or should we define it solely by a single unique sound that it conveys? After thinking it over, I came up with what I consider a good overall definition: "Simple down to earth music created for the purpose of telling a stories and bringing people together." While I understand that most music is created to tell a story, folk music is unique in the fact that it is not limited to professional musicians. Anyone - whether they are professionally trained or not - can create music to tell their own story. 

In Bruno Nettl's essay An Introduction to Folk Music in the United States, he too attempts to provide a concrete definition of folk music. At first, he does this by comparing what is considered "folk music" to what he calls "cultivated" and "primitive" music. In this instance, "cultivated" means music created by trained musicians, often professionals. "Primitive" music is the exact opposite - music created by common folk, often what he described as "pre-literate". I look at these two types of music (primitive and cultivated) as the two extremes of folk music. Folk music can be created by people with little to no education, played for only themselves or a few people. On the other hand, we see trained professionals today who play folk in front of sold-out arenas. This is a large part of why folk music is so unique, as theres is such a large variety of types of people who listen and play it.

Two other words used a lot when defining folk music are the contrasting "simple" and "complex". Both words can have different implications when describing styles of music. Most genres - including folk - carry the best of both worlds. To me, folk is generally simple in the fact that most songs follow fairly basic chord progressions and melodies, with phrasing that is not so complex. However, as I said in my own definition of folk music the stories that many folk songs tell are indeed complex and require thought and analysis. Again, not all folk music falls under these guidelines but in general this can be considered true. This is contrasted against much of popular music nowadays. Today, even amateur bands and artists can gain access to professional sound recording equipment, making their music sound sophisticated and complex, even if the underlying message or story is rather basic or cliche. Similarly, the increasing popularity of instrumental electronic/techno music often times is produced extremely well, with amazing sound and complexity. However, it may lack any resemblance of a  story or message whatsoever. Therefore I make my case that most music has complexities, just some appear in different forms than others. This is why I don't necessarily agree with the statement "folk music is simple". It simply is not as clear-cut as that.

Concert Report #1 - Alumni Recital

Last night (Thursday, September 20th) I attended an Alumni Recital at the Hockett Family Recital Hall in Ithaca College. It was conducted by Jonathan Musgrave. The recital consisted of two pieces - Richard Strauss' Serenade in E-flat, and Motzart's Serenade in C minor. The ensemble was rather small, and consisted of only woodwinds and a few horns (however there was a contrabass on the Strauss performance. 

The first piece, Serenade in E-flat, was a classical piece composed by Richard Strauss in 1881. At first, I wasn't really sure how it would sound, seeing as the ensemble was so small, and the range of instruments was not great. Once they began playing, however, I was amazed at the completeness of the sound, and the diverse range of textures that I was hearing. The simple addition of the contrabass made a huge impact on the first piece in my opinion, as it properly accentuated the emotions of the music. In addition to the bass, the horns definitely added another important element. Although they have a completely different sound than the other woodwinds, I found that they were played with such grace that they did not overpower the music. Their solo in the beginning of the piece was simply astounding. The last instrument that really stuck out to me was the oboe. Near the end of the piece, there was an oboe solo played which to me introduced a completely new emotion/feel to the music. For some reason to me, it sounded somewhat jazzy (to a very slight extent). This solo was probably my favorite section of the piece, and it really captured my attention.

The second piece, Serenade in C minor (Motzart) was broken in to four sections:

I. Allegro

II. Andante

III. Menuetto in Canone

IV. Allegro

For this piece, the ensemble was decreased in size, as the contrabass left with a few other instruments (I can't recall exactly what left). As the program said, the piece sure enough started out in a rather up-tempo pace (allegro). The section ended, and the ensemble moved on to the Andante section, a much slower pace. To be honest, the first two sections of the piece were not so memorable to me, as everything kind of seemed to blend together. Section III, however, grabbed my attention a bit more. Now, I have absolutely no clue what "Menuetto in Canone" means, so I had no clue what was coming when section III began. The main part that stuck out to me was the 3/4 timing. It definitely had a more energized feel than the last two sections. While the solos and differing textures did not impress me as much as the firs piece, the tempo and overall sound of this section was a lot different than anything else in the program. Lastly, the piece ended in Allegro once again. This reminded me about the "coming home" concept we were talking about in class, as the piece began in Allegro, went through a couple very different sounding sections,  yet ended in Allegro, the same way it began.

Overall, I really enjoyed my experience at this recital. The way we've been taught to 'critically listen' to music in class over the past few weeks increased my appreciation and enjoyment of the music greatly. I found myself separating the different textures and zoning in on them individually. While I did attempt to listen for phrasing and cadences, it was extremely difficult. The style of music they played was very different than anything we've analyzed in class, as folk music is much more repetitive, making it easier to listen for cadences, etc. 

Porchfest

Yesterday afternoon, I took a little trip down to the commons with my brother to grab some lunch and go on a stroll around the Porchfest festival. I honestly wasn't really sure what Porchfest was going to be like, all I thought was that there would be a lot of fiddles, banjos, and old-timey folk music. And while I did in fact see fiddles, banjos, etc. when I got there, I was very surprised by the variety of music that was actually played. Even though I didn't stay for long (only strolled around for around 20 minutes) I was bombarded by a a large variety of musical genres and instruments. Everywhere I walked, I would encounter very different sounds.

For the most part, none of the music I heard was very refined. Now that's not to say there weren't great musicians, it's just that it was usually very relaxed. The musicians took their time, and just had fun with it. It was a very different experience than most concerts, as it felt like there was more of a connection between performers and listeners. Because of this, I definitely found it harder to listen analytically to the musical phrasing and whatnot. So, in general, I just listened casually and enjoyed the music. 

The most interesting thing I saw was this 3-piece band with a sort of 70s funk-rock guitar sound. (sort of like "Phish", jam-band esque) I don't recall the name, but It was just so completely different from anything I would have expected to see there. Again, these didn't seem like the most refined musicians, it was just some guys having fun doing what they loved. That relaxed atmosphere is  what I thought was really cool Porchfest, and made me really enjoy my brief stroll through.

HW #2 - Phrasing in "Let's Twist Again" by Chubby Checker, 1961

The process of finding a good song for this blog post was quite troublesome for me. After a solid amount of time rifling through my iTunes library, I realized it would probably be easiest if I narrowed my selections down to a specific genre and time period. While not necessarily the style of music i listen to on a daily basis, rock and roll from the 1960s (specifically bands with a soul/swing style like the Temptations and Chubby Checker) seemed to have the simplest metering and phrasing patterns to keep track of, thus leading to my decision of the 1961 song "Let's Twist Again" by Chubby Checker. 

This feel-good summertime hit single begins with a simple beat being kept on the kit, as Chubby Checker provides a spoken intro. We can immediately pick up on the 4/4 meter of the song and after about 10 bars the intro ends, Checker says "We're gonna do the twist and it goes like this!" and the chorus begins.

The chorus consists of four phrases, and each phrase consists of 4 bars. In the first phrase of the song, Checker sings "Come on let's twist again, like we did last summer!" The word "summer" signifies an open cadence, as it feels incomplete. I believe it is an IAC, as it doesn't feel quite as incomplete as a half cadence. I tried to figure out the tonic and dominant, and I tried to sing do and sol along with the song, however I was unsuccessful. I guess my ears still are not quite sharp enough to pick it out. The following two phrases have open cadences as well. It is not until the final cadence ("twisting time is here!") that there is a closed cadence, a PAC. This concludes the chorus. The same basic pattern is repeated throughout the rest of the song, even in the different verses.