music APPRECIATION - week 15
(EBOOK: Chapters 46-49)
lecturenotes_i.pdf | |
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20th_century_modernism_studyguide.pdf | |
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listening_concepts.pdf | |
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MUSICAL EXAMPLES | ||
Firebird, Part I The work opens with music for an enchanted garden. Note the fantastic orchestration. The music is still considered tonal but well past the strict major-minor sense. Stravinsky's Russian background/influence is apparent in this music, as well as elements of Impressionism. Note the amazing string glissando effect at about 2 minutes into the piece -- a first time effect copied by many other composers who followed him. |
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Firebird, Inferno Danse (Finale, act 1) |
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Stravinsky, Petrouchka (1911), Ballet in 4 scenes, 1911 (this is the opening scene, Shrovetide Fair) Again, Stravinsky captures a very Russian affair.
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Stravinsky, Rite of Spring (1913), begins around 6:20 Orchestral version (concert piece) of the ballet that created an incredible riot during its premiere. Pay particular attention to his infamous rhythmic dissonant chord played at about 30 seconds into this excerpt. |
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Stravinsky, Pulcinella (1920); MMT. 1 (Sinfonia) Originally a ballet and later set as a concert suite in 8 movements; this piece marked the beginning of his Neoclassical period -- a conscious reference to the classical ideals of the past. In contrast to the Rite of Spring, note the smaller orchestra, controlled harmonies and balanced phrasing. |
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George Gershwin (1898 - 1937); Rhapsody in Blue (1924) A very significant work for piano and orchestra, one of the very first to clearly incorporate American jazz influences in terms of melody, harmony, rhythm, and style. |
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George Gershwin; Summertime, aria from the folk opera Porgy and Bess (1937) A blend between opera and the modern musical of today, this aria has become a jazz standard. Similar to a verismo opera, the musical drama is set in the 1930s in an African-American Charleston neighborhood known as Catfish Row. Porgy and Bess centers on the tragic love story of the cripple beggar Porgy and beautiful Bess, who longs to turn away from her former life as a prostitute and cocaine addict. |
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William Grant Still (1895 - 1978); Suite for Violin and Piano, MMT. 3 (1943) One of the most significant and influential black composers who frequently made clear references to the American jazz idom. He is often associated with New York's "Harlem Renaissance". |
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Bela Bartok (1881 - 1945), Music For Strings, Percussion, and Celesta, Part 1 (Andante Tranquillo), 1936 No wonder this music was used as part of the soundtrack to the motion picture The Shining, starring Jack Nicholson! Very dissonant yet still still tonal in a general sense of the term; it is also very "classical" in construction and form. |
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Bela Bartok (1881 - 1945), Music For Strings, Percussion, and Celesta, Part 4, Allegro Molto
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String Quartet, No. 5, MMT. 1, Allegro (1934) Bartok's music (harmonies and synchopated rhythms) had a very "jazzy" feel. As a composer, he was very meticulous regarding tempos, actually using many mathemetical proportions such as the "golden mean" (6.18). |
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Carl Orff (1895 - 1982), Carmina Burana (O fortuna), 1936 A modern cantata in five scenes that is both primitive, rhythmic, and at times very dissonant. Very tonal, but not in a major-minor sense. |
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Charles Ives (1874 - 1954), Two Little Flowers (1921) Ives was an American insurance salesman from the New England area; his music was only discovered several years after his death. This poignant song is based on a poem by his wife about his two daughters. |
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Ives, General William Booth Enters Into Heaven (1914) Ives composed with "no rules" or preconceptions. In this example, note the text painting in both the voice and accompaniment as he captures the rants of an over zealous founding member of the Salvation Army. |
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Ives, Country Band March (1903) Ives tries to capture the authentic sounds of an amateur village band in New England, mistakes and all, in this music! Arguably the first, true American composer. |
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Aaron Copland (1900 - 1990), Fanfare for the Common Man (1942) An awesome piece that is a concert favorite. |
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Aaron Copland (1900 - 1990), Appalachian Spring (Ballet) 1945, orchestral version A very accessible composer with many influences of American musical style (such as jazz and folk tunes). This music is modern but very tonal, and always fun to play and listen to. Probably America's most famous composer of the period. This example is performed by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and is prefaced with a very moving narrative presented by the conductor, Leonard Slatkin. |
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Samuel Barber (1910 - 1981), Adagio for Strings, Op. 11 (1936) Not all modern music is ugly; this piece is extremely popular in concert halls, and has been used in numerous movie sound tracks (many think it was a huge reason for the success of Oliver Stone's "Platoon"). This example is conducted by Detroit's own Leonard Slatkin, and really fits the mood of the 9/11 disaster-aftermath. The music is very tonal and diatonic, with only mild dissonances occuring through contrapuntal motion, in a relatively small orchestra of strings only. |