Well it didn't publish last night, I'll try again today.
High and Dry is a more tame song for Radiohead. It's simple, chill, and has a catchy chorus. I like it. Pieced together by Radioheads individual musicians, it was not ever recorded together. I like how Radiohead plays with unique instrument timbres in their music. It gives their music a very individualized voice, with each song being it's own special work of art. This is one of Radioheads more simple songs, at least harmonically. Moving primarily between the tonic and dominant of A and E, it is rather basic. But the lyrics are very unique, and paired with their stolen drum rhythm and guitars,
When I think of this piece, I think of some lazy saturday afternoon or evening. Radiohead has a different impression of this song. In their American music video they give this piece a dark, somber pulp fiction-esque feel. For those who have never been exposed to Radiohead, this is a good way to start. It's simple, and easy to swallow.
Friday, April 08, 2005
Massenet - Meditation from Thais
The site was down and wasn't able to post this last night, so here it is.
This sounds like it's in ternary form -there is a clear return of the A section and it's pretty much exactly the same as the initial instance of it except for the terminative bars toward the end. The B section is also very clear - it is in a minor key and has a distinctly different motive and overall feel. I love the way this piece uses rhythm. I feel like the main motive seems to try to make the listener feel like the rhythm and/or tempo is being altered to a degree with the way the first and last notes of the rhythmical theme are longer than those in between. It's kind of hard to explain without having a score in front of me, but essentially the motion is falling and then rising again. It creates a very light and airy feeling and makes me think of a feather being tossed around by the wind, getting higher from the ground and then falling down slowly only to be picked up by another breeze.
This sounds like it's in ternary form -there is a clear return of the A section and it's pretty much exactly the same as the initial instance of it except for the terminative bars toward the end. The B section is also very clear - it is in a minor key and has a distinctly different motive and overall feel. I love the way this piece uses rhythm. I feel like the main motive seems to try to make the listener feel like the rhythm and/or tempo is being altered to a degree with the way the first and last notes of the rhythmical theme are longer than those in between. It's kind of hard to explain without having a score in front of me, but essentially the motion is falling and then rising again. It creates a very light and airy feeling and makes me think of a feather being tossed around by the wind, getting higher from the ground and then falling down slowly only to be picked up by another breeze.
Incredible Hulk
Ok....I think this is finally going to work! yay! This piano solo is the theme song for the Incredible Hulk series from the 70's. First of all, I will state that I believe this is one of the most beautiful piano solos ever. It is in minor and is so open and pure. I thought of this solo because Richard O'brien the man who wrote Rocky Horror, used this solo in RHPS. I like to play this theme on a piano if i am listening to its tuning and the pureness of the intercvals. This is an ABA form piece and can be played in any minor key. I play it in c minor, but it was in in g minor in RHPS. The bass is interesting b/c it decends chromatically while the right hand stays put. The B section is different and is much more sonorous chord wise. Besides the chromatic bass line in the A section, there really are not many accidentals. It is very open and pure. Can I just say that I love this piece??? Listen to it!!! peace out
Incredible Hulk
Ok....I think this is finally going to work! yay! This piano solo is the theme song for the Incredible Hulk series from the 70's. First of all, I will state that I believe this is one of the most beautiful piano solos ever. It is in minor and is so open and pure. I thought of this solo because Richard O'brien the man who wrote Rocky Horror, used this solo in RHPS. I like to play this theme on a piano if i am listening to its tuning and the pureness of the intercvals. This is an ABA form piece and can be played in any minor key. I play it in c minor, but it was in in g minor in RHPS. The bass is interesting b/c it decends chromatically while the right hand stays put. The B section is different and is much more sonorous chord wise. Besides the chromatic bass line in the A section, there really are not many accidentals. It is very open and pure. Can I just say that I love this piece??? Listen to it!!! peace out
Ravel
The piece starts off very serenely and ambiguously with with one main motivic gesture "do ti la so" in straight 8th notes that has its focus in the first violins. It definately sets the scene of night. It is very austere and mysterious. The 8th note motive never stops. The meter is obscured. It feels like its in 2 but its really in 3. The texture thickens and thins out periodically with short statements by the woodwinds. The 8th note gesture gets passed further down into the lower strings finally to the english horn as the eb clarinet has the melody. There are mini explosions of color by the violins and their tremelos as the scaluar passage is passed from ww to ww. Then, a huge lush explosion of color and dynamic as the strings soar above the orchestra playing a seductive and gorgeous melody reinforced by the tuba and timpani. The 8th notes are changing character by now. There is a statement by a clarinet duet that is very virtuous. It is runs of non-diatonic 8th and 16th notes that is very ethnic. A new phrase begins again just like beginning: very serene and ambiguous in the strings. The 8th note passage is passed to the vibrophone now. A bassoon duet copies the clarinet duet. Woodwind statements add little bits of color as the strings play the motive. The movement ends with 2 notes played by the glock.
Ravel
The piece starts off very serenely and ambiguously with with one main motivic gesture "do ti la so" in straight 8th notes that has its focus in the first violins. It definately sets the scene of night. It is very austere and mysterious. The 8th note motive never stops. The meter is obscured. It feels like its in 2 but its really in 3. The texture thickens and thins out periodically with short statements by the woodwinds. The 8th note gesture gets passed further down into the lower strings finally to the english horn as the eb clarinet has the melody. There are mini explosions of color by the violins and their tremelos as the scaluar passage is passed from ww to ww. Then, a huge lush explosion of color and dynamic as the strings soar above the orchestra playing a seductive and gorgeous melody reinforced by the tuba and timpani. The 8th notes are changing character by now. There is a statement by a clarinet duet that is very virtuous. It is runs of non-diatonic 8th and 16th notes that is very ethnic. A new phrase begins again just like beginning: very serene and ambiguous in the strings. The 8th note passage is passed to the vibrophone now. A bassoon duet copies the clarinet duet. Woodwind statements add little bits of color as the strings play the motive. The movement ends with 2 notes played by the glock.
Ravel
The piece starts off very serenely and ambiguously with with one main motivic gesture "do ti la so" in straight 8th notes that has its focus in the first violins. It definately sets the scene of night. It is very austere and mysterious. The 8th note motive never stops. The meter is obscured. It feels like its in 2 but its really in 3. The texture thickens and thins out periodically with short statements by the woodwinds. The 8th note gesture gets passed further down into the lower strings finally to the english horn as the eb clarinet has the melody. There are mini explosions of color by the violins and their tremelos as the scaluar passage is passed from ww to ww. Then, a huge lush explosion of color and dynamic as the strings soar above the orchestra playing a seductive and gorgeous melody reinforced by the tuba and timpani. The 8th notes are changing character by now. There is a statement by a clarinet duet that is very virtuous. It is runs of non-diatonic 8th and 16th notes that is very ethnic. A new phrase begins again just like beginning: very serene and ambiguous in the strings. The 8th note passage is passed to the vibrophone now. A bassoon duet copies the clarinet duet. Woodwind statements add little bits of color as the strings play the motive. The movement ends with 2 notes played by the glock.
Thursday, April 07, 2005
David Gray- January Rain
This piece is my all-time favorite David Gray piece. It's strictly instrumental with just a couple of guitars. There is a recurring theme and you'd be surprised how similarly to a fugue it's laid out. Lots of imitative counterpoint and a recurring motive. With the recurring La-la-ti-do theme it often tonicizes the VI and has lots of deceptive motion. For a song by a "pop" artist it really is great. This song always makes me want to just chill out or fall asleep. It's always good for calming me down and helping me focus. That David Gray is a genius. :-) I highly recommend this song.
P.S.- It appears a few times in the movie Serendipity, if you are a fan of girly movies.
P.S.- It appears a few times in the movie Serendipity, if you are a fan of girly movies.
Well Tempered Clavier (bach) vol 2, fugue 16 in gm
So I published already, but the internet ate it apparently. Perhaps it will regurgitate it once I've written it again.so, let's summarize: minor but chirpy, short exposition, lots of major in the development so not a downer, long terminative and re-exposition section, seems like it will end any minute, then doesn't. Uses a lot of homophony in the terminative section, more than usual. Four voices, that much I could hear on my own. I heard the complete subject say about 13 times (not including when two voices played it simultaneously), but the site says 17. I have real concentration issues and I wish I was better at this, but I'm not. yay test tomorrow.
"Procession of the Nobles" by Rimsky-Korsakov
This piece is a fun little programmatic piece about well, read the title.The piece has a common rhythimic motive of eighth note ten sixteenth notes in a 3/4 which helps give the piece a noble nature as does beginning with a brass fanfare and focusing on the intervals of fourths and fifths like a horn call would do. There is no traditional chord progression with all smooth voice leading and whatnot, they change quite suddenly with some of the cadences just being unison sol-dos. The piece turns into a more traditional march like feeling when the woodwinds enter and take over with a similar melody but is more scalar while the brass accompany on three and one with a more traditional voice leading prodecdure. Later on in this section the accompaniment does some fun syncopated bits and it ends with a big timpani solo serving to terminate and establish tonic chord.The piece then moves into a softer section with a "walking bass" like line on every beat, though there is no bass player. This moves into another fanfare like section with some overlapping parts that have the melody in fourths which gives an ancient noble feeling to the music and another section of the brass providing the strong accompaniment to the woodwinds and another timpani solo.The piece then moves into a trio like section that flows much more with some two sixteenth quarter eighth quarter rhythms. This doesn't feel totally like a trio though because the original rhythmic comes back constantly and there are also some very loud parts. Eventually the fanfare comes in again just like in the beginning but this time the woodwind section is accompanied by just tambourine and low brass and then the brass take it over being accompanied by cymbals and timpani and low brass. Then there are some very pretty eigth note descending lines in the brass that lead to one last timpani solo.
Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, "The Montagues and Capulets"
I'm so upset. I spent 45 minutes writing this and the dumb thing didn't send and was erased. I hate computers sometimes! AHHH! So...I'll see what I can remember off the top of my head. The piece is powerful by starting with a two measure intro with big bass chords. It's amazing how Prokofiev makes the piece so interesting when the melody is merely arpeggiated dominant and leading tone chords. At the end of the exposition the melody is even more invigorating as it adds density through chords and a higher range. The close of this section with big dramatic chords sounds like the conclusion of the entire piece, making it rounded bianary. But...surprisingly a new section-completely different, then begins. This section is like twinkling starlight. The meter, rhythm, mood, density, and range are all different then the first section. The only thing that unifies it with the first section is the bass octaves. Then, very softly, there is a restatement of the original theme. This crescendos into a huge restatement pulling all the stops. The piece concludes with a crashing thunderbolt of ascending chords and unusual rhythm. It's composite ternary form. Both A sections are rounded bianary obvious from the modulation and variation in the middle that returns to the original theme. This piece depicts the emotions of Romeo and Juliet perfectly.
"moonfall" from the mystery of edwin drood
"Moonfall" from The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Music and Lyrics by Rupert Holmes.
Jasper, Rosa Bud's creepy music teacher has fallen in love with her. He writes this song for her to sing in one of her lessons. Unfortunately, Rosa Bud does not return his affections, and is really just kind of creeped out by the whole thing.
The scenario that this song is being sung in requires a song that sounds kind of creepy. It is really chromatic, kind of tempo-less and wandering, and a little hollow sounding. It is really a cool piece, and great for a good soprano because this is more of a classical musical theatre piece as far as the technique and training needed to sing the vocal line well.
The song begins with the motive that is carried throughout the song. It is a descending line with a lot of chromatic notes in it. After the first statement of the motive, it is repeated again, but a third higher. This happens again, but this time is connected into the bridge, which really isn't that much different from the rest of the song. It is a little higher, and at a louder dynamic, and the tempo picks up a little. After the bridge, the motive comes back and the rest of the song is almost identical to the beginning.
Another cool element about this song is the accompaniment. Up until the bridge it is mostly just arpeggiated chords... but they have a lot of chromaticism in them... and they just wander. You can't ever really predict where they are going... they just just aimlessly float around in a hollow way. It's a very neat effect. At the bridge, they are still arpeggiated, but they are full chords now. Almost every note in every chord is a nonchord tone. There is a huge crescendo and it sounds almost frightening. Very cool. After the bridge there is a break from the storm like effect in the chords, and they become calm and wandering again like they were in the beginning.
It's a cool piece. Barbara talked me into singing it at NATS, and I am really glad I agreed. It's different... and it's not the typical sweet soprano role. I wish I could play piano well enough to play this. It looks fun. John Clodfelter hates playing musical theatre and HE even likes this one. That's saying something :-)
Jasper, Rosa Bud's creepy music teacher has fallen in love with her. He writes this song for her to sing in one of her lessons. Unfortunately, Rosa Bud does not return his affections, and is really just kind of creeped out by the whole thing.
The scenario that this song is being sung in requires a song that sounds kind of creepy. It is really chromatic, kind of tempo-less and wandering, and a little hollow sounding. It is really a cool piece, and great for a good soprano because this is more of a classical musical theatre piece as far as the technique and training needed to sing the vocal line well.
The song begins with the motive that is carried throughout the song. It is a descending line with a lot of chromatic notes in it. After the first statement of the motive, it is repeated again, but a third higher. This happens again, but this time is connected into the bridge, which really isn't that much different from the rest of the song. It is a little higher, and at a louder dynamic, and the tempo picks up a little. After the bridge, the motive comes back and the rest of the song is almost identical to the beginning.
Another cool element about this song is the accompaniment. Up until the bridge it is mostly just arpeggiated chords... but they have a lot of chromaticism in them... and they just wander. You can't ever really predict where they are going... they just just aimlessly float around in a hollow way. It's a very neat effect. At the bridge, they are still arpeggiated, but they are full chords now. Almost every note in every chord is a nonchord tone. There is a huge crescendo and it sounds almost frightening. Very cool. After the bridge there is a break from the storm like effect in the chords, and they become calm and wandering again like they were in the beginning.
It's a cool piece. Barbara talked me into singing it at NATS, and I am really glad I agreed. It's different... and it's not the typical sweet soprano role. I wish I could play piano well enough to play this. It looks fun. John Clodfelter hates playing musical theatre and HE even likes this one. That's saying something :-)
“Norwegian Wood” by Beatles
“Norwegian Wood” is a great Beatles song off their wonderful album Rubber Soul from 1965. The song, written by Lennon and McCartney, makes use of guitar, lead and harmony vocal, bass guitar, and sitar, played by George Harrison. This song is interesting because it has five verses, all with a similar melody, but the first verse is major, the second minor, and so on. The other interesting thing is that it could either be in a fast three or six-four or it might actually be in a compound meter, probably a slow six or three-eight. I feel division of each note into three parts and by listening to the bass line I guess I would have to call it six-eight. The beginning has four measures of guitar that seems to foreshadow the melody, sol-la-sol-fa-mi-re-fa-mi-do-ti-re-ti-sol. The sitar joins in with the same melody for the fifth measure and then continues to play some different stuff for the rest of the song. The first, third, and fifth verses all use the same melody that I explained from the introduction. The second verse uses the minor chord and the melody changes to something beginning on me instead of mi obviously since its minor not major. The song lacks too many cliché chord progressions, but there is definitely some I to IV motion that you can hear in all of the verses.
I like the song because of the sitar. The sitar sound brought a whole new element to Beatles music and made it even more innovative for the time. I like Norwegian Wood because of its different sound. All of the songs on Rubber Soul are slightly out there, but this song sticks out the most too me.
I like the song because of the sitar. The sitar sound brought a whole new element to Beatles music and made it even more innovative for the time. I like Norwegian Wood because of its different sound. All of the songs on Rubber Soul are slightly out there, but this song sticks out the most too me.
Bach: Fugue in b minor, WTC Book I
This is the final fugue in the first book of the WTC and in my opinion is one of the most reverent pieces of music I have ever heard. Last night I went through and listened to all of the fugues and this last one seemed to bring everything together so well. It seems to me that b minor holds a special significance to Bach, since this piece appears to be so reverent, and also his most famous Mass is also in b minor. As for the analysis, the fugue has 4 voices and 13 full subjects. The subject line has this great cross motive, playing around with tones using sequential crosses (one note, then it's leading tone, then a leap and a repeat of the same motion). In this way it really draws together all the other works in the WTC, since this final subject has every single note of the chromatic scale. In the counter subject we have this descending scale of five quarter notes, which fall in line between each of the cross motives. Bach is so meticulous in his preparation that everything falls in line perfectly, not a single note seems out of place. I forgot to mention that the subject starts inside out, with the order going 2,3,4,1 (in order of voices), filling from the middle outwards. We have a few cadences in this piece, starting with measure 6. Actually every time we finish the subject we seem to end on a cadence. We also have a couple leading to the first development. At 17 and again at 21 we have cadences: the first in the minor dominant (f#) then a PAC in b minor signaling a return of the subject. We cadence at 30 in e minor to bring us to the second development. Halfway through the development we reach the key of D major. Measure 53 brings us back to the minor dominant of f#, finally beginning to bring this fugue to a close. Suddenly, we're in E Major as the bass puts in another subject. Back to b minor as we're hitting the terminative section. A final subject in e minor leads us to a f# final half cadence then a final B Major picardy third. I really love this piece, so serene, so moving, I actually teared up while writing this and listening. To recap out keys: b, f#, e, D, f#, E, b, e, B...weeeee
Six Metamorphoses for Oboe- Benjamin BRITTEN
So I'm working on this for proficiency, sorry to keep up the oboe literature, but this is what I listen to, oboe and josh groban.
The six metamorphoses are based on different greek myths, each of the six is like a little story, they are performed unaccompanied so they are very programmatic and that leaves a lot to the oboist as far as a really accurate portrayal of the music.
The first of the six, entitled "PAN" is the story of pan, and how he had a crush on this nymph and was trying to catch her, this playfulness is shown through the opening lines with two sixteenth notes followed by a quarter note with a fermata. It kind of imitates a call on a pan flute. Groups of sixteenth note sextuplets followed by two triplets give a tense and mysterious feel to the piece. There is a quick accelerando of sixteenth notes and then a rallentando which kind of signifies pan finally catching this nymph. This is all followed by another sixteenth note passage at FF dynamic on a high A natural (I'll admit that its strident) but its supposed to be! It represents the nymph screaming in anguish because pan turns her into the pipes that he plays on as the oboe descends in a huge sixteenth note, sextuplet run with a fermata on a low D which is supposed to be played very obnoxiously and grotesquely, this is followed by a little flippy two sixteenth notes and an eighth after a long pause, ending with pans playful attitude.
The six metamorphoses are based on different greek myths, each of the six is like a little story, they are performed unaccompanied so they are very programmatic and that leaves a lot to the oboist as far as a really accurate portrayal of the music.
The first of the six, entitled "PAN" is the story of pan, and how he had a crush on this nymph and was trying to catch her, this playfulness is shown through the opening lines with two sixteenth notes followed by a quarter note with a fermata. It kind of imitates a call on a pan flute. Groups of sixteenth note sextuplets followed by two triplets give a tense and mysterious feel to the piece. There is a quick accelerando of sixteenth notes and then a rallentando which kind of signifies pan finally catching this nymph. This is all followed by another sixteenth note passage at FF dynamic on a high A natural (I'll admit that its strident) but its supposed to be! It represents the nymph screaming in anguish because pan turns her into the pipes that he plays on as the oboe descends in a huge sixteenth note, sextuplet run with a fermata on a low D which is supposed to be played very obnoxiously and grotesquely, this is followed by a little flippy two sixteenth notes and an eighth after a long pause, ending with pans playful attitude.
Contrapunctus 4, Allegro Moderato
Bach
Canadian Brass
The subject is characterized by the solfege sol-do-me-fa-sol-fa-me-re, and do is an elision that signals the end of the subject. The rhthym is five quarters, two eighths, and the re is a quarter tied to a line of sixteenths starting on do. I counted a total of thirteen subjects. The first is in the trumpet, then the french horn, euphonium, tuba, and trumpet. After the first subject, the trumpet enters a developmental function on syncopated rhythms that keep the subject moving. The euphonium's entrance adds mainly to the density. Some of the common developmental rhythms are two sixteenths and an eighth followed by a longer note, one of the things that shapes the phrases to give it a simple duple meter. Several of the subjects are signaled by ascending or descending lines in the developmental parts. The second section is signaled through chromatic development in the subject, it modualtes to the major fourth. It ends on a PAC after a terminative function that modulates back to its original minor key.
Canadian Brass
The subject is characterized by the solfege sol-do-me-fa-sol-fa-me-re, and do is an elision that signals the end of the subject. The rhthym is five quarters, two eighths, and the re is a quarter tied to a line of sixteenths starting on do. I counted a total of thirteen subjects. The first is in the trumpet, then the french horn, euphonium, tuba, and trumpet. After the first subject, the trumpet enters a developmental function on syncopated rhythms that keep the subject moving. The euphonium's entrance adds mainly to the density. Some of the common developmental rhythms are two sixteenths and an eighth followed by a longer note, one of the things that shapes the phrases to give it a simple duple meter. Several of the subjects are signaled by ascending or descending lines in the developmental parts. The second section is signaled through chromatic development in the subject, it modualtes to the major fourth. It ends on a PAC after a terminative function that modulates back to its original minor key.
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Contrapunctus 1, Andante sostenuto
Bach
Canadian Brass
I had a nice blog written for this one, but it got deleted, so I'll make this brief. I counted four voices, which is a problem because there are five players in the Canadian Brass, and eight repetitions of the subject. The subject is characterized by 5 quarters, two eights, and a quarter tied to four sixteenths, the eights and sixteenths shaping the phrases. The entire few stays in the same minor key, and the solfege of the subject is do-me-re-do-ti-do-re-me-fa-me-re-do. I liked this piece because the brass blended well together. The terminative function is characterized by a rest on all voices, higher density, and foreign rhythms. It ends on an IAC.
Canadian Brass
I had a nice blog written for this one, but it got deleted, so I'll make this brief. I counted four voices, which is a problem because there are five players in the Canadian Brass, and eight repetitions of the subject. The subject is characterized by 5 quarters, two eights, and a quarter tied to four sixteenths, the eights and sixteenths shaping the phrases. The entire few stays in the same minor key, and the solfege of the subject is do-me-re-do-ti-do-re-me-fa-me-re-do. I liked this piece because the brass blended well together. The terminative function is characterized by a rest on all voices, higher density, and foreign rhythms. It ends on an IAC.
Elton John- Your Song
Piano accompaniment simply provides the progression using arpeggiated chords. It blocks a chord at the beginning of each subphrase, making the structural divisions very clear. Once the chord is played, the voice follows immediately and pauses again at the end of the subphrase. Each sentence in the lyrics is divided up between two subphrases and makes up one complete phrase, usually with antecedent-consequent. Each stanza includes four subphrases and ends on a cadence. The Structural parts are divided by stanzas. The A stanza repeats twice with different words, and then the B part serves as the main chorus. The B part develops the A with a variation of the contour, while steal maintaining the same type of structural division and accompaniment. The A then repeats 2 cycles once again with two different sets of words. The B chorus comes back again and then a terminative section similar to the end of B closes out the piece.
Arvo Part, "Fratres"
I thought I'd go out on a limb here and try a 2oth century piece. Fratres, so I have been told, is an extremely famous piece of the 2oth century. It has been arranged for many different instruments. So many, you wouldn't believe. The recording I'm listening to sounds like an octet of cellos or something. I'm not gonna go into an analysis of classical form or harmonies because that would be pointless. The coolest part of this piece is its repetition. Above a drone consisting of an octave and fifth, lies a repeated melody. The cool thing about this is that there are a certain number of ordered pitches, "color", that are played in a repeated rhythm, or "talea." Mixed together, we can have a piece of unparalleled lengths. Although it sounds simple, it is still very beautiful. For a twentieth century piece, this is hauntingly peaceful and melodic.
Fantoches- Debussy
Fantoches (Marionettes)
The song is a story about all of these marionettes, and so Debussy intends for these characters to not be taken seriously, and therefore writes all sorts of crazy things to let the audience always remember that we're talking about puppets here, not a real story.
The song starts with a very chromatic sixteenth-note piano intro when the singer jumps in and starts telling about the first two characters {Scaramouche et Pulcinella, qu'un mauvais dessien rassambla...Scaramouche and Pulcinella, whom an evil plot brought together} anyway, they're gesticulating black against the moon
After he explains about these two characters, Debussy throws in some "la, la, la" action. I think it's great, it sort of separates these characters from the ones that are yet to come. The next character (Bologna doctor) is separated from his daughter's introduction with la's. She then, with saucy countenance, takes part in "half-naked la la la" with a handsome Spanish pirate. after a nightingale sings the lovelorn tune, there's more "la-ing".
it's a nice setting of a verlaine poem (it's actually the second musical setting by Debussy, but the first was never published).
The song is a story about all of these marionettes, and so Debussy intends for these characters to not be taken seriously, and therefore writes all sorts of crazy things to let the audience always remember that we're talking about puppets here, not a real story.
The song starts with a very chromatic sixteenth-note piano intro when the singer jumps in and starts telling about the first two characters {Scaramouche et Pulcinella, qu'un mauvais dessien rassambla...Scaramouche and Pulcinella, whom an evil plot brought together} anyway, they're gesticulating black against the moon
After he explains about these two characters, Debussy throws in some "la, la, la" action. I think it's great, it sort of separates these characters from the ones that are yet to come. The next character (Bologna doctor) is separated from his daughter's introduction with la's. She then, with saucy countenance, takes part in "half-naked la la la" with a handsome Spanish pirate. after a nightingale sings the lovelorn tune, there's more "la-ing".
it's a nice setting of a verlaine poem (it's actually the second musical setting by Debussy, but the first was never published).
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Bach, Well Tempered Clavier, Fugue No 4 in c# minor
What's neat about this fugue is that it's subject is simple and short, the notes are slow and long like a lament--do ti me re--so it's symmetrical in the sense that you have a half step down and then another half step down at a different interval, plus the two outer notes begin as whole notes while the two inner notes are half notes. Neater still, is that you can break the subject down into really just a repeated half step transposed. So simple. Yet...yet...it's that Bach takes this little thing and makes the fugue so complicated, running beneath it scores and scores of eigth notes--and he uses a total of four voices, but sometimes the fourth drops out. Those intervals, the minor second and the tritone, so poignant. But I love polyphony and minor modes.
"Er ist's" - Hugo Wolf
"Er ist's" is one of Wolf's most famous lieder, especially since it is a nice introduction to Wolf's style. Wolf is known for his emphasis on declamation of the text, as well as his ability to paint the text beautifully.
"Er ist's" does not fit any of the lied forms we discussed in class. The poetry is in free verse, written by Moerike, and there is no rhyme or meter. Therefore, I think that Wolf chooses to have no specific form. There are no cadences until the PAC at the end.
The lied is about the coming of spring. The singer describes all the wonderful images, sounds, and smells of spring - fragrant violets blooming, the cool breeze, the sound of a harp. All these sensory descriptions culminate in the singer's realization that her lover has returned to her at last. A page-long piano solo concludes the piece.
The piano hardly serves as accompaniment for this lied. As in most Wolf pieces, the piano works with, not for the singer, to create the atmosphere of the poem. The piano plays a high-timbre arpeggiation in the tonic key. The piano never returns to tonic until the end. In fact, it goes through several modulations, increasing the tension as the lied moves a long. It is only at the realization that the piano finally cadences back to tonic. The entire last page is in the tonic key. The texture of the piano is very rich.
Some people, including myself, feel that this entire lied is a metaphor for sex. The text and music all point towards the realization, or climax. The text is somewhat vague - the translation, "Flruehling, ja du bist's" or "Spring, yes you are it!" suggests that the singer is in ecstasy for her lover. The fact that the piano part keeps modulating and never resolves to tonic until this point is very supportive of the sex theory.
"Er ist's" does not fit any of the lied forms we discussed in class. The poetry is in free verse, written by Moerike, and there is no rhyme or meter. Therefore, I think that Wolf chooses to have no specific form. There are no cadences until the PAC at the end.
The lied is about the coming of spring. The singer describes all the wonderful images, sounds, and smells of spring - fragrant violets blooming, the cool breeze, the sound of a harp. All these sensory descriptions culminate in the singer's realization that her lover has returned to her at last. A page-long piano solo concludes the piece.
The piano hardly serves as accompaniment for this lied. As in most Wolf pieces, the piano works with, not for the singer, to create the atmosphere of the poem. The piano plays a high-timbre arpeggiation in the tonic key. The piano never returns to tonic until the end. In fact, it goes through several modulations, increasing the tension as the lied moves a long. It is only at the realization that the piano finally cadences back to tonic. The entire last page is in the tonic key. The texture of the piano is very rich.
Some people, including myself, feel that this entire lied is a metaphor for sex. The text and music all point towards the realization, or climax. The text is somewhat vague - the translation, "Flruehling, ja du bist's" or "Spring, yes you are it!" suggests that the singer is in ecstasy for her lover. The fact that the piano part keeps modulating and never resolves to tonic until this point is very supportive of the sex theory.
Harvey Danger, "Radio Silence"
I chose this song today because of the effective crecendo it has throughout the song from no sound to a pure wall of sound, which is really needed because the song consists of one really long repeating verse and then a chorus at the end. There's also a couple of neat dramatic effects.
The song starts out with the "fooling around" warm up period that is really soft before the main guitar melody, which is just a repetitive chord structure in eighth notes with a little syncopation by holding over beat 3. The first sign of the crecendo is when the drums and bass are added. The guitar part has the same basic rhythm but just doing single notes and the bass also does the eighth notes but with strong emphasis on the downbeats and the pick up to the downbeat. The drums just have a soft bass drum on one and three and soft snare drum on two and four. Each one of these changes in instrumentation also has a very slight rise in dynamic. The vocalist throughout this increases not just the volume of his voice but also the agitation of it, which helps to increase tension.
The next change has the hi hat doing eighth which adds to the driving force, and then the bass drum becomes prominent and starts doing eighth notes on beats one and three. There's also a nice lyrical effect where the singer brings out the word "shock" and repeats three times on the offbeat, giving the word some reality in the music. The next change has the guitar returning to the full chords like in the beginning. The drum solos between each of these changes becomes more complicated. After a measure of just guitar echo, the guitar "solo" begins, though it is little more than an introduction of a new voice. This guitar just basically strays a bit from the original motive and a new guitar voice doing steady chord emphasis on eighth notes is added.
The next big change has the new guitar voice going from more stacatto close interval chord, this voice switches to doing full chords in eighth notes that provides our first constant sound throughout each measure, though it still isn't at a burn the speakers loud level. The final marking point and the full satisfaction is having the bass go down from a dominant chord to a register it has not been. The song continues with this wall of sound for the chorus. It is quite repetitive but there is a nice little (and I mean little) counterpoint between the main melody voice and a softer background voice with the main voice on the word "radio" doing three descending scalar notes and a big jump, while the background voice continuing the scalar note down. The main singer eventually does the downward motion like the lower voice. The end has a big final chord with a bunch of weird decreasing guitar effects.
The song starts out with the "fooling around" warm up period that is really soft before the main guitar melody, which is just a repetitive chord structure in eighth notes with a little syncopation by holding over beat 3. The first sign of the crecendo is when the drums and bass are added. The guitar part has the same basic rhythm but just doing single notes and the bass also does the eighth notes but with strong emphasis on the downbeats and the pick up to the downbeat. The drums just have a soft bass drum on one and three and soft snare drum on two and four. Each one of these changes in instrumentation also has a very slight rise in dynamic. The vocalist throughout this increases not just the volume of his voice but also the agitation of it, which helps to increase tension.
The next change has the hi hat doing eighth which adds to the driving force, and then the bass drum becomes prominent and starts doing eighth notes on beats one and three. There's also a nice lyrical effect where the singer brings out the word "shock" and repeats three times on the offbeat, giving the word some reality in the music. The next change has the guitar returning to the full chords like in the beginning. The drum solos between each of these changes becomes more complicated. After a measure of just guitar echo, the guitar "solo" begins, though it is little more than an introduction of a new voice. This guitar just basically strays a bit from the original motive and a new guitar voice doing steady chord emphasis on eighth notes is added.
The next big change has the new guitar voice going from more stacatto close interval chord, this voice switches to doing full chords in eighth notes that provides our first constant sound throughout each measure, though it still isn't at a burn the speakers loud level. The final marking point and the full satisfaction is having the bass go down from a dominant chord to a register it has not been. The song continues with this wall of sound for the chorus. It is quite repetitive but there is a nice little (and I mean little) counterpoint between the main melody voice and a softer background voice with the main voice on the word "radio" doing three descending scalar notes and a big jump, while the background voice continuing the scalar note down. The main singer eventually does the downward motion like the lower voice. The end has a big final chord with a bunch of weird decreasing guitar effects.
Scaramouche - Darius Milhaud
I heard this today at the winner's concert here in Seattle (on which I was definitely not performing), and I was very surprised at the piece. Apparently, it was originally, for two pianos, but I heard it performed by an amazing alto saxophonist and his accompanist.
What mainly surprised me was its simple harmony. I don't know much about Milhaud - I've only heard his concerto for percussion, but I thought he wrote with a much more modern, atonal, and, for lack of a better word, weird style. Instead, the three movements of "Scaramouche" all had simple, very tonal harmonies and a style that is very easy to listen to.
Movement 1, "Vif," sounded almost like cartoon music. It uses what I think is just a I-vi-ii-V progression with the pianist playing a stride-style accompaniment. Though the piece ventures into some foreign keys at times, it always returns to that progression, which is the center of the piece.
Movement 2, "Modere," also has a simple harmony. The main progression is just I-V7-V-I. It's in Bb, and the top voice in the piano always plays D-Eb-C-D in a very standard voicing of these chords. If I had heard this piece without a program, I would've guessed it was from the classical era by the simpicity of it.
Movement 3, "Brazileira," is based on a Latin rhythm: 1 + (2) + (3+) 4, which is almost like the first bar of 3-2 clave. It's also pretty straightforward.
The piece made me feel happy for a couple of reasons. First of all, I was very happy to find more 20th century music that is not completely crazy and atonal. I don't enjoy a lot of the more experimental music of recent times, and I really admire composers that are able to compose stuff that appeals to a simple ear while sounding modern.
Aside from my intellectual delight, the piece made me happy because that's the mood Milhaud expresses. The first movement seems like it represents childish, innocent pleasure in life, while the second movement is a more calm, reflective joy, while the third is sassy yet still lively and joyful. I will definitely look into the music of Milhaud more in depth... his percussion music left me with a much different impression.
What mainly surprised me was its simple harmony. I don't know much about Milhaud - I've only heard his concerto for percussion, but I thought he wrote with a much more modern, atonal, and, for lack of a better word, weird style. Instead, the three movements of "Scaramouche" all had simple, very tonal harmonies and a style that is very easy to listen to.
Movement 1, "Vif," sounded almost like cartoon music. It uses what I think is just a I-vi-ii-V progression with the pianist playing a stride-style accompaniment. Though the piece ventures into some foreign keys at times, it always returns to that progression, which is the center of the piece.
Movement 2, "Modere," also has a simple harmony. The main progression is just I-V7-V-I. It's in Bb, and the top voice in the piano always plays D-Eb-C-D in a very standard voicing of these chords. If I had heard this piece without a program, I would've guessed it was from the classical era by the simpicity of it.
Movement 3, "Brazileira," is based on a Latin rhythm: 1 + (2) + (3+) 4, which is almost like the first bar of 3-2 clave. It's also pretty straightforward.
The piece made me feel happy for a couple of reasons. First of all, I was very happy to find more 20th century music that is not completely crazy and atonal. I don't enjoy a lot of the more experimental music of recent times, and I really admire composers that are able to compose stuff that appeals to a simple ear while sounding modern.
Aside from my intellectual delight, the piece made me happy because that's the mood Milhaud expresses. The first movement seems like it represents childish, innocent pleasure in life, while the second movement is a more calm, reflective joy, while the third is sassy yet still lively and joyful. I will definitely look into the music of Milhaud more in depth... his percussion music left me with a much different impression.
"The Sound Of Music"
Ok ok ok... so I know how I say all the time that I hate this show and I never want to hear any of the music from it again. I spent a whole year of my life doing the part of Liesl with 2 different theatre companies, back to back. But, it's been two years since I have listened to anything from the show... and I have found that I can stand it again... well, at least a little better. So here you are kids, "The Sound of Music" from... yes, "The Sound of Music." Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Music by Richard Rodgers. Original Broadway Cast Recording.
So, we start out with a very tranquil and free sounding orchestration. I love the sound of Rodgers and Hammerstein's old musical theatre orchestrations. They have their own unique sound to them. Anyway, when Maria begins to sing, the accompaniment is just simple block chords that support the vocal part. About halfway through the introduction, things change slightly. The lyrics become a little more exciting, the tempo picks up, and the accompaniment becomes much more playful. It goes from mostly block chords to really fun octave jumps. This only lasts until the familiar tune, "The hills are alive with the sound of music" begins. Here we go back to a more simple accompaniment, and the vocal line is really the focus. However, there is something in the accompaniment that I just love. The same "hills are alive" motive appears several times, and every time right after she sings it, it is played in the strings about an octave higher. Because the rest of the orchestra is so bland at this point, it really stands out. I just love it.
There is another change and the bridge. When she starts singing about how her "heart wants to beat like the wings of the birds that rise from the lake to the trees", the accompaniment becomes fun again. There are more big jumps in the strings, and the tempo picks up again. It is just fun sounding... very playful.
There is another moment that I just love... the bridge is coming to its climax, and the vocal line is building and building. She is singing forte and the orchestra is playing forte. She sings, "Like a lark who is learning to pray!' The next phrase returns to the familiar tune with, "I go to the hills when my heart is lonely", and goes back to piano and the tempo slows back down. She doesn't take a breath between "pray" and "I" She connects them so beautifully... and by the word "go" she is singing at a beautiful piano. Just goes to show you what good phrasing can do for a song. It's also cool because the orchestra becomes really hushed all of the sudden, and on the word "go" they play this amazing, full, rich, rolled chord. Love it.
It stays about like this until the end of the song. You all know how it goes :-)
Wow. That wasn't so bad. I can't say I want to put the CD in and listen to the whole show... or watch the movie or anything like that. But I don't feel like pulling my hair out when I hear it either :-) Making progress. :-)
So, we start out with a very tranquil and free sounding orchestration. I love the sound of Rodgers and Hammerstein's old musical theatre orchestrations. They have their own unique sound to them. Anyway, when Maria begins to sing, the accompaniment is just simple block chords that support the vocal part. About halfway through the introduction, things change slightly. The lyrics become a little more exciting, the tempo picks up, and the accompaniment becomes much more playful. It goes from mostly block chords to really fun octave jumps. This only lasts until the familiar tune, "The hills are alive with the sound of music" begins. Here we go back to a more simple accompaniment, and the vocal line is really the focus. However, there is something in the accompaniment that I just love. The same "hills are alive" motive appears several times, and every time right after she sings it, it is played in the strings about an octave higher. Because the rest of the orchestra is so bland at this point, it really stands out. I just love it.
There is another change and the bridge. When she starts singing about how her "heart wants to beat like the wings of the birds that rise from the lake to the trees", the accompaniment becomes fun again. There are more big jumps in the strings, and the tempo picks up again. It is just fun sounding... very playful.
There is another moment that I just love... the bridge is coming to its climax, and the vocal line is building and building. She is singing forte and the orchestra is playing forte. She sings, "Like a lark who is learning to pray!' The next phrase returns to the familiar tune with, "I go to the hills when my heart is lonely", and goes back to piano and the tempo slows back down. She doesn't take a breath between "pray" and "I" She connects them so beautifully... and by the word "go" she is singing at a beautiful piano. Just goes to show you what good phrasing can do for a song. It's also cool because the orchestra becomes really hushed all of the sudden, and on the word "go" they play this amazing, full, rich, rolled chord. Love it.
It stays about like this until the end of the song. You all know how it goes :-)
Wow. That wasn't so bad. I can't say I want to put the CD in and listen to the whole show... or watch the movie or anything like that. But I don't feel like pulling my hair out when I hear it either :-) Making progress. :-)
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