Let's Push by The Streets

The gist of this piece comes down to two notes (electronic) being pounded into your head repeatedly just about constantly for the entire length of the song. The most interesting, most musical part of the song is the trumpet, but even that is limited to the same short melody repeated at different points during the song, along with some bass accompaniment and more strange electronic additions. During the verses, the vocals are annoying and blend right into the atmosphere of the piece because it sounds more like slow rapping/talking rather than singing and because there's a lot of rhyming going on. The choruses, however, are actual singing but they aren't melodically appealing to me. The end catches the listener unawares. It is very abrupt - without a satisfying terminative section. I think this song could work if something stood out, but as it is, everything in it is repetitive and monotonous to listen to. The lyrics are somewhat interesting and I think this is what seems most likely to be able to stand out, but the repeating line endings bore me because it fits into the cliche technique and rap categories and that's just not cool.

"Goodnight My Someone" from The Music Man

"Goodnight My Someone" from The Music Man. Performed by Barbara Cook, original Broadway Cast recording.

This song begins as Marion is teaching a piano lesson. Her student is playing triads on I IV and V in C Major, and Marion becomes distracted and goes to the window. The accompaniment starts out just with these simple triads being played on the piano. When Marion begins to sing, this simple accompaniment lasts for 6 more measures, and then the orchestra comes in. Even though the accompaniment is much more elaborate than triads, you can always pick out variations on these three triads throughout the accompaniment.
Nothing really changes until the B section, which is marked by a modulation and a change in rhythm. Thus far, we have had mostly quarter notes and dotted half notes, keeping with the 3/4 waltz/lullaby feeling. The B section makes more use of dotted rhythms and eighth notes. The B section really serves as the climax of the song as Marion explains why she is singing goodnight my someone out the window to nobody at all. She sings, "True love can be whispered from heart to heart when lovers are parted they say. But I must depend on a wish and a star as long as my heart doesn't know who you are. The B section is as close as the song ever gets to forte, and the eighth note rhythms give the vocal line a sense of urgency, like she really wants to know who her someone is.
The return of the A section also brings a modulation back to the original key of C Major. We don't get the whole A sectiton this time, really just about half of it. The song ends with the vocal line holding out the 1st, 3rd, and 5th scale degree of a C Major Triad.
This is such a pretty song. The 3/4 tempo really allows for a lullaby feel. The melody especially feels like a lullaby. It is so simple and floating and legato, it could lull you right to sleep.
Now if only I had an excuse to sing this for something ;)

"Night Dreamer" by Kurt Elling

This song is from the album "Live in Chicago". The original piece was written for a jazz ensemble with trumpet solo, however Kurt is only a "mere" vocalist. So how can he perform this piece? Easy! Take the trumpet solo and write his own lyrics and meld the two into an amazing vocal line. The only accompaniment he has behind him are a piano, bass and a drum kit. The drum keeps time, never wavering from our triple meter, while the bassline walks around, meandering between chord arpeggiations, and the piano plays out the accompaniment. This is a true power vocal number, as Kurt takes syncopation and non-chord tones easily in stride. His voice truly turns into an instrument, blasting out stratospheric high notes with power and control, while sweetly crooning out the lower register. This song has many repeated sections, somewhat disjointed, but held together by the line of the melody. The first two "verses" are the same line, repeated. Then we have a transitional section, where the piano drops out and we have Elling show off his virtuosic talent, moving just like a trumpet, rhyming words together in strings of incredible vocal agility, then flying up to a High G in falsetto (above the treble clef) and bringing it back down, spitting out syllables fast and furious, just like a trumpet cadenza. It's so amazing to hear a vocalist do something so extraordianry with his voice that you are left speechless. Eventually the piano wanders back into the piece, playing through the verse riff once more before taking it's own long solo, flying up and down scales, and trying to match Elling extraordinary passage for extraordinary passage. Suddenly we seem out of sync as the drums stretch the meter into 4. Nothing to worry about, as it's simply the drum solo. The solo keeps flowing over itself, as the syncopations seem to be like rocks holding back a raging stream, eventually the pent-up beats drown the beat like a waterfall. When Elling returns we return to our initial melody, only doubled in tempo, as Kurt frantically solos one final time, his rapid-fire delivery never dropping a beat. Now it slowly ritards to our original tempo as the initial lyrics return for one final verse, resolving everything back to where we started and fading away.

I can't even begin to describe the awesome power of this piece. I did not know the human voice was capable of the things Elling makes sound so effortless...I would love to play this piece sometime in class, just so everyone can bask in its wonder.

Going back, I should have included that the original is written by Wayne Shorter...

Undine Sonata, Intermezzo Allegretto vivace

Karl Reinecke
Michel Debost-flute

This piece is a classic example of rounded binary form. The A section begins with an octave jump in both the flute and piano parts. The rhythm is a eighth slurred to a dotted half. This is repeated twice, and on the third time the piano begins a seperate part and the flute begins the motive. The repetition of the octave ensures that the listener will recognize it as the beginning and motive. It also establishes a do. The motive is lite and energetic, with a brisk quarter two sixteenths, quarter two sixteenths rhythm, establishing a compound duple time signature. Part of the brisk feeling comes from the emphasis on one and two. The emphasis is created by one always descending on the sixteenths, sort of creating a whoosh into two and a soild beat. The piano part helps with its two eighths played on one and two. It also has a sort of swinging feel from one always descending into two and two always ascending into one. Meanwhile, the very stacatto, squared feeling of the accompanient gives is a lite, very and tight sound. This part of the motive is the antecedent, and it is answered with a contrasting sixteenth line in the flute part. The line is slurred and more melodic, with less of a jumpy feeling. The line, for the most part is descending, but it maintains the emphasis on one and two by ascending one note up and going back down on each beat. For the most part, the piano maintains the stoic eighths, but at one point it hints back to the original part of the motive with a little quarter eighth, quarter eighth rhythm that is the sames intervals as the original with the quarter two sixteenths, quarter two sixteenths. The A section is made up of a three phrase group, and a asymetrical parallel period in the consequent half, the second phrase being longer by about two measures. The A section transistions into the B section after a PAC, actually rather abruptly to signify a definite change in styles. The biggest change in the new section is in the piano part. It becomes the prominant texture and has a very melodic, minor line (the piece either changes modes directly or modulates directly). The line has very little jumpy intervals, and uses that me-re-ti tension centralized around do. The B section ends on a HC and restates the A section, beginning with the octave leaps to signal the motive. In the consequent phrase of the original motive, the piano part, this time, to signal a terminative function, takes the motive from the B section while the flute part plays a line very similar to the consequent line in the A section. This time, however, there is not the emphais so much on one and two, because the flute part is ascending and descending on sixteenths in each bar, giving it a sort of arched sound. The piece ends on an IAC, with a contrary motion sol-dol between the piano part and flute part. I really, really liked this piece. It was very simple, but the motives of both the A and B sections were very well developed. I especially love the ending, how the motives combine to still create the consequent phrase but give it a longer arched feel, signaling the ending.

Beethoven, Menuet in C major

In my quest to find relatively short pieces by famous composers, I found this stand-alone menuett for solo piano (or one intended for something larger but not used) by Beethoven. This piece is a combination of a few contrasting periods.

One of the unusual aspects of the first period is that the first cadence happens on the third beat of the fourth measure when you would expect most minuets to end on the first or even the second beat of the measure. The right hand has sixteenth notes in the first, third, fifth and sixth measures, quarter notes in the second, fourth and eighth measures, and eighth notes in the sixth and seventh measures with simple accompaniment and a very nice suspension at the end of the period and the whole period is repeated.

The first phrase of the second period reverses this rhythmic pattern, putting the quarter notes in bars one and three and sixteenth notes in bars two and four. The quarter note part is accompanied by a bass line that both fall in parallel motion which sounds really nice contrasted with the sixteenth notes.

The first period is basically repeated again but without the suspension because this marks the end of the A section of the piece. The piece changes mood for the B section to a very Renaissance like sound because of the open fifth pedal tone that the left hand plays throughout the first period. The right hand goes up and plays the melody up much higher than the previous melody, and sticks to quarter notes and eighth notes with grace notes and fancy turns. One again, this period is repeated.

The next period is a development of the first one. The first phrase has right hand does the high melody similar to the last period, but the left hand is doing block chords. The second phrase has the same melody as the last period, but with the left hand doing a single note bass line. And once again, this period is repeated.

And like any good ternary piece, the first period comes back again and repeats, the first time with the nice suspension, the second one without it.

Solskin in E Major by Gade

This piece makes me think of a hobo rummaging for food in Nantucket. "Why?" You might ask. The piece sounds very simple and light. It lilts along as though life is peachy never grasping for any unusual harmonic progressions or rhythms but yet, even with this deceiving appearance of serenity, it lacks direction and motivation. Thus, it is like a hobo hiding in the streets, creating something imperfect in the seemingly picturesque and "perfect" cape cod community of Nantucket. I think it is rounded binary form because I hear the contrast between sections and the return of the A section but the B section doesn't sound independent enough to stand alone. The phrases are very short. I think it is open because the A section seems to continue straight into the B section without ever feeling finalized.

piano sonata op 13

beethoven's sonata pathetique op. 13

this piano sonata of beethoven's begins in C minor and is definitely in rondo (ABACABA) form. in the first expository A section, there is a HC in measure 4 (a V7 chord) followed by a PAC in measure 8. the melody twists and turns a bit, but section B comes around measure 25. this section transitions into Eb major for about 30 bars. there is some mode mixture, including minor i chords. The A section returns and is followed shortly by the C section, which modulates to Ab minor (the d flats kind of give it away, as well as the half cadence four bars after the C section begins). It's funny, because when the A section returns, it always comes back to the key of c minor. But when the B section returns for the second time, it does not come back in Eb major, but instead in C major. The themes in this piece really play with both major and minor keys--not gonna lie, it confuses the hell out of me!

Pavan in F Major - John Jenkins

I found this song through a random Naxos browsing, so I don't know much about John Jenkins. However, I believe that, no matter when he wrote this, F Major probably didn't mean that the piece was in E Major. However, this recording was made in E Major. The only explanations I can come up with are that it was transposed to accomodate the artists (or maybe their instruments), that the recording was slowed down during production, or that Naxos has some kind of playback problem that slows it down... except it was in tune in E Major.

Anyhow, New Grove says that a Pavan used to be some sort of court dance in the 18th century. This was pretty sad music for a dance - it had a slow tempo and not that strong of a pulse to keep dancers in time. However, I can see how it may make a good dance because it rarely fully cadenced - many times, the piece sounded as though a cadence was going to occur, but what should have been the final chord was really the beginning of the next phrase, and so the piece had a good continuity that a dance requires.

Overall, the music made me feel complacent. There wasn't many structural phenomena, or anything that may make me get excited or feel much tension. Also, there is little dynamic contrast throughout.

Visit
http://depauw.naxosmusiclibrary.com/default.asp?page_name=S_contentQuery&label=Classical%20Music&genre=&char=J#
if my review just got you so excited about this piece that you must hear it.

Sarah Conner-BoUnCe

I'm not sure why but this song cracks me up everytime I hear it. Containing phrases like, "She saw me with shorty and thinks i be creepin" and "Bounce babay out da door, I ain't gonna take this no mo" this songs lyrical genius is only matched by LFO. Some of the verses are semi-rapped, I'd almost call it intoning. The chorus is sung and is very simple because the message is what really matters. She's telling her boyfriend to leave because she's pretty sure that he's cheating with some other "shorty". And she tells him "Don't try to front boy cuz I saw you there wit my own eyes." GREAT song...The drum rift and the sythisizer back beat stays in my head forever and puts a spring in my step even though the song is sort of depressing. The best part is when her BF tries to defend himself with a ten second rap with such romantic musings as "Don't need to find a nickel, I gotta dime at home." Awwwww...really? I'm your dime? Well then everything's forgiven.

Aerosmith - Pink

This song begins with an intruduction melody played by a harmonica. The beginning of it is a repeated period. The melody is stepwise, very easy to reproduce. The chorus continues the stepwise motion, but higher and descending most of the time. The verses are much more mellow than the chorus. When the chorus comes in, the orchestration is fuller and the dynamic is much louder. After the second chorus there is an intstrumental interlude. The third vers comes in after that with another chorus. There isn't really any terminative section, it just kind of ends. I like the upbeat nature of the accompaniment, but the words don't make sense. He's just singing about the color pink.

Soler: Piano Sonata in D Major

This sonata in D major by soler has a fast compound meter which is either three-eight or six-eight, often making use of sixteenth and eighth notes. The piece may be described as having an A-B-c-B-c form with the C sections being parallel to A because they begin the same but in new keys and both containing cadential extensions. The A section is introduced by a little fa-mi-re-mi ornamentation leading into the bass line which is staccato notes in the left hand, starting with mi and then moving down the tonic triad, mi-do-do. The melody in the right hand is do-do-sol-do-mi-do with the do-sol-mi being the more accented of the notes. This motion is repeated but in the dominant. The theme is repeated once more for a third time, again on tonic but an octave lower. This rhythmic and melodic theme which is used often throughout the piece is repeated before the B section begins. The B section begin with the same kind of pick-up ornamentation as the beginning of the song but continues with the scalar melody in the right hand and accompanying octaves in the left hand. These few measures are sort of an introduction to the main part of B which has straight chords in the left hand, possibly eighth notes, accompanying the melody in the right hand which is again sixteenth notes. Next is section C where the theme from the A section returns but in a new key, possibly the dominant which would be A major. The rest of the C section could very simply be described as a lot of cadential action, ending in A major, the key which was modulated to in the B section. The next section, B, sounds as if it modulates to a minor key. It has the same structure as the first B section minus the first few measures of the original. This section, as all of the others, ends with an authentic cadence. Finally, the C section is played, but in the original key. At the end, after all of the cadential stuff, if you have listened carefully you can hear that we are in the original key.
Like other short sonatas from Soler or Scarlatti I enjoy the fast pace and the simple chord structure which is very good for analysis. The piece is very simple, but the performer contrasts the similar themes by making very good use of dynamics. Without dynamics, I fell that this song would be fairly boring. This piece would sound very nice on an organ or harpsichord. I most enjoy its crisp sound and dancing compound feel.

Rachmaninoff Prelude in C# minor

I actually played this piece for a competition a few years back, so I got pretty intimate with it. I just happened to hear it on the radio (WICR) and thought it would be a good one to talk about. First of all I LOVE this piece. There's just somthing so beautiful about the melody and how it is harmonically put together. There is a definitive ABA form. (Actually I guess the second A section could be more considered an A prime because even though it is the same melody in the same key, its texture is pretty much doubled. In the first A section, the melody is played and replayed, but in different chordal inversions and intervals on the scale. There are several chromatic leading tones and such. Even the opening monophonic notes sound chordal and powerful. There are a few deviations from the melody in the A section, but it isn't till the end of the section that the music gives a hint of changing and developing as the texture thins. In the B or development section it uses the same melody, but then changes the rhythm, speed and texture and then variates it. This then moves back to the A section only it splits into 4 lines for two hands (whew) and is just a huge mass of the same persistant melody. The end is very interesting. It kind of falls into a category of its own. It is slow and simply chords that are changing sometimes just one note at a time. They sound like they are emmulating bells. There is also something very emotional about this highly Romantically stylized 20th century piece that makes me connect with it. There is a wide range of dynamics and speeds which I think reflect the human emotions. Its almost as if this piece is its own entity. No wonder it is a classic favorite.

Tchaik violin concerto in D major movement II

The movement starts off with a woodwind soli of progressions in the tonic minor key. Many secondary dominants and leading tone chords are heard. The mood of teh piece is very sublime and ethereal. There is much meloncholy to the melody that is played first by the solo violin shortly after the chordal opening. A parallel period starts the piece. The harmonic form of the movement is used often which gives an exotic and foreign spice to the movement. The melody is then played by the flute and then echoed by the clarinet. Tempo and mood change as the soloist presents the secondary theme. This theme is more positive in connotation and posesses more "good." The texture at this point is mostly string accompaniment. Sequences are heard as the soloist and woodwind accompaniment travel through the key. The harmonic form is played by the violin and then clarinet. The mood returns to its first conception as the melody is played by the solist again and this time it is accompanied by a counterpoint melody by the flute. It is repeated again but this time no counterpoint but with a harmonic accompaniment by the clarinet and strings. The beginning progressions are again played by the woodwinds in the original key. It is developed this time, however. It is run through a sequence of modulations from key to key by half-step. The movement ends with do ti do in the basses. This piece could either be a rounded binary form or a ternary form. Hopefully I will learn this in the future.

"Aint Wastin' Time no More" - The Allman Brothers Band

This song is a very laid back classic rock song that was "a pop tune back in the day" according to a friend of mine. I think the laid back feeling comes from the moderate tempo and the use of slide guitar, which gives it a southern flare.

It only has two chords, but I think there's a lot more to it that makes it more interesting than current pop tunes. Notably, there are several structual phenomena involving changes in texture. There are musical interludes with solos that are actually improvised, and not planned long in advance, like pop tunes today. Also, there is a breakdown, where the drums drop out and everything calms down for a little bit.

The vocals seem more real too. Maybe it's the older recording technology, or that the lead singer has a more "raw" voice. He's also playing around with the melody - it seems like he would sing it differently every time.

"I Loved You Once In Silence"

"I Loved You Once In Silence" from Camelot. Performed by Julie Andrews.

May I start by saying how much I adore Julie Andrews?!?!?! What a voice. I have always loved her. She sings this song beautifully...anyway....
I have always thought this song was pretty, but until I sat down with it tonight, I never realized how simple it was. The song never really goes anywhere, there is never a big climax. The chord progression is very basic. The accompaniment is very nice, but it is pretty much the same throughout the song. It is always very soft and mellow. It doesn't really do a lot to help out the vocalist, which does make the song a little more challenging. The cadences are always very obvious at the end of phrases. It is usually a PAC, and the do sol do stands out terribly in the bass line.
So why am I writing about it, you ask? The melody. I am a firm believer that most songs are memorable because they have a nice and catchy melody. This melody is mostly stepwise, and there are no difficult intervals or big leaps, and it doesn't get particualarly high in the soprano range. But it is beautiful, and peaceful. It is the kind of melody that you can close your eyes and lay back and be perfectly relaxed. It is the kind of melody that you could sing to a baby while you rock it to sleep at night. It is wonderfully legato and smooth. The accompaniment is just gorgeous underneath it. The sheer simpleness and honesty of it makes it beautiful.
I think a lot of times we lose track of the fact that things don't have to be complicated or difficult to perform to be considered wonderful. We shy away from simple chord progressions when we compose because we don't think they are interesting enough. Sometimes, the most beautiful things are the simple things.

"Both Sides Now," Joni Mitchell

ok, so Joni's voice has really changed from when she was younger. I think she still sounds good, and I love the instrumentation in this song, as well as the lyrics. The lyrics are great by themselves, but the building up of the climax in this song really add even more to it. It starts off very quietly, almost like a whisper, with the strings. For some of the time she's singing, the strings are just playing one static note in unison. This sound is different because there's no steady beat, so it kind of feels like a constant stream of notes until the chorus picks it up. The brush stroke comes in right at the chorus, along with a soprano saxophone:there are a few big sax solos in this song, and they're gorgeous.

"I've looked at life from both sides now,
From win and lose, and still somehow
It's life's illusions I recall.
I really don't know life at all."

Debussy, "Clair de Lune"

Moonlight, by Debussy. One of the most beautiful pieces of music written, hands down. Yes, one might contemplate casino robbery after every listen, but I doubt that's what Debussy had in mind while composing this piece.
The beauty of this piece comes in his melodic use of modern scales. It is rich in octatonic and pentatonic scale varieties, filling this masterpiece with warm colors and tonalities. Notice the parallelism. GASP! Don't tell Dr. Spiegelberg. I think Debussy was going for beauty of sound. Who cares about part writing anyway? There is a pedal bass that is also prevelant for much of the work, as the right and the melody along. My favorite part of this piece is in the second second section of the piece where the tempo picks up. Debussy does a very good job of building excitement slowing, gradually releasing the tension and returning the ever relaxing A section.
I'm not sure what it is, but there is something about this piece that just makes you float away, to forget about your worldly problems. I always find my self strangely relaxed after listening to this song. Debussy does an excellent job of portraying the peacefulness of a moonlit night sky.

Rafet el Roman - "Sansliyim"

This begins with a repeated 4m phrase group led by trumpets always ending on a half cadence...kinof sounding like mariachi (sp?) music. This is repeated four times before the singer "Rafet el Roman" (a turk who has some italian connections) starts his song. Both his verses and his refrains follow the general line that the trumpets orginally introduced (turks love repitition). The cycle is - he sings a new verse, he sings the refrain, and then there is musical interlude. We even get some flamenco guitar going and a great trumpet solo in the middle--both of these get more into development of the original expository material. He employs a lot of monophony that is washed out a little by the drum drones--often his voice is doubled by a reed or wind instrument (sounds like a clarinet). I bought this CD in Konya, TURKEY (Rumi is buried here)on a night walk with an upstanding kurdish gentleman who was a disciple of Elvis, the carpetseller, and who was also scheduled go to the army that March. He took Amanda and I around town, showed us the "caspar" because he apparently didn't know the word for ghost. And showed us his friend who was short, odd looking and had three or something odd girlfriends. He sang for us near Mevlana's tomb. Therefore, the CD is cool.

words:
Hayat bir mucize yasayan bilir bunu
Hayat bir bilmece sorularla dokulu
Hayat bir zor yaris yenilir ya yenersin
Bazen bir kumarmis kazanip, kaybedirsin
Hayat bir felsefe karisir beynin doner
Delirenler dahiler de coktan pes ettiler
Labrabbab babaraba (he's scattin' here, this is not turkish)
Gec bunlar palavra
Sen gel keyfine bak
Hayat yasamak
Bu gece cok sansliyim
Hem kumarda hem askta
Bu gece heyecanliyi
Param var hem askim
Bu gece tam havamdayim
Yasamin tadindayim
Bu gece cok sansliyim
Param var hem askim
Gozlerin alev alev gonlumu yakiyor
Durusunla bakisin aklimi aliyor
Labarabbab babaraba
Gec bunlar palavra
Sen gel keyfine bak
Hayat yasamak

My translation (expect errors):
"I'm lucky"
Life is a miracle for those who know how to live it
Life is a riddle with a tapestry of questions
Life is a hard competition you defeat or are defeated
Sometimes it's a gamble, you win some you lose some
Life is a twisted philosophy that turns your brain
The madness, often the inside gives in
Pass the pointless days
You, come and look at your joy
To live life
Tonight I'm very lucky
In a gamble and in love
Tonight I'm very excited
I've got money and love
Tonight I'm really in my weather (?)
I'm in the taste of your life
Tonight I'm very lucky
I've got money and love
Your eyes flame flame light my desire
In this position your glance takes my thoughts
Pass these pointless days
You, come and look at your joy
To live life

o danny boy

So in honor of Flummerfelt, I thought I'd write on one of his arrangements. I'm listening to the Westminster Choir singing Flum's arrangement of "O Danny Boy".

Right away I notice the spectacular intonation in this beautiful a cappella arrangement. He's arranged suspensions all over the piece in the inner voices. The choir's sound is amazing. On all of the places that we would normally expect a crescendo--there isn't one. This phenomena causes the listener to really listen. The sound is simply angelic.

The second verse is dynamically louder than the first but with decrescendos at the end of the phrases. The breaks between the "o danny boy, o danny boy, i love you so" (breaks indicated by commas) are spectacular and really add to the piece.

My favorite part is at the end when we're to the melodic climax and the choir doesn't crescendo at all, they just let the melody carry itself. Their passion and emotion really come through on this recording.

without a doubt, Flummerfelt is a genius.

Italian Concerto in F Major by Bach

This piece brings back a lot of memories of high school when I played this piece. It is a perfect example of terenary form because it has an A section, a B section, and a return of the A section. The left hand accompaniment is pretty static with ascending chords up three half steps with syncopated eighth motion on topic. This piece begins in a minor key and then moves into the relative major and then returns to the expository section in minor. The hands seem to be talking to each other with the way the melodic and rhythmic patterns play back and forth. It's a very relaxing and contemplative piece. The A section is a contrasting period. There are many rhythmic motives. The fluctuation of the tempo almost makes the piece sound like it is from the romantic era.

symphonie fantastique 4th mvt

this movement starts out eerily with a roll in the timpani and a short horn line, but the piece immediately changes its attitude in the 11th measure with a FF hit. the main melody comes in around measure 62--it is very fanfare like, a tutti winds section filled with dotted eighth sixteenth notes. there is an incredible trombone note that truly penetrates the motivic line. the introduction and the melody are repeated. In the 78th measure, a new introductory motive is heard before the return of the main melody. the moods shift frequently--as heard in measure 164, when the idee fixe fromt he first movement is heard in the clarinet. following this solo, there is an orchestral hit and there are pizzicato notes in the cellos and basses. this resembles a head being chopped off by a guillotine and then bouncing on the ground after it had been completely sliced. hate to be graphic and all, but it's kind of nifty I think. thanks, Dr. B.

"Commissioning A Symphony In C" by Cake

A non-musician might have no clue as to what this referring to, but the title combined with "Austrian nobleman" in the first vocal line, it is obvious that this song is referring to Haydn and the Esterhazy family though no names are mentioned. The lyrics are complimentary of Haydn's music but quite critical of the aristocracy. And the band does an effective job of drawing in a couple Hayden like aspects into their music, though I am by no means saying Cake is anywhere near the same class of composer as Haydn.

First off the song is in key of C, which relates to the title and is the key of many Haydn symphonies. The other aspect is the development of the instrumental melody (electronic keyboard and clean electric guitar). Unlike the vocal melody (and most pop vocal melodies) which stays static, the instrumental melody has a much more varied pitch range and focuses mostly on arpeggios.

The introduction to the song has the guitar chord to open and the first period just has vocal and bass. The second period has the introduction of the instrumental part which does a countermelody to the vocal, which focuses on arpeggios and stays on quarter notes. The third period features the instrumental part and does some eighth but doesn't stray from the arpeggios.

The preceding section of three periods repeats again, but with some differences. The first period has some guitar chords between the vocal line. The second period also changes with the instrumental melody being developed. The listener can tell that the overall contour of the material is the same, but the melody includes some sixteenth notes and scalar passages, though there are no non-chord tones. This gives this period much more interest than the first time. The third period is extended by two bars at the beginning with the introduction of background vocal which provides accompaniment for the same instrumental melody.

The next period consists of the traditional guitar solo and incorporates the arpeggiations of previous melodies with some different additions including one triplet pick up.

The section once again repeats. The first phrase is the same as the second. The second phrase puts the guitar solo from the instrumental break into the context of the vocal melody, which provides another aspect of development. The third period adds a second instrumental melody behind the original one with a different timbre that has not been heard before and incorporates arpeggios and neighbor tones, and the period is extended by four bars to give this new voice some more time to be heard.

The song ends with the original keyboard doing a terminative bit with arpeggios that go up a couple octaves that ritard into a sol-do that fades out.

"Symphonies."

Stravinsky

The piece begins with clarinet in the high register. The first two notes sol, and the short duration leaves a space inbetween them definite enough to constitute a rest. The high pitch combined with the sort of off beat umph of the rest establishes a stict, quarky motive, but appealing because of it is followed with a consequent answer. The next measure establishes a one by using steps to create a motion. The rhythm is two sixteenths and an eighth, to two quarters on one. The two sixteenths sort of whip into one, giving it an emphasis. This concludes one whole subphrase, and begins an asymetrical one with the brass. Another one of the aspects of this piece that give it a more unusual sound is its tonality. It is difficult for the listener to immediately establish any stability because the parts are jumping around so much, especially in the bass. The textures don't blend to really create one core sound. The next phrase beginning with the brass, although on a held do, still sounds foreign because of the lack of stability in the first phrase. The phrase proceeds to be evasive, and also incorporates some syncopation. The syncopation creates a sort of rushed continuence. The phrase is again repeated with some elaboration, making an asymetrical parrellel period. The next phrase is very long, and transistional. It switches to a softer dynamic, and to softer wind sounds. The tonality is even more evasive, with some kind of dissonant intervals in the bass. The rhythms are also very repetitive, and center around an eighth note rhythm accentuated by syncopations. The next phrase is a restatement of the motive, the first phrase. It then enters a very long transisitonal function similar to the earlier one. It eventually develops with the previous transistional function into its own continuous section. The developmental function transistions abruptly back to the theme, and key of the A section, which concluded with the transistional function to the developmental function. After a one phrase statement of the expository function, it enters another transistional function back to the B section, and again briefly states the motive, then the developmental function, and the motive again. A new section is then introduce in the brass, more up beat, with more off-beat metric accent. It then enters, a quieter, more subdued theme, the degree of contrast between the new section theme and this one paraelled with the one between section A and B. One of the biggest contrast between each paired theme is in the textures. The softer, more subdued themes had a lot of paraelle motion, with closer steps, less metric accent. The ending doesn't build up or anything, it just gives the impression of stopping. I really wasn't sure of the structure. I looked at it in four parts, two themes varied twice. The themes are in complete contrast with each other, and create an antecedent, consequent tension. They both maintain the context of the piece by establishing a very evasive tonality, several HC. Overall, I liked the first theme the best. I also liked a lot of the dissonant tonality and how the rhythms depended on one another.

Comfortable - John Mayer

This song's melody is very stepwise. The song speaks of an old love that is missed very much. He reminisces on the wonderful times he had with his old love. Their love was comfortable and right. Then, he sings about his new girlfriend who is "picture perfect." He's not impressed with this and finds her fake. She keeps herself primm and proper and doesn't want to be flawed in any way. At the end of the song, he says how badly he wants his old girlfriend back. He wants the comfortable love, not the fake love.

"Insomniac" by Straight No Chaser

Since I've gone far too long without analyzing an a capella song, I will procede to do that right now. "Insomniac" is probably the best known song performed by IU's a capella group Straight No Chaser. The original is done by Billy Pilgrim, and I don't know who that is either, but enough with the background. This song has three main chord progressions, one for the verses, one for the intro and one for the chorus. We begin with a small descant over the intro riff (I-IV-V, repeated) which we do twice before we introduce our chorus progression. This section is very rhythmic, as the bass pounds out eight notes over the rest of the groups staccato quartes on beats on 1, 3 and 4. We repeat I-I-IV-IV for 3 lines, before we complete the progression on the fourth line, leaning into a half cadence. The third line we add a small descant over (ahhhs) over the lead line. When we hit the chorus, our lead line spilts into two lines, the duo interplaying as the accompanying voices beat out our chorus progression, a repeated vi-IV-ii-V progression, with an extension the second time, reducing the voices down to simply the bass and lead, as we return to a PAC. The intro riff comes back, only once though, as we return to our verse riff, the upper accompany voice now crescendoing through each chord, adding another layer of texture, a smoothness that is suddenly cut short before changing chords and repeating. This effect adds an air of restlessness as we return to the chorus riff. After this chorus riff we return to it again, holding off the PAC until after another chorus, including a doubled length of the extension. We return to another chorus progression, our final one, and the trasitional extension now becomes even longer, building slowly as we add overlapping voices. We finally come to the climax of the song, crashing through to a huge fortissimo and we bring back our original intro riff, only once, and we finally resolve it to a PAC. I love this song because it has all the elements of a really good a capella number. The bass is low and rhythmic, the inner voices outline the chord but offer some interesting lines, and the upper voices sky over everything, arching and swelling in and out. Long live a capella!