Bernstein's "Anniversary No 4'

This piece is cool to analyze. It starts with an unusual form. To begin with, it is part of a cycle of 4 movements. Then, by itself it is a ternary form. This is cool because the piece only last for a couple of minutes, yet it fits all the ideas of ternary form in it. It starts with an exposition. This is made up of a couple of big chord bops and little running passages. Then there is even a brief polyphonic section. The structural phenomena that holds this whole piece together is the rests. The rests are almost as powerful as the notes. Then the development explores a lot of keys, registers, and densities. It doesn't have any rests. It just flies! The dynamic contrasts are really impressive though. Then after a big chordal transition section, the recap happens. A few additional chords are added to the similar themes from the expos. in the recap. Then there is a very exciting scalar passage coda that starts very soft and then grows with spizicato velocity until the last banging chord. This piece sounds really amazing with all the articulation and speed. It's like a compact package of everything we've studied.

You Raise Me Up

You Raise Me Up- Josh Groban
There is a nice litte intro. that I believe would sound even more cool if it were on the bagpipes, but its on a string instrument.violin...the intro ends on a PAC then has static note repeated until the voice come in to sing the same line...
The intro then comes back as a transition back into the chorus of the song. After the chorus is sung once more..it is sung again...this song basically is made totally of chorus being repeated...
it goes - intro. verse chorus trans. chorus chorus (cad extension) chorus (ending is developed) chorus (reg.)
So, as you can see there is really only one verse and the rest is just playing around with the chorus..adding instruments or modifying it a little each time to keep it forward moving..until the last one which is set how it was in the beginning giving us a sense of termination...

Sonate Pathetique- Beethoven

I enjoyed a live performance of this piece tonight played very well indeed by our own Julianne Merrill. We're all getting ready for proficiencies and decided to get together and play for each other and I'd say that it went pretty well.
I was firstly impressed with the dramatic presence that the piece has on its own, but also the effect that a performer can have on the piece as well. I've heard this piece a buttload of times, we had to study it for music history, but it was such a different experience hearing and seeing it performed live.
The dynamics and phrasing were definately Beethoven, with huge contrasts and very dramtic and beautiful phrasing. If was evident that Julie had really listened to some contrasting interpretations of the piece and made it her own which is awesome.
I'd say that the piece has an urgent quality to it, and the fluidity that it produces through the tons of notes as well as the dynamics is really apparant.
I love the cadenza that ends on this g7 chord really nicely, it sounds solid and then takes you back to the main theme which feels really comfortable and stable, thats my favorite part.

Der Schmied- Brahms

Another one for the proficiency file. This song is also by Brahms. I love Brahms. I love German Lied. I love lamp. (That was for you Anchorman fans!) This is a simple and short two verse lied. A girl is singing about her blacksmith boyfriend who is fanning the flames of his fire and when she walks by he fans faster and the fire burns bigger and brighter. The accompaniment is very "hammer-like" and sounds like blacksmith hammers. It's percussive and outlines the chord progression. At the end of each verse we get a big accented TI that then resolves to Do- Sol- Mi-Do. Really a great song.
Good luck on Proficiencies everyone!!

Bartok, Mikrokosmos: from the diary of a fly

very fly-ish. Has a lot of close intervals, repeated notes and gestures, all overlapping. He uses jarring intervals, chromatic scales, alternating intervals. It starts out smaller, and then builds up using scalar passages and richer "chords" to climax, and then slowly returns to less action. The voices drop out (I can't tell if there are ultimately three or four voices). It really feels like you could play if for fly music in a cartoon or puppet show and it'd be perfect. Perhaps it's because he avoids larger intervals (being too large for a fly to traverse). There's also this sense of continuous movement, not a real melody to speak of (though much of mikrokosmos is sort of lacking in a catchy melody), not a real direction to speak of. A fly wanders around pretty hap-hasardly, and here this piece doesn't have periods, form, anything, except a sense of beginning, climax and end--enough to bring the listener in as though be told a story.

Quiet City -Copland

Ok, so I am accompanying Susie and Caitlin on this piece for Susie's proficiency. Susie plays trumpet and Caitlin plays english horn. This piece is far from bombastic rhythms and such, it seems to sort of swell here and there. I begins with soft piano and and then english horn. After the opening statement, the trumpet picks up the theme and rhythms and builds. This is the first swell. Then it goes back to english horn and piano. Then solo trumpet and piano. This pieces mixes colors as the piano, trumpet, and english horn takes turns with the mellody and accompany each other. This piece also cahnges time signatures and rhtyhms so as to change the texture of the piece as well. It keeps the same basic theme and rhythm throughout most of the piece, with some melodic influxes here and there. All in all, it seems this piece is all about timbre and mixing, and influxes of a melody. Its very beautiful and impressionistic. On that note...I played my whole proficiencies program tonight and I rocked! Bring it on!!

leather-winged bat, jake heggie

this song is so much fun! i'm singing it on my proficiency, so i thought i'd tell you all about it before hand, dr. s.

it begins with a crazy three bar intro (i know, you're thinking...why not four? well that's heggie for ya'). when the vocals come in "hi, said the little old leather-winged bat", the accompaniment drops away to random chords on 1 and 3. once the singer gets to the 'refrain' ("hi-o-day-o-diddle-o-down...") the accompaniment picks up again and is very steady.

this song talks about a leather-winged bat, a woodpecker, a bluebird, and a robin. all have different personalities as is evident by the accompaniment. the woodpecker: eigth notes in the left hand; bluebird: floating melody in right hand; robin and bat both have sparse accompaniments. everytime the refrain has the same accompaniment. we could say that it's ABCBDBEB' but at the end (B') the singer goes up to an A, which as i've already discussed with dr. s. is quite high for a mezzo. but...it's hot, what can i say?

sort of random: everynow and then heggie will throw in an extra two beats, not making a 2/4 bar or a 6/4 bar, there's just a dotted line and then two more beats. this extra two beats, however, always comes right before a transition either into or out of the B section. pretty cool, huh? yeah...heggie's hot.

p.s. he's coming here next year for a masterclass! i know...it's hot...you don't have to say it, i'm thinking it too :)

shostakovich string 4x no. 8 mvt II

the movement is marked allegro molto. The 1st violin has the melody. It is bassed off the DSCH note scheme...D - Eflat- C - B. The violin has the melody with this as the main focus. It is a march style. 16th note patterns are heard alot that are very chromatic. While the other 3 players play sparse unison accompaniment that adds to the already ominous and intense ethos. As the melody goes so does the intensity of the accompaniment. there is transition material with 16th notes all over the place as the music just flies off the page. Then brief interruption of the DSCH are heard but in small segments passed between the players. The viola then takes over the focus with a version of the melody played at the beginning. The violin then layers over that, then the cello over that, then the violin back over that as things become more and more chromatic. We then hear a new melody that is like a twisted russian dance that is very long and smooth. Then the DSCH melody is heard again though this time intertwined with the long russian dance theme just heard and it is passed from instrument. The beginning then repeats though this time with the melody in the cello. The 16th notes get passed back to the violin as it makes more statements with the DSCH theme. There is a subito piano and a massive crescendo brining to the highest intesnity we have come to. It is a shout chrous off all the melodies...the beginning melody, the DSCH melody, the long russian dance, and the interwine between the DSCH and the russian dance.

Insomniac

I thought I do a blog/plug in for our a cappella concert tomorrow....6:30 meharry hall. Insomniac, sung by Straight No Chaser, is one of the best songs in contemporary a cappella literature. The song begins with a cool "chimbadeechimbadee" vocal rhythm underlying a wailing solo part that serves as the introduction. After a few measures of this, we come to the first verse. The vocal accompaniment changes to staccato "dohs", leading into the powerful chorus:

I can hear your bare feet on the kitchen floor
I don't have to have these dreams no more
And I found someone just to hold me tight
Hold the insomniac all night

There is a brief return to the beginning of the song, but the harmony and accompaniment quickly change. Sustained "ah" chords mark a distinct contrast in the second verse. These are my favorite lyrics of the entire piece. They are just very meaningful, and cool.

I've tried everything short of Aristotle
Took Dramamine and whiskey bottle
Pray for the day when my ship comes in
And I can sleep the sleep of the just again

A bridge with faster harmonic rhythm leads us to the concluding section of the piece.
The final section of Insomniac is a sort of vocal fugue. There is a underlying bass part, with various voice parts entering with unique motives. These various parts converge in a climatic chord leading into a terminative section. The piece begins very similar to how it begins, with a unique vocal rhythm accompaning the wailing soloist.
This is a great song. It's fun to listen to and to sing.

Beethoven- Sonata in E-flat Major- Allegro

I was hoping that this piece would be in Sonata Allegro Form for practice, but it was hard to place it into that form. There seems to be way more themes and it may possibly be Rondo form. Part of the problem might be that it is longer than I’m used to and hard to keep track of everything. There also seems to be a lot of repeats that I think confuse me. Anyways, here are a few things I grasped. The first expository material uses a motive in question and answer fashion. Then, there is a short transition where the last PAC chord is used as a pivot chord to change the mode to what I think is the relative minor. This section ends with the Dominant key being established. Then comes what I first perceived as the B section. Here the texture and key change to develop the 1st A them and then there is a closing section. Here’s where things start to get fuzzy. There seems to be a recapitulation of the A theme, but it comes after a pause. And then it moves through the same sequence again. From here I started to see it possibly as a rondo, as new material was often introduced and the A theme kept coming back, but not everything seemed to fit for that either. Oh well, I guess I should stick with the shorter sonatas

Holst, First Suite in E flat

Yeah, I'm pretty worn out right now so I'm just going to write a little about this piece that we're playing in band and that I've played before without listening to it at this moment.

The first movement is called Chaconne and which means of course it is a Chaconne with the same harmonic line that is repeated several times throughout the movement. Holst does a good job of switching textures in the song by contrasting the lyrical melodic lines with some march like rhythmic passages in the accompaniment. There is also a great crecendo in the middle to end of the movement with very long cymbal and snare drum rolls that really highten the anticipation. It is also really cool how he makes an assymetrical phrase by adding one measure right before the climax.

The second movement is called intermezzo. Though this is a very brisk piece unlike a slower movement that is usually expected for a second movement, this piece has very light textures and flowing melodies that gives the movement a feeling of a piece that can't stand on its own. The melodies in this are very nice as is the very soft tambourine.

The final movement is called march and is has the feel of the march but isn't traditional in the sense of form. There is a loud boisterous march section in the beginning that switches to a softer lyrical melody but then near the end a very cool thing happens when the march feel from the beginning is played by the drums and some accompaniment lines but the lyrical melody from trio-esque section gets put on top of the march feel which has a really cool effect. This pushes to a very dramatic end that is very satisfying.

CPE Bach - Flute Concerto in A - Largo con sordini

This song is 9 minutes long, but it was so enjoyable to listen to that it seemed about half that length. There is a 1 1/2 minute string introduction before the flute solo enters. The shape of the music is great and it flows really nicely. I get a good feeling of the rising and falling of the phrases as far as shaping and dynamics go. The dynamics don't get very loud even though they vary a lot. I'd say the loudest this movement gets is mf, and that isn't even very often. The melody itself is somewhat haunting - it's very soft and emotive. There is a harpsichord that plays throughout the piece and there are quiet interjections of strings here and there. The solo flute part seems to really float above the accompaniment. This becomes clear when there's an unaccompanied flute line toward the end of the piece because all of a sudden it's just like wow, this is piece is even more enjoyable to listen to when it's just the flute. Directly after that, there is an orchestral closing part, which is significantly shorter than the introduction.

"Something There" from Beauty and the Beast

This song starts out with a very playful intro. There are eighth note figures that are pretty big interval jumps. There are also some 16th notes thrown in there that make it especially bouncy. When Belle begins to sing, the accompaniment changes to almost an oom pah feel between the I and V chord. Her melody is very simple, very speech like. At the second phrase, the accompaniment changes, and becomes slightly more sustained and legato, but this only lasts for a short time. Once her verse is done, the parts change, and the right hand has nothing but eighth note I and V chords played over again, and the left hand plays the legato melody. This goes on for about 8 measures, and then the Beast sings the second verse.
Now comes my favorite part of the whole song: the bridge. I used these 16 bars for an audition last weekend, and the result was me being cast in my first professional production! Maybe that's why I like this part. Ha. Anyway, it starts out on a B, which is a very middley place for a soprano, so it comes out as a wonderful mix belt. The rhythm here is very different. Thus far, we have had mostly eighth notes, and now it is all half notes. It's a nice change of pace. I think it is done like this because Belle is reflecting on how she is seeing a new and different side of the Beast, so the melody becomes more reflective.
After the bridge, Lumiere and Cogsworth come in and sing the first half of the third verse, which is identical to the first two. Mrs. Potts joins them for the second half. There is a little bit of harmony here, but nothing outstanding. The rest of the song is nothing but the same leaping eighth note figure in the accompaniment with Lumiere, Cogsworth, and Mrs. Potts singing the melody until the end. The song ends on a rolled I chord.
What a cute song. I am so excited to be doing this show this summer!

Die Schoepfung (The Creation) Introduction "Representation of Chaos" - Haydn

This piece is self-explanatory. I wanted to see if this piece was actually chaotic in form. :)

There's a long introduction with no clear cadences or melodic motives that goes on for two whole minutes. It's filled with tutti sforzando chords, and a lot of descending and ascending chromatic passages. At about 2:12, you think that we're finally settling on "do" ... but hey! It's a deceptive cadence, and the descending passage that we thought was approaching do, actually starts over again. Very funny, Haydn. This leads to a ascending passage that gradually crescendos, and then it's a fortissimo PAC!! Whew.

An oboe solo is heard over the orchestra's chords. It plays an ascending sequence that modulates over and over again. More tutti chords, lots of repeating V-I chords. Then a wonderful V-vi cadence!! Deceptive again.

There really hasn't been an interesting melody or any phrase structure that would constitute a period or phrase group. Just a lot of modulating.

All of a sudden we're in a clear minor key. Lots of timpani! And we switch keys again. And again. Really, this is getting tiring to try and analyze. At 5:33, we still haven't found a clear melody. A clear half cadence that feels like it should resolve but never does at this point.

The mood of the piece changes to very pianissimo and melancholy. A lot of woodwind solos - clarinets and flutes. We reach a tonic note! This "do" is repeated in the lower instruments many times.

I am sure that Haydn had a lot of imagery in mind for this piece - it was meant to be program music. It's interesting that there aren't too many PACs in this 7 minute piece. The lack of a clear tonic note and melody, as well as the many unresolved chords, suggests chaos.

"Agony" from Into the Woods by Sondheim

This song is so wonderfully over-the-top and overacted that it can't help but be hilarious. We start with a slow pulse on harp and bassoon. The first prince comes in, telling the story of how he has been chasing this girl through the forest, not understanding why she is running. He sings about the "agony" of being in love. In the wood he meets his brother, who is trying to find a way to reach his love, who is locked away in a high tower. His "agony" is much more painful, since she agreed to go with him, if he could only get her down. Not really paying attention, the first prince speaks of all his many virtues, which is hilarious, as the strings rise with his ascending line, adding this great dramatic tension, even though he is merely talking about himself. This passage is echoed by the other prince, who speaks about climbing the hair of his maiden to reach her, while she only sings her "light-hearted air" which he mimics over this very dissonant chord by the strings, which distorts the lovely melody into something rather grotesque. The song battles back and forth until the end, the two princes arguing about who is in more pain because of love, finally agreeing that they must marry the two "unattainable" girls merely because they are princes who can have everything. The accompaniment is rather simple, merely pulsing out a waltzing triple meter, slowly rising and falling with the action in the words. The ingenious part is the clashing string sections, which take this sweet song and add this underlying ugliness about it. This whole show has this approach to it, making everything good have something sinister beneath it. This song is about how love can be selfish and just a display of power, and not genuine.

I drink to forget (klezmer music-oy!)

who doesn't like a little Klezmer clarinet sometimes?! I actually learned to play a little bit of klezmer music at a clarinet convention last summer. I had no idea of its origins or the big names in klezmer music, and had only heard just a little bit of klezmer music from movies. It was really fun to play, and kind of challenging in some technical aspects.

The group is called klezperanto (?), and the clarinetist is Ilene Stahl-There's a bassist, a trombonist, a percussionist, banjo/guitar player, and piano/accordian player. This piece starts out pretty sad. The clarinet starts in the minor key, playing an almost yearning, very pretty melody acompanied by the banjo and bass. She bends the end of her notes a lot, stops the notes with her throat sometimes, and uses a lot of trills, playing around with the sound, and changing the style-very klezmer. It's in 4/4 and the period is made up of 4- 4 measure phrases, every other one ending on a PAC. The accordian and trombone come in right after the first pac, and these two instruments are playing independently from her, but the trombone and clarinet sometimes have these little call and response motives. There's a big trombone solo where the clarinet cuts out. This is where the song picks up, because the trombone slides up an octave, and then it moves up a third, and is now in the major. The tempo speeds up a lot more, almost double of what the beginning was. The ending is a big "do sol do" in unison, in the major key.

Bach: Three Part Invention No. 10

This Bach Three part invention is performed by mandolin, banjo, and bass. The piece is in three-four, I think, and definitely in a major key. It starts off with two parts playing, bass and mandolin. I thought that inventions normally started one voice at a time but maybe not. For this piece the bass has the lowest voice and the mandolin plays the highest voice. In the fourth measure the banjo comes in with the middle voice. In the first four measure the bass was playing quarter notes, I-I6-I-IV-I64-V-I or do-mi-do-fa-sol-sol-do, which are heard later in the piece. The melody is performed by the mandolin in the first three or four measures, do-ti-do-re-mi-fa-sol-mi-fa-mi-re……, and then the banjo takes that same melodic line over, very invention-esque. In about the fifteenth measure or around there the transition to the minor key begins and the melody may be heard in possibly the parallel minor. The bass often plays a more accompanying and solid line but it occasionally has some moving sixteenth notes for the piece to really be the three part invention that it is. It continues in the minor for about ten to fifteen more measures and doesn’t modulate back until the very end of the piece.
This invention would be fun to play on the piano, if possible. It would also be cool to hear this piece with even different instruments as it is in this version. The voices seem to call and respond to each other and it would even be cool to hear this on three guitars. I like how naturally the transition section sounds.

Sonata in A major, D 574 1. Allegro moderato

Schubert

The first theme is signaled by a dotted quarter, eighth, rhythm in the piano part, the eighth going up or down a step. After two four measure phrases of this, like an intro, the violin enters with the expository melody. This is signaled by a do-la-sol... , the do played as a dotted half, the la a quarter, and the sol a half. The line continues alternating between half note and quarter note rhythm. It is very legato, and even with a simple quadruple meter. The dynamic is soft, in a comfortable register. This is mainly to contrast with the second theme. The phrases are typically four measures, very symetric, forming two phrase periods. Transistions are signaled usually by asymetric phrases. The transistion into the second theme is signaled by a sudden drop in texture, and a descending scalar line in the violin, the piano then switches off with the violin and repeats the same pattern. Even in the second theme, the idea of scales is seen near cadential material. I think the second theme modulates to the minor dominant, definitly the dominant. The second theme is denser, with the piano building up on eighths, lots of sudden dynamic changes, and a sort of down up motion. The second theme, especially in the violin, has more metric accents, denser rhythms, with sudden rhythm changes. Overall, it just feels livlier. The expository function of the entire piece is especially recognized by its stability, because of the dotted quarter eighth rhythm in the piano and the pulling from the close intervals back to the dotted quarter. The ending cadence to the second theme is created by a series of sustained res in the violin, ending on a pac when it finally hits do. The new third theme is signaled by a compound meter and sudden, loud key change to a minor key. The theme has a denser rhythm in the violin part, and the piano emphasizes beats two, three and four by resting on one or dropping in register. The violin part does the same thing with its triplet rhythm. This theme is in a compound duple meter. This theme is shorter, and returns back to the expository function after a large transistional function. The transistional function is definitely part of a new theme because it doesn't follow any of the previous cadential patterns, There are large intervalic leaps in the violin, and the violin is denser than its every been. To create a smooth transistion back to the expository function, the do is elisioned. I liked the piece a lot, especially because of the bittersweet quality several of the keys had. The cadence in the second theme is signaled by a leap in register and decrescendo, it ends the same way.

"while my guitar gently sleeps"

good song-
Starts in the Minor key for each verse- The chorus goes to the dominant. it's in 4/4, and The tempo is really ploddingly slow, and the chord progression ofr the verses go "do te le so fa le te do" . This bass line continues throughout the verses. This song is also strophic. There are different layers to the guitar sound, which is cool. The chords for the chorus are IV-vi-ii-vi-V-I. When it goes to the chorus in the dominant, it's like a little ray of sunshine peeking through a thunderstorm...yeah. The phrases for the verses are in four measure phrases,the first cadence ending on a PAC, the second ending on a HC. The ending is very terminitave, going V-I-V-I, and finally ending on a PAC

Sulek -Trombone Sonata

Cascading runs both ascending and descending create a mystical aesthetic as the trombone solo plays a long, smooth, beautiful melody that is very melodic. The phrase is repeated again with more urgency and chromatic notes. There is a brief transition period with a tritone interval. A new melody comes in that is in a different style. It is more layed back and relaxed. The trombone is playing short and long notes. It is a very simple rhythmic as the piano plays simple accompaniment. There is then some inverted counterpoint as the piano then takes the melody as the trombone plays the simple off-beat accompaniment. There is more transitional material as the trombone and piano play some unison melodic material. Another melody comes in that is very smooth and surreal almost. It is smooth, connected, and mostly traidic and diatonic. There is a brief transitional/developmental period between the trombone and solo as we travel through various keys with the trombone outlining sol-do. Rising quarter notes give the texture some harmonic growth and intensity. A new rhytmic motive is heard...almost hindemith like in unison with the piano. Then the main melody heard at the beginning is now in a triplet pattern and augmented. There is more developmental material as the trombone and piano trade off very technical 8th note runs. Then the lyrical melody comes in again but in a different key then modulated again. There is a quitness and developmental period as the music seems to be catching its breath. A final developmental section makes itself heard. The piano is playing long technical sixteenth and 32nd notes with the trombone is playing basically non-melodic triple tongue passages. A massive crescendo by the piano brings us back to the main melody played verbatim from the beginning. Towards the end of the phrase there are more chromatics and a different resolution. The piece ends on 3 very loud B flats in the trombone while the piano plays off-beat dissonant chords.

"konstantine" - Something Corporate

“Konstantine” -Something Corporate

This songs accompaniment is primarily made up of arpeggiated chords which move at a fairly rapid speed. The vocal line moves somewhat slow and fits more with the bass guitar which is moving slow as well…The song it really long for a alternative style song. So it has it’s “A” section that stays how I explained above. The B section has a change in register in vocal line and in the piano part. It goes from arpeggiation to octaves with a moving bass line underneath. This pattern is then repeated so that it goes A B trans. A B trans. C closing (contains some A..I believe)…every new section seems to add more instruments. It works its way up to having voice, piano, drums, and bass guitar.…It is very repeatative as far as text and melodic lines throughuot the sections. I think it’s a very pretty song….And that’s what I like it…yup..

"Oh Happy Day" SISTER ACT II: Back in the Habit!!!!!!

Best movie ever!!!!

"Oh Happy Day" is not an original song from the movie, OF COURSE. Although I can't find the original source. But it is a famous gospel piece.

Well the movie version rocks the most, because it is full-on gospel. This part of the movie comes when the Academy of the Sacred Heart (or something), a once run-down Catholic school with a terrible music program, sings in public for the first time under the choral direction of Whoopi Goldberg ... er ... Sister Mary Clarence. SAME DIFFERENCE!!! The point is, Whoopi gets the choir of teenage hoodlums to sing like ... adults ...? Luckily, Whoopi doesn't sing on this track. Though the star of the movie, her voice is somewhat lacking. Let's not forget that a young Lauryn Hill and Jennifer Love Hewitt appear in this movie!

The song begins with a vamp on the piano (the only accompaniment). Ahmal comes in hesitantly, complete with squeaks and a lack of enthusiasm. Come on Ahmal!!! Sing like we know you can! The choir also sucks. Oh happy day ... :( Whoopi encourages him by having the choir sing one of their (useless) vocalises. Surprisingly, it fits the piano's modulation. Suddenly, Ahmal sounds like he's been recorded in the studio. He's amazing, and he's got soul! Whoopi still sucks, though. Some more bad vocalises (the "Lah" syllable isn't the best to warm up on) and then the entire choir has got soul! The song modulates some more, and Ahmal rocks out. At one point, he busts out a high D# in falsetto, an amazing feat. The choir then "brings it down," and finishes with a full gospel chord. There's clapping at some point too.

The song is very repetitive, and relies on embellishment from the soloist to keep it exciting. It's basically modified strophic, with only the lyrics changing.

The moral of the story is, teach a lousy choir some lame vocalises, and they'll sing like this.

memories of tommorrow

I listened to this little upbeat latin jazz tune today and figured I would write abolut it. Its an ABA form with a header, chorus and then back to the header. The chords in it use lots of leading tones and chromatic descension and ascension. I really don't know what rhythmic genre this would be categorized in...samba, mambo, etc. It seems like it is an uptempo slow 2-4 type of a beat. This song seems really rich, and the recording I have of it, the piano really has a lot of color in the chords. I don't think this is the type of latin song that would dance to or have a lead tenor sax, it seems more of an americanized (sic) "latin" tune. Hmm I don't really think that there is much more to write about here, I just really liked this catchy little tune. I highly reccommend it!

You're so Vain--Carly Simon

So, this song is hot. that's all there is to it.

the percussion and guitar overdrive just add to the raw edge that is carly's bitterness. the repetition of words only drives her point home. It also adds to it that before she repeats the words she sings over a held chord for a couple of bars. This ensures the audience is listening :)

Background vocals are not brilliant, but they add some depth to the chorus texture. The guitar solo and piano solo break up the somewhat strophic form of carly's rant.

there, it's strophic, and i like it. and we all know the words. and the guy's wearing an apricot scarf. and he's gavotting!!! it doesn't get much better than that.

Cumming Prelude # 24

It is the unique use of 5/8 meter that gives this piece its driving energy. It is organized in 2 and 3, and it causes you to be on the edge of your seat, bobbing your head with the pulse, 12 123 12 123 12 123. This rhythmic patter of two eights and a triplet is constant throughout the piece and is a sort of never ending motive. The piece begins with a melodic pattern in a subdued tone, and then repeats the pattern again with greater density, volume, and speed. There is then a chromatic pattern beginning softly and increasing, then a change of texture with dissonant chords and then the chromatic passage again, and then dissonant chords again. This whole page lacks any recognizable tonality or any clear direction. It is sporadic and makes you heart skip beats. There is nothing to hold onto and so it is very unnerving to the listener. But then there is finally a transition leading back to the 12 123 section of the beginning. It goes different directions this time and the chromatic passage comes back, leading to a very powerful ending.