art of listening (listening aspect)...
TRANSCRIPT
Art of Listening (Listening aspect) 12/15/2012
Carnaval (Early romantics => 19th century) Robert Schumann
EusebiusPen name for tender, dreamy selfRhythmically very free (quintuplets, triplets, rubato)Form based on repetition, contrast and return (aa ba b’a’ ba)
FlorestanPen name for his more impetuous selfOpening outburst follows Eusebius’s tentative endingMoves in fits and startsAbrupt tempo changes; abrupt endingForm based on repetition, variationA a’ a’’ a’’’
Nocturne in Fsharp (Early romantics => 19th century) Frédéric Chopin
Genre ? Nocturnes (‘’night pieces’’) – various moods
Singing quality, melodic decorationsRelaxed rubato, subtle chromaticismForm uses repetition, contrast, return (a a’ b c a’’ coda)
Symphonie fantastique, mvt 5, (Program music – romantic > 19th century), Hector
Berlioz
Genre? Program symphony
Fast tempo, free form follows storyMvt 5: dream of a witches’ SabbathIdée fixe treated as vulgar parodyInstruments: piccolo, clarinet
Dido and Aeneas (c.1689 => 17th century) by Henry Purcell
Thy hand Belinda…Genre? Recitative
Key? Minor + Chromaticism
When I am Laid in EarthGenre? AriaCompositional devices?Descending bass lineRepeated phrasesSlow ground bass
Chromatic semitonesImitation by violins of DidoSoloist (soprano)Basso ostinato (the playing of the cello)
Instruments? ViolinsCelloHarpsichord
With Drooping WingsGenre? Chorus
Compositional devices?Uses word paintingAlternates imitation and homophony
Orfeo (17th century) => Claudio Monteverdi
Rosa del Ciel..Genre? Recitative (why? Free and expressive to convey pastoral setting)
Compositional devices?Basso continuo (lute)Two different voices (tenor (male) and soprano (female) > solos, choruses of mixed voices and instrumental ensembleMelody has leaps in it > signifies sudden surge of emotionMelody = legatoRitornello at the end
Meter?Duple meter, imitative phaseTriple meter, texture: homophonic
Key? Lots of shifts between major and minor
Maria, dolce Maria (17th century) => Francesca Caccini
Genre? Recitative (Why? Mood changes from moment to moment)
Compositional devices?Basso continuo (cello + harpsichord)Soloist (soprano)Virtuosity with flourishes added to melody
Accents: regular
Meter? Free flowing (possible subtle duple meter)
Suite (17th century) => Girolamo Frescobaldi
CanzonaGenre? Canzona (Imitative genre)
Compositional devices?CadencesRigorously organized2 motives introduced
Instrument?Organ
Balletto Compositional devices?Binary formHomophonicSlower than the Corrente
Meter? Duple
Instrument? Organ
CorrentoMeter? Triple
Compositional devices?Tempo is allegro in comparison with the BallettoBinary form
PassacagliaCompositional devices?Inverts or omits the ground bassChanges rhythms and chromaticismSwitches last 5 variations to minor mode
Set of variations on a brief series of chords and their bass lineSimilar to ground bass works, but bass line repeated less strictly
Les Cyclopes (1724 – 18th century) => JeanPhilippe Rameau
Genre? French Portrait Piece > represents a particular phenomena
Compositional devices?HarpsichordPolyphonic (imitation)
Meter? Duple
Giovanni Gabrieli’s Instrumental canzoni (17th century)
Compositional devices?ImitationChange in meter
Instrument? Cornetto
Giovanni Bassano’s Ricercate (17th century)
Compositional devices?
Showcased close relationship between the vocal technique called gorgie and the instrumental technique of playing divisions (ex: rising line)
Instrument? Cornetto
Dario Castello’s Sonatas (17th century)
Compositional devices?ImitationChange in meterInstrumental version of the vocal technique Gorgie
Instrument? Cornetto
La Bomba (17th century)
Compositional devices?Imitation (several voices, quite high pitched) polyphonyChange in meter
Instrument? Cornetto
Rinaldo (1711 18th century) => George Frederic Handel
Perfida, un cor illustreGenre? Secco recitative
Meter? Ametrical (fluid)
Mood/affect? Armada = loving, Rinaldo = strict
Key? Minor
Compositional devices?Basso continuo (harpsichord)Freespeech likesingingDialogue (homophonic)
Fermati, no crudel!Genre? Duet
Meter? Duple
Compositional devices?
Both sopranos (similar vocal ranges, difficult to tell the difference between the two)Coloratura: lots of melisma (virtuosity)Very repetitiveOrchestra accompanimentViolin ritornelloFollows A B A form > da capo form
Almirena, Augelletti che cantataGenre? Aria
Meter? Duple
Key? Major
Compositional devices?Polyphonic (imitation) between soprano and sopranino recordersTrills and cadenzas to evoke birdsongSolos sopranino
Symphony No. 40 in G => Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Genre? Symphony
Key? G Minor
Compositional devices?ExpositionTheme 1: minor key, repeated cadences (repeat)Bridge: confirms modulationTheme 2: major key (woodwinds + strings)(repeat, phrases reversed) – Cadence theme, exposition repeated
DevelopmentTheme 1, modulatingContrapuntal passageFragmentation (woodwinds + strings)
RecapitulationTheme 1, repeatBridgeCadence Theme
Coda
Imitative passage (polyphony)Repeated cadence
The Joke (18th century) => Joseph Haydn
Genre? String Quartet (4 mvts)
Key? Major
Texture? Homophonic
Meter? Compound meter
Compositional devices?Melody is very singableTricks you into thinking it has ended but hasn’t => hence the name the jokeInteractive because subjective to how long pause during song
Don Giovanni (c. 1787 – 18th century) => Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Ho capito, senor sìGenre? Aria
Compositional devices?Tempo is presto > gives feeling of agitation and angerLost of repeated and short fragments particularly in the vocal line > suggests simplistic character, no eloquenceAccents were very strong > shows anger in character and determinationRising line in the strings that evokes anger surging out of Masetto
Alfin siam liberatiGenre? Secco recitative with continuo ONLY
Instruments?Harpsichord
Meter?Ametrical
Compositional devices?No repetitionNo consistencyDialogue componentPhrases change really quickly
Là ci darem la manoGenre? Ensemble
Compositional devices?No continuo (no harpsichord) => classical soundMelody is very simplistic > perfect for wooing someone, almost hypnoticDialogue becomes more rapid => increase in tension
Symphony No. 5 (1808 – early 18th century) => Ludwig van Beethoven
Movement IForm? Sonata
Key? Minor
Compositional devices?Oboe cadenzaFermatasMain motive presented
Instruments? Trombones, piccolo, contrabassoon, violins, oboe, French horn
Movement IIForm? Variation form
Key? Major
Meter? Triple
Movement IIIForm? Scherzo
Meter? Triple
Movement IVForm? Sonata
Der Mond kommt still gegangen (1843 – 19th century) => Clara Wieck Schumann
Genre? Romantic miniature
Form? Strophic
Compositional devices?Soloist (female soprano)Piano
Meter? Duple
Key? Major
Erlkönig (1815 – 19th century)=> Franz Schubert
Genre? Song cycleCompositional devices?Four soloists (narrator – tenor, Father – baritone, Son – tenor, Erlkönig)Clear accentsFrequent modulations8stanza poem with many voicesstory song on a ballad poem by Goethethemes of death and supernatural > characteristic of romantic periodfast triplets suggests hoof beatsstark recitative announces boy’s death
Meter? Duple
Form? Through composed
Key? Minor and major (flip between the two)
Instrument? Piano
Rigoletto (1851 – 19th century – Romantics) => Giuseppi Verdi
La donna è mobileGenre? Aria
Form? Strophic
Meter? Triple
Compositional devices?Vocal cadenzaEach stanza introduced by orchestraMelody repeats through recitative that follows
Instrumentation? Tenor (male soloist)
Key? Major
Bella figlia dell’amoreGenre? Quartet
Key? Minor + major
Texture? polyphonic (a little bit of homophony at the end)
Compositional devices?Four voices (tenor, soprano, alto, baritone)Rigoletto, Maddalena, Gilda and the Duke
Dichterliebe (1840 > 19th century) => Robert Schumann
Im wundershönen Monat MaiGenre? Song cycle
Compositional devices?Soloist (man – alto)
Harmonically vague showing the beautiful summer day and the poet’s lovePiano
Key? Major
Instrument? Piano
Die alten, bösen LiederGenre? Song cycle
Form? Throughcomposed
In stanza 6: tempo slows down quite significantly, change of outlook, the pitches are much lower and then the pitch gets higher, very staccato and then becomes more fluid and major (decrescendo)
Meter? Duple
Coda? Major, like a remembrance of the first part that started off the song cycle
The Nibelung’s Ring (late 19th century > romantics) => Richard Wagner
The ValkyrieGenre? Opera cycle
Compositional devices?Leitmotivs hardly ever appear in same way twice > psychological portrayal shifts along with the drama2 soloists (Siegmund and Sieglinde) > (baritone and soprano?)Cellos, high and low strings
Violin Concerto in D (late romantics > late 19th c.) => Johannes Brahms
Genre? violin concerto
Compositional devices?1: fast, doubleexposition sonata form2: slow movement3: fast, rondo form=> example of hemiola!!!> trying to dissolve meter
Instrumentation? Violin
Symphony No. 1 (late romantics > late 19th c – early 20th) => Gustav Mahler
Genre? First symphonic poem then transformed into 5mvt symphony, revised to 4mvts, program withdrawn => symphony
Mvt I: The huntsman’s funeral procession
Mvt II: Frère JacquesMinor modeSlow tempoBass playing in high register
Mvt III: Funeral marchVery free marchtriomarch formMarch theme treated as a roundWarm, majormode sounds
Three Nocturnes (c.1899 => late 19th century) by Claude Debussy
CloudsGenre? Character piece for orchestra
Form? Very loose ternary form (A B A’)A: Motives and melodic fragments onlyCloud theme built on oscillating chordsOctatonic English horn motiveB: More melodic and complete
Pentatonic tune repeats 3 times (flutes)A’: Even more fragmentary than ANo literal return; only a vague recollection
Compositional devices?Chromatic harmonyDramatic use of color (with instruments)
Instruments? ClarinetBassoonTimpaniHigh strings
The Rite of Spring (c. 1913 => early 20th century) by Igor Stravinsky
Genre? Ballet
IntroductionInstruments?Bassoon fanfare (high range—new tone colors) at beginning and end
Compositional Devices?Many short melodic fragments (frequently repeated; never the same)Fragments pile up to dissonant climax
Dance of the Adolescents
Compositional Devices?Dancers enter with accented chords (32 repetitions of dissonant chord; heavy, irregular accents)Chords alternate with 4note ostinato (irregular ostinato)Folksong motives laid over rhythmMotives repeat, new ones pile up
The Game of AbductionCompositional Devices?Brutal, violent rhythmsFrequently changing meterScurrying figures alternate with heavy, booming ones
Instruments?LOUDHeavy brass
Sliding hornsFrantic timpani
Round Dances of SpringCompositional Devices?Relentless buildup to overpowering climaxSudden fast coda with violent interjectionsBrief return of p bassoon fanfare
Instruments?TromboneGongCymbalsBass Drum
Pierrot Lunaire (c. 1912 => early 20th century) by Arnold Schoenberg
Genre? Song cycle
No. 8 “Night”Compositional Devices?A passacaglia
Recurring 3note ostinato (in ALL three instruments—not just bass line); NOT an imitation (it’s a structural feature)PolyphonyNightmarish quality
Instruments?VoicePianoBass clarinetCello
No. 18 “The Moonfleck”Compositional Devices?Piano introduction (dense, dissonant, intense—slows down, spans a lot of pitches)Fugues and canons (aspects of polyphony) – busy, nervous feelingAtonalDissonantHighpitched sounds – makes it very hysterical (piccolo + violin)Regular sense of meterFaster than No. 8 (something trying to get something off their coat)
Instruments?
VoicePianoPiccoloClarinetViolinCello
Wozzeck (c. 1923 => early 20th century) by Alban Berg
Genre? Opera
Compositional Devices?Conceptually a Wagnerian work (relies on orchestra for continuity, uses leitmotivs)Influenced by early expressionism (Sprechstimme)
Act III, scene iiiCompositional Devices?PolyphonyInvention on a rhythm (“master rhythm”)Two opening chord crescendos
Instruments?
Timpani (begins master rhythm just after first chord)
Act III, scene ivCompositional Devices?Invention on a chord of six notes (Bflat, Dflat, Eflat, E, F, Gsharp)Orchestra creates eerie night sounds (Wozzeck returns to murder scene)Vivid orchestral gurgles (drowning while trying to hide knife in pond)
Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta (c. 1936 => early 20th century) by Béla
Bartók
Genre? Symphonic Suite
Compositional Devices?Slowfastslowfast movement plani. Slow fugueii. Fast sonata formiii. Slow arch formiv. RondoFolk influencesTwoorchestra dialogue Strings divided in 2 halves: violin 1&2, viola 1, cello 1, db 1 on left vs. violins 3&4, viola 2, cello 2, db 2 on rightPercussion, piano, harp, celesta in middle
Structural symmetryTwoorchestra dialogueMirroring key structure in the 4 movementsPercussive use of strings and pianoSpecial coloration of percussion and celestaMore of a dialogue than a contestLots of syncopation (like Stravinsky)Neotonal harmonic language (not completely atonal; sense of grounding achieved through repetition)
The Rockstrewn Hills Join in the People’s Outdoor Meeting (c. 1909 => early 20th
century) by Charles Ives
Genre? Quasi“scherzo” feel
The Unanswered Question (c. 1906 => early 20th century) by Charles Ives
Genre?
Compositional Devices?Three distinct levels of timbre and presentation
Appalachian Spring (c. 1945 => mid 20th century) by Aaron Copland
Genre? Ballet
Compositional Devices?Slow harmonic rhythmQuartal/quintal harmonyBare rhythmic featuresLess dissonance, more consonance
4’33” (c. 1952 => mid 20th century) by John Cage
Genre?
Instruments?Any instrument + combo of instruments
Piano and String Quartet (c. 1985 => late 20th century) by Morton Feldman