Away with the POP

A Short Journey into Classical Vocal Music

What is Pop Music?

• Originally derives from an abbreviation of “popular”

• Appeals to the masses

• Evolves due to the time period and century people live in

• Examples include the Rock and roll, R&B, Hip hop, Jazz, top 100 hits etc.

Classical Vocal Music

•Beauty

•Purity

•Depth

Das Rosenband

• Text written by Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock, a German Poet

• Composed by Franz Schubert in the Romantic Period

• It is a love song, where the main character is expressing his love towards his lover as she lies sleeping in a garden

Break it down

I looked at her; my life hung

hung with that gaze on my life

• Chromatic passing note seems to be tugging at the heart strings

The Monk and His Cat

• Lyrics based on poems translated from anonymous Irish texts written in the 8th-13th century

• One of 10 Hermit songs composed by Samuel Barber in the 20th Century Period

• The piece contrasts the lives of these two very different beings by focusing on their similarities

Break it down

• The piece has no time signature which creates a very flowing kind of lazy melodic line

• The music portrays the text by using two different moods: • A long legato line for the monk• A playful and separated one for

the cat

Following the contours

You rejoice when your claws entrap a mouse

I rejoice when my mind fathoms a problem

I believe...

PROBLEM

• The lyrics are in a different language

SOLUTION

• We must understand how the composer wrote the music in relation to the text so that the music will be easily understand and felt even with it being in a different language

I believe...

PROBLEM

• I cannot relate to the songs

SOLUTION

• We must execute the notes being fully aware of its significance to the text and create the nuances that would pull at the heart strings of listeners