Music appreciation: fundamentals and cultural significance

Music Appreciation

Describe the characteristics of the twentieth-century concept of melody. Refer to at least one listening example in your response. (Textbook p.301-302, 309-310)

Melody only seems to have taken a back seat in contemporary music when compared to old times. Melodies of innovative new composers are often hard to read as they turn to scales which are not the minor and major, seeking to find inspiration from the medieval, whole-tone, pentatonic and other diverse fold scales. In addition the angular contour of the contemporary melodies renders it difficult for both the listener and performer. Melodies with distant notes have been referred to as, "Instrumentals" because they are easier to play than to sing. Octave displacement is a new technique used by the composers when they select notes from different octaves of a Melody and require the performance to "leap" wide distances, rendering the new mix melody to be more difficult to recognize and sing. However, tuneful melodies are being churned out by the French with their intrinsic love of exhilarating music. The Italians continue to compose lyrical melodies to support their love of song. Several contemporary Americans too are following suit with songs like melodies. The rising popularity of timber in western circles prompted a group of Americans called, "Experimentalists" to change the very basis of music, to bring out their own revolutionary brand. In all this context Webern's 5 pieces for Orchestra is indeed a piece of art with its melodious concept shrouded in varied timbers challenging the listener's senses and creating a wonderful mood, with unparalleled clarity of texture of each instrument used.

2) Discuss what you hear in Listening example #47 (Five Pieces of Orchestra by Webern). Include specific information on the musical elements and how the piece makes you feel. State the title of the piece and the name of the composer. (Textbook p.310)

Listening to Webern's "The Five Pieces for Orchestra" belonging to the orchestral genre evokes your senses to all that is beautiful in music. The "modernist" composers' works, though small, are meant for larger ensembles. Though, bereft of any notable harmonic progressions, the work is still melodious in concept, though detached from traditional overtones. However, their diverse timbres and textures of the music enhance the listeners' music experience by savoring the clarity of progression from instrument to instrument. The effect of dissonance is somewhat dulled by a series of similar sounding pitches. Each of his compositions seems to breathe a character of its own, each so high, and concentrated, so that the smallest murmurs are as articulate as the loud notes in other pieces of work.

This is a Chamber orchestra using diverse musical instruments like violin, chimes, harmonium, guitar, mandolin, clarinet, celesta, muted trombone, sheep bells, muted viola, muted cello, snare drum, muted horn, bass drum, and harp. As the orchestra progresses you will hear the changing rhythm and meter, diverse timbers and, and atonality.

Starting with a solo clarinet and flutter tonguing flute, the delicately adjusted second movement comes to a loud halt, and starts again with a bell like instrument playing with solo violin, muted horn, clarinet, solo viola, and muted trombone in the background. This is followed by a solo mandolin and ending with solo violin. The final moments build up to a crescendo and finally return to soft dynamics.

3) Define tone clusters and explain how they are produced. (Textbook p.313)

In music, adjacent notes are played by pressing a whole set of adjacent keys simultaneously on a piano or in the orchestral score. This is referred to as tone clusters. In other words, these are notes found more tightly grouped than in chords. In conclusion clusters are in fact notes grouped in seconds with sonorities 1 and 2, in both open and close positions.

"The Tides of Mananaun" is a piano piece about the famous Irsh tide maker, was composed revolutionary composer Henry Cowell (1897-1965). Here Cowell introduced the tone clusters to be played on the flat piano keyboard, using clusters from the lowest notes on the piano, which gave the effect of the role and role of the ocean tides. Soon the utilization of cluster tones soared and its matter of fact effect was fully recognized mainly as chords built upon seconds instead of conventional thirds. Though, the parallel system was under development with Charles Ives, it could be reliably understood that Cowell was the first to discover it, and the sense called the father of tone clusters. Cowell went further and developed a system of harmony based on this principle.

It sad indeed, that Cowell was always restricted in furthering his theories as only the piano was available to him at that time. One could consider the wide ranging possibilities of what more he could have discovered, he had access to the present day digital music applications. Despite this he utilized his brilliance to stroke, pluck, and strike and strum the strings of a piano to see how far it could take him in pursuit of the magic of the strings.

4) From the three Listening Examples #47(Five Pieces of Orchestra by Webern), #48 (General Putnam's Camp from Three Places in New England by Ives) and #50 (Excerpt from Ensembles for Synthesizer) from chapter 27:

a) write a short essay on your impressions of them,

b) include any interpretations you may have,

c) your opinions on them from an artistic point-of-view,

d) comment on the instrumentation, timbre, dynamics, and tempo for each of the three pieces, and e) any other additional interesting information about the pieces. Be sure to list the title and composer of each work in your answer. (Textbook p. 309-310, 311-316)

Listening to Webern's "The Five Pieces for Orchestra" evokes your senses to all that is beautiful in music. The "modernist" composers' works, though small, are meant for larger ensembles. This is primarily a chamber orchestra supported by several instruments like violin, chimes, harmonium, guitar, mandolin, clarinet, celesta, muted trombone, sheep bells, muted viola, muted cello, snare drum, muted horn, bass drum, and harp. The orchestra has several flashes of solos including that of the clarinet, flute, violin, mandolin, muted horn and trombone.

"General Putnam's Camp" by composer Charles Ives is modernist with sentimentalism rooted in the past, based on the visualizations of a 4-year-old boy who dreams the scene of a glorious battle when his compatriots are singing patriotic songs. The music has patriotism subtly ingratiated into it, and none of the melodies are allowed to go to completion, suggesting that you could enjoy this music best by dreaming up the past. The net result is an orchestra spangled with American patriotism, several instruments, changing rhythms and meters.

Milton Babbit was a teacher, theorist and a prominent composer, whose compositions were extremely rational, but highly perplexing to the listeners. He referred to himself as a maximalist to highlight the wide gap between his style and those of the newer composers. Apart from composing for Chamber ensembles and solo instrumentalists, he also composed a series of work for synthesizer. In 1950 he became involved as a consultant with the development of the mark to synthesizer and later on became a director of the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. Babbit's "Ensembles for Synthesizer" 1964, was deeply rooted to his instrumental music and in his mind the synthesizer, which had no cap on the kind of timbre, dynamics or tempo of a composition, and generated tones electronically, was a take off from the restrictions that live performers had to work under.

5) Discuss the relationship aleatory has with both free jazz and abstract expressionism.

(Textbook p.319-321)

Over the years, a new concept, more technically referred to as aleatory music has brought its influence to bear on both free jazz and abstract expressionism. This has roots "indeterminacy" which is a term used to allow the performers themselves to determine a significant portion of the composition. In this context the famous composer Baroque suggested harmonies to be filled in for bass, concerto soloists creating cadenzas and interpreters to suggest improvisations to jazz composers. However, going further, indeterminacy, in the twentieth century provided complete freedom for the composers to choose their own melody, rhythm and harmony and aleatory music was like a throw of dice, or by random operations on computers. In this system, geometric figures often replace musical notes an verbal instructions will provide the score. Further in aleatory music each performance of the same compositions may sound totally different. Indeterminacy has two extreme concepts; one is leaving the choice of instruments and entrance time to the prudence of the performers and the other being random music as in John Cage's Imaginary Landscape no. 1"

Ornette Coleman's and John Coltrane's free jazz are pure examples of the application of random techniques and these contrast strongly with the abstract expressionists, or action painters like the American Jackson Pollock, who randomly threw color onto a canvas and developed designs from it. An important aspect of difference was that these artists considered the pleasure of making art as superior to the finish product, and in a sense, performers and composers have total freedom from any kind of restraint or control. In other words each music performance is different and the impulsiveness of each performance confirms the concept of indeterminate music.

6) Describe an Indonesian Gamelan. (Textbook p. 282-283)

It said that Debussy, when he heard the Indonesian ensemble called gamelan was surprisingly delighted at its diverse and delicate timbers, and decided to use the elements in the impressionistic sound which he was working at developing.

The gamelan, a distinctive Indonesian orchestra consisting mainly of percussion instruments, primarily metallophones (metal keys suspended over a bronze or wooden frame and struck with a mallet) gongs and drums. Accompanied by string and wind instruments for good effect is a widely respected theme. With drums regulating the tempo and rhythm, while a part of the instruments engage in playing melody, others add finesse and the gongs intervene methodically at phrase and section endings to notify the formal structures of a composition. The visually spectacular effects of this music from Java or Bali have attracted rave reviews from the Western World.

Between the Javanese and Balinese gamelan the latter is considered to be a richer and more satisfying experience. The gamelan music is known for the pairing of differently tuned but similar instruments, each tone clearly heard during the slow sections, and opens with the high pitch metallophones followed by regular and frequent interventions by gong strokes which punctuate the each of the first two phrases on the final beat. A 24-inch pitch bass ostinato melody is presented after a small interval dominated by high pitched instruments. In the Balinese gamelan you will be privy to drums, gongs, high- and low-pitched metallophones; pitches lying between the tones of the tonal scales; changes in dynamic level; frequent pauses; alternating sections of relaxed and driving rhythms.

7) Using the musical encounter Listening Example #62 (Einstein on the Beach, Act IV, Scene 37, "Spaceship" by Glass), discuss how that style of music has influenced American popular music. (Textbook p. 356-358)

Philip Glass was contemporary of Nadia Boulanger, who was popular for encouraging the concept of individuality among her students. Glass traveled widely in Africa and Asia to study their unique drumming prowess, and was taken aback by the profundity of Indonesia's Balinese gamelan. Glass always surprises his listeners with his use of the technique of systematically repeating melodic and rhythmic phrases that change slowly later on. His penchant for accompanying his melodies with parallel harmonies stands out from the traditional form of tonal harmonies.

"Einstein on the Beach, Act IV, Scene 37, "Spaceship" composition of Philip Glass is a classic five hour event with three themes running central to it, referred to as train, trial and field each of which has its exclusive matching music, but all are related to the thinking and experiences of Albert Einstein. The opera, based on Nevil Shute's novel referring to the horrors of a nuclear holocaust is the fruit of collaboration between Glass and Robert Wilson, the American dramatist, both of whom favored the endless durations inviting happenings or conjectures. The opera alludes to Einstein's growth from childhood when he played with toy trains to a spaceship, designed to save the human race. The audiences have found the opera enchanting and hypnotizing.

The Ensemble by Philip Glass, includes "electronic keyboards, saxophones, flutes, and a violin [representing Einstein]); rapid tempo; changing meters; solfege singing (do-re-mi, etc.); sectional form created by changes in timbre."

Several American composers have adopted Philip Glass's style of music. Though, Glass's earlier style of music was labeled as minimalists but he later preferred to be known as a "classicist," involving counterpoint and harmony in his music. His tryst with Buddhism and training under Indian greats like Ravi Shankar and Alla Rakha, who believed that rhythm is an addictive feature in music, influenced his future works, many parts of which were imbibed by the newer American composers.

8) Name several elements of jazz that European composers included in their concert hall compositions. Name three composers who did this. (Textbook p. 332-334, 371, 373, 378)

Jazz, long perceived as representing the American personality, can purely and simply boast of an American origin. Though, the roots of jazz may be traced to African cultures, especially West Africa, it has spread its influence widely on music in several other countries as well. The original pre-jazz trends, ragtime and blues, were created by the black Americans, and this progressed into jazz in the early years of the twentieth century.

Jazz is a mix of rhythmic and melodic techniques originating from West Africa harmonizing with Western music, comprehensively including a wide range of music styles. Its progress from a spontaneous to a classy urban form of music has been very quick, and Americans quickly took to its beautiful timber and dance beat possibilities.

Though, endowed with typical characteristics, the basic concept of jazz always remains steadfast. Musicians, though, often improvise on pre-existing tunes and though they are always experimenting on expanding harmonic concepts, the harmony is mostly tonal. Rhythms have subtle and hot interpretations and though the mood may be blue or bright, the blend of Western/Non-Western origins provides jazz musicians with endless possibilities and instrumental ideas.

As ragtime in jazz became more versatile, well-known pianists now seriously considered jazz a component in their compositions. George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue was among the first to introduce jazz to the audience who were fascinated by its rhythm. Since, jazz had its associations with vernacular music it started to be effectively use in music for concert halls. Some of the major European composers realized the positive effects of jazz in their compositions and strived to include its distinct features such as rhythm, timber and technique in their concert music. Among the famous European composers to absorb jazz into their works are Darius Milhaud, Bela Bartok and Maurice Rave, who used jazz techniques and wrote jazz virtuosos.

9) Compare and contrast the styles of swing and bebop. (Textbook p. 378-379)

Jazz, usually associated with music in the vernacular, has interacted closely and effectively with music for the concert hall. Almost from the start, certain European composer included the distinctive rhythms, timbres, and performance techniques of jazz in their concert music: to name a few, Darius Milhaud, Igor Stravinsky, Bela Bartok, and Maurice Ravel used interspersed their compositions with jazz techniques and wrote pieces for particular jazz virtuosos.

Swing had its origin in the mid 1930s after the great depression, when Benny Goodman improvised to make this new dance music a big hit all over the country. With its beautiful dance beat, swing was a big band version of the earlier jazz music, accompanied by 10 to 20 instruments, 3 or 4 saxophones, 3 or more trumpets and trombones, clarinets, a drum set, string bass, a piano for rhythm and a guitar for vibrant sonority. The instruments were allowed to improvise freely with its hot styles such as boogie-woogie and the blue singers swing became public favorite number one in the American dance circuit.

As time progressed, jazz found itself moving more towards the concert hall than the dance halls. However, in the 1940s the renowned saxophonists Charlie Parker and John Gillespie the great trumpet player rebelled against what they referred to as the rehearsed and written jazz, especially, the swing which had become highly popular then. They preferred to return to the earlier concepts of improvisation, proximity between the accompanying combo and the soloist and virtuosity, which concept was fiercely shared by a few experts in the field. Consequently, the bebop style was born, and many see it as the first manifestation of jazz. The bebop style was almost akin to the 1940s concert music and includes a small band of virtuosos with total independence to each instrumental line producing a combination of richly dissonant sound.

10) Why is jazz considered to be American music? (Textbook p.371)

Jazz was born in America, out of the wedlock African music and Western music promoted by the Afro Americans in the country. This is highly representative of American individuality, with black Americans contributing ragtime and blues which were the pre-jazz styles, and this has transformed itself in the twentieth century, into what we know as jazz today. Evolving from a spontaneous and untutored form of music it soon transformed itself into urban sophisticated music prior to and after the First World War. Americans were overjoyed at the stimulating timbers and danced themselves to eternity with it. Among, the several American composers, who had decided to adopt jazz into their compositions, were Charles Ive was so taken up by jazz, Aaron Copland and Milton Babbitt was also seriously impressed with jazz.

The birth of jazz coincided with the romantic era when Mozart's Jupiter symphony and Bach's 12 note chords were on the eve of battling traditional odds, to get acceptance into the music world. While composers like Chopin, Stravinsky and Debussy were striving to experiment with impressionistic music, in the U.S. The black Americans who had migrated to America from Africa and the Caribbean were trying their best to introduced forms of reggae and other drum beats, most of which were born in Harlem and organize it in a music form, which later on came to be known as jazz. Their endeavors were fully backed by American composers who provided the support that was imperative to bring into being the first musical style for the United States of America, which is clearly distinct from the other forms of music which originated in Europe.

11) Do you agree or disagree with Karlheinz Stockhausen that electronic music will eventually replace traditional concert music? Why? (Textbook p.325-326)

Karlheinz Stockhausen is considered a highly revolutionary and contemporary composer. His noteworthy score Gruppen, composed for three orchestras inculcate the 16th century polycoral style of the Venetians', and his music is a blend of complex rhythms and flexibility. His overt interest the electronic applications of pop culture featured him on the eclectic cover of the Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Several performers had found difficulty in following Stockhausen's system of notation, where the tempo and other markings were given a more relative than absolute status. It seemed that Stockhausen always wanted to be in control of his compositions, not giving the performers much freedom for improvisation.

Being the director of an electronic sound studio, with access to three sound generators, he derived a gamut of tones referred to as white noise. With deep involvement in all forms of digital music and the amalgamation of taped and live music Stockhausen now strongly believed that electronic music would ultimately replace the traditional concert and orchestras. He further believed that, though the traditional music could be easily heard at home with the help of tapes and recordings, electronic music, requiring spatial arrangements and special microphones would elicit group turnout at a concert hall.

On the other hand, Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki preferred to extend the boundaries of music by using every bit of knowledge, to propagate the traditional forms of music leaning heavily on the use of Hendry Cowell's tone clusters. In the physical version of music, the singers used a combination of consonants to produce all the vocal songs, supporting them with tongue, lip and finger clicks.

Personally, I will only concede to the extent that the digital format can, at best complement the existing traditional format of music, but can never replace it fully because the computer does have only that much of the intelligence that we humans feed into it.

12) Compare and contrast Listening Examples #61 ("Bess, You Is My Woman Now" from Porgy and Bess by Gershwin) and #55 (Symphony no. 1 ("Classical"), first movement by Prokofiev). Include the musical elements that you have learned in your discussion. Be sure to include the title and composer in your answer. (Textbook p. 336-338, 355-357)

"Bess, You Is My Woman Now" from Bess and Porgy, composed by George Gershwin is an opera duet with a quadruple meter and moderately slow tempo, While Symphony no. 1 ("Classical"), First movement, by Sergei Proko-ev is a Neoclassical symphonic music with Allegro tempo with mostly duple meter and timber orchestra containing two oboes, two clarinets, 2 bassoons; 2 trumpets, two horns, two flutes, timpani and strings.

Porgy and Bess are the central characters in a poignant love story between a paralytic Porgy, who moves about in a goat cart and Bess, a wayward woman. With just 5 lines of superbly balanced text, this duet between Porgy (bass) and Bess in the soprano highlights their solid love, when Bess declares that she will go nowhere without Porgy. Starting on a similar melody as Porgy, Bess switches on to rapturous high notes to declare her undying love for Porgy. On the hand Symphony, no. 1 ("Classical"), first movement is a musical of a neoclassical symphony which begins with solo flute followed by a second theme in 'A' major with elegant violin melody accompanied by the bassoon, which is repeated twice and then closes with repeated cadences and modulations in a major. The first theme is presented in a minor mode; transition material developed, then theme 2 is developed (ff) and repeated cadences from the closing section lead to Recapitulation, which includes second theme in 'D' major and closing section again in tonic key D Major.