Response to Student Presentations Part II

Class date for journal: December 6, 2005

In today's class we finished up the student presentations. One presentation I found very interesting was based on modernism. In this presentation, Stravinsky was discussed along with his works. Perhaps his most famous work was Rite of Spring. At the first showing of this ballet, the audience was so shocked that they booed the performers off stage. However, Rite of Spring would go on to be one of the greatest ballets ever. Why was it so unpopular then? I believe that it was a little too ahead of its time. People were so used to other more traditional ballets that when they saw Rite of Spring they were horrified. As people began to understand this ballet, and other modern music, it become more accepted.

In my opinion, a similar situation happened with Charles Ives. During his composing days, Ives was hardly known in the music community. Many people who heard his music (which was very dissonant) thought it was very strange and didn't pay much attention to it. He would eventually become very famous and one of the greatest American composers ever. I believe this is because the culture at the time did not understand this type of music. Once modernism began to become more popular, people found enjoyment from Ive's works.

Response to Student Presentations Part I

Class date for journal entry: November 29, 2005

In today's class I watched a few final presentations by other class members. One presentation I found very interesting was based on Bela Bartok. Towards the end of the presentation Bartok's “Bluebeard's Castle” was discussed. This was Bartok's only opera. Like much of his music, “Bluebeard's Caste” contains nationalistic elements such as the use of the pentatonic scale and folk-like music. The psychology of Bluebeard's Castle was fascinating, as well. The students presenting explained how Duke Bluebeard tries to resist one of the main characters, Judith, from opening the doors of his castle. The symbolism of this story is interesting because, in a sense, the opening of Bluebeard's castle doors could be showing how she is unlocking the doors of his mind. This opera could be considered a psychological drama.

Another interesting presentation was based on Medieval music. The students presenting explained how this type of music was created during the Crusades to praise the actions and victories of the crusaders. I found their discussion about Gregorian chant to be most interesting. According to this style, the melodies were very stale and the flow of the notes was usually done in steps not in large “leaps”. The chant seemed to primarily concentrate on the melody and poetry and lacked almost any rhythmic change. I have to admit that while the sound is very bland, it's neat to study how they composed this style of music. To me, composers during this time had a very different definition of music than we do today. Most likely chant composers wanted as little emotion to come from the music itself, but wanted the seriousness and meaning to come first, which was to praise God. I also think that the Medieval music is very similar to the minimalist style. Especially the chant, where there is a simple melody with minimal instruments, if any, and almost no rhythm change. Overall, I thought all of the presentations were very well explained.

Modernism and Impressionism

Class date for journal entry: November 22, 2005

In today's class we talked about the Modern period and how modernism gave rise to three other forms of art: primitivism, impressionism, and expressionism. I found impressionism to be the most interesting style. Impressionism began in France where people such as Debussy, Claude Monet, and Edouard Manet helped to compose this style of music. One observation I made when listening to impressionistic music is the similarity to program music. It almost sounds as if it could be used as a movie soundtrack. I wouldn't find it hard to believe if film soundtrack composers such as John Williams or James Horner became inspired by some of these impressionists.

This week I listened to three impressionist pieces. The first piece is by composer Debussy called Nuages or clouds. This piece has a very “open” feel to it which is probably what Debussy was aiming for since the name means clouds. It uses the pentatonic scale in many areas. Also, the melody has a very large range, meaning that it could quickly jump from a lower pitch to suddenly a much higher one, or vise versa. The use of dynamics is another important element of this piece building and releasing tension at specific areas.

I also listened to Les Collines D'Anacapri or The Hills of Capri, also by Debussy. This piece, especially at the beginning, has a dream like-quality to it. Oddly enough, however, the rhythm becomes more “andante-like” and jazz sounding. But as the piece continues, it returns to its dream-like quality. It seems to me that many jazz composers may have been inspired by Debussy's pieces.

The last piece I listened to this week was Debussy's Voiles. This piece is very slow and has a mysteriousness to it. A few times throughout this piece I heard the use of pentatonic scale. I found it interesting how the performer tends to stay on the lower end of the keyboard but at certain times, will suddenly start hitting some of the higher keys. Because the name “Voiles” means “wind” in English, maybe this sudden rush to the higher notes is symbolizing a sudden rush of winds. Again, I find that this music would easily be able to fit some sort of movie, depicting a windy night. These pieces seem to want to paint a picture inside the listeners head.

Music downloaded and used in this blog entry include:

Nocturnes-Nuages by Debussy

Preludes – Book 1: 5. Les Collines D'Anacapri performed by Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli

Preludes – Book 1: 2. Voiles performed by Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli

Other materials used in this blog entry include:

Dr. Steven Pane's MUS 106 class notes

Modernism and Charles Ives

Class date for journal entry: November 8, 2005

In class today we began a discussion on Modernism. During this period the definition of music began to change once again. In many cases, the listener gave an intellectual response to the music rather than an emotional one. An example of this would be how dissonance was used during the early 1900s. It is much harder to receive a clear emotional reaction to a piece that has chords or melodies and harmonies that clash together. It seems to me, in order to fully understand a piece that contains a lot of dissonance, one must study the music. During the Modern period a listener could still receive emotion from music, but I believe he would have to study the piece in order to, in a sense, understand how to receive the emotion.

This week I read an article based on Charles Ives' “Unanswered Question” called the “Unmixed Question”. This article discusses how Ives used “spatial separation” to give the listener a surround sound effect. It's interesting to see how this composer, instead of concentrating on the composition, decided to make the focus of the piece be where the instruments are played. The meaning of the piece is not necessarily found in the melodies and harmonies but in the timing of the trumpet, flutes, and strings and what each group of instrument symbolizes. This piece is a great example of modernism.

I also read a biography on Ives by Jan Swafford that I found very fascinating. His works, while not extremely well recognized during his life, were advanced and different for his time. Ives seemed to want the listener to receive a different meaning from his work. In this biography the author quotes from Ives, “What has sound got to do with music!?” I find this funny, but it makes sense. Instead of simply receiving enjoyment or meaning from the pretty sounds of the melody, harmony, etc., why not look for meaning in how the music is arranged and what it actually means. After reading the entire biography, I have received an amazing amount of respect for Ives. While his work, in my opinion, was misunderstood during his time, it didn't stop him from composing the way he wanted. Ives was a true genius and seemed to be ahead of his time.

This week I listened to two selections. This included Charles Ives' “The Unanswered Question”. I must admit that I am completely amazed by this piece. After studying more about Ives and the Modern period, I have a better understand of how he uses music to portray a meaning to the listener rather than simply a nice sounding melody. In this piece there are three parts that each symbolize different concepts. The trumpet plays a sort of mysterious melody that symbolizes a question. The group of wind instruments play soon after the trumpet, symbolizing a “supposed answer” to the question. The part that gives the most meaning to this piece are the strings. The strings are constantly playing throughout the piece. They are symbolizing the vast and unchanging natural universe that continues, regardless of the question and the answer. I interpret the “question” as being the spiritual questions of humans; the “answer” as being the opinions of the humans who are limited in their ability to comprehend the universe; and the “universe” as being the unchanging truth that humans strive to understand. Ives has created a beautiful work that must be understood in order to receive the full meaning.

The next piece I listened to was another work of Ives called “Three Places In New England: Putnam's Camp”. This piece is actually considered program music and tells a story of a boy participating in a Fourth of July picnic. In the beginning the piece sounds like a regular American tune. However, the notes soon start clashing in almost shocking ways. This clashing of notes is supposed to simulate two marching bands moving towards each other. As they come closer the mixture of notes makes the music sound much more dissonant. In the middle of this piece, the music winds down a bit. This represents a boy falling asleep and dreaming about the goddess of liberty. Once the boy wakes up, the marching band music starts again with same amount of clashing as it had before. It is interesting how, at some points, the music sounds very toe-tappish; but at other times it is very hard to keep track of the rhythm.

Music downloaded and used in this blog entry include:

“The Unanswered Question” by Michael Tilson Thomas & San Francisco Symphony

“Three Places In New England: 2. Putnam's Camp” by Michael Tilson Thomas & San Francisco Symphony

Other materials used in this blog entry include:

Dr. Steve Pane's MUS 106 class notes

“The Unmixed Question: the spatial music of Charles Ives” by Preston Wright

“Charles Edward Ives” by Jan Swafford

The Romantic Period!

Class date for journal: October 25, 2005 and November 1, 2005

In today's journal entry I will be covering two days of lecture. On the first day, we were introduced to the Romantic style of music. The Romantic Period began around 1800 and ended around 1900. This style encouraged the definition of music to be for the emotional reaction of the person listening. It seems to me that the Romantic style aims for getting the most emotion possible from music.

I found it interesting that chromaticism was used much more during the Romantic Period. And this makes sense. Because chromaticism allows music to change in key, there can be emotional contrasts in a piece. For example, music is able to change from a happy sounding piece that is in a major key, to a very dark or sad sound that is in a minor key. These changes in key allow for diverse emotional changes, in which the listener recognizes.

The second lecture continued our discussion on the Romantic Period with a concentration on the composer named Hector Berlioz. Berlioz was a French composer who is well known for his amazing use of color in his music.

What I found interesting about Berlioz was his use of program music, (his piece called “Symphonie Fantastique” is considered program music) which is a piece of music that conveys a story. I find the concept of program music to be very compelling, mostly because I find that it can be compared to today's movie soundtracks. The purpose of these soundtracks is to, along with the actual film, give the audience the maximum amount of emotion. Also, these soundtracks usually move with what is happening on screen. So if there is, for example, a part in a movie's story where a car chase is taking place, the music will help the story emotionally by providing intense and exciting music. Like program music, movie soundtracks help tell the story of the movie. It is as though Romantic music could easily be the inspiration for today's movie soundtrack artists.

The music I listened to this week included Chopin's Mazurka Op. 17 No. 4. Mazurka is great example of music that changes keys frequently. These key changes give this piece a lot of emotional contrasts and, at times, an almost “jazzy” or “mysterious” feel. I found, like many of the pieces we have listened to, Mazurka relies on dynamics to increase and decrease tension, making it exciting at times and relaxing at others.

The second piece I have been listening to this week is the fourth movement of Berlioz's “Symphonie Fantastique” called “March of the Scaffold”. As I mentioned before, this piece is a great example of program music and sounds as though it could be used as a movie soundtrack. The beginning of the piece starts out rather quiet with a drum playing a sort of marching rhythm. As the story goes, a man is marching to his execution. As the man approaches the guillotine, the music becomes much more tense and scary sounding. Right before the man is about to be executed, the music turns soft and relaxing as though he is seeing someone dear to him before he dies. Then, without warning, there is a massive accent in the music, describing his head being chopped off. As the piece is coming to a close, a drum roll is being played, representing the man's head rolling.

Music I used for this blog entry include:

Mazurka, Op. 17, No. 4 in a Minor by William Kapell

Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: IV. Marche au supplice (Allegretto non troppo) by Berliner Philharmoniker & Igor Markevitch

Materials used in this blog entry include Dr. Steven Pane's MUS 106 class notes.

Theory and Beethoven

In today's class we talked about some music theory terms. Of all these terms, “cadence” and “deceptive cadence” were the most interesting to me. The cadence is a part in a piece of music that resolves nicely by ending on its tonic. Deceptive cadence, however, is a part in a piece of music that does not resolve in a nice manner. When deceptive cadence is used, this part in the music usually does not end on its tonic, making it sound rather odd or unfinished. After understanding these definitions, I wonder why we feel music resolves best by ending on its tonic? Is it something theoretical, or is it the way we think as humans that make us appreciate a resolution that ends on the tonic? For example, many forms of music in the Middle East do not resolve in a way that we would generally believe to be nice sounding. However, the people who were brought up on this type of music probably believe it to, in fact, resolve appropriately. Culture could be another factor that determines how we think a resolution should sound.

The music I listened to this week included three movements from Beethoven's Opus 27 No. 2. The first movement is overall very dark sounding and sad. However, there are a very few powerful parts where, for a few seconds, the music turns hopeful, but then quickly goes back to sounding rather sad. Right from the start Beethoven creates this repeated note pattern that continues for practically the entire piece. Dynamics are very important in this movement. While it is a quiet piece, when the volume adjusts slightly, it has a large emotional affect on the listener. The piece modulates at certain areas, and although the structure of the notes are usually the same, the changed tonic makes it sound different and more interesting.

The second movement, while shorter, is much more joyful sounding and is a large contrast to the first movement. Like the first movement, dynamics play a large role. Instead of sounding mostly quiet, this movement builds a lot of tension and then releases it by going from extremely loud to a very soft resolution.

The third movement is very fast and loud. It also contains another repeated note pattern that continues throughout the entire movement. While not necessarily dark or happy sounding, it is extremely energetic (this is why it is considered one of Beethoven's “storms”). It stays consistently loud and doesn't often decrease in volume. Beethoven accents some of the notes in this movement that can almost shock the listener when played.

Music I used for this blog entry include:

Piano Sonata No. 14, in C-sharp Minor “Moonlight”, Op. 27, I, II, and III. by Artur Rubinstein.

Materials used in this blog entry include Dr. Steven Pane's MUS 106 class notes.

Beethoven

Today in class we used the majority of the time to study Beethoven and how his music was very different from the Classical period music. A normal composition during the Classical period would have four movements. In some of the movements it is possible that a sonata may be used. The form for the sonata is the exposition, the development, and then the recapitulation. Beethoven followed this structure, but very loosely. For example, instead of each movement having its own theme, he actually had multiple movements share the same theme. He would also organize the piece so that one movement would actually replay parts of a previous movement. Beethoven not only changed the normal structure of music, he also changed what music was supposed to be about. He did this by composing music based on his own feelings, which was a wide variety of emotions including joy or anger. In my opinion Beethoven showed true originality by not simply following “the norm” when composing. His music was not only inventive but a description of his feelings, which gave meaning to his art. I wish more artists today would not be afraid to design art using their own feelings instead of simply following the “norm”.

The music I listened to this week included the first movement of Beethoven's Symphony no. 5. This piece is very powerful and the listener discovers its intensity right at the start. The beginning sounds angry as if Beethoven is extremely unhappy. This feeling of unhappiness is prevalent throughout the entire movement. However, there are a few areas where the music turns joyful and triumphant, as though Beethoven has somehow used his anger to accomplish something positive. But very quickly, these joyful parts are overtaken by a more angry sound. The first movement ends with even more intensity and anger than in the beginning.

The second piece I listened to this week was the third movement of Beethoven's Symphony no. 6. This movement is very peaceful and happy. It has a natural or country-like sound to it. The title of this movement is “Merry Gathering of Country Folk”. A listener may feel that the music is describing some sort of celebration among villagers. At times the movement even has a “folk” feel to it.

There are obvious differences between the first movement of Beethoven's Symphony no. 5 and the third movement of his 6th symphony. The fifth symphony is much louder and intense, giving the listener the feeling that the composer is upset about something, while the 6th symphony is almost a celebration of the simple things such as nature. It almost seems as though Beethoven was a very moody person.

Music I used for this blog entry include:

Symphony No. 6 in F "Pastoral", Op. 68: III. Merry Gathering of Country Folk (Allegro) (performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra & Riccardo Muti)

Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67: I. Allegro con brio (performed by the Andreas Delfs & Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra)

Materials used in this blog entry include Dr. Steven Pane's MUS 106 class notes.