...Karis Miller Bob Pedersen Music Appreciation November 5, 2012 Berg/Debussy/Stravinsky Chicago Symphony Orchestra The concert video that I watched was called Berg/Debussy and Stravinsky with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Conducted by Pierre Boulez with soloist soprano Christine Schafer and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. On the video the full orchestra played three different composers musical works. Alan Berg, symphony selections from Lulu, there was also Claude Debussy’s Le Jet D’eau and Trois Ballades de Villon, and lastly there was Igor Stranvinsky’s The Firebird. This music was all from the Classical Period between 1750-1820. The first section that I choose to review was the last movement of Debussy’s music. The beginning of the fourth movements dynamics are Mezzo piano and with a tempo of accelerando. The soprano soloist begins singing allegro and builds the drama with her voice and with the help of the orchestra. The music soon climaxes fortissimo where the focal point is very dramatic and the orchestra is playing loud enough to her less of the soloist and more of the powerful sounds of the violins and the brass instruments in the orchestra. With many tempo changes, the music does an elaborate rise and fall beginning with much force and fortissimo and ending with a complete cadence that gives you a feeling of finality. I do think that the last cadence kind of left me feeling like I wanted more and didn’t want it to be over. I liked this piece very much but...
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...Montreal Symphony Orchestra’s Performance of Claude Debussy’s Jeux (1912), Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto, No. 3 in C Major, Opus 26 (1921), and Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring (1913) (Zaption). I had a wonderful time, as the Orchestra was masterful in their performances, starting with Jeux. The Symphony Towers was a wonderful venue, very upscale and old fashioned, with ornate carvings all along the wall on the inside by the stage. Seating was laid out in a way where everyone got to see the stage very well, and I myself had a great seat, where everything was within my sight. The ushers...
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...On August 22 of 1862 in a suburb known as Saint-Germain-en-Laye, located in the western part of France’s north-central region, a child was born that would become the infamous French composer Claude Debussy. From the young age of nine, Debussy demonstrated his prodigious abilities on the piano and showed he had the capacity to develop into one of the most influential figures in the Romantic Era. However, he constantly faced a countless amount of overwhelming struggles and obstacles that were undeniably strenuous. In Claude’s early years of piano playing, he was encouraged by Mauté de Fleurville, a woman associated with Chopin, to continue improving his musical capabilities. He was a mere 11 years old when he began his studies in the piano and...
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...sources of inspiration for 20th century music? (.7 point) Composers of the 20th century drew inspiration from an enormous variety of sources, including folk and popular music; music of Asia, Africa, and Latin America; and European art music from the Middle Ages through the 19th century. Many composers reacted to the influences of Post-Romantic and Impressionist styles and wrote works from it. 2. Name and describe the characteristics of twentieth-century music before 1945; for full credit include information on tone color, harmony, alternatives to the traditional tonal system, rhythm, and melody. (2 points) Tone color became a crucial element creating variety, continuity, and mood. New sounds on old instruments and uncommon playing techniques became the norm. Percussion instruments became prominent and numerous, reflecting the interest in unusual rhythms and tone colors. Harmony brought changes to in the way chords were treated. The traditional relationship between consonance and dissonance was challenged. New chord structures were created such as the polychord, the fourth chord, and the tone cluster. Alternatives to the traditional tonal system, known as tonality or key, governed the organization of pitch. Use of scales other than major and minor and chords other than triad were used as the central tone. Rhythm drew it new ideas from jazz, folk music from all over the world, and older European art music from the Middle Ages through the 19th century...
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...1. In music, the early twentieth century was a time of revolt and change 2. The most famous riot in music history occurred in Paris in 1913 at the first performance of Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. 3. Composers in the twentieth century drew inspiration from folk and popular music from all cultures, the music of Asia and Africa, and European art music from the Middle Ages through the nineteenth century. 4. Twentieth-century composers incorporated elements of folk and popular music within their personal styles because they were attracted to the unconventional rhythms, sounds and melodic patterns 5. A great twentieth-century composer who was also a leading scholar of the folk music of his native land was Béla Bartók. 6. Which of the following composers was not stimulated by the folklore of his native land? Anton Webern 7. In twentieth-century music string players are sometimes called on to use the wood instead of the hair on their bows, percussion instruments have become very prominent and numerous, & dissonance has been emancipated 8. Among the unusual playing techniques that are widely used during the twentieth century is the glissando, a rapid slide up or down a scale. 9. In modern music instruments are played at the very top or bottom of their ranges; uncommon playing techniques have become normal; noiselike and percussive sounds are often used 10. A piano is often used in twentieth-century orchestral music to add a percussive edge 11. The combination of two...
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...Uncovering Mahler, Schoenberg & Debussy In this essay I will talk about three composers who individually had their own take on music and have significantly aided the progression of music composition in the twentieth-century. These three composers are Gustav Mahler, Arnold Schoenberg and Claude Debussy. I will assess their compositional styles by investigating in to some of the structures they used and the meaning and thinking behind their movements and symphonies. Gustav Mahler (July, 1860) was a late-Romantic composer and was a huge influence on modern music both with his music and his conducting. One piece of music that he is forever recognised by is his Song of the Earth (Das Lied von der Erde) composed in 1907-1908. This was first performed later on, unfortunately not conducted by Mahler himself as it was performed after his death. It was a huge piece of work written for two soloists, which was very rarely done, and an almighty orchestra. This would have been his ninth symphony but ‘Mahler refused to call it No.9 out of superstitions dread: Beethoven and Bruckner had got no further than nine, and he half seriously hoped to cheat death by stopping his numbering at eight’. (Cooke 1980, p.104) However others say this isn't the whole truth and that it wasn't named No.9 because this song meant a lot more to him. The song was separated into six separate movements, each of these became their own individual song. However it is the first movement - Drinking song of the Earths...
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...On September 25th, 2017 I attended the concert of Evan Mitchell, a well-known pianist from the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth. In his recital he played a total of five pieces all ranging from the Baroque Period to the Twentieth Century, it’s this wide variety of music that allow us to have some different insight to the various music styles of that time. For instance, Mitchell’s first piece was that of the Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue in D minor by J.S. Bach. It’s to mention that the first half of the music was composed over many scales and tended to have conflicting harmonies within the first minutes played. However, like much of the music within the Baroque Age, Fantasy and Fugue is comprised of many Chromatic notes and carries a wide range...
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...Debussy’s Nocturne French composer and impressionist, Debussy was among one of the most influential composers in the early 20th-century. His use of chromaticism and untraditional scales has inspired many other composers after him. One of his earlier works Nocturnes. no. 1. Nuages aligns with two other works, all three inspired by impressionistic paintings also titled Nocturnes. The name ‘Nuages’ derives from the solemn motions of the clouds all fading to grey, dull light tracing the cloud cover. Debussy’s nocturnes provide various impressions and ideas that lead the listener through a wordless maze of thought. The first thing you will notice about this piece is how mysterious and subtly unnerving it is, starting out with two clarinets and...
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...Musical Impressionism Impressionism implies suggestion. With art, impressionism was to suggest rather than sustain a clear objective or draw a perfect picture. Impressionist music is tremendously similar. It focuses on creating a “sense” of the piece by using chromatic harmony and refined shadings of sound rather than keeping on a steady beat and straight rhythm. Impressionistic music could be thought to be filled with “wonder”. Impressionism, in the late Nineteenth century and early Twentieth century, was unheard of and had a confusing aura- as it naturally would be as it was not introduced before. Claude Debussy, the forefather, if you will, of impressionism, created his music through suggestion [rather than statement]. He took Mallarme’s poem Prélude À "L'après-midi d'un faune" and turned it into a song, which later he would (finally) “win acclaim”. Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun expresses impressionism in the finest state with his use of chromatic scales and whole tone scales, and unusual sound patterns. It had an ebb and flow of an ascending and descending scale and but never the same repeating rhythmic sequence. It’s complex rhythms, variations, and subtle textures “convey the impression of light and movement, rather than giving an exact representation of shapes”. It focused on feelings rather than a straightforward look at the poem. Ravel’s Le tombeau de Couperin is not surrounded with the same sounds as Debussy, however has the Impressionistic...
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...Example of Concert Review Essay [This was a paper written by an actual student in the Popular Music in America class. It is not offered as an award-winning review nor is it compositionally error-free. It did, however, receive an A for this assignment and is an example of the level of writing and analysis that is required to receive an A. Please do not, however, begin your paper in exactly the same way or attempt to copy “buzz words” or phrases. Write your own paper!] On February 17, 2005, the Jazz Ensemble at Tarleton State University had their first concert of the spring semester with special guest trumpeter, Daryl White. The jazz ensembles collectively performed thirteen pieces during the concert. “Fly Me to the Moon”, “Waltz for Debby” and “Ancient Memories” were three stylistically different pieces that allowed the audience to experience the various sounds of jazz music. Jazz music, like all music, tells a story and here are the stories of “Fly Me to the Moon”, “Waltz for Debby” and “Ancient Memories”. “Fly Me to the Moon”, written by Bart Howard and arranged by Sammy Nestico, is an upbeat standard sung most famously by Frank Sinatra. In the instrumental version of this song, a Latin-inspired sounding consonance set the romantic mood at the beginning of this song. A piano and saxophone then alternated the melody of the song as though they were dancing like two lovers flying to the moon. As the passion of the song heated up, the texture changed within...
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...ife without music would be as boring as a T.V. that only shows one color or a house that has only one room. In other words life without music would be dull. If there were a choice to have music in our lives and not have music in our lives I would definitely choose to have music in my life. I would choose to have music in my life for many reasons: to have something to enjoy whenever I want to, it can prepare me for anything, and I can turn it off whenever I want to. My first reason to keep music in our lives was because I can have something to enjoy whenever I want to. I am saying this because much of the time I am in my room and I am on my computer, and it is nice to have some music playing while surfing the web or just talking to some of my friends through instant messages. Not only that but sometimes when I am going on a trip to a place that is hundreds of miles away, I have nothing to do for a countless number of hours, so I always bring my music playing device so that I can pass time and never be bored, and sometimes it also helps me fall asleep when I want to on the car when there are tons of noises going on. Secondly, music is a great method to get me pumped up before a sports game, whenever I have a basketball game I always like to listen to something energetic, so when I go on the court I am energetic as well, but listening to music before a game always gets me extremely concentrated and coordinated, because everything in my body is in sync with the music I am listening...
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...Sound Tracks to My Life I wonder if there is such a thing as a good addiction, because I’m sure as hell addicted to music. When I think of music I think of an escape. I can be doing anything at any given moment and put in a pair of head phones and be completely in another world. Without music, my day is completely empty and boring. I wake up to music; I go to school listening to music and even eat to it. Music is a source of joy, stress, tears, camaraderie and fulfillment for me. What would life be without music? The world would be a very quiet place. Music for me is a reminder of how things once were an indication of how things are, and a view of where society is headed. Music is a direct reflection of the picture of society. Music can be a way to deliver messages, a poetic medium, a fine art, or nothing more than a source of entertainment. No matter what it is used for, music is the perfect art and my life would be that much less complete without it. Two songs come to mind when I think about all these sources of completeness for myself. First is “Proud to Be an American” by Lee Greenwood and “You and Me” by Soldier of Jah Army. I often think of the words of Lee Greenwood’s song “God Bless the USA” in which he states:”And I’m proud to be an American where at least I know I’m free....” I wholeheartedly agree. My heart swells with gratitude to God and this wonderful land where, regardless of whom I am or what my goals are, I have that priceless gift of freedom. Freedom to...
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...Digital Media Matthew McCormick Course # Com/225 May 20, 2013 Maurice Nelson Digital Media Technology has molded the electronic and digital industry into what it is today. Society is dependent and addicted to technology and the potential to make life easier through it. Research for school projects is no longer spent with hours in the library, reading and taking notes, or combing through dictionaries and encyclopedias. Students now have the internet, where with one click they have access to a whole world of information, and they can do it anywhere in the world. Road trips are traveled by GPS not through hours of route planning in a map. Television is sought at more now than ever by kids in place of playing outside. Photography has made major improvements when discussing technology. In 1826, Joseph Niepce, a French inventor, discovered the first way to capture images. Using a pewter plate and some light sensitive materials, he was able to capture the first picture. It took 8 hours of sun light exposure to capture the first picture, the courtyard of his home (Karwatka, 2007). Today, you can take a high quality digital picture instantly, virtually anywhere, with almost any electronic device. Recording sound has also had to evolve with technology. Thomas Edison invented the first recording device in 1877. He named his device the phonograph, meaning sound writer (Lerner, 2008). He used a cylinder wrapped in tinfoil that rotated as someone shouted into a funnel...
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...Gardener. Mentor. Friend. This is not a direct sequel to “Best Gift, Ever!”, but it almost is. I got so many positive comments and questions after that particular blog-post that I started to imagine my future celebrity book-signings, huge six-figure (even seven-figure) royalties. Why, I was even already on Oprah, to talk about my latest book and how well it’s doing on New York’s bestseller list. Dr. Phil was recommending it as well. Just before it became recommended reading for every child-psychology course in the US and Canada. Translated into fifty different languages, many hospitals were already talking of putting it in every new parent’s hands. Wonderful! Amen, somebody! But coming back down to earth, the immediate questions that faced me were, if you indeed want to give your child or ward the best gift ever, how would you go about it? How would you help your child become independent in this world, and have the ability to navigate this world as she pleases? How do you prepare her for a world that does not yet exist? One of the very best analogies I’ve found, for how to bring the best out of your growing child, is the art (yes, art) of growing a plant. Well, you don’t expect your child to remain rooted to one spot his whole life but the similarities are many. Scientists have long talked about “Nature vs Nurture”. Which has the strongest pull on how well a child does physically and mentally? Is the child a successful musician because the genes are there, or because he was...
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