Unit 9

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Readings and Quizzes

NotesLinks to an external site.

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Opera

Step 1

  • Provide a scene summary for the Anvil Chorus from Verdi's Il Travatore

    • Anvil Chorus is a lively break from the operas overall dark plot. This scene depicts Spanish Gypsies hard at work striking their anvils and engaging in conversation about hard work, good wine, and gypsy women. 

Step 2

  • Provide a scene summary for the Opera Ballet from Verdi's Aida

    • It seems that they are carrying something extremely important. It seems to be upbeat and celebratory, maybe a ceremony of some sort. It seems that they are there to entertain/empress the royalty behind them. 

 

Step 3

  • What musical elements are used to create the celebratory mood heard in Verdi's Triumphal March from Aida?

(Musical Elements; Pitch, Rhythm, Dynamics, Tempo, Texture, Timbre, Form, Purpose, Harmony, Melody, Expression, Mood, Language, Style, etc.)

The trumpet begins with a bright tone and major mode. The accents used and drum line underneath creates a fanfare feeling. The steady beat matches the marking of the followers. The modulation of the main melody kept the tonality major, but raised the pitch of the melody. Soon harmony enters, and some polyphony with a steady beat in the trumpet. Then, suddenly, the whole song shifts to a fast melody in the flute. It is still upbeat but the tempo is increasing and the listener feels the song moving towards. An oboe with an eastern feel reminds us of the country of the story and variation of this melody move the piece forwards. 

A slow, lyrical section with brassy interjections leads us to the next racing section. All of this keeps that marching feeling we initially heard in the timpani/trumpet. The flute trill bring us to a steady pulsing melody that reminds me of a jolly dance in an Irish pub. The oboe theme returns. Leading us to a variation of the slow woodwind section, this time in the low strings. The hits return, gaining momentum and increasing tempo, and the pice ends with one loud bang!

Overall, the steady pulse of percussion, major mode, and celebratory hits of brass make this piece feel like wonderful time to dance!

Step 4

  • Answer the following questions regarding Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries from the Ring Cycle

  1. What is a Leitmotiv?

    1. A motif that represents a person, idea, or thing. 
  2. What instrument/instrument family is used for the Valkyrie motiv?

    1. Trumpets, but sometimes the whole brass family. 
  3. Describe how Leitmotivs are used to elevate the story in the Lord of the Rings

    1. In Lord of the Rings, leitmotivs are used often to represent people (or a group of people) as well as ideals. The most prevalent themes are the Shire theme, the Fellowship theme and the Rohan theme. However, the composer claims that there are over forty leitmotivs representing specific people, places, or ideas throughout the movies. This creates a sense of continuity that the viewers of the movie take in subconsciously. It also helps drop hints about what is going to happen. You may know when something bad is near due to instrumentation, but many people just say "the big scary music means the bad guys are coming". While many do not know the work "leitmotiv", they could have probably recognized them in movies like Lord of the Rings, where many are guiding the viewer through the story. 
  4. Create your very own Leitmotiv using the template from this Wagnerian Leitmotiv ProjectLinks to an external site.

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Step 5

  • Define Music Drama/Gesamtkunstwerk with regards to Wagner' Ring Cycle

    • A music drama is a combination of poetry, drama, philosophy, and music. In the Ring Cycle, traditional epic poems are used as a backing to Wagner's compositions. Through this combination he embellished the stories (and picked them very carefully) in order to explore relevant philosophical and political inquiries of the time. This was a massive work which took some dedication to watch. It was full to the brim with romantic techniques, and was no small act of composition. A Music Drama is a "total work of art", as Wagner described, and was not only well-composed, but also had meaning behind the story. 
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America during the Romantic Period

Step 1

  • Listen to the 3 examples below to answer the following questions

  1. Share your overall impression of Romantic Period music from American Music during this time period

    1. Battle Hymn: Well I definitely here the nationalist aspect. It is marching forwards (and speaks about marching) and the instruments are in unison with the vocalists. Few descending lines in brass act as embellishment, but mostly there is little creativity. 
    2. Dixie Land: Very southern, with the fiddle, banjo, and bluegrass feel. The instrumentation itself is uniquely American, and then there are the lyrics. Well obviously this is a confederate song and so the lyrics are packed full of political messages (that aren't too hidden). 
    3. Fife and Drum: It is just so up and down, but I guess thats what a march is. Snare and flute are pushing towards and then it repeats, and there are a few counterpoint lines now and then. I just am never really a fan of this type of music. 
  2. How does it sound similar to the European compositions?

    1. Well, Europe also had war marches. They had their snare and their chants and all of it has a similar quality. 
  3. How does it sound different from European compositions?

    1. In many ways. America had this specific love of the snare drum paired with the flute, not to mention our use of "the fiddle" and the banjo. Our instrumentation itself was different, and our intentions in writing this music. That lead to a specific style unique to Americans. 

A. Battle Hymn of the Republic

B.  Dixie Land

C.  Fife and Drum

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Romantic Evening

Step 1

  • What musical elements give Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture a nationalistic/patriotic feeling?

(Musical Elements; Pitch, Rhythm, Dynamics, Tempo, Texture, Timbre, Form, Purpose, Harmony, Melody, Expression, Mood, Language, Style, etc.)

The initial brass line used intervals that reminded me of a war march. The increasing tempo and slow crescendo leading us to the cymbal crash, cannons, and full-orchestral hits on every beat felt like a battle! Then, the descending lines slowed us down, like the calming and sadness after war. The low brass lead us into the vocal entrance, which was grand and spanned a large range. Liberty bells, if you will, were chiming, and everything feels kind of like chaos. Bells, vocals, and the descending lines all blended to create a strange dissonance. This was cleared away when the new upbeat victory theme played. Cannons reentered, the tempo increased, and brass were having a field day. Chromatic scale, final theme, hits, recapitulation of the theme, ascending line, large chords and a snare role, and then a calming into the final cadence. Yeah, felt pretty American. 

 

Step 2

  • Describe the connection between the music and the choreography in Tchaikovsky's March from the Nutcracker

    • During the descending line that have a distinct flowing feeling to them, the men are leaping gracefully with their swords in a circle. When brass enters with the fanfare, they march. The low brass lyrical theme also is matches with leaping, but this time in a straight line, not in a circle. The fanfare theme always has straighter, sharper choreography to it. Descending or ascending lines typically are matched with a swinging of the sword above the dancer's head in a playful manner. The new theme in the flutes allow the scene to change focus: the women come from backstage to upstage. With the fanfare returning, Clara is in the spotlight but the soldiers are not far away. Repeated choreography returns with its theme. 

 

Step 3

  • How does the composer connect the music to the story/image in Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain?

Eerie beginning; we don't know whats coming. The low brass theme is the demon! Crescendo as he scales the mountain, we see the town and the brassy timbre is making us nervous! A trill = bats! That initial feeling of anxiety returns with runs in the flutes as ghosts roam. We hear the first ascending theme. Low brass theme for the demon returns with him. A new motif is introduced as we enter the graveyard; it is subject to many transformations. Leitmotivs continue throughout the piece often. 

Step 4

  • Describe how dynamics & tempo are used to heighten emotion in Grieg's In the Hall of the Mountain King

    • Begins slow and low, bopping along. Slowly it gets faster, with the introduced theme working its way up in pitch. Faster, faster, faster. All pretty quiet. Suddenly MUCh faster in the flute. Still getting faster, still quiet, still light. The low voices begin the crescendo, building up the intensity. All of a sudden the middle voices join (about f right now). Trills lead us to a HUGE crescendo into a much faster, much louder, much more intense version of the main theme. That one violin they zoom in on Is getting into it!!! They get faster, louder, etc. and then huge bangs lead us to end the piece. 

 

Step 5

  • Provide a summary of Billy Joel's process and 'classical influences' in creating Lullabye(Goodnight My Angel)

    • Billy Joel wrote Lullaby initially as a piano piece in which he stole the ended from the Greeks. He then rewrote the ending. originally when he wrote "River of Dreams" he was trying to write a suite and tried to "jam this onto it". He wrote lyrics, translated it to latin, and then decided that was "pretentious". He then decided that this tune would be perfect as a lullaby due to the initial piano version of it (and the emotions it holds in the chord changes). 

 

  • Bonus:  Find the title of the composition by Edvard Grieg that inspired Lullabye(Goodnight My Angel)

 

Step 6

  • Provide a brief narrative explaining proper audience etiquette to include suggested do's and don'ts, advice on when to clap and when to not clap, etc. 

  • do: 
    • clap when a song is completely finished
    • come in between songs when late
    • handle any personal issues quietly, like leaving between songs to make a phone call or during a song to quiet a baby
  • don't: 
    • clap between movements, or when instructed not to (ie prisms)
    • storm in during the middle of a piece if you're late
    • use your phone or let your kid scream during the performance

 

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Honors Track

Use THIS LINK Links to an external site.tLinks to an external site.o answer the following: 

  • Provide a brief historical overview of the Vermont Symphony

    • The VSO began in 1934 when a meeting in Woodstock began it all.  Alan Carter, a young conductor, helped this dream become reality. The VSO dedicated themselves to traveling around VT to perform, not centering themselves around a single city. The musicians also were not all classically trained. They included barbers, lawyers, mail carriers, doctors, and farmers. 
  • Provide a brief overview of the Artists & VSO Chorus

  • Performers:
    • Katherine Winterstein- CONCERTMASTER
    • Kathy Andrew- ASSISTANT CONCERTMASTER
    • Woonkuo Soon- PRINCIPAL SECOND VIOLIN
    • Laura Markowitz- VIOLIN
    • Aleksandra Labinska- VIOLIN
    • David Gusakov- VIOLIN
    • Hilary Hatch- VIOLIN
    • Zoya Tsvetkova- VIOLIN
    • Sofia Hirsch- VIOLIN
    • Lino Tanaka- VIOLIN
    • Russell Wilson- PRINCIPAL VIOLA
    • Harold Lieberman- VIOLA
    • Stefanie Taylor- VIOLA
    • John Dunlop- PRINCIPAL CELLO
    • Bonnie Klimowski- CELLO
    • Jonathan Brin- CELLO
    • Dieuwke Davydov- CELLO
    • Luke Baker- PRINCIPAL BASS
    • Eliot Porter- BASS
    • Melissa Mielens- PRINCIPAL FLUTE
    • Anne Janson- SECOND FLUTE
    • Peggy Friedland- PICCOLO
    • Nancy Dimock- PRINCIPAL OBOE
    • Sherwood Wise- SECOND OBOE
    • Ann Greenawalt- ENGLISH HORN
    • Kelli O’Connor- PRINCIPAL CLARINET
    • Janet Polk- PRINCIPAL BASSOON
    • Rebecca Eldredge- SECOND BASSOON
    • Shelagh Abate- PRINCIPAL HORN
    • Sheffra Spiridopoulos- SECOND HORN
    • Alan Parshley- THIRD HORN
    • Stewart Schuele- FOURTH HORN
    • Mark Emery- PRINCIPAL TRUMPET
    • Greg Smith- SECOND TRUMPET
    • Matthew Wright- PRINCIPAL TROMBONE
    • Gabriel Langfur- BASS TROMBONE
    • Takatsuga Hagiwara- TUBA
    • Jeremy Levine- TIMPANI
    • D. Thomas Toner- PERCUSSION
    • Heidi Soons- HARP
       
  • They are all from different towns! The VSO is proud to represent the entirety of VT, and so their performers do not originate from one location. 
  • Chorus:
    • The VSO also has a 100-member chorus; founded in 1993 by Conductor Emeritus, Robert De Cormier, the first performance they ever did was of Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms in 1994. Like the instrumentalists, they are not centered around a specific city. They come from far and wide and travel all over to perform. 
  • Describe Educational Outreach Programs offered by the Symphony

    • The VSO runs the Symphony Kids Music Education program! They have many in-school visits, field trips, and at-concert options. The in-school presentations can come from several of their performing groups and include demonstrations, audience participation, and a lot of "zany humor" as the website says. They also cary "musical petting zoos" with them to all concerts, allowing children to test out a bunch of instruments!

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  • Provide historical background for one of the upcoming events; composers, artists, conductors, etc.

    • The David M. Wilson Memorial Farmers' Night Concert on January 22, 2020, includes two miniatures. One by Holst, and one by Sibelius. Miniatures are a favorite of the early Romantic era, yet Holst was mostly known for simplicity in his compositions. Holst branched out considerably when he composed Planets. In Planets, each planet and its corresponding Roman God was explored through their respective movement. Overall, however, Holst tended to draw from simpler muses such as folksong, and he enjoyed simplicity in composition. 

       

  • What percentage of the concert programming appears to come from Romantic Period Literature?

    • About 5%, but they are doing a very large Holiday selection right now, so that's not surprising. 
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