A Night at the Opera Workshop

This Wednesday I attended the opera workshop that was held. There were many great singers that sang short arias. The point of the workshop was to show how the singers would prepare their pieces for auditions and how they would get their emotions that would drive their pieces. 

Many of the pieces were very similar to the Enlightenment music that we studied in class. Four of the pieces were actually composed by Mozart who was a key enlightenment composer. One of the arias "Madamina! Il catologo e questo" was actually from the opera Don Giovanni that we had studied in class. This particular piece was when Leporello encounters one of Don Giovanni's former conquests, who has just learned the truth about her former lover. I was able to hear a few of the phrases that we learned in class. There seemed to be a few parallel interrupted and parallel sectional periods in the piece. I thought that this was a really cool piece, it was sung by a baritone and i really was able to understand what was going on in the scene, even though I did not speak the language. 

In all the pieces, I was pleasantly surprised about the extent to which I was able to understand what was going on. The short blurbs definitely helped to get me part of the way, but the acting was what really sold it for me. In the piece "O mio babbino caro" from Gianni Schicchi, I was really able to see the pain that Lauretta was going though when she was begging her father to allow her to marry the man that she loves. 

The instrumentation for each of the pieces that was shown was very simple. They only used the piano, so that they were able to emphasize the singers voices as the main instrument in each piece. I thought that it was amazing the range that they all had and how they were able to move their voices around the octaves so fluidly.

I was pretty surprised how much I enjoyed this workshop. I am not a huge opera fan, mainly because I don't like when the soprano's go into the extremely high register. For me that is like nails on a chalkboard, but I found that when I was invested in the scene, I did not mind the high notes as much. I'm not sure if I would go to a full opera quite yet, but I would be open to going to another workshop.

Rather Be

Clean Bandit ft. Jess Glynne

THE RITE OF SPRING

Plan:

Sound Clip:

From 0:00- 1:15

Essay:

In Stravinsky's ballet, "The Rite of Spring" we are able to see many ways that he was able to express the 20th century aesthetics. When it first premiered people rioted, they were not used to the new stylistic choices that had been made and they did not understand what was going on. It was a far different ballet than what anyone was expecting and as a result they rejected it. The ballet was able to display a beautiful mix of rhythms and textures, but as a result it became nearly impossible to play and dance to. The syncopation was never quite done rhythmically and because of this it became one of the hardest ballets to dance to. In the start of the ballet the listener is able to hear modern 20th century ideals and growing war sentiment through the use of stratification, instrumentation, and sound color.   

At the start we are able to hear the bassoon playing the melody in the highest range that it can play. People had never heard this range on the instrument before, and as a result they had a hard time placing what instrument was playing. By creating this new sound color that the audiences had never heard before Stravinsky is able to create a disconnect with the people. They are immediately left to wonder what instrument is playing and have to acclimate to the sounds that they are hearing. This s able to show modern ideas because we are able to hear and experience something new. There were many new ideas that were being presented in the 20th century. New art forms such as cubism were rising in popularity. Artists were no longer painting on the realistic side, but were getting more creative with their medium and testing the boundaries. The use of the bassoon was a good was for Stravinsky to test the limits from the very start of the ballet and notify the listener that they were in for an interesting ride.

After introducing the bassoon Stravinsky does not give the listener too much time to get acclimated. At 0:20 we are able to hear a shift in the melody line with much more tension than the first 20 seconds. More instruments are added, playing in their lower registers to contrast the higher register of the bassoon. However, just eight seconds later at 0:28, we return almost abruptly back to the singular bassoon. In this short period of time he is able to show that the listener cannot just expect anything. They have to be prepared for changing times and always be alert. The ballet was released just a year before the start of the Great War (WWI), but sentiments in the countries were already getting tense. Each country had enemies that they were just wanting to be able to declare war on. The tension in the world was reflected in the piece through the block form, the changing ideas of the piece correlated with the changing ideas of the nations.

At 0:47 we are able to hear again the introduction of new ideas. The stratification of the instruments represents the stratification of the countries. While there were many allied countries the web of allegiance was extremely entangled and confusing. By having each instrument enter with a new idea and rhythm, we are able to hear the disjunctive nature of the piece and the world at the time. No instrument is playing the sam theme and as a result it sounds like they are all talking over each other in order for their idea to be heard. 

At 1:00 we are able to hear the strings for the first time in the piece. Instead of playing a form of the melody the strings rather provide a semi-transition from one idea to the next. This was very different than many other ballet's and concert pieces of the 19th century. The strings, mainly the violins, played the melody in many pieces in the Enlightenment and romantic periods. By having them as a secondary character to the brass and woodwinds we are able to see the shifting of power that was happening in the world. Other countries were trying to get away from the Eurocentric notions that they had been subjected to. 

At 1:10 we are able to hear the higher woodwinds paired with the lower winds and higher brass. Stravinsky played with instrumentation, and what instruments would get paired together to create new sounds. He would pair unlikely instruments together in order to create new sound colors that would keep the audience constantly alert of what was being played. This was not a piece to sit back and relax to, the listener was constantly kept on his toes.   As a result of pairing odd combinations of instruments we are able to hear ideas in new ways and he was able to push the boundaries of his medium so that he could get his listeners to think about what they were hearing. 

The ballet "The Rite of Spring" was groundbreaking for its time. Instruments were pushed to defy the expectations of the typical ballet. They were playing outside of their comfort zone in octaves and keys that they were not comfortable in. Similar to the world at the time, nobody knew what was going to come next, they had to be constantly alert and were never ready for the changes in key, tone, sound color, and volume that they heard throughout the ballet. Similar to how the world was not ready for a war, but knew that sooner or later one country was going to break and they would have to fight.          

Parents Weekend: Symphonic Band and Jazz Ensemble Concert

During the parents weekend I attended the Symphonic Band and Jazz Ensemble Concert in Ford Hall. The band played three pieces, and the ensemble played five pieces. 

One song that the band played that I really enjoyed was called KRUMP(2007) by Scott McAllister . In the program it mentions that KRUMP is a dance movement inspired by hip-hop, African tribal rituals, pantomime and martial arts. The term  KRUMP is an acronym for Kingdom Radically Uplifted Mighty Praise. The music piece was inspired by this type of dancing and performing. The piece started out with a very slow tempo and softer dynamics to give a more melancholy feel. This part could be seen as the struggles that the people were facing with violence on the streets before they were able to find krumping as an outlet. Then the piece slowly start to pick up in tempo and volume, showing that they are starting to discover their outlet for their anger. One part that I really thought was able to capture the essence of krumping was towards the middle of the piece when they had a long string of soloists that would stand up and perform their piece. Similar to the dance style the musician was never really alone in the solo, the band was always there to support them by clapping rhythmically at certain points in the music. 

This piece was definitely different from the styles that we have listened to in class. While I was able to hear some periods in the music, they were not emphasized by the style of the music. There were many points were you were able to hear some dramatic dynamic changes which reminded me of the Beethoven Eroica Symphony in the idea of the dramatic moment. Similar to Romanticism there was some emphasis on the individual, but in a very different way. While Romantic works value the individual who is separated from society such as the romantic hero, this song was able to showcase the individual speaking out as part of a community.

Another piece that the band played that I really enjoyed was called Molly on the Shore(1907) by Percy Grainger. This piece was written for a full band and 16 hands on 8 marimbas. I thought that that alone was amazing. This song was very similar to the folk music unit that we had at the start of the semester, it was inspired by Ancient Irish music. I was able to hear some periods throughout the piece, but I was so mesmerized by watching the eight marimbas that I don't quite remember where. The piece was much lighter than KRUMP but is did have many difficult runs for the higher instruments and especially the marimbas. 

The Jazz Ensemble was also quite amazing, their music could be compared more closely with the folk music. They were a smaller ensemble and each piece contained a feature of one or more of the players. It gave off a more community vibe as each of the musicians would feed off each other in style. Additionally many of the solos were memorized similar to how some folk players don't even use music they are just able to make up things on the spot for their pieces. 

It is really hard for me to pick one of the Jazz pieces that I liked the best because I thought that they were all amazing in their own right. One solo that I thought was amazing however was in a piece by Duke Ellington called Black and Tan Fantasy. In this piece there was an amazing trombone solo. The soloist stood at the front of the stage with a mute held up to the bell of his instrument and just went for it. There were octave jumps all over the place and mute flourishes that enhanced the sound and were able to create more dramatic dynamic changes within the solo. 

Overall I really enjoyed this concert and would definitely go to another one like it. The acoustics in Ford Hall were amazing and there were times in the concert where I couldn't help but smile. I was in the symphonic band and Wind Ensemble at my high school and we had concerts with music similar to the music that they played. In fact I even played a piece by Percy Grainger in High School called Irish Tune from a Country Derry. I enjoy listening to band music and really like the vast assortment of instruments that are in a band that I sometime feel an orchestra is lacking. I also really love listening to jazz music and find it very complex and interesting. I can't wait to attend their next concert.

Romanticism 

The rise of romanticism began around the 1790s. It valued the rise of the individual which correlated with alienation. 

In this painting, Wanderer Above the Sea Mist (1818), by Caspar David Friedrich, we are able to see many of the ideals of romanticism. We are able to see the alienation of the individual. The person in the picture while he is centralized in the painting is not necessarily the main focus of the painting. By painting him facing away from the observer the value is placed higher on what he is looking at. To further this we are able to see that the light is not focused on the man but on the nature. This is able to show the unknown of the future and the how romanticism valued the power and fury of nature. The tides are a uncontrollable force of nature that is able to cause destruction. Water is one of the most important things on the earth. It is able to devastate town and destroy lives, but despite that we are not able to survive without it. The painting is able to show the beauty and power of nature, and how we as humans are helpless and powerless in the face of nature. Additionally in the painting we are able to see the idea of the romantic hero. They rejected the established norms, were outsiders who went on their own individual path. Many times they were alienated and isolated from society. The man in the painting has clearly been alienated from society and has followed his own path. By gazing out on the powerful ocean he yearns for the unknown and the unknowable.

The 18th Century Phrase

The piece that I chose is the very famous Eine kleine Nachtmusik by Mozart. This song keeps a energetic feel and upbeat rhythm throughout the whole piece, in quadruple meter (4/4). There are a few parts where the tempo seems to slow down a bit and lower in volume to add to the dramatic effect of the piece (allowing the forte's to seem louder) but it will quickly return back to the faster tempo and forte/fortissimo dynamic. It is definitely not as dark as Beethoven's pieces. This particular piece was written for string instruments, but is not a string quartet. It starts out with the violins playing the melody, and then shortly after adds in the violas and chello's (and possibly bass) to add to the texture. I believe that the particular section that I chose is actually in sonata form. The first part of the piece that we hear is the Exposition. The first phrase in the exposition I believe is a sentence. We are able to hear the two basic ideas and then the continuation. I was a little unsure if it was actually a sentence because the continuation is a bit longer, but that I think is the coda. The first sentence ends with a imperfect authentic cadence that sounded to me like it was on sol. That is followed by a phrase that ends in what sounded like another half cadence ending on mi and then a perfect authentic cadence that comes back home to do. The second two phrases are able to combine to form a parallel  interrupted period.

Here is a diagram of the phrase structure that I heard:

I believe that the first sentence is just an intro into the piece, but it is still part of the first idea in the exposition

I said earlier that I thought that the piece that I selected was in sonata form. The part that I drew my phrase diagram was the first theme in the exposition(0-.30), we are then able to hear the moving part(.31-.47) that takes us to the second theme which is in a new key to add to the tension(.48-1.01), and then it transitions into a second, second theme(1.02-1.27) which then leads to the closing of the exposition(1.28-1.32), a small coda(1.33-1.35) and a repeat back to the beginning(1.36-3.13). After the exposition the piece then moves into the development(3.14-3.47) where we are able to hear much more tension and are able to notice many of the themes that were played in the exposition. This part of the piece adds the most tension and brings us to the recapitulation(3.48-end) which repeats the exposition but all in the tonic key. 

I think that this piece is a great example of enlightenment music. In the exposition we are able to hear the introduction of the music and many additional ideas that are added. The instruments are working out the musical ideas, like how the philosophes would debate and work out their ideas in the salons. When we get to the development we are able to hear how they are trying to solve the problem, and that they are coming up with many solutions that might work. We are able to hear this through the many different keys that they use to play the ideas that were presented in the exposition. Finally after a long time of debate they are finally able to get to he recapitulation which has taken all the ideas and resolved (solved) them. Even in the phrases that I diagramed we are able to hear the first idea and how it has tension, which is signified by an open cadence. Then it is able to be resolved through the use of a closed cadence. 

The Enlightenment

The Enlightenment was a extremely progressive time in history. People started to discredit religion on favor of science and the monarch in favor of a democracy. There were many enlightenment thinkers who were able to show to the world the power of knowledge and freedom. Literacy rates skyrocketed in many rural areas in Europe and even rose in the cities. The nobility was taken off their pedestal and the middle class became much more prominent. As the result of the rise of science there were many important scientific discoveries occurred during the time. Oxygen and electricity were discovered to name a few. Additionally because of the disdain for the monarchs people created the basic human rights, such as life liberty and property, which was later changed in America to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. People were able to speak their minds and did not have to fear the government because it was of the people for the people.

Art was also very prominent during the Enlightenment. Before artwork was much more ornate and regal, mainly because the royalty and nobility were the only ones who commissioned pieces. They were framed in ornate gold frames that were as much a part of the art as the piece itself. In the enlightenment artists started to paint the people more. They focused on the common man as the subject of their piece and often scorned the nobly in the pieces. They used light to emphasize the focus of their piece which was usually centrally located. Still life paintings also became more prevalent as artists would paint the mundane of the everyday, to show the toils and their reverence to the common man. 

Theobald Reinhold von Oër: The Weimar Court of Muses. Schiller in Tiefurt Reading to the Court, 1860 © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Here is a great example of a piece from the enlightenment. In the painting we are able to see a man teaching a whole crowd. We are able to see in the painting the higher value on education. The book is placed in the center of the piece to emphasize its importance. Additionally the people of the crowd don't appear to be the nobility but rather the middle class, showing the change in class dynamics of the time.

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