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Blog 10: Hovhaness: And God Created Great Whales

For my last blog post, I wrote about Alan Hovhaness and his piece “And God Created Whales”. He was an American composer who composed more than 67 symphonies. This is one of his more popular pieces and is very different from majority of the ones we have listened to. It uses recorded whale sounds which has not been done in any of the prior pieces we have listened too. This is what made it the most intriguing to me. He wrote this in the twentieth century eclectic style, and he introduces new techniques and elements. The genre is orchestra with recorded sounds. The piece starts with string instruments playing quietly and playing many random notes. Brasses play the first theme which is based on pentation scale, a five-note scale with a pattern of whole and half steps played on the black piano keys. The second theme has more of a melody and violins play with pizzicato notes. The music grows louder and louder and includes a large amount of brasses until the recorded whale sounds start to play. Aleatory music continues to play after, which is music in which the sounds are partly or entirely and are played randomly. Brasses then play the first theme again, this time with trombones playing glissandos, rapid sliding of notes up or down a scale, and the music begins to fade right before the whales enter. I really enjoyed listening to this piece and the incorporation of the whale sounds. The whale sounds give this piece its connection to nature and made me think back to how all the instruments represented a different aspect of the ocean, such as when each string player played independently it made me think of waves in the ocean.

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Blog post 9: Britten: Dies irae from War Requiem, excerpt from beginning

“Dies Irae” is from War Requiem and was composed by Benjamin Britten in 1962. It was written in the twentieth century mainstream era. The genre is Oratorio, Requiem. Benjamin Britten wrote this piece for the new cathedral that was dedicated on May 30, 1962. The original Saint Michaels Cathedral was built in England during medieval times. During World War 2, it was bombed and left in ruins. They kept the cathedral in this condition to remember the devastation of the war. Britten wanted to include this feeling of despair from war tragedy in his requiem, so he included bit words from the Latin Requiem with antiwar poems in English by Wilfred Owen throughout his piece. The requiem opens up with French horns and a trumpet switching off with short and quite passages. Then a men’s choir sings the first three lines of the text. The French horns and trumpet play again and this time the music is growing louder. It is followed by a women’s choir who sing the second three lines of the text. Brass and percussion instruments are introduced during the transition between French horn and trumpet. These new instruments produce a louder and more forceful feeling. The chorus begins to sing while the brass and percussion instruments fade to the background. In the end, the brasses use mutes, a device for muffling the instruments sound, and the chorus sings three final lines softening their voice with each line. I was intrigued with how the interludes, which allows for change throughout, made the four different part noticeable. This piece has a very strong beat and made me think back to when we discussed Rock n Roll music.

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Blog 8  “The Moldau” Bedrich Smetana

Bedrich Smetana was born in 1824 and died in 1884. He wrote “The Moldau” in 1874 and falls under the tone poem genre with a romantic style. “The Moldau” is one of his best-known tone poems in a series called Má vlast. The piece was composed about the former country Bohemia, which is now considered an area of central Europe near Czech Republic. This is a more personal piece because Smetana was from the Czech Republic and was recreating his hometown though music. Due to Smetana’s nationalistic pieces, many consider him the father of Czech Republic music. He writes about the Moldau river which is a very well-known landmark to the citizens of his country which makes it a nationalistic piece. He uses music to describes how people would react when they are riding down the river and the sights they see and feelings they experience. It opens up with flutes and then clarinets playing a rippling sound like the two springs running into the river would make. The sound is soft and peaceful. Then string instrument’s play a flowing melody to produce a river theme. The music then becomes more abrupt but still pleasant to give off the idea of hunters along the river. The brass instruments play a fanfare, which is a short, flourishing sound played by brass instruments. A wedding dance theme is played by strings and woodwinds to produce a happy dance music. The music then stops and becomes soft and very slowly increases in sound to create the idea of nightfall with violins playing high notes and flutes playing a rippling sound. The music speeds up and continues to get louder and gives off a confident feeling. The piece ends with two powerful chords. I really enjoyed this piece and I was able to feel how many experiences the national landmark by only listening to instruments. He took his time and was very specific with the melody and instruments he used and I was very impressed with the imagery he was able to give off.

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Blog 7 Haydn: String Quartet in C Major, Op. 76, No. 3, “Emperor” Third Movement

Franz Joseph Hayden was an Austrian composer who was very influential and helped in developing chamber music. He lived from 1732 to 1809 and wrote over 100 symphonies and one of the best at composing classical style music. Haydn’s Op. 76, No. 3 is known as the “Emperor Quarter”. This piece is from the genre chamber music and the style and era is classical. Chamber music generally contains a small ensemble of four movements. The first movement is written in sonata form. The second movement uses a theme from “The Emperor’s Hymn” which is a melody based on a folk song that Haydn composed for Emperor Franz II before his quartet. The third movement is a minuet and trio. This is a version of popular dance music during 1797. The fourth movement is energetic and goes back to sonata form. Haydn wrote this piece for a string quartet which includes a first and second violin, viola and cello. When listening to the instruments, you can hear the violin is more distinct and the other string instruments are accompaniments that stay in the background. The song starts off with a minuet and then a trio and ends in a minuet. It consists of two themes, A theme and B theme. The themes are repeated and extended throughout the piece as ABA. During the trio, the themes switch and are played in minor instead of major. This switch between keys is a positive and pleasant sound that is easy for listeners to notice. This piece is very engaging and pleasant to listen too. It gives off an upbeat and lively feeling.

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Blog 6 Vivaldi: “Spring” from The Four Seasons, First Movement

“The Four Seasons” is a collection of four concertos which was composed by Antonio Vivaldi in 1725. Each of the four concertos has some aspects of concerto grosso but can be seen as more of a solo concerto because the main violinist plays a virtuoso part. “Spring” is from the concerto and was composed for violin and string orchestra. This particular piece from the four concertos is what I will be focusing on. The style and era of this piece is Baroque, and its genre is concerto. It contains three tempo movements starting with fast to slow and then back to fast. The title is significant because Vivaldi related each concerto with a different season of the year. The particular piece “Spring” starts off with a beautiful and soft melody. It kicks off with the whole string orchestra playing the main theme. Theme is a central melody in a musical work. Then a solo violin plays loud and short notes that give a sound that mimics the chirping of birds. This imitation gives the listener more evidence that the music is representing spring time. The sounds played give off the happy and beautiful idea of spring and then switches to a different view of spring. The music gets darker and faster. The music changes to minor key and the orchestra plays a muffled and panicky sound. The violins play a high pitch and faster notes and these sound combinations represent storms. Just like in spring after a storm, Vivaldi creates a new sound and brings back the brightness. The song concludes with a soft and quite played out note. I really enjoyed this piece and how he used different sounds and melodies to accurately how spring time feels. 

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Blog #5 Pachelbel: Canon in D

Canon in D was composed in 1680 by Johann Pachelbel. He was born and lived in Germany from 1653 to 1703. It was composed in the Baroque era in the canon genre. It was forgotten until the latter half of the twentieth century. Once it was rediscovered, more than two hundred versions of it were recorded. It can be heard on many tv commercials and movies. Although some versions of it are in rock style, the original version was composed with three violins and continuo part. The piece today is mostly played by a string orchestra. In the opening of the song, the continuo part is played alone followed by the three violins playing individual notes eight beats after each other. This is the only part that we can distinctively tell that the second and third violin are played. The first violin plays two notes to the beat and then four and then one and two notes to the beat but in a higher range. Beat is defined as the pulse that recurs regularly in music. Range is defined as the lowest to highest pitch able to be played. The most well-known part of this piece is when the violin plays a large number of notes very quickly. This part is what is very popular for people to play at weddings had has been done so throughout many generations. This piece of music is very timeless, and I feel it will never go away and will continue to be the most well-known piece of music played at weddings. When I hear this piece, I instantly think of weddings and it makes me happy.

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Blog # 4 Handel: “Hallelujah Chorus” from Messiah

George Frideric Handel was born in 1685 and dies in 1759. He composed one of the most familiar pieces of music to most people and is traditionally performed at Christmas. This piece is called “Hallelujah Chorus.” The style/era of this piece is Baroque, the movement is chorus and the genre is Oratorio. The first performance of this chorus was such a hit that King George II stood up after because he was so impressed and, in those days, when the king stand, everyone stands. King George II decision that day created a long standing and honored tradition of standing and singing along at services.  Handel was very thoughtful when it came to the chorus and can be seen in the way he placed the words in terms of their rhythmic emphasis. This means that the more important words follow along with the important beats to create a rhythm pattern. Text painting can be seen when he introduces the first four notes of the phrase “For the Lord God.” In the opening, the chorus sings “Hallelujah” five times and then another five time at different pitches. Pitch is the perceived highness or lowness of a musical sound. You can hear all four types of voice groups which include the sopranos, altos, tenors and basses. Counterpoint is when two or more independent lines with melodic character are occurring at the same time. Counter point can be seen when the altos and tenors sing “for the Lord God” while the sopranos and basses sing “hallelujahs”. The trumpets included at the end give a dramatic effect to end the song.

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Blog #3 Weelkes: “As Vesta Was from Latmos Hill Descending”

Thomas Weelkes was born in 1576 and dies in 1623. Thomas Weelkes is considered one of England’s finest composers of madrigals. He composed “As Vesta Was from Latmos Hill Descending”. The era of this piece is renaissance and the genre is madrigal. This piece is from a collection of madrigals, The Triumphs of Oriana. I discovered through MindTap that it was composed for Queen Elizabeth I. She was often referred to or called “Oriana.”  There is also mention of Roman Goddess Vesta, who is the goddess of hearth and home, and Diana who is the goddess of chastity, hunt, and the moon. The text in this piece is supposed to represent Vesta coming down a hill with her attendants referred to as “Diana’s darlings.” The title is an example of word painting which means the title can describe what the song will portray. The madrigal contains six voice parts instead of the typical four. Having six voice parts helps us notice the ascending and descending scales better. The voices do not always sound at the same time. At some points we can only hear one sole voice, but other times you can hear them all. While listening to, “to whom Diana’s darlings came running down amain” there is a run included. A run is a series of rapidly moving, scalewise notes. Imitation is also seen throughout phases in this piece and is defined as the repetition of a theme in another part or line of a few beats later. The madrigal ends with sustained notes.

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Blog 2 Soweto Gospel Choir: “Hohonolofatsa”

Blog 2 Hohonolofatsa is a religious song sung by the Soweto Gospel Choir from the Union of South Africa. The style and era of this piece is gospel choir. The genre is religious song. The translation of the song from Zulu is “Bless everything in the name of our Lord. By his name everything is blessed”. The song begins with no instruments but with the choir signing a progression of four chords. Then a rattle instrument is introduced, and the basses sing a repeated pattern of the word “hoho”. The tenors join the basses in singing the words “hoho” repeatedly but with a contrasting figure. Basses are the lowest of the men voices in a group and tenors are the higher of the men’s voices in the group. The chords from the beginning of the song return while the basses continue singing the repeated “hoho”. The sopranos the enter the song singing “nolofatsa”. The sopranos are the highest of the women voices in a musical signing group. There are multiple exchanges between the sopranos, tenors, and basses on singing the part “nolofatsa”. The exchanges of phrases between the groups become quicker. Clapping begins to accompany the instruments playing in the background of the signing. At the end of the song the tempo begins to slow down to lead into the final chords of the song. Tempo is a term used for the speed of the beats. The song begins with no instruments and then a shaker is played as well as hand drums. I really enjoyed listening to this song with the upbeat rhythm. The song is very entertaining and pleasing to listen too.

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Blog #1 Copland: "Hoe-Down" from Rodeo

“Hoe-Down” is one section from the symphony orchestra music written for the ballet Rodeo which was composed by Aaron Copland. The piece was created and introduced in 1942. The style of this music is 20th century American era. It is considered “very American with its energetic square-dance qualities” as described on MindTap. Aaron Copland wanted to create something more than the typical square dance music, so he took two American Folk tunes to create a more appealing new and upbeat version. He wanted this to be more appealing to the American taste for dance music. This new artistic piece is known for its short pattern of notes which makes it very recognizable by many right away. It is divided into three sections. The first section returns after contrasting music is played. The music begins really loud and fast in the intro but does not stay like that the whole time. In the first section, string instruments and others begin playing. Violins continue the sound of “square-dance” music as brasses and lower string instruments play chords off the beat. The first theme is then repeated. Theme means a central melody in a musical work. In section two, trumpets start off playing the theme. Then the oboe and string instruments continue with the orchestra returning soon after. Section one comes back and the square-dance themed is picked back up by violins and other instruments. The music slows down, and the first theme is played again. The theme is played another time before the music closes with three quick chords. This ballet uses many instruments including sting, bass, woodwind and percussion which gives variations of interest for the listeners ear and keeps them engaged.