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Blog Post #16... aka the Final Blog Post :(

1. Strauss was influenced by Karl Stauffer-Bern, Gustav Mahler, and Nietzsche (or Nietzsche’s books rather). The themes of Nietzsche's book’s “The Antichrist” were similar to the themes that Strauss wanted to reveal in his symphony (like liberation and nature). The tragedies of Stauffer-Bern and Mahler’s early deaths also contributed as motivation to the tragedy of the piece. 

2. He tells us to expect a wonderful experience in which you will hear a few unexpected, or not so traditional things like cowbells, shepherd calls, and pastoral lyrical melodies. 

3.  

4.  Nacht 0.43,  Sonnenaufgang 4:16,  Der Anstieg 6:02,  Eintritt in den Wald 8:21, Wanderung neben dem Bache 13:57, Am Wasserfall 14:47, Erscheinung 15:01, Auf blumigen Wiesen 15:49, Auf der Alm 16:51, Durch Dickicht und Gestrüpp auf Irrwegen 19:29,  Auf dem Gletscher 21:03, Gefahrvolle Augenblicke 22:22,  Auf dem Gipfel 23:54,  Vision 19:43,  Nebel steigen auf 33:41,  Die Sonne verdüstert sich allmählich 34:00, Elegie 34:53,  Stille vor dem Sturm 37:02, Gewitter und Sturm, Abstieg 40:19, Sonnenuntergang 44:21, Ausklang 46:56, Nacht 54:28 

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Rest of Opera assignment

If I’m being honest, this act was a little boring and hard to pay attention to the entire time. I think most of my distaste with this act, for me, came from Ortrud’s character. She starts the act by deceiving Telramund and then goes to deceive Elsa only to re-deceive them both again right before/during the wedding. I don’t know if it was the repetitive nature of her behavior or the behavior itself, but I did not like Ortrud in this act (which was probably the intention of her character, but still). Another complaint  was that the staging lacked extravagance and excitement. In the beginning when it’s just Ortrud and Telramund on an empty stairwell after they were banished. Then it was Ortrud and Elsa on/in front on said empty stairwell. Then Elsa and Lohengrin got married on the stairwell. It was all just very blah. 

The only thing I think I actually enjoyed in this act was the music. I really like Elsa’s procession and, in fact, I listened to that segment twice. I also thing the characters did a good job at matching their singing to their emotions. Like when Ortrud was singing it was quite harsh and bitter for most of the time but when Elsa was singing before her wedding it was more relaxed. (I guess I also enjoyed when Ortrud was banished by the King because I was sick of her haha) 

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POST #15

1. I had this question earlier and hoped we would address it because after hearing about Wagner’s viewpoints in class I was wondering why we were even learning about him in the first place. But now, after reading these articles, I understand it more and realize that there is a place in academia to learn about Wagner and his music. Yes, he was a shitty person, but he was a good musician and a huge influence on modern cinema. He was anti-semitic, but I do appreciate the viewpoint of the first article that anti-semitism was a common belief of the time. I’m not condoning that viewpoint, but I think it’s an important fact to point out that Wagner wasn’t the only one, he was just a public figure who was anti-semitic. Overall, I think it’s important to reflect on his viewpoints and discuss them in class, but not to idolize them. We can learn about Wagner in the sense that he had a huge impact on history and music without praising him, and I think that’s what we are doing. Like they mentioned in the second article, Beyruth is ‘not celebrating the man, rather the music”, and that’s how I think he should be viewed in this class too. We are celebrating his music and his musical influence, but not his persona. 

WAGNER AND ME 

1. Stephen Fry and I share some of the same viewpoints I think. He appreciates Wagner for his musicianship and the changes he made to the opera and how those changes influenced theatre today. He differentiates the person Wager was from the musician/innovator he was, and I think that’s important. He too sees a place for Wagner to be taught, and I agree.

2. 

- I loved hearing about how real people actually interacted with Wagner. They said he was a very hard person to talk to, and even harder to stand up to, which was about what I imagined. 

- I liked learning how people who have performed Wagner have viewed and come to terms with playing with it. 

- I enjoyed learning about how Wagner pushed the boundaries of harmony and being able to hear those chords (the Tristan cord?) and understand why they were so controversial at the time. 

-  I never realized how political Wagner’s pieces became, even if that wasn’t Wagner’s intention. Because Hitler idolized Wagner so much we tend to see Wagner through Hitler’s lens, but that shouldn't necessarily be the case. 

- I didn’t really understand the association between Hitler and Wagner until this video. My timelines were kind of mixed up and I didn’t even realize Wagner was dead by the time Hitler took power. So his music truly changed because of Hitler after his death. 

LOHENGRIN

1. The opera is based on a medieval German romance story. The story was written by another author and revolves around the Knight of the Swan Tradition (aka Lohengrin).

2. I think to an extent Wagner saw himself as Lohengrin. From question 1 we know that he wasn’t the original author so the character isn’t directly based on Wagner, but I wouldn’t put it past Wagner to see himself filling that heroic role. 

3. A prelude is just a bit of introductory music and doesn’t include melodies from the Opera like an overture would. The prelude’s main goal is to just set the mood or tone of the piece whereas an overture introduces major themes. 

4. I believe she is on trial for killing her brother Gottfried during a walk in the woods. 

5. Telramund was been hiding in the bushes of the courtyard. 

6. I don’t think Ortrud practices a religion, from what I can grasp she doesn’t believe in a God. 

7. Elsa wants to know Lohengrin’s name and origin because he claims to have left “great splendor and joy to be with her.” She begins to wonder why he would leave such great things just to be with her. 

8. Ortrud, Elsa, and Telramund all die. 

9. Honestly, I had to re-read the joke on page 121 to even understand that it was a joke. 

10. I hope to see a really impressive set with great special features. I know Wagner was all about making the set have a purpose so I want to see how his visions were interpreted. 

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Post #14

(when I went to post #15 I realized I never officially posted #14 so I thought I’d do that anyway, even if it’s not for credit)

1. I want to preface my response by saying this reading was a little dense and the translation made it hard to understand so all of my interpretive facts may not be completely accurate. I think Wagner is antisemitic because while he does admit there is talent in the Jewish art community, he’s made public comments or wrote things that have expressed a lot of antisemitic views. In this reading, he complains how the Jews only incentive in life was money and that the art they have hold of “is slimy with the blood of countless generations.” He thinks it’s wrong and unfortunate that the Jew’s have a God all to themselves. He also doesn’t like the language the Jewish community uses in the context to their influence on music. Basically, he thinks Jews are dirty and intelligent people who can’t come up with anything original and all of their music just mimics other forms of sound/music. Wagner suggests that Mendelssohn has everything any other person would need to be a good musician/artist, but fails to use his talents. Like all Jews do, according to Wagner, Mendelssohn was not original or creative in his compositions and simply just copied the work of Bach. His works can get listeners excited on the surface level, but he can’t provoke the deep, inner thoughts and emotions that a true, talented artist could. He suggests the Heine was truly unpoetic and that his works were poisoned with evil Jewish lies. I personally don’t think I could’ve worked with Wagner. I can now appreciate what he’s done for the modern cinema and thetre scenes, but I just don’t agree with his ideologies as a person. He had terrible thoughts and beliefs about an entire race which goes against everything I believe in, and to make it worse he was open about those terrible beliefs. I would struggle to perform his music at the time, but I think now I could play it for the sake of good music, and not for any other reason. I would feel uncomfortable being his neighbor or having to work with him simply because I don’t agree with his treatment of the Jewish population.

2. Wagner made huge contributions to modern theatre. One that we see in cinemas, plays, and opera’s today is the dim audience lighting centering the focus to the same. Imagine going to a movie at a theatre with all the lights on! It would be so weird to us today, but the people before Wagner's time loved the lights on when they attended an opera because of the social significance attending one was. Having the light’s on would take away from the production, whatever that product may be, and we have Wagner to thank for making this observation and changing the way it was previously done. Wagner also had a huge influence on how to live, staged productions were staged. He was so meticulous in the details of props and setting and how they were spaced on stage. Today at Opera’s and plays the set is worked on and serves a specific purpose to the production, like Wagner envisioned. Even the structure/architecture of theaters was influenced by Wagner. Similarly to the effect of the dim lights, having the stage in the center with seats terracing up (like the common day movie theatre) allowed the audience member to focus more on the actual production happening, not on their surroundings. Lastly, the idea of leitmotifs, which many modern plays, movies, musicals, operas, etc... use today, came solely from Wagner. 

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Post #13

Autobiography Excerpts 

1 Wagner was only 13 years old when Beethoven died. He learned by listening to and copying Beethoven’s work and by reading the popular lithographs of the time. He greatly admired Beethoven and his music and he found deep meaning in the Beethoven’s musical renditions. To him, Beethoven was a genius and he was fascinated by all of his musical decisions and styles when it came to composing. 

2. I’m not sure if this is right, but from what I got during the last autobiography quotation, Wagner’s calling was to write operas. But from reading the rest of excerpts I feel like he thought his calling was to make copies of Beethoven’s work and transcribe them for other instruments.  

The Strange Life

1. There wasn’t a huge calling for Opera’s when Wagner first started producing them and his love life was struggling. After writing his second Opera, Wagner got a grand total of three audience members to attend the performance. When he eventually moved with his wife to the sleepy town of Riga, not much work was found, but he had a lot of time to himself to compose. They then moved to Paris where meaningful work was still hard to come by and Wagner wrote music articles for journals to make money. However, his Opera Rienzi was accepted for production in Dresden and was actually a great hit! The success went to his head a little and he tried to make huge reforms in the Opera world which were trashed right away and gave Wagner a bad reputation. His bad luck continues into the 50s and the only success he could seem to find was in writing. He had moments of success, like with The Ring, but it seemed as if Wagner could never stay on the right path. He would let his personality and egocentric nature get in the way and lots of people disliked him. It wasn’t until Ludwig’s great interest in Wagner, that Wagner started to have better luck. Ludwig financially supported his compositional dreams, with some string attached, but Wagner was finally gaining popularity again. 

2. 

3. Cosima was Wagner’s second wife and the affair happened because her husband worked with Wagner under Ludwig. 

4. Wagner made him perform it before the entire series was complete, which I don’t think was write. It was written to be performed over the course of days for a creative reason and I think it took something away from the performance to do it prematurely.  

5. Wagner insisted on Bayreuth because if the festival were to happen in a big city it would become political and fake which Wagner despised. He wanted the performance to be a representation of good art and wanted people to come to it simply to appreciate the music and the performance, not for social and political gain. He wanted people to come to him, instead of him going to please the people. In the end, Wagner got what he wanted and Ludwig gifted the means to make it happen. 

Superstar 

1. Wagner’s style was “of the future” and his stylistic music approaches were termed “Wagnerisums”. After his death, many composers started conducting Wagner all over bringing “light and air” into operas and music. 

2. I’d have to say I probably fall under the category of “normal people’ under Wagner’s standards. I appreciate music and understand it’s complexity to an extent, but I am nowhere near the classification of a “music expert”.

3. Cosima’s daughter in law, Winifred, became a close friend with Adolf Hitler and he became almost a member of the family. Winifred took the reins of the Bayreuth festival in 1930 and counted on Hitler for support which he was all too willing to give especially after being elected as Chancellor in 1933. This inevitably tied Hitler and the Third Reich to Bayreuth. Hitler tried hard to subsume Wagner because the basic material for a Nazi icon was there: Wagner was anti-semantic and was a huge advocate for German nationalism. And Hitler didn’t care that he contradicted himself so much because he claimed that the Nazi mind was unable to grasp such complexities. 

4. After the war, Wagner’s grandson Wieland worked hard to dissociated them from the ideology and trappings of the Third Reich. He broke the operas down to their most minimal components. They removed and nationalistic specificity from the dramas and tried to forget the impact the Nazi party once had on these productions. 

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Post #12

1. After reading about Ludwig’s romantic life, I don’t think I can confidently say he was homosexual. He professed his love to a few women and seemed to be quite infatuated with others, like Czarina Maria. The only thing I really noticed about his taste, in both males and females, was the fact that he seemed to be attracted to those older than him. Everyone in this chapter was older than Ludwig except for his first fiance Sophie. I think it’s safe to say that the idea of being in a monogamous relationship was terrifying to the Kind. In his letter to Cosima von Bulow, he discussed the possibility of ending his life, and I think that had more to do with being tied to one person than it did to being tied to Sophie herself. He mentioned that there was no way he could enter a marriage because there was always the chance that the person he was destined for by God could appear at any time. This is true always, and it just shows that he was afraid to commit to one person no matter who that person was. 

2. Initially, Wagner wanted to be friends with the King because he was in lots of financial troubles and he knew that the young King had the wealth to save him. Wagner also had strong political opinions and knew that such a young King would be the perfect subject to influence. 

3. The first thing of Wagner’s that Ludwig came across was a book he found in his uncle's library titled The Work of Art of the Future and The Music of the Future.

4. The first opera he was allowed to attend of Wagner’s was Lohengrin. 

5. Wagner was exiled from Germany to the Swiss town of Tribschen because the cabinet saw him as a political threat once he started making political recommendations to the young king who was all too quick to listen to his advice. 

6. Wagner had to create and perform numerous shows and operas for Ludwig. Ludwig paid for these, as well as most of Wagner’s personal productions to occur, so Wagner owed a lot to Ludwig. Knowing this, Ludwig made sure his opinions and thoughts were heard when it came to the production of certain performances, which took away from Wagner’s personal vision. 

7. No, I don’t think Ludwig should’ve helped with the Festival House. Ludwig financially and socially supported Wagner for almost the entirety of Ludwig’s adult life, so I don’t think he needed to do more than he had already done. 

8. Wagner used a lot of cryptic literary quotations which made it hard for the true meaning of the letters to be deciphered. My answer to number one doesn’t change as I still believe he is not homosexual and is overall just scared of commitment. I believe he loves both Wagner and Cosima, but not necessarily in a sexual manner. 

9. "Neo” means new. My favorite of the castles is Neuschwanstein because of it’s stand out features and it’s location on the top of a cliff. I just think it’s an outstanding piece of architecture. 

10. In the end, Ludwig II dies after basically being deemed crazy. 

Part 1

As opera is a theatrical performance that tells a story through many characters. The actors sing the dialogue instead of speaking it which allowing for different conversational dynamics to come through at the same time. 

I think the best solution is to give a preface to the opera in their language so that the audience member has an idea of what the story is about, and then have them watch it in it’s original language. 

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Post #11

1. Ludwig, or Otto, was born on August 25th, 1845. Otto Luitpold Wilhelm Adalbert Waldbornwas borh April 29th, 1948. Ludwig’s father died when Ludwig was only 18 years old. 

2. At the very beginning of his reign, Ludwig was a very diligent and serious ruler. He remained very focused throughout his early years and signed numerous amounts of new documents and laws after careful speculation of each of them. Ludwig then started to lose that focus a few years later. He was aloof from the public and would often take vacations to the Alps and became very intrigued with the arts and focused his leadership and influence on that instead of the more typical King duties. 

3. Wagner first made an appearance in this book as a supporter of the controversial Prince Chlodwig. The composer then became a resource for Ludwig on his first tour. 

4. I think the relationship between Ludwig and the actor Kainz was a little odd. It was a bromance above all bromance. I just found it strange how much the King gave and gifted to Kainz like he was trying to impress him. They also went on getaways together which Ludwig wrote about in great detail in his diary and to me, it seemed more than a friendship, but that’s just me. 

5. The King was not very fond of war. He knew his army wasn’t very strong so he argued for armed neutrality and made it clear that he was opposed to entering the war between Prussia and Austria. He was forced to enter the Franco-Prussian war on the Prussian side because of the Mutual Protection Agreement.

6. At the very end of the war, Bavaria came out victorious and the King himself benefited heavily. 

7. After reading these pages I think it is clear to see that Ludwig is fond of the arts as well as an advocate. He would travel to see plays and became close friends with an actor. He was an admirer of the architecture in places that he visited on his tours and vacations. 

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Blog Post 10

1. It is related to the trumpet, so the Brass family.

2. The alphorn is conical, the tube gets larger as it nears the end

3. Most alphorns are made from wood.

4.  This music is monophonic, with only one simple melody. There are some dynamics in the length of each note, but other than that the melody is rather simple. 

5. A herdsman was basically a Sheppard, but to cows. They used alphorns to soothe their cattle while they were grazing or being milked. 

6.  There are 3 movements to this piece. The alphorn doesn’t play in one of the movements because it can’t make the right noise for the tone of that specific movement.

7. Because it was used during war, the alphorn became affiliated with homesickness and death. It was forbidden to play on in other countries so the popularity of the alphorn took a major hit. After Napolean took over the region, the alphorn continued to decline to where there were only a few professional alphornists. 

8. Following two major festivals, the alphorn production was increased and the popularity of the item was increased because people were scared that Switzerland would lose a vital piece of its history. A group of alphorn players was formed and the traditional music was restored. 

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Blog Post 9 (part 1 from in class)

As a Jewish musician during the time of the Holocaust, your fate was a little better than most other Jews. To the Nazi’s their talent served a purpose to they were often saved from going to the gas chambers. If you had musical talent you were used to perform for the guards, visitors, and on special occasions. Other times the musicians would be used to shoot propaganda footage to make it seem like living in a concentration camp wasn’t bad after all. Some of them were even sent to camps that were less severe than most, like Theresienstadt. This isn’t to say that their living conditions weren’t poor, because they were and they were still treated less than human, but their outcomes were more favorable than they would have been at other camps. 

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Post #9

1. This happens when I try to watch the video 

Can you post the title to the video so I can search for it? Or can you post a new link? 

2. After reading these stories I see a lot of similarities between these musicians and scientists living in Nazi Germany. Like the scientists we read about in Dr. Dyer’s class, many of the musicians in today’s readings tried to remain as aloof as possible when it came to political opinions. They weren’t openly anti-nazi, and only obliged to Nazi requests when they felt there was no other option. Additionally, when they did perform or compose under the request of the Nazi party, their intent was to make good music more than it was to please the party. This is very similar to scientists at the time who was doing science for the sake of science, not for the sake of the war of Nazi intentions. Being a musician, like being a scientist, is a job full of passion, so I think it was more about following that passion than being tied to a particular political party. All 5 of the musicians we read about seemed to be stuck in this place of wanting to perform and conduct for the sake of music, but if I had to pick one who is most guilty of collusion I think it would be Herbert Von Karajan. I say this because although he married a woman who was part-Jewish and had some other Jewish friends, he succumbed to the Nazi party the most. He actively joined the party twice and was a proud composer for them. The only reason he was released from his musical duties in the Third Reich was that Hitler simply didn’t like one of his performance, not because he was resistant to follow all of their orders and requests like the other musicians. Going off that, I think the most innocent of these 5 composers is Paul Hindemith. His views were more to the left and he only obliged to orders of the Nazi party when it was forced. The Nazi party often wrote bad things about him in the press, but that didn’t stop the way he was composing. The only reason his music was ever used by the Nazi party was simply that they liked the way it sounded, not because it was written directly for them. Hindemith is a good example of a composer who did music simply for the sake of music. He had a hard time getting a job because of his differing views from the Nazi party, but that didn’t stop him from composing the music he loved. 

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Post  #8

-My free Kindle version of the “Greatest German Composers Book” only goes until the Hayden chapter :(  It stops on page 77 and Beethoven’s chapter starts on page 109

Beethoven’s letter 

- My perception doesn’t really change. I still think he was probably a hard person to be around, but like I said before, rightfully so. I can’t imagine having a condition in which no doctor could diagnose and treat, especially one that affects my everyday life and my profession. I would probably want to be isolated too, so I really don’t blame Beethoven, and I feel bad for him. 

Hearing Beethoven 

- The physician’s of the time blame Beethoven’s hearing condition as a side effect of an intestinal/ lower abdomen illness he experienced. 

- Today some people think it was attributed to illnesses he experienced earlier as a child. Others think it had more to do with him being a musician and constantly being exposed to loud music. Another theory is that he experienced nerve damage to his ear (which was noted in his autopsy) 

The Piano Sonata

- I think the first movement is homophony because the right hand seems to be playing the melody while the left is just playing an accompaniment. It doesn’t sound like two separate melodies to me. 

- The second movement is a lot lighter and airy than the first movement. I think the tone switch to a major tone and the piece really changed moods. 

- This third movement seems to be a lot more dynamic than the previous two movements. There’s a lot of crescendos and overall the piece is played stronger and louder. The rhythm is much faster than before and at times I think I hear bursts of polyphony when both hands are playing separate melodies. I'm not sure if I’m right, but I think the key switches to minor around the 13-minute mark, which sort of ties back to the first movement and brings the whole piece together. 

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Blog Post #7

1. When we travel to Salzburg we would expect to see a lot of classical and baroque style music. 

2. Colloredo’s agenda was to “modernize Salzburg, to overhaul the education system, to rescue a financially failing court, and to promote both the sciences and the art.” He was very worn down by these attempts and was deemed mean-spirited and gained a large sense of unpopularity in his country during his reign. Music was still popular and Salzburg under his reign, but Colloredo did not allow much time for music and musicians were split up into categories/groups and now had very particular roles.

3.  There were four different entities that Salzburg court music was split into: the court music proper, the court-and-field-trumpeters, the cathedral music, and the choirboys. These groups typically performed in the cathedrals, Benedictine University (for ceremonies and school dramas), and the court. In addition to these required performances, they would also perform festive music around Christmas and the New Year.   

4. Mozart tended to bend the rules a little more than Hayden and in turn, his work becomes more prominent. Mozart's style is more Italian and he wrote a lot of longer, more sophisticated pieces than most other composers at the time which wasn’t yet common.

5. He points out that the Motzart’z were also at fault for their treatment. They were not good employees and didn’t handle Colloredo’s authority well. It was also important to note that before the late 1820s there was no mention of the mistreatment Mozart received in Salzburg. I would like to know which started first, Motzart’s rebellion or Colloredo’s mistreatment. Of course, neither side is going to put blame on oneself, so it’s hard to know who to believe. 

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Post #6

This documentary showed that Mozart was a true prodigy, but life as a prodigy wasn’t always easy. Through all of his childhood, Mozart was under strict control of his father. They traveled through very harsh conditions to perform throughout Europe in an effort to gain recognition. They were paid in watches and other fine jewelry, and the family made a good living. When they decided to return to their hometown however, Mozart was not receiving the recognition that he and his family had hoped for. So, Mozart left and his father began to lose control. Finally free, Mozart began to indulge in other forms of fun like drinking and woman, but he still worked on his music. His father tried to reel him back in, which worked temporarily, but when his mother died, their relationship grew worse. Mozart’s music changed and he began to write in a lot of minor keys, which was unusual for the time. He later married his first love’s sister, and his father was appalled and broke all ties. It was at this time, however, that Mozart became the composer and influential musician that his father had always dreamed of. He was performing in a large amount of sold out concerts throughout Vienna and his compositions were unlike anything else. He was a musical genius who blew the minds of all that had come to watch him play. 

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Post #5

Bach

1. Bach was a musical genius who devoted almost all of his life to music. He enjoyed being alone and wasn’t much for exploring other forms of art like fashion. Despite liking to be alone he was a family man and was frugal with his money to make sure he could provide for all of his kids. 

2. According to the reading, Germany’s musical Renaissance began around 1700. But according to my notes from Dyer’s class, the Renaissance occurred in the late 15th century through the end of the 16th century.

Bach Family Tree 

1. This family tree shows that Bach has two wives and 10 kids (although the reading from questions 1 and 2 states that he had 20 kids so I’m a little confused)

2. It appears that 4 of his sons were involved in music or musically inclined.

3. There is hardly any musical talent in my own family. Neither one of my parents can sing well or know how to play an instrument. The same goes for all of my grandparents, except for one of my grandpas who can play the piano. I was the only one of my siblings to be involved in band, and even with that experience, I wouldn’t say that I am very talented. 

St. Mathews Passion 

1.  I think the tonality of this piece is modal because it sounds old and churchy. I can also see this piece being minor because it has a sort of somber feel to it. 

2. The piece starts a lot slower and then around 3:20 the song grows and becomes more dynamic and dramatic. 

3. An oratorio is a musical work performed by an orchestra and a large choir and often sings songs related to the church.

4. I really like this piece! I’m a huge fan of large choirs because the power that can be heard from that many voices gives me goosebumps instantly. I also feel like I understand this piece and what they are trying to get across even though I don’t speak the language in which they are singing. 

Bach Concerto 

Vivace: This section of the concerto contains a lot of short, staccato notes. The violinists play parallel melodies on multiple occasions. Lastly, the mood seems very cheerful and light in this section. 

Largo ma non tanto: This section is much slower than the first section of the concerto. I noticed the harpsichord more in this section than the previous. The notes are a lot more strung out and the cadences don’t end at harsh or definite places. Lastly, the mood seems a lot sadder or deep during this section.

Allegro: This section is much more dramatic than the other two. The music contains a lot of crescendos and decrescendos but overall is played at a louder volume. It feels like the violinists are dueling at times, almost like they’re trying to outplay the other. 

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Post #1

1. My name is Brooke Einsweiler and I grew up on a farm in Galena, IL. I am stuck in the middle of two brothers and am a huge family person which is why I chose a school fairly close to home. When I came to Augie, I knew I wanted to focus on the sciences, and to be honest I'm still trying to figure out where I want to end up. As of right now, I'm interested in going to PA school after graduation, but that could change by tomorrow morning.

2. I'm going on the Alps trip because it was the trip that fit into my academic schedule and was in a region that I've always wanted to travel to. My ancestors are from Germany so I'm excited to travel to that part of our world. Also, I love music, and my major is in the sciences, so this trip just really stood out to me.

3. I hope to learn how to understand and appreciate music that's different from what I'm used to listening to. I was in band all through high school, so I've heard and played different genres of music, but I'm not sure I ever learned to really appreciate it.

4. I have not played any of those games haha

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Post #4

1. For a German musician in the Renaissance, a lot of their professional life would have been playing at special ceremonies, dances, weddings, and in the presence of special guests. Because they mostly played at places of importance, they were to dress in a nicely so that they represented their country well. It doesn’t appear that they were paid much, often times not even making the salary list, but they might have been compensated by other means (food, housing, referrals, etc...)

2. We know what we know about Renaissance music and instruments based on iconography (illustrations and portraits) uncovered from those times. Information also comes from documents such as records of the city halls or tax records from that period. Unfortunately, we don’t have many other sources of accuracy, so much of what we know comes from speculation and people’s best-educated guesses. 

3. Because Nuremberg was such a powerhouse for science and metal manufacturing it is likely that musical instruments, not only scientific instruments were produced here. After some research, I’ve found that to be very true. In the 17th century, new trumpets were produced in Nuremberg with designs that better produced upper overtones. This design was created using trial and error, and of course math (aka physics). http://www.wilktone.com/?p=211 , High-class wooden instruments were also made here during the time and manufacturers were producing instruments of “wonderful precision”. https://specialcollections.vassar.edu/exhibit-highlights/2011-2015/nuremberg-chronicle/essayexhibit.html  In order for this precision to occur, the manufactures had to understand how the shape and size of the instrument would affect the sound created. In addition, they had to have an understanding of how the vibrations of the strings would work with that particular instrument in order to get the desired sound. All of this understanding related back to physics.

4. Martin Luther completely changed the role of music in the church by taking music from a previously private practice done in small groups, to a more public thing through large group participation. He believed that music could help unite people during the service and make for a more meaningful experience. This mindset quickly led to the evolution of monophonic music to polyphonic and homophonic music in which everyone could participate in during the service.

5.  

- The texture of the piece is polyphonic because I noticed at least two different melodies between the girl on the far left and the men on the right.

-  I think the tonality of the piece is major because of the positive feeling I get from the piece. Also, the fact that this song in a hymn leads me to believe that its tonality is major. 

- This piece is about Jesus the Saviour being born and the joy he will bring to his people.

- One thing that makes this piece fall under the motet genre is the fact that it is polyphonic and relatively short. Additionally, it isn’t unaccompanied by any instruments. 

[brookeeins-blog]

Post #3

1. After reading these pieces, I do see some similar gender inequalities in my life today. Much like the experiences of Abbie Conant I’ve had similar experiences in my high school band. Every first chair in the brass section was a male my freshman and sophomore was a male because as quoted in Blink, “the French horn, like the trombone, (and similar instruments) is a ‘male’ instrument” (251). My junior year, our auditions changed from live auditions in front of our teacher to pre-recorded auditions anonymously sent in. Magically (like in Conant’s life), more women were selected as first chairs (even in the brass section). 

2. The most interesting fact that stuck out to me from this piece was that it was custom in this region for the tenth child to be promised to the church. I just found it surprising that Hildegard didn’t choose to go to the church, but was just sent there out of custom. 

3. The texture of this piece is homophony because although there are times it seems like there are multiple voices singing, they are singing the same thing in addition to musical accompaniment from the instruments. 

4. I believe the tonality of the piece is major because it has a “happier” sound.  

5. The title is originally Latin and means “Power within eternity”

6. This piece is about Jesus, and faith, and how powerful they are. Personally, I think the sound of this piece matches that topic because the voices are positive grow and grow and become powerful like the faith she is trying to describe.