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Post #16

1. Nietzsche inspired Strauss’s Alpine Symphony with his book Thus Spoke Zarathustra, in which the protagonist says “He who climbs upon the highest mountains laughs at all tragic plays and tragic reality.” The symphony was originally titled “Tragedy of an Artist” after the suicide of Swiss painter Karl Stauffer-Bern but Strauss shelved it for awhile until he was inspired by the death of the composer Gustav Mahler to revisit it.  Beethoven’s 4th and 5th symphonies and Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto no. 1 inspired the music and the prelude of Wagner’s Das Rheingold inspired the opening of Strauss’s tone poem.

2. The Alp horn player says Strauss considered the Alpine Symphony to be his best work and that it is huge in scale with a huge string section, a hunting horn, a heckelphone, a wind machine with the percussion, cowbells, shepherd calls, and Alp horn melodies played on a french horn.

3.

4.

Nacht (Night)     0:43 Sonnenaufgang (Sunrise)     4:16 Der Anstieg (The Ascent)      6:00 Eintritt in den Wald (Entry into the Forest)     8:20 Wanderung neben dem Bache (Wandering by the Brook)      13:57 Am Wasserfall (At the Waterfall)      14:45 Erscheinung (Apparition)      15:00 Auf blumigen Wiesen (On Flowering Meadows)      15:45 Auf der Alm (On the Alpine Pasture)      16:50 Durch Dickicht und Gestrüpp auf Irrwegen (Through Thickets and Undergrowth on the Wrong Path)      19:30 Auf dem Gletscher (On the Glacier)      21:03 Gefahrvolle Augenblicke (Dangerous Moments)      22:22 Auf dem Gipfel (On the Summit)      23:54 Vision (Vision)      29:43 Nebel steigen auf (Mists Rise)    33:40 Die Sonne verdüstert sich allmählich (The Sun Gradually Becomes Obscured)   34:00  Elegie (Elegy)      34:53 Stille vor dem Sturm (Calm Before the Storm)      37:02 Gewitter und Sturm, Abstieg (Thunder and Tempest, Descent)     40:20 Sonnenuntergang (Sunset)      44:20 Ausklang (Quiet Settles)      46:55

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Project Proposal

1. Our group is myself, Joe Corcoran, and Mitch Kragenbrink.

2. We will present on schlager music.

3. https://www.theawl.com/2017/07/is-schlager-music-the-most-embarrassing-thing-germany-has-ever-produced/

https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/mar/15/schlager-germany-biggest-pop-stars

https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-schlager-superstars-still-hitting-the-right-note/a-44072085

4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2czABFw6RnE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xolt6BPb6jo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v540wX6RCko

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFd9wSSopp0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLEeYc1iVnEfjhNvvp_0ekXPV6xvdXWo2z&v=OWkEh9rySAo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r8OZ_5RsK8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1IOO5wdPJk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q42FzGARnjg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOE0ISnLXR4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du8yLknMjP4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvS351QKFV4

5. I think our sources might be limited with this subject, how many do we need? Can we use Wikipedia? We won’t spend much time with each video since I think most people get the idea after 30 seconds, but I think it’s worth showing a lot of examples since this kind of music shows up everywhere. 

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Rest of Act II

I’m feeling like this opera is misogynistic and the story makes no sense. Are we supposed to “suspend disbelief” as in don’t think about the plot or the characters because none of it makes sense? I feel like I’m supposed to watch this and take everything at face value and not think critically about the story or characters and I don’t see how anyone is moved by that-- it feels so superficial. Also, I can see the Lohengrin’s relevance as a relic of history but producing it with more contemporary costumes sends a pretty bad message in my opinion. Elsa being a pathetic and useless (except for marrying and “giving herself completely”) princess and Ortrud being a jealous and corrupting-of-men pagan witch are both past fantasy tropes that I think should remain in the past and as fantasy. I’m a little let down that the costumes are flamboyant suits of shining armor because that would be cool, but also seeing these tropes presented with a more modern setting feels kinda off to me. Wagner was such a perfectionist and we read that he gave very detailed specifications for everything so I’m surprised that isn’t followed. The set, for instance, is very minimalist and hasn’t changed for the entire performance even though we had read that the set changes that Wagner called for between acts made his operas considered unperformable by many theatres. I would think if any theatre would pull that off it would be the Festspielhaus since it’s only dedicated to Wagner’s works.

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Post #15

1. I think we should be able to appreciate Wagner’s music while still acknowledging his shortcomings as a person-- those don’t have to be mutually exclusive. One shouldn’t have to be friends with someone to be able to appreciate their art, although there’s certainly a line that should be drawn there. Wagner had extremely problematic views, but these views weren’t reflected in his art and I don’t think he caused the world such harm that his art can’t be enjoyed. If the likes of Hitler made art, then I wouldn’t be interested in supporting that in any way. Wagner’s art should be able to be enjoyed, but people have to come to terms with his Antisemitism with that. I think we grow as a society from both of those initiatives, and making Wagner’s work taboo removes the opportunity for either. Professor HaCohen, from the Hebrew University of Israel, outlined this when she spoke to the Times of Israel, saying, “when it is performed in public, it always needs to be embedded in a framework that critically discusses the worldview of its composer in relation to the works performed and their reception and impact.” The other controversial issue surrounding Wagner’s works is their appropriation by Hitler. Although that is an unfortunate part of their history that should absolutely be reckoned with, I think Wagner’s works are much larger than only that aspect. Daniel Barenboim writes in “Wagner, Israel and the Palestinians,” “ When one continues to uphold the Wagner taboo today in Israel, it means in a certain respect that we are giving Hitler the last word.” The legacy of Wagner’s works belongs to the world now and I don’t think we should let that end with Hitler.

1. In the documentary “Wagner and Me,” Wagner’s Antisemitism is discussed by the academics and musicians that Steven Fry talks to. Professor Chris Walton, for instance, voices the notion that Wagner seemed to need an enemy or some disturbance to motivate his art and that this makes confronting Wagner very unpleasant and far from easy. Still, he says that this doesn’t take away the greatness of Wagner’s music. Valery Gergiev, Artistic and General Director at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, says that Wagner is an international artist and his stories are stories of the world with themes larger than any single country. The Ring shouldn’t simply be associated with the Nazis and, if it can be performed in Saint Petersburg aftter WWII, then it could be performed anywhere. Stephen Fry says Wagner was very important to Hitler’s vision for the world but Hitler only saw one side of Wagner and that that’s the side that most people look at today as well. It’s also Wagner’s descendants’, like his daughter-in-law Winifred, welcoming and revering Hitler (long before the rest of Germany) which taints Wagner for many today. His remaining descendants today, however, are launching an independent investigation into their family’s links with Hitler to settle the matter. A recent production of “Parsifal” at Bayreuth also adapted the story to incorporate the Holocaust. Finally, Steven Fry talks to Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who survived Auschwitz at the age of 18 because she was a gifted cellist who performed Wagner for Dr. Mengele. Still, music is holy to her and this experience didn’t ruin Wagner for her.

2. Wagner was banished for being a left-wing nationalist revolutionary (he was liberal but Antisemitic) and lived on Lake Lucerne for 12 years, from when he was 35 to 47 from 1849 to 1861. It was here that he wrote about the Gesamtkunswerk, started writing the Ring, and wrote his Antisemitic essay on Jews in music. The Ring took over 20 years before it was finished and performed. Wagner’s Antisemitism may have been partially due to his jealousy of the success of Jewish composers like Mendelssohn and Meyerbeer.

Wagner’s forbidden love for the wife of his patron family, Mathilde Wesendonck, inspired his opera “Tristan und Isolde.” Wagner wrote and dedicated a song “Traeume” to Mathilde, which became the love duet in act II of “Tristan und Isolde.”

The Tristan Chord creates tension because it doesn’t perfectly resolve and it’s simultaneously uplifting and depressing, since some of the voices resolve upwards and others resolve down.

Wagner was the first composer to compose with his back to the audience. 

Hitler’s rallies in Nuremberg may have been inspired by a rally scene in the third act of Wagner’s opera “die Meistersinger von Nuremberg.” The music from the opera, which Hitler loved and would often whistle, was performed at the Nazi rallies.    

1. “Lohengrin” is loosely based off of events in 933 A.D., in which King Henry the Fowler of Saxony united various German principalities to defend their lands against Hungarian invaders. The opera, however, also includes fantasy tropes like an evil witch and a knight in shining armor saving a damsel in distress.

2. The description of Lohengrin as “an artist, somewhat above the world but not above needing love” certainly fits my impression of Wagner’s self image and I wouldn’t put it past him to depict himself in one of his operas as a holy knight in shining armor.  

3. An overture contains themes from the music of the opera, whereas a prelude doesn’t as much.

4. Elsa is accused of killing her brother Gottfried and for having a secret lover.

5. After being banished at the end of Act I, Telramund is in the courtyard of Antwerp Castle at the start of Act II.

6. Ortrud is Pagan and worships old Norse and Germanic gods like Woden and Freia. 

7. Elsa feels unworthy of being with Lohengrin and feels like he will leave her and go back to the holy and glorious place he’s from that she can’t compete with. Eventually she can’t help herself and she asks him his name.

8. Lohengrin kills Telramund when he attacks him in his honeymoon suite and Ortrud dies as Lohengrin’s swan transforms into Gottfried (?). Elsa dies from sadness (?) as Lohengrin sails away at the very end. 

9. eh.

10. Since, after Thomas Mann said the score to Lohengrin reminded him of blue and silver, it’s been a tradition for the production to be in blue and silver and I think that would be interesting to see. I hope Lohengrin’s entrance on the swan-drawn boat is as ridiculous as possible and that the costumes are really over-the-top and fantastical and not understated, more contemporary costumes that are sometimes used in recent opera productions. 

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Post #13

Wagner’s “Judaism in Music” is a series of baseless rants that he lists as fact and doesn’t support with any actual evidence. It is clear from his rhetoric that Wagner is a “true antisemite,” so his stance is certainly serious and should be seriously reckoned with, but it’s impossible to take his claims seriously. He complains about the appearance of Jews and their language and says that, as a group of people historically displaced, they become culture-vultures wherever they settle. On Felix Mendelssohn, for instance, Wagner states that Mendelssohn was undoubtedly skilled in the technicalities of making music but that was all. He could only copy Bach and not something more emotive and passionate like Beethoven. Wagner also discusses Heine, and states that he only found success in a time devoid of good German poetry and writing and that no Jewish writer was successful in the time of Goethe and Schiller. In essence, Wagner comes across as someone with a chip on his shoulder and without anything worthwhile to say. For instance, Wagner writes, “That the historical adversity of the Jews and the rapacious rawness of Christian-German potentates have brought this power within the hands of Israel's sons — this needs no argument of ours to prove.” His conspiracy of Jews systematically taking power in German society doesn’t need evidence? Wagner also often uses expressions such as, “as we all know” quite often, as if everyone is of the same radical opinions as he is. He was clearly delusional so one couldn’t use reason to convince Wagner otherwise.

If I were a Jewish musician and a contemporary of Wagner’s, I would have still performed his works and admired him for his music. I wouldn’t argue with him, since there was clearly no reasoning with his irrational beliefs, but instead try to lead by example and rise above it. Maybe that would learn him. Wagner seems ridiculous on many levels though, and I probably wouldn’t want any personal correspondence with him-- even if I wasn’t Jewish. 

Wagner wanted his operas to be immersive and epic and he created many technological and architectural innovations to achieve that. For example, he did away with the long periods of closed curtains between scenes while the set would be changed and, instead, shrouded the stage in mist. In addition, Wagner’s Festspielhaus in Bayreuth was revolutionary in theatre design in that it featured a sloped seating block shrouded in darkness, a sunken orchestra, and framing for the stage to create depth, along with more framing for the framing to create more depth (this was inspired by Renaissance painters). This resulted in what is called “the picture frame theatre.”

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Post #13

1. Wagner was 13 when Beethoven died. He copied the scores of his heroes’ works, including Beethoven’s, as a means of self-educating. This influence played out in Wagner’s own compositions later, especially with Beethoven’s use of perfect fifth intervals at the opening of his Ninth Symphony which greatly moved Wagner. Wagner considered Beethoven to be a supernatural artist, akin to Shakespeare or Goethe.  

1. Wagner had less training than any of the other great composers before him and his first releases in theater were disastrous. His first two operas were never performed in his lifetime and his next two, after he harrowingly immigrated to Paris, were only lukewarmly received there. When he finally found success in Dresden, Wagner wasn’t satisfied with the creative control and capabilities he was allowed and he was forced to flee after being suspected of being a revolutionary.

2. A Leitmotif is practice in opera that Wagner developed in which a short musical theme is used to represent a character, thing or idea, one example being the leitmotif that represents . The characteristics of the leitmotif evokes characteristics of what it represents. Berger writes about Ludwig II, “loneliness remained the great leitmotiv of his life.” 

3. Wagner’s second wife was Liszt’s daughter Cosima who was married to Hans von Buelow, a student of her father’s. She met Wagner on her honeymoon with Buelow. Cosima and Wagner’s relationship started, however, when she and Buelow moved to Munich so Buelow could collaborate with Wagner, who had been recently employed by Ludwig II. 

4. Ludwig II ordered that Rheingold be performed in Munich before the full saga of the Ring of the Niebelungen was finished-- Wagner was still banished to Switzerland and working on it. He had intended that it premiere in its entirety under his scrutiny. I think the argument of legal ownership vs. creative ownership is an interesting one and I generally believe that the artist and the fans own the work in a way that no contract can touch or sum of money can buy but, in this case, both people are so immature and frivolous it doesn’t really seem to merit the discussion.

5. Wagner wanted his festival to be in Bayreuth because it was in the center of Germany and in Bavaria but remote from Munich. He applied to the Kaiser for funding but was told to make a proposal to Reichstag, which he refused to do. A crowdfunding campaign was set up but also failed. He also got offers from donors to have the festival in Berlin, but he refused that as well. Ludwig eventually footed the bill. 

1. Wagnerian style is the quality of his music that obsessed musicians and made many call it “the music of the future.” However, many felt it was too heavy, long and overblown and most composers in the wake of Wagner reacted by creating works that were distinctly unlike his. Some modern composers like Schoenberg pushed his use of chromaticism further with their atonality and 12-tone music but it was still in a spirit different from Wagner’s.

2. I think everyone and no one is a normal person and everyone also fancies them self a “music expert.” I would be pretty skeptical of anyone who, in all seriousness, calls them self a “music expert.” Who does that even apply to? Musicians (if so, what kind? “High art” ones?) or critics or both? I just love music and all different kinds of it and I want to understand it and explore it and be able to creatively express myself with it and I think “high” and “low” art is stupid. Young Thug is an icon and Beethoven is an icon and one can appreciate both; there’s nothing really constructive in comparing them by ranking them with some “objective” scale for art. 

3.  Wagner’s granddaughter in-law Winifred befriended Hitler and he was treated like family. Winifred looked to Hitler for support when she took over the festival in 1930 and he began to take interest in it. Wagner was one of Hitler’s favorite composers and their was considerable overlap in their ideals, even if Wagner contradicted just about everything he said that was consistent with Nazi ideology. This didn’t matter since Nazi ideology is also contradictory and isn’t really an ideology anyway.

4. Winifred’s sons reopened the festival in 1951 and produced stripped-back, minimalist renditions of Wagner’s operas that were meant to be universal and free of any fascist connotations.

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Post #12

1. It seems that Ludwig II might have been gay but might not have come to terms with it. Based on what the book says, I don’t think we can say for certain either way. He was attracted to men, at least with Josef Kainz, and, in his letter to his friend Cosima, he indicated his terror at the thought of being married to Princess Sophie. He writes that he has always loved her as a relative but not enough to marry and that he would die if he did. After his engagement ended, Ludwig II took interest in a number of women, including Czarina Maria, Lila von Bulyorszky and  Marie Dahn-Hausmann, but these were mostly older women who he seemed to admire. He never married. 

2. Wagner wanted to befriend Ludwig II because he was in dire financial straits and he wanted to secure the new king as a patron. 

3. Ludwig first found out about Wagner when he was 12 and came across some of Wagner’s treatises in his great uncle’s library. Ludwig first knew of Wagner from these treatises because his father wouldn’t allow him to see Wagner’s operas.

4. The first of Wagner’s operas that Ludwig II finally saw was Lohengrin.

5. Ludwig’s cabinet pressured him to order Wagner to leave Munich because they disapproved of the influence Wagner had on the king. He went to a villa on Lake Lucerne in Switzerland with his costs covered by Ludwig. 

6. Ludwig’s financial support of Wagner also meant that he was in a position to interfere creatively and have input or insist on certain details that Wagner would disagree with. Ludwig also owned the rights to some of Wagner’s operas and called for the premiere of the Rheingold as a standalone performance before the complete set of Der Ring des Niebelungens was finished and premiered in its entirety the way Wagner intended. 

7. I think a composer having a personal opera house is a little ridiculous. If Wagner could have funded it himself, then that’s his money and his decision but for it to be partially state-funded seems inappropriate unless another opera house is needed and will be used by other composers. I don’t think the Festspielhaus is used for performances of other composers’ work. Maybe, if in hindsight, it’s decided that one composer’s work is significant enough to deserve its own performance hall then that can be funded as public and state support for the arts but for that to happen in real time and be carried out by a king seems like favoritism and personal interest rather than public. 

8. Ludwig’s letters were very cryptic since they would contain hundreds of literary quotations that would be difficult to interpret cohesively or distinguish from the king’s own words. I don’t think this changes my take on the first question but it only emphasizes that it is difficult to know for certain.

9. “Neo” means “new.” I find Linderhof to be the most interesting since it was the only castle that Ludwig had built whose completion he lived to see and where he actually spent considerable time. We even know his daily routine there.

10. Ludwig II died under mysterious circumstances when his body and the body of his psychiatrist were found in Lake Starnburg outside of Berg Castle after they had left for a walk together. It seems likely that Ludwig attempted suicide by jumping in the lake and his doctor jumped in to try to save him but couldn’t since he was much smaller than the king.

1. Opera is a form of dramatic musical theater from Europe in which all dialogue is sung in a distinct virtuosic style. 

2. I can barely understand operas sung in English and I would be more interested in the production and the music anyways so I don’t think the works should be translated and I think the superscripts just distract from the rest of the production. Also, most people going to operas are already fans of opera and probably know the story anyways. If not, they can read about it ahead of time if they want. I think this is a shortcoming of the medium and there isn’t a perfect solution. I.E. How do you take a 250 year old musical drama sung in another language and set in that context and make it accessible to everyone today while maintaining its integrity? I don’t think you can.

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Post #11

1. Ludwig was born on August 25, 1845 whereas his brother Otto was born on April 27, 1848. Ludwig was 18 when his father died and he took the throne.

2. Ludwig was initially a relatively liberal ruler compared to other monarchs of the time. As a young ruler, he was very energetic and engaged in his activities, including actually reading and making remarks on documents he signed (which were very many). He also helped modernize Bavaria for the industrial age by investing in and implementing steam engine technology and electrical appliances and took particular interest in flight. He initially lived a reserved life but started touring Germany and Europe to present himself to his subjects. He initially acted very humbly and made generous donations on his journeys but he gradually lost that humble attitude and started spending a lot for himself with his journeys.  

3. Wagner was a friend and the favorite composer of Ludwig II and he called for the firing of two of the king’s advisers after they talked badly about him. Ludwig II complied and got rid of them in 1866.

4. The intimate nature of their relationship, considering the lavish trips they took together and gifts Ludwig II would give Kainz and the informal rapport they shared, makes me wonder if there wasn’t some romantic or sexual element to it.

5. Ludwig II opposed war and was a proponent for armed neutrality in the war between Austria and Prussia except he was forced to take Austria’s side by von der Pfordten and his supporters. He was very compassionate towards the wounded Bavarian soldiers and would visit them and funded a society for their support. In the Franco-Prussian War, Ludwig II had to honor his agreement to Prussia following the German War and, this time, he was enthusiastic about getting involved but uninterested in the war itself or the state of his soldiers. He didn’t attend the ceremony that celebrated victory over France.

6. Following the Franco-Prussian War, Bavaria was integrated into the German national state under Prussian leadership but was able to retain some  special rights and autonomy.

7. Ludwig II was very interested in engineering and the arts. He helped modernize Bavaria with steam engine, electrical and telephone technology and would visit various factories and mills on his tours of the country. He was also enthusiastic about the prospect of flying. As for the arts, Ludwig II was enthralled by theater and opera and would call for numerous private performances. He would surround himself and spend time with actors and was close friends with Wagner.

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Post #10

1. We discussed the first horn instruments, including the traditional Jewish horn instrument shofar and the Roman lur, which they used for battle.

2. The alphorn is conical.

3. Alphorns are made from fir or pine trees, which naturally have the curved shape since they grow along the slopes of the Alps.

4. The music is a single melodic line without syncopation or bar lines. It appears to be written in the tenor clef, too.

5. Herdsmen played the alphorn to soothe cattle and it worked so well that they would be hired by foreign royalty. They would be out of work in the winter, however. Herdsmen would also use their alphorns to lead cattle or communicate with each other from across a valley or mountainside.

6. Mozart’s Sinfonia Pastorella has three movements. The alphorn is present in the first and third movements but not the second since that movement depicts Mary’s lullaby to the baby Jesus and is only done by strings.

7. The alphorn almost died out because John Calvin, whose teachings became very popular in Switzerland when he lived there, taught that music was the devil’s work. 

8. Playing the alphorn was reestablished as a tradition when Niklaus von Muelinen, the governor of Bern, launched a Festival of Alpine Traditions to foster unity among the Swiss Confederation and promote the sense of a national identity. The lack of alphorn players was apparent so Niklaus von Muelinen had more alphorns made and contacted a teacher to set up courses in playing the alphorn. Since the instrument was mostly used among herdsmen, people had lost interest in the alphorn as the middle class grew but, with these courses, many people learned and it became a national pastime. 

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Post #9

So you have now read 5 stories of 5 musicians. Did you see parallels between their stories and that of the scientists? Who do you think is the most guilty of collusion and who is the most innocent based on these articles?

The culture among German musicians of this era seems similar to German scientists in that Furtwaengler, Strauss, Karajan, Orff and Hindemith all seemed mostly unenthusiastic about the Nazi regime but, like Planck said of German science, tried to bend and weather the storm by compromising their practice and, to some extent, their humanity. It seems that all of these musicians were mostly career-driven and conformed to the regulations of Nazi Germany to find success and then backtracked once the war was lost and denazification trials were happening. All of the artists in question seemed to show early support for the Nazis due to their emphasis on the importance of the arts but their enthusiasm seemed to wain as they became subject to censorship or blacklisting, sometimes on a whim. Therefore, I think they’re all guilty of being self-serving and self-protecting and turning a blind eye to others’ suffering and it doesn’t seem like it should have been so easy for figures like Furtwaengler, Karajan or Orff to regain their footing. Hindemith seems like he was pretty alright, though. 

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Post #8

Hearing is suffered with high rates among musicians but is almost taboo among them.

Beethoven was 33 when he wrote these symphonies. 

The fall of Napoleon ended the political optimism and sense of progress that had inspired Beethoven. This could have helped contribute to his depression and little musical output between 1812 and 1818.

I admire Beethoven for his persistence and resolve in making music despite his trouble hearing-- it didn’t seem to deter him at all-- but it’s a shame that he was so self-conscious about it and felt the need to hide that fact from society and become a recluse. People now admire him all the more for it and I wonder if they would have then. Nevertheless, he also mentioned that his problems hearing were their worst in social situations so I imagine that physically hard to bear and very isolating and not something most people can identify with. 

Beethoven seems presents contradictory ideas and emotions in this letter. He seems to feel sorry for himself and angry at the world and a little pathetic at first but then still affectionate for his friends and the public and resilient for the sake of his art and aware of his own nature of being quick-tempered and depressed. He then changes moods again and says he looks forward to death and resigns material wealth. It’s no wonder accounts of Beethoven are so conflicting.

 At the time, physicians thought the problem with Beethoven’s hearing was connected to his digestive problems and that he should treat his ears with almond oil or bathe in the Danube. 

Today, it seems that Beethoven had sensori-neural hearing loss and tinnitus. This was possibly caused by a viral illness that damaged his nerves or from cochlear ostoclerosis. Others claim it was due to syphilis or alcoholism, although there is no proof that he had syphilis or was an alcoholic. 

Beethoven had a troubling relationship with his family. His father was an alcoholic who exploited and manipulated Beethoven’s talent for money so, over the course of his life, Beethoven relied on similar recognition for validation. He never had a child of his own but tried desperately for years to gain custody of his nephew Karl from Karl’s own mother after his father, Beethoven’s brother died. This was perhaps a perpetuation of the cycle of abuse Beethoven suffered-- to look to a child for validation the way his father had done with him.

It seems convincing to me that Beethoven was in a state of limited hearing later in his life and that he composed and was able to hear the works to some extent. The fact that he used a modified piano and a resonator would suggest that, in addition to whatever limited hearing abilities he may have had, he would be able to feel the vibrations of the music. Many profoundly people feel music this way.   

The first movement is homophonic because the right hand plays the melody while the left hand does accompaniment.

The second movement feels much less memorable to me. The first has a lot of empty space and notes that aren’t played whereas the second seems like every note that could possibly be played is played and it doesn’t feel as musical.

There are finally some pauses in the flurries of notes, which had been going steady and loudly for the entire second movement and the third up to this point. The dynamic shift provides contrast.  

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Post #7

1. I’d expect to see and hear the glockenspiel across from the Residenz at 7 and 11 in the morning and 6 in the evening.

2. Colloredo wanted to modernize Salzburg but, unfortunately for some musicians, that entailed doing away with traditional music-making opportunities (possibly to save money).

3. Some of the opportunities for musicians in 18th century Salzburg included being a proper court musician and playing in the cathedral or university or court or being a choirboy and performing at the cathedral and being taught by court musicians.

4. It was expected of Salzburg’s composers to write works for the cathedral and Mozart differed from his contemporaries in that, although he did fulfill the obligation, he was probably the least prolific among them in that regard. Haydn, on the other hand, composed numerous works for the church, many of which are his most famous. In addition, Mozart’s work for the church is more in the Italian tradition than the other composers’ and is more chromatic. 

5. Eisen is skeptical of the narrative trope of Mozart’s suffering in Salzburg because most accounts of his suffering are his own. It’s also true that Mozart was a bad employee to the Archbishop and he left Salzburg to make the music he wanted anyways so his time there very likely didn’t repress his music to the extent that many people believe. I think people just like the trope of the tortured artist and maybe try to impose it on important figures in art. I wonder where that trope originated. 

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Post #6

The BBC documentary on Mozart chronicled his early life in Salzburg as a musical prodigy, depicting how his father Leopold took Wolfgang to tour Europe as a child with his sister Nannerl often accompanying him on harpsichord. Mozart was a rebellious youth and didn’t want to compromise his music to work for the Archbishop Colloredo which upset Leopold and caused a falling out between them. Leopold also disapproves of Wolfgang’s girlfriend, who was a singer, and other lifestyle choices of his. As a result, Wolfgang moves to Vienna and is unemployed for a time before hitting it big with his compositions and living very lavishly. After four years of not speaking, the film ends with Leopold attending Wolfgang’s debut of his piano concerto in D minor. The film like a documentary in that the characters are interviewed about their take on some of the events and the lines are taken from surviving letters that the actual people wrote.  

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Post #5

1. Bach was born into a musical family, showed a lot of talent at an early age but also was an overachiever in his study of music. 

2. The German Renaissance was mostly in the 15th and 16th centuries but, according to the text, the time of Bach’s upbringing in the 17th century was also during the German Renaissance. 

1.  J.S. Bach had two wives and ten children. 

2. The family tree only indicates one of his children as having been a musician. 

3. Both of my parents played violin through college but not after and I have one uncle (not blood-related) who is a professional musician but isn’t classically trained. My grandma on my mom’s side was the organist in her church and my great-grandpa, her husband’s father, loved music and would play guitar, banjo and piano constantly. I think my family has a lot of interest in music but isn’t a particularly musically-active family.

1. The piece is minor.

2. The piece is told from the perspective of Jesus’ followers mourning his death after his Crucifixion and knowing that he died for their sins. There is a pause in the music that ends around 3:19, at which point the backdrop to the performance slowly changes from black to white, and I wonder if this signifies the moment Jesus’ suffering ends and he dies. 

3. An oratorio is a large-scale musical rendition of religious or biblical events done by an orchestra and a group of singers.

4. I thought it was interesting that Bach musically-depicted the very moment that Jesus died-- that’s a pretty cool thing to do with music and I can imagine it was very moving for the original audience who were all probably believers. 

I. Polyphonic (canon), minor,  common time

II. Homophonic, minor, 3/4 time

III. minor, quicker tempo, violins and harpsichords  

[ivanstarenkome-blog]

Post #4

1. A professional musician during the renaissance would lead a very prestigious life, often with subsidy from local government as well as pay from freelance work. Their pay was also sometimes exempt from taxation.   

2. Sources of this information include old manuscripts such as tax records. 

3. Crossover of music and physics manifested in Nuremberg when traders there invested heavily in the ore industry. The smelting was done locally to minimize costs and many artisans and craftspeople in Nuremberg began working with the material as their trade. As a result, the city became a European center for the manufacture of scientific and musical instruments and science and music itself when many leading scientists an musicians of that era moved to the city to cheaply purchase the instruments. Nuremberg became the second-largest city in Germany. 

4. While other major players in the Reformation severely limited the role of music in life and worship, Luther promoted it and composed many German chorale pieces to be performed. Chorale music then developed from being monophonic to more polyphonic. 

5. The piece is polyphonic, major, and is about the birth of Jesus. It is a motet, meaning it is a polyphonic piece of choral music.  

[ivanstarenkome-blog]

Post #3

1. When addressing the issue of gender disparity among composers, composer Kristin Kuster says, “‘The message needs to be given that this is something they can do and we want to hear from them,’ she said. ‘If these women aren't seeing that this is a possibility, they can't even self-select out.’” This is also an issue to a similarly abysmal extent in the field I study: engineering. I have already noticed the disparity in my classes at Augustana. It is a societal issue because women systematically haven’t been rewarded for pursuing these fields the way men have. To solve this, as Kuster said, women should be empowered to have success in these fields as a possibility to the same extent as men so more women are recognized for their success and more women will then follow in their footsteps. I try to do my part in this by being an ally and addressing overt discrimination where I see it. In the case of the disparity in the engineering classes at Augie, I’ve participated in class discussions that Dr. Dyer has given on the issue and reevaluated some behavior that is unintentionally discriminatory. Since it’s a societal issue, discrimination is ingrained in all of us to an extent. 

2. I think it’s interesting that the tenth child of a family was sent away to have their life dedicated to the church because that demonstrates the intense, kinda problematic devotion that people had at the time and that people were commonly having at least ten kids.

3. The texture of this piece is homophonic because there is the vocal melody with the drone behind it. 

4. The piece is minor/modal. 

5. The title of the piece comes from the first line and theme of the song, which is a musical adaptation of a religious manuscript. 

6. The piece seems to at first be about God’s creation of the universe and mankind in the first verse and then shifts to being about Jesus dying for the sins of mankind in the following verses. There is a repeated line of his cleanliness through suffering, which seemed to be a practice in Hildegard’s life and the lives of her colleagues with their fasting to demonstrate their piety etc. and I think this can be heard in the music. It’s very morose but awesome (in a literal sense).  

[ivanstarenkome-blog]

Post #2

1. The bpm numbers on a metronome for tempos of music are significant because they correlate with natural rhythms of human life such as walking (108 to 120 bpm) or heartbeats (60 to 80 bpm).

2. Pitch frequency is measured by tiny hair cells in the cochlea of the inner ear that are set in motion correlating to the frequencies of sound waves hitting the eardrum. Neural signals of the frequency of motion of the hair cells travel to the auditory cortex, where the signals are perceived as pitch.

3. Mice produce a sound with a higher pitch than elephants. Although it is often the case that smaller animals produce higher-pitched sounds, it’s not always the case, since whales, for instance, -- the largest animals on earth, emit even higher pitched sounds in the form of sonar.

4. I think a piece of music is good or based on how successful it is in achieving its goals whether that was, for instance, to express some emotion, tell a narrative, experiment with musical conventions, be a party anthem, or some combination of these. I think there are some objective criteria for aspects of music such as instrumental ability, cultural significance, audio quality, etc. that exist regardless of anyone’s opinion of the piece but appreciation of the music is entirely subjective.

5. See above