Listening to Music Lecture Notes

The Elements of Music: A Brief Introduction

Melody – a single line of notes heard in succession as a coherent unit
Dynamics – determine the volume of a given passage
Rhythm – the ordering of music through time
Harmony – the sound created by multiple voices playing or singing together
Texture – based on the number and general relationship of musical lines or voices
Timbre – the character of a sound
Form – the structure of a whole piece of music
Word-Music Relationships – how the music captures the meaning and spirit of its text

MELODY
- Single line of notes heard in succession as a coherent unit
- Note – smallest unit of music
o Notes form into phrases separated by breaths or pauses
- Cadence – point of arrival
- Melodies constructed from subphrases and phrases, which form complete statements ending w/cadence
- Melody is similar to language  breaths, phrases
- Melodic motion – either conjunct (motion by steps) or disjunct (motion by leaps)
o Most melodies use both types
- Melodic notes typically derive from a scale (series of stepwise notes spanning an octave)
- Interval – distance between two notes
o Scales combine whole steps and half steps, form building blocks of a melody
- Central note of scale or melody determines its key
- Standard Western music uses 12 keys with 2 possible modes
o Major mode – “ do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do”; sounds bright or happy
o Minor mode – same as major, but lowered “mi” and “la”; sounds dark of somber
- Mixture of modes creates melodic contrast RHYTHM
DYNAMICS - Ordering of music through time
- Term used to indicate relative volume - Meter – underlying, recurring pattern of
- Ranges from very soft to very loud beats  chunks of time divided the same
- Can change suddenly or gradually way
- Referred to using Italian terms: - Triple meter – strong weak weak
o Pianissimo (pp) = very soft - Duple meter – strong weak  quadruple
o Piano (p) = soft meter is just duple meter x 2
o Mezzo piano (mp) = medium soft o Most pop music is in duple time
o Mezzo forte (mf) = medium loud - Measure – rhythmic unit formed by
o Forte (f) = loud meter
o Fortissimo (ff) = very loud - Durations of notes (LONG vs. short) can
HARMONY vary within an underlying meter
- The sound created by multiple notes played or sung simultaneously - Tempo – speed at which a work of music
o Three pitches together make harmony is performed
o Two  don’t know where to go
- If melody functions horizontally, then harmony functions vertically
o Harmony supports the melody (like a supporting pillar!)
- Harmony presents notes drawn from a scale simultaneously
- Chord – three of more notes played at the same moment
- Most harmonizations use different chords to create variety
- A single melody can be harmonized in more than one way
- Harmony works on small and large scale
- Tonic – the primary key area of a piece  getting back home
TEXTURE
- The number and general relationship of musical lines to one another
- “How many people are playing and what they are playing”
- Monophonic – simple melodic line; multiple performers can play in unison
- Homophonic – melody w/supporting accompaniment
- Polyphonic – melody performed against another line of equal importance every line is a melody
TIMBRE
- The colour of music, the character of sound
- A pitch is a specific frequency of sound and many instruments can play the same pitch
- Each instrument has its own distinct register, or span of pitches it can create, from high to low
- Range of musical timbre enormous, from instruments to voices, individually or together in combinations
- You make sound by vibrating things
FORM
- The structure of a musical work, the way in which its individual units are put together
- Based on three possible strategies
o Repetition
o Variation
o Contrast
- Different sections diagrammed w/letters (ABACA)
WORD-MUSIC RELATIONSHIPS
- How do the notes relate to the words?
- Textual and musical structures can match
- Individual words or emotions can correspond to other musical elements (ie. high notes)

Music for Entertainment

THE MIDDLE AGES - Castles were symbols for
- 1000-year period between the fall of the Roman Empire and the Renaissance
wordly power
- Medieval music reflected varied social functions (sacred and secular)
- Courts projected political and
- Plainchant and polyphony were important developments
cultural power
- Sounds unfamiliar, but uses same basic elements
- Courts employed wandering
- Most material that was there is gone now
minstrels, poet-composers,
Music for Sacred Spaces
and musicians
- Churches were monuments to God
- Music captured simple pains
- Inspired by Gothic architecture  gives us acoustics
and pleasures of being human
- Sacred music enhanced texts and inspired worshippers
- Texts could be bawdy and
- Plainchant ideal for projecting text through large spaces
explicit
- Music composed specially for 9 daily services
Music for Dancing Information Technology 1.0
- Dance was a significant social activity - Music transmitted orally until the 10th
- Dances were group activities, accompanied by a drummer century
- Instruments of the Middle Ages different from those of today - Earliest manuscripts use simple notation
Closer Look: A Twelfth-Century Plainchant Manuscript - Music had to be written and copied by hand
- From the Stammheim Missal (1770s) - Ink and parchment were expensive
- Prepared in what is now Northern Germany - Copyists worked slowly and carefully
- Scribes as artists - Manuscripts subject to deviation
- Large churches had their own manuscript workshops and controlled what could and could not be produced and distributed
- Notes are called neumes
- Melismas highlight the beauty of the music over the intelligibility of the text
o “make sweet”
o Ie. glooooooooooria from Angels We Have Heard on High
Making Manuscripts:
- Ink from olive

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HILDEGARD VON BINGEN Play of Virtues (excerpt)
- Arguably first person to ever write the first opera
- Composed ca. 1150
- Mortality play: dramatized allegory of good and evil struggling over the fate of a single soul
- Confrontations between Satan and 16 virtues (ie. charity, obedience, humility, etc.)
Listen to this First, Play of Virtues
- Virtues associated w/female gender
Texture – listen for the single voice or multiple
- Performed by nuns at Hildegard’s convent voices singing the same music in unison
- Satan does not sing, but speaks his lines (monophonic texture)
o Hell was believed to be devoid of music Melody – listen for leaps in the mostly smooth
melodies; listen for the brief resting points
- Satan performed by priest assigned to the convent
(cadences)
Word-Music Relationships – note that most
The Clarity of Monophonic Texture characters sing, but one speaks/shouts; notice
- Monophonic texture allows performers to project text clearly the clear projection of the Latin words; listen for
- This performance adds bell sounds the climax of the drama on the highest pitches
Rhythm – listen for the way the irregular
- Medieval performers likely added instruments to give variety rhythms reflect the words being sung
- Play of Virtues remains monophonic, with no instruments for long stretches
- Monophonic texture typical of plainchant
- Plainchant also called Gregorian chant (Pope Gregory 1 allegedly wrote most of it in the late 6th century)
o We figured it out that this was fake bahaa
- Function: to project the text clearly and to enhance its meaning
- Possessed clarity and melodic beauty; thus it was inspirational
Medieval Melody
- Melodic phrases often begin w/upward step (disjunct)
- Phrases then descend gradually by steps (conjunct)
- Melodic contour reflects structure of text
- Phrases end on a musical resting point (cadence)
- “otherworldly” sound due to medieval modes
- Modes – scales with patterns different from today’s major and minor scales
- Believed to be derived from ancient Greek music
- Hildegard’s Play of Virtues based on Dorian mode (white notes from D to D on piano)
Projecting Words through Music
- Two ways to set words to music
o Syllabic – one note per syllable (provides clarity of text)
o Melismatic – many notes per syllable (provides emphasis to key words)
- Hildegard provides variety by mixing syllabic and melismatic settings
- Extremes of register emphasize dramatic moments
Free Rhythm
- No one knows how plainchant was performed
- Two approaches
o Free: length of individual notes determined by length of syllables in the words
o Measured: individual notes would be grouped into a consistent meter
- This performance uses a free approach
Eagle Dance
Texture – notice that all voices sing in unison, singing one melodic line together throughout  including same octave
Rhythm – listen for the change from free rhythm to duple meter later on
Melody – listen for the consistently downward contour of each melodic unit
Form – listen for the repetition of large-scale sections of the chant

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Context
- Traditional; recorded: ca. 1951
- Monophonic chant essential to sacred ritual
- Chant predominant form of Native North American Indian music
o Heard at powwows
- Portrays the life cycle of eagle (connected heaven and earth)
o Eagle feathers are a sign of prayer
The Powwow
- Pan-Indian culture replaced tribal traditions
- Preserves culture against outside influences
o Coming together of people
- Includes dancing, singing, storytelling, crafts, socializing, and contests
- Begins with a “Grand Entry”
- Traditional songs accompany dances
Texture: Monophony
- Single melodic line, male voices in unison
- Most Native American music is monophonic, accompanied by percussion
- Percussion instruments punctuate rhythm of the chant
Free vs. Metered Rhythm
- Opening section in free rhythm
o A call to get attention; sudden
- Bulk of chant in duple meter
- Occasional change in tempo (speed of music) does not alter underlying rhythm
Melodic Contour
- Melodic units consistently move downward
- Typical of North American Indian chant melodies
- Songs believed to come from spirit world
- Use vocables (meaningless sung syllables)
o Requires careful memorization
Form: ABA
- Three sections: ABA
- Each section has own melody, built of smaller, repeating units
- Varied order of vocables creates contrast
- In our day, operas are in English
- Difficult to translate foreign-language operas into another language
- Opera houses use supertitles to help listeners understand the words

FRANCESCO LANDINI Behold, Spring

Tecture – listen to the contrast between the melodies of the two voices, one high, one low
Rhythm – feel the regular pulse of three beats, w/first accented
Melody – listen for the stepwise motion in both voices, and notice the brief stopping points that break the melody into smaller
units
Form – listen for the repetition of large-scale units
Word-Music Relationships – notice the largely syllabic text setting (one not per syllable) and the occasional melismatic setting
(multiple notes sung to a single syllable)

“Behold, Spring”
- Composed ca. 1350-1397
- Based on love poetry
- Two-voice balata – genre of secular song based in dance
- Courtly love – stylized interactions between knight and lady

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The Richness of Polyphonic Texture
- Polyphony – two or more voices of equal importance combine and retain their own identities
- Emerged around 8th or 9th century
- Usually based on existing liturgical melody
- Composers like Landini wrote secular polyphony against new, original melodies
Rhythm: The Pulse of Meter
- Free rhythm of monophony difficult in polyphony
o Biggest in polyphony is stop phrases at the same time
- Triple meter organizes the song
- Music falls into consistent units of three beats
Units of Melody
- Conjunct (stepwise) melodies subdivided into smaller units
o Smaller units end with a cadence (brief stopping point at which the music pauses)
o Smaller units make music easy to understand
Form: Turning Poetry into Music
- Form of text shapes form of work
- Consists of three strophes or stanzas
- Last strophe repeated at end: ABAA
o Only to the melody… NOT to the text
- Repetition, variation, and contrast basic to all musical forms
Word-Music Relationships: Syllabic vs. Melismatic
- Largely syllabic
- Occasional melismas create variety
o If you have too many melismas you can ruin the text
- Syllabic setting allows text to project clearly
Profile: Francesco Landini (1325 – 1397)
- Most famous and prolific Italian composer of the 14th century
- Blinded at a young age by smallpox
- Known as an organist and poet
- Poet – composers common during Middle Ages
- Wrote more than 150 secular songs
- Lavishly praised by contemporaries
Historical Context: Producing a Manuscript
- Every musical document written by hand
- Manuscripts expensive to produce
- Squarcialupi Codex consists of parchment, gold leaf, and miniature portraits
- Each manuscript created for, funded, and enjoyed by a single individual

ALFONSO EL SABIO Songs to the Virgin Mary, No. 147, “The Talking Sheep”
Timbre – listen for the contrast between the wind instruments (three shwams) and the percussion instruments (drums and small
bells)
Form – listen for the two contrasting melodies  notice the way these melodies are repeated and varied
Texture – listen for three distinct textures on the shawms: monophony, homophony, and polyphony

“The Talking Sheep”

- Composed: late 13th century
- Little instrumental music survives from Middle Ages
- Music performed w/whatever was at hand
- Medieval timbres could be vivid and intense
- Songs of the Virgin Mary attributed to Alfonso el Sabio

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Timbre: The Sound of Double Reeds
- Shawm – double-reed instrument (player blows between a pair of cane strips_
- Vibrating air produces reedy, nasal sound  clarinet is slightly less nasal
- Disappeared from Europe after the Renaissance
o Categorized in the Middle Ages as a high/loud instrument
 Vs. low = soft
- Related to the modern oboe
Form: Repetition and Contrast
- Two fairly short melodic units
- Form arises from their repetition and contrast
- A and B begin similarly, but soon diverge
Three Kinds of Texture
1. Monophony – both instruments play the same notes together, in unison
2. Homophony – one instrument plays the melody, the other a drone bass
3. Heterophony – both instruments play the same melody at the same time, but one of the plays a more elaborate and
embellished form
o Does not happen much in classical music
o Gives an ‘informal’ feel
o Like an echo/adding an ornament
Performance: Reed Instruments
- Blowing in to the mouthpiece sets a reed into motion
- The reed (vibrating cane) produces the instrument’s distinctive sound
- Double-reed instruments (oboe, bassoon, shawm) produce slightly “buzzy” sound
- Single-reed instruments (clarinet, saxophone) produce slightly “wooly” sound
- Best musicians make their own reeds
Profile: Alfonso el Sabio (1221 – 1284)
- The moving force behind the Songs of the Virgin Mary
- Probably wrote only a few songs himself
- Commissioned works in many fields (literature, philosophy, theology)
- Many medieval artists anonymous
- Many composers were monks, priests, or nuns
Closer Look: Musical Instruments of the Middle Ages
- 14th century Italian treatise shows a variety of musical instruments including the vielle, tambourine, bagpipe, shawm,
drums, psaltery, lute, castanets, or “clappers” and portative organ
- Placement of figures in illustration strategic
- The Psalms of David were meant to be sung, making frequent references to musical instruments
SUMMARY: Music of the Middle Ages
Texture – both monophonic and polyphonic
Melody – flowing, largely conjunct, divided into sections by cadences; melodies based on scales of the medieval modes
Rhythm – free (plainchant) and metrically structured
Harmony – a by-product of counterpoint
Form – based on repetition, variation, and contrast
Word-Music Relationships – syllabic setting to project texts clearly; melismatic setting to emphasize key words

In Review: Medieval Style

Monophony – a single melodic line, whether sung by a solo voice or by a choir in unison
- The essential texture of plainchant, the earliest music of Christian worship
Polyphony – two or more different melodic lines performed simultaneously
- Texture was used both in sacred and secular music
Heterophony – two voices singing the same melody simultaneously, but with different embellishments

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THE RENAISSANCE (ca. 1425-1600)
- Recovery of knowledge lost during the Middle Ages
- Humanism – movement that explored human interests and values through science, philosophy and the arts
- Renaissance composers united words and music more than ever before
Music for Catholics and Protestants
- Martin Luther began Reformation in Wittenberg, 1517
- Monarchs determined faith and politics of their realm
- Protestant composers wrote liturgical music in languages other than Latin
- Catholic composers wrote music to inspire the faithful
Music for Growing Markets
- First contact w/”New World” in 15th century
- Demand for music and the arts grew
- Ideal “Renaissance man” cultivated knowledge in full range of arts and sciences
- Castiglione’s The Book of the Courtier recommends learning to sing and play an instrument
A New Sense of individuality
- Growing confidence in human reason and distinctiveness of individuals
- Medieval drama tended toward allegory
- Renaissance drama emphasized lifelike characters
- Renaissance composers captured human emotions
Infortmaiton Technology 2.0
- Invention of moveable metal type around 1450 changed the way information was transmitted
- Print allowed information to spread quickly and cheaply
- Some composers achieved international renown, even as publishers
- By 1500, printing was a major enterprise throughout Europe
Closer Look: A Renaissance Printing Press
- Printing press made it possible to create thousands of copies

JOSQUIN DES PREZ “THE CRICKET”

Texture – listen for four distint voices (polyphonic)  listen for passages in which voices sing in the same or different rhythms
- Ternary form (ABA)
Word-Music Relationships – listen for examples of word painting, in which the sound of a cricket is imitated
Form – listen for the return of the opening section  listen for the contrast between the middle and outer sections

The Cricket
- Composed: ca. 1500
- Words and music enhance one another
- Josquin wrote music as humorous as the text
- Written to be played by any combination of voices and instruments
- Renaissance songs seem more contemporary than music from the Middle Ages
Texture: Polyphony for Four Voices
- Four equal parts: soprano (highest), alto, tenor, bass (lowest)
- Polyphony (equal-voice texture) is the norm for Renaissance music
- Counterpoint governed how multiple melodies sound good when played together
- Technique learned by writing ne melodies against an existing one
Word Painting: Music Imitates Text
- In word painting, music “illustrates” the meaning of a word or phrase
- Examples in “The Cricket”
o Long notes for cricket’s ability to “hold a long line”
o Chirping, hiccupping sounds for “drinking”
o Passionate, intense melisma for “love”
Ternary Form
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 - Form of text shapes the form of the music
- Two broad section in “The Cricket”
1. Cricket can hold a long note and sing of drinking
2. Cricket is different from birds, who also sing
- Each section receives distinctive music
- Opening section is repeated at end

Profile: Josquin des Prez (ca. 1450-1521)

- An international celebrity in his time
- So populat that publishers falsely attributed many pieces to him
- Demanded higher salaries and freedom to work independently
- Life shrouded in mystery
- Born near border of France and Belgium, but worked mainly in Italy, including in Rome
Performance: Playing and Singing
- Similar to songwriters today, Josquin wrote his music so that it could be performed in a variety of ways
o With words
o Without words
o Arranged for all kinds of instruments and instrumental ensembles
- Renaissance musicians were resourceful – used whatever combination of voices or instruments available
WILLIAM BYRD “SING JOYFULLY”
Texture – listen for the 6 distinct voices  listen for passages in which musical ideas are imitated in quick succession
Form – notice how each new section receives its own new musical idea
Word-Music Relationship – listen for the feeling of the text’s key words such as “joyfully” and “sing loud”
- Listen for word painting on phrases such as “blow the trumpet”
“Sing Joyfully”
- Composed: 1590
- Sacred text, from Book of Psalms
- For 6 voices
- Choral music – more than one singer to a part
- A cappella – sung w/o instrumental accompaniment
- Anthem was English equivalent of the motet
- Large choirs and cathedrals challenged ability of text to be heard
- Originally performed by all-male choir, a sound still common in English churches
Texture: Polyphony in Six Voices
- Imitative counterpoint – one voice introduces a new theme and is imitated by other voices in succession
- Imitation – important since the Renaissance
- Challenging to hear the text
- Registral separation and text repetition help clarify the text
Sectional Form
- Form of music follows form of words
- Each line of text receives a melodic idea, ending with a cadence
- Elided cadence – new idea introduced as old one ends
o Elide – skip over a break
Word-Music Relationships: The Music Paints the Words
- “sing joyfully” set to lively musical motive
- “blow the trumpet” imitates trumpet fanfare
- “for this is a statue of Israel” set in a fitting declamatory style
Profile: William Byrd (1542-1623)
- A catholic working for the Protestant queen, Elizabeth 1 (got her half-sister executed because sister was Catholic)
- Often harassed as a “papist”
- His talent guarded against persecution

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 - Briefly monopolized English music printing
Expand Your Playlist: Byrd
- Mass for Four Voices
- O Lord, Make Thy Servant Elizabeth
- Sadness and Anxiety (Tristitia et anxietas)
- “This Sweet and Merry Month of May”
Performance: The Sound of the All-Male Choir
- With few exceptions, women were not permitted to sing in church choirs until 18th century
- It was feared that women might cause distraction
- Churches used their male pupils to sing the soprano line
- Ideal sound of all-male choir (still sought after today)
Expand Your Playlist: Music of the Reformation
- Catholics and Protestants recognized the power of music to sway hearts and minds of the faithful
- English: Thomas Tallis (ca. 1505-1585)
- German: Martin Luther (1483-1546); John Walter (1496-1570)
- French: Louis Bourgeois (ca. 1510-15-1559)
Comparison of Eras
Middle Ages Renaissance
Texture Monophonic and polyphonic Polyphonic, including imitative counterpoint
Melody Flowing, largely conjunct, divided into sections by Flowing, but with greater use of disjunct motion; divided
cadences; melodies based on scales of the medieval into sections by cadences; melodies based on scales of the
modes medieval modes
Rhythm Free (plainchant) and metrically structured Relatively smooth and flowing rhythms within a metrically
structured framework
Timbre No sharp distinction between instrumental and vocal No sharp distinction between instrumental and vocal music;
music a growing number and variety of instruments
Harmony By-product of harmony By-product of harmony
Form Based on repetition, variety and contrast Based on repetition, variety, and contrast; primarily
sectional; binary form for dance music
Word-Music Relationships Syllabic settings to project texts clearly; melismatic Limited use of word painting
settings to emphasize key words

THE BAROQUE ERA (1600-1750)

- Baroque textures, harmonies, and forms tend to be more free than in Renaissance music
- Homophony made opera and oratorio possible
- Emphasized energy, motion, ornamentation, and extremes
- Affect (expression of one particular emotion) became all-important  pronounced ah- ffect
Projecting Cultural Power through Music
- The arts projected power and authority
- Rulers vied to find and retain the best artists
- Handel worked for King George 1 of England
- Lully worked for King Louis XIV of France
- Bach worked for the Margrave of Brandenburg
The Splendor of the Church
- The arts projected power of the church
- Artistic expression awoke religious passion
- Churches invested in lavish decoration
- Baroque organ filled churches w/sound
- Music conveyed teachings of the church
- Church music and architecture built intricate structures around simple themes

Opera, Oratorio, and the Entrepreneurial Spirit

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 - The arts became increasingly public
- Opera became big business across Europe
- First public opera house opened in Venice, 1637  has always been a place for tourists
- Impresarios (producers) invested in new productions and famous singers
- Oratories were unstaged operas based on sacred subjects, performed during Lent
The Virtuoso
- Rulers and public coveted virtuoso singers and instrumentalists
- Soloists were expected to embellish from written music
- Compositions became more difficult to play
- Castrati (singers who had been castrated as boys to preserve their high singing range) were in high demand
Closer Look: The Baroque Opera House
- Soloists wore dazzling costumes
- Stage design contributed to theatrical spectacle
- Orchestra performed in the pit (a lowered area between the audience and the stage)
- Elite audience members sat in boxes, rented privately for entire seasons
- The libretto allowed audiences to follow the words
HENRY PURCELL “Dido and Aeneas, selections”
Timbre – listen for the variety of timbres; we hear an instrumental overture, vocal recitative, a chorus, then an aria
Texture – listen for the contrast between homophonic and polyphonic textures in individual numbers
Word-Music Relationships – listen for the way certain words are emphasized through repetition and set to music in ways that
enhance their meaning

Dido and Aeneas, selections

- Composed: 1689
- One of the first operas written in English
- Story comes from Virgil’s Aeneid
- Aeneas, a refugee from Troy, promises to marry Dido, Queen of Carthage (now Tunisia) but abandons her, driving her to
suicide
Form by the Numbers
- Plot advances through brief, self-contained “numbers”
- Overture – purely instrumental introduction
- French overture – slow introduction and imitative fast section
- Scene and chorus – an aria (a lyrical movement for solo voice w/instrumental accompaniment); the chorus reiterates the
same idea
- Song – a more elaborate aria, sung above an ostinato pattern in the bass, known as a ground bass or simply a ground
o Keeps the ground steady
- Recitative – a musical dialogue accompanied by the basso continuo
- Chorus – comments on previous action
Word-Music Relationships: Speaking, Expressing, Commenting
- Emphasizes clear division between recitative and aria
- Recitative employed for dialogue
- Arias used to convey deeper feelings  one emotion per piece
- Choruses comment clearly and intelligibly
- Each number dominated by a single affect
Profile: Henry Purcell (ca.1659-1695)
- Born into a family of musicians
- Worked as composer and organist at English court and Westminster Abbey
- Dido and Aeneas is his only true opera
- English-language opera not popular in England until after Purcell’s time
- Dido and Aeneas rediscovered in late 18th century
BARBARA STROZZI “Revenge”
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Melody – listen for the contour of the melodic lines and singer’s embellishments
Form – notice the alteration of the two contrasting melodies, one in a lively duple meter, the other in a slower triple meter
Timbre – listen for the relationship of the two violins to the voice; the instruments echo the last phrase of each line of the text
- Listen too for the way the instruments in the basso continuo (harpsichord, cello, and lute) support the vocal line
“Revenge”
- Composed: 1651
- Energetic, extroverted music matches poetic text
- Chamber music – one performer on each part
- Meant to be performed for private gatherings
Decoration of the Melody
- Singer adds extra notes to melody
- Musicians expected to embellish spontaneously
- Homophonic texture makes improvisation possible
Form: Contrast and Repetition
- Two contrasting melodies trade off
- A (duple); B (triple); A (duple); B (triple); A (duple)
- Melodies have contrasting contours and rhythms
- Combination of contrast and return basic to Baroque music
- Refrain – same words with same basic melody; recurs at regular intervals
Timbre: Contrast and Punctuation
- Two violins echo each line of the refrain
- Violins rest during the BB sections
- Two violins and basso continuo – favourite in the Baroque Era  same as the bass line
- Trio-sonata texture – two soprano voices and one bass voice
Profile: Barbara Strozzi (1619 – 1677)
- Adopted by poet Giulio Strozzi
- Matured in Venice’s intellectual atmosphere
- Attended meetings with poets and philosophers
- Published eight volumes during her lifetime
- Composed 125 individual works
- Difficult to succeed as a female composer
- Never had professional position or patron
Expand Your Playlist: Strozzi
- “with New Bad News, I Cannot sing”
- “Proud Eyes”
- “Betrayal!”
- “Between Hope and Fear”
Historical Context: Women Composers in the Baroque Era
- Few women published their own compositions
- Few were trained in composition
- Many women composers were wealthy or daughters of musicians
- Few professional prospects
- Struggled to make a living

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

Fugue in G Minor, BWV 578 (“Little” Fugue)
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Timbre – listen for the range of sounds in each version; organ and orchestra both capable of enormous timbral variety
Melody – only one real theme in this work, played many times; appears alone at beginning
- Listen to how it begins slowly and then picks up speed as it progresses
Texture—listen for the theme first presented in a single voice, then imitated by a second, third, and fourth voice
- See how many of these iterations of the main theme your ear can pick out
About Fugue in G Minor, BWV 578
- Composed: 1705
- Fugue – a polyphonic work based on a central theme
- Intricate polyphonic texture
- Fugue considered touchstone of a composer’s art
- Composed when Bach was 20 years old in Arnstadt
- Versions for organ and orchestra
Timbres of Organ, Timbres of the Orchestra
- Organ called the “King of the instruments”
- Large range of volume and timbre
- Played w/feet (pedals) and hands (keyboard or manual)
- Stokowski’s arrangement for orchestra highlights timbral contrast
- Arrangements (or transcriptions) common throughout music history

Distinctive Melody
- Theme appears many times
o Section A, slow and stately entrance
o Section B, accelerates, moving in shorter note values
o Section C, moves very rapidly
- Moves rhythmically from fast to slow
- Strong sense of forward motion
Fugal Texture
- Begins with a subject, often distinctive and recognizable
- Imitative counterpoint – type of polyphony used in a fugue
- Fugal exposition – subject stated in each voice
- Alterations of episodes and middle entries
- Fugues common in different Baroque genres
Closer Look: The Baroque Organ
- Stops control which pipes a keyboard uses
- low notes performed on pedal board
- music stand displays organist’s music
- multiple manuals or keyboards connected to particular pipes
- no standard size, varied considerably
Performance: Changing the Sound, but Not the Notes
- Leopold Stokowski (1882-1977): influential conductor of the 20th century
- Worked w/the Philadelphia Orchestra
- Helped bring Classical music to Hollywood
- His arrangements were both admired by countless listeners and looked down upon by musical purists
Profile: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
- Earned his living through music
- Held many different positions
- Composed organ works while working as church organist
- Composed orchestral music while working as violinist, concertmaster, and music director
- Composed cantatas while working as cantor
- Wrote in every genre except opera
- Several of his sons became respected composers

Expand Your Playlist: Bach

- St Matthew Passion, BBWV 244
- Partita no. 2 for violin, BWV 1004: Chaconne

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 - The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1, BWV 846-69
- A Musical Offering, BWV 1079

Cantata 140, selections

First Movement Second Movement
Melody Listen to how phrases are separated by Listen to how the chorales are presented
contrasting passages in a straightforward fashion
Timbre Listen for the contrast between chorus Listen for the lack of contrast between
and orchestra chorus and orchestra
Texture Listen for the polyphonic texture Listen for the homophonic texture
Form Listen for the orchestral ritomello Listen for the absence of any ritomello

- Composed: 1731
- Cantata – that which is sung
- Cantatas range from a single vocal movement to extended works for large ensemble
- Bach wrote over 200 cantatas as music director at St. Thomas’s Church in Leipzig
- Express musically the lessons from a service’s biblical reading
The Chorale: Movement Seven
- Borrows from a pre-existing hymn tune or chorale
- Unified Timbre: instruments of the orchestra double the voices; creates a sense of musical and spiritual unity
- A Familiar Melody: melody appears in the uppermost voicel lower voices provide simple harmonization; simple, vernacular
melodies were easy to remember
- Bar Form: AAB; opening phrase (A) sung twice, followed by contrasting phrase (B); same form as many popular songs
- Homophonic texture: texture if homophonic, with melody in the uppermost voice and all four parts move in nearly same
rhythm; words clear to listeners
The Chorus: Movement One
- Bach uses the same chorale melody, but weaves elaborate lines of counterpoint underneath the melody
- Dotted rhythms – (LONG-short LONG-short LONG, etc.)  give a steady pace
- Melody interrupted – melody in soprano voices with orchestral breaks between each line of text and the main sections
(A/A/B)
- Form – instrumental ritornesllos (the full orchestra) appear before and after each phrase of the chorale melody
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL Messiah, selections
Timbre – listen to the expanding variety of timbres
Melody – notice that the aria has one distinctive melody, in keeping with the single-mindedness of the text
- Listen to the multiple melodies in the chorus, which reflect its more varied text
Word-Music Relationships – try to identify specific ways the music supports and describes the words being sung
Texture – listen to the variety of textures: homophony, monophony and polyphony
Messiah, selections
- Composed: 1747
- The “hallelujah chorus” part of a larger work called Messiah
- The oratorio
o Satisfied the church and music lovers
o Included recitatives, areas, and choruses
o Not staged
o Performed during penitential seasons
- Unusually, it has no plot or characters
- Text drawn from various biblical passages
- Messiah employs conventions of opera: recitative, aria and chorus

Recitative “He that Dwelleth in Heaven” and Area “Thou Shalt Break Them”
- Joined recitative and aria for tenor soloist familiar from opera
- Form: paired movements
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 o Declamatory recitative (tenor and basso continuo) sets up more elaborate aria, which employs the ritonello
principle (ensemble and soloist alternate); includes long melismas in area
- Word-Music Relationships: Virtuosic Word Painting
o Handel illustrates “broken” and “dashed” through word painting
- A Single Melody
o A single melodic idea illustrates the intense focus of the text
- Homophonic Texture
o Allows singer to project words clearly; instruments support the voice while adding depth
- A Stark Timbre
o Recitative includes voice and basso continuo; violins added in the aria; large ensemble reserved for following
chorus
Chorus (“Hallelujah”)
- Text compiled of different verses from the Book of Revelations
- Sectional Form
o Each text phrase receives its own, distinctive melodic material; four large sections within the chorus as a whole (A,
B, C, and D)
- The Same Melody for the Same Words
o Handel sets the same words to the same melodies; different melodies appear at the same time for dramatic effect
- Varied Textures
o Features all three types of textures (monophony, homophony, polyphony); contributes to sense of variety
- Varied Timbres
o Full orchestra contrasts with previous aria; instruments building to final climax
Historical Context: Why Stand
- Audiences traditionally stand for the “hallelujah” chorus
- King George I believed to have begun his tradition at premiere in 1743
- Possibly true event, but cannot be verified
- The tradition symbolizes an emotional connection to this music
Profile: George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
- Born in the same region and same year as J.S. Bach, though the two never met
- Handel travelled widely though Europe
- Worked for long periods in Italy, Germany, and England
- Very successful writing operas and oratorios
Expand Your Playlist: Handel
- Saul (oratorio)
- Rinado (opera)
- Giulio Cesare (opera)
- Alexander’s Feast (ode)
Comparison of Eras
Renaisance Baroque
Texture Polyphonic Polyphonic and homophonic coexist
Melody Lyrical, rarely virtuosic Lyrical and declamatory (recitative) coexist; often virtuoso
Rhythm Relatively smooth and flowing Wider range of extremes, from smooth and flowing to
choppy and irregular
Timbre No sharp distinction between instrumental and vocal Sharp distinction between vocal and instrumental parts
music
Harmony Harmony as a by-product of the relationship among Harmony as an underlying basis for melody
polyphonic voices
Form Primarily sectional Greater variety of formal principles: sectional form, theme
and variations, ostinato
Word-Music Relationships Limited use of word painting Even greater use of word painting; texture and musical affect
strongly support text

The Classical Era (1750-1800)

- Classical deals of balance, clarity, naturalness
- Enlightenment emphasized reason and science
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 - First music to thrive long after its time
- Music more tuneful and balanced, less complicated
- Symmetrical phrasing and homophony predominated The Art of the Natural
Music as the Language of the Heart - Artists looked to nature as
- String quartet symbolized rational conversation model  wanted to look
- Melodies use balanced phrases natural, but effortlessly
- Parallels to language raised music’s prestige - Composers’ study allowed
- String quartet, symphony, and concerto emerged as preferred genres more direct expression
Music and Revolution - Melodies became less
- Discontent with established social order ornate
- French and American Revolutions encapsulated Enlightenment ideals - Textures tended toward
- “Marseilles” and “Chester” were unofficial anthems in France and the United States homophony
- Mozart’s operas show changing relationship between classes - More realistic opera plots
Music and the New Economy and characters (Mozart and
- Industrial Revolution changed everyday life opera buffa)
- Technology increased economic production
- Growing cities created demand for culture
- Public theaters and concert halls flourished
- Haydn and Mozart succeeded outside church and royal courts
Joseph Haydn String quartet in C Major, op. 76, no. 3, second movement
Timbre – listen to how the sounds of the four instruments blend together and stand apart
- Their sound quality is similar in different registers
Texture – notice how the melody always appears in one instrument while the other three move around it
- The texture homophonic or polyphonic  theme is homophonic
- Listen for the passages in which not all instruments are playing
Melody – listen for the pauses that break the melody into sections known as phrases, some of which sound like endings. Which
phrases are repeated?
- AABCC
Form – listen to the way the melody is presented with very little change by each instrument across the course of the movement

String Quartet, op. 76. No. 3 (German national anthem)

- Composed 1797
- Composers sustain interest with repetition, variation and contrast
- Melodic theme dedicated to Emperor Franz II
- Theme repeated four times unchanged
- Contrasting music lines add interest
- Each played has equal status
- String quartets typically have four movements
The Timbre of the String Quartet
- Unusually homogenous texture
- Four instruments: violin 1, violin 2, viola, cello
- Correspond to soprano, alto, tenor, bass
- Can blend together or emphasize differences
- Each instrument plays the main theme at some point
Melody: Periodic Phrase Structure
- Melody has 5 phrases (AABC)
- A and B function as antecedent phrases, end on half cadences
o Thing that isn’t done
- C functions as consequent phrase, ends on full cadence
- Periodic phrase structure – use of antecedent and consequent phrases
- Basis for many melodies, especially during Classical Era
Profile: Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
- Haydn was music director for Prince Nicholas Esterháze
- Wrote music and conducted for count orchestra
- Autonomy forced Haydn to become original
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 - Haydn wrote what the prince requested
- Composed string quartets, operas, sonatas, and symphonies
- After the prince’s death, Haydn traveled to England and Vienna
Musical Appropriation
- The use or adaptation of a work to serve something other than its original purpose
- Haydn’s melody was later given new words
- One new setting became the German national anthem
- Contrafactum – a work setting new words to an established melody
Theme and Variations Form
- Popular during classical Era and worldwide
- Them presented then altered in some way
- Composers often used well-known themes
- Haydn kept the theme the same, varying only the voices around the theme
- Symbolizes the melody’s dedicatee, Emperor Franz
Symphony no. 102 in Bb+, third and fourth movements
Timbre – listen for the breadth of sound from the full orchestra: many strings (1st and 2nd violins, violas, cellos, double basses),
winds (flutes, oboes, bassoons), brass (horns and trumpets), and percussion (timpani, AKA kettledrums)
Dynamics – listen for the frequent changes in dynamics between very loud and very soft
Form – listen for the return of the opening idea in each movement
- Composed: 1795
- London confronted the aftermath of the French Revolution and its ideals
- Haydn’s symphony heard as mirror of ideal society
- 12 symphonies composed for London audiences
- All follow a four-movement plan (fast, slow, fast, fast)
The Timbre of the Full Orchestra
- Size of an orchestra varies
- Haydn’s largest orchestra would have had about 40 players (30 strings, 10 winds, and timpani)
- Haydn uses full orchestra judiciously
- Smaller instrumental combinations predominate
The Dynamics of Surprise
- The entire trio is played softly
- Two outer sections played loudly
- Dynamics operate independently of the number of instruments playing
- Haydn plays with our expectations about dynamics
Third Movement: Minuet
- Minuet is a courtly, elegant dance
- Playful character
- Triple meter
- Accent on the first beat of each measure
Minuet Form
- Minuet form – opening section (minuet proper, A) is followed by a contrasting trio (B), followed by a repeat of the minuet
proper
- Pattern is ABA
- The minuet proper and trio are both in binary form
- Structural pattern frequently used in Classical Era and beyond
Fourth Movement: Finale
- Haydn’s Symphony no. 102 finale is lighter in tone than other movements and serves as a “happy ending” to the four-
movement work
- Characteristic of symphonic finales in the Classical Era
- Composers such as Haydn and Mozart used rondo form in the finales of their symphonies and other multimovement works
- Rondos are jaunty and bright, and have catchy principal melodies
Rondo Form
- Used in the last movement (finale) of Symphony no. 102ctive opening rhythm
- Opening theme (A) returns, interspersed with contrasting ideas (B, C, etc.)
- Pattern is ABACADACA

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 - Main theme has distinctive opening rhythm
- Easy to follow, but often cleverly written
- Typically, jaunty and bright, with catchy melodies
Historical Context: Concerts in the Classical Era
- Concerts often lasted more than four hours
- Audiences socialized during concerts
- Audiences also reacted immediately and openly to the music
- Medieval performances likely added instruments to give variety
- Play of Virtues remains monophonic, with no instruments for long stretches

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Piano Concerto in A Major, K. 488, first movement

Timbre – listen to the relationship between the solo instrument (piano) and the orchestra; they cooperate at times, oppose each
other at times, and appear alone at times
Melody – listen for the number and variety of the melodies, each with its own, distinct character; Notice how these melodies rarely
appear in the same guise twice
Form – listen for the soloist’s entrance; later listen for the return of the opening idea about 2/3 through the movement, which
marks the onset of the recapitulation
Piano Concerto, K. 488, mvt. 1
- Composed: 1786
- Piano concerto brought royal and public attention to Mozart
- Effortless, natural style belies a complex construction
Timbre: The Drama of Contrast
- Mozart uses every possible combination of orchestra and soloist
o Orchestra alone
o Soloist alone
o Orchestra supporting the soloist
o Soloist supporting the orchestra
o Soloist and orchestra on equal footing
Melodic Generosity
- Mozart typically used many more melodies than his contemporaries
- Dynamics, texture, and rhythm also contribute to variety and contrast
- This movement uses four main themes
- Each theme has a very different shape and feel
Performance: Mozart on Modern Instruments
- Modern instruments differ subtly from older ones
- Modern pianos have louder, heavier sounds
- Fortepiano was softer, but more percussive
- Selecting which type of instrument for performance is a matter of taste
Form: Double-Exposition Concerto Form
- Modified sonata form
- Two exposition – one for orchestra (in tonic), one for soloist and orchestra (modulates to new key area)
- Cadenza – elaborate improvisation on themes heard earlier in the movement for soloist alone
o Bridges the recapitulation and coda
Historical Context: Mozart’s Concerts: The Bottom Line
- Public concerts allowed Mozart to support himself
- Mozart performed his own symphonies and concertos at his own subscription series
- Ran the series almost entirely by himself
- Very successful venture for a time
William Billings Chester
Melody – the melody in each of the five verses is sung by the tenor voice; listen for the antecedent-consequent structure of the
melody’s four phrases

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Texture – tenors and basses sing the first verse, w/melody in tenor, higher of two; listen for growing texture as the sopranos enter in
3rd verse, and altos enter in 4th
Harmony – listen for growing richness of harmony w/each verse as new voices come in
Chester
- Composed: 1770
- Popular song of the American Revolution
- Hymn – four voices move together
- Text setting is largely syllabic
- Text is largely secular
A Structured Melody
- Two antecedent and consequent phrases
- Melodic contour reinforces antecedent or consequent function
- Uses same principles of periodic phrase structure as other Classical Era works
Changing Textures Verse Harmony Voice Parts
- Four voices: soprano, alto, tenor, bass 1 Two-part Tenor and bass
- Melody always appears in tenor voice 2 Two-part Soprano/tenor and bass
3 Three-part Soprano/tenor, alto and bass
- This performance slowly adds new voice parts for
4 Four-part Soprano, alto, tenor, and bass
each new verse 5 Four-part Soprano, alto, tenor and bass
Changing Harmonies
- A new voice part is added for successive verses, creating richer harmonies
Profile: William Billings (1746-1800)
- Self-taught as a composer
- Supporter of American Revolution
- Friends w/Paul Revere
- Published six collections of his music, more than 300 compositions
- The New-England Psalm Singer (!770): first collection of musical works by an individual native-born composer
- Established singing schools in Massachusetts and Rhode Island
The Composer Speaks: Billings on the Rules on Nature
- Billings proud to have taught himself composition
- Introduction to New-England Palm Singer
- Argued that nature was the true source of all art

IN REVIEW: CLASSICAL STYLE

Periodic Phrase Structure – melodies are constructed of antecedent (opening) and consequent (closing) phrases

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Theme and variations – a modular form, with a theme followed by a series of discrete units, each of which presents a varied
restatement of the theme
Binary Form – structure consisting of two sections, each of which is repeated in performance
Minuet Form – AKA a ternary form (ABA)  with a strong sense of contrast between the A and B sections, each of which is itself a
binary form
Rondo Form – a structure in which the opening idea (A) returns repeatedly after the presentation of contrasting ideas, creating the
pattern ABACADA
Sonata Form – an expanded type of binary form in which the music modulates to a secondary key area in the first section and then
returns to the tonic about midway through the second section; a sonata form movement consists of an exposition, a development,
and a recapitulation
Double-Exposition Concerto Form – type of sonata form often used in concertos of Classical Era, w/two separate expositions
- First for orchestra (which does not modulate)
- Second for the soloist and orchestra together (music does modulate)
- Development and recapitulation follow the standard pattern of sonata form
Orchestra – ensemble of strings, winds and percussion
- Would expand in size and range in later 19th and 20th centuries, but nucleus established itself in late 18th century
Accompanied Recitative – type of recitative in which the orchestra accompanies the singer
Comparison of Eras
Baroque Classical
Texture Polyphonic and homophonic coexist Both polyphonic and homophonic, but on whole more
homophonic
Melody Lyrical and declamatory (recitative) coexist; often Growing importance of periodic phrase structure in all
virtuoso genres of music, not just in dance
Rhythm Wider range of extremes, from smooth and flowing to More smoothly flowing melodies
choppy and irregular
Timbre Sharp distinction between vocal and instrumental parts Establishment of the modern orchestra (Strings, winds,
percussion)
Harmony Harmony as an underlying basis for melody Harmony becomes increasingly important as a large-scale
structural element (tonic/nontonic/tonic)
Form Greater variety of formal principles: sectional form, Themes and variations, minuet, rondo, sonata form, double-
theme and variations, ostinato exposition concerto form
Word-Music Relationships Even greater use of word painting; texture and musical Word painting still present, but not as prevalent and often
affect strongly support text more subtle

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

- Fascination with imagination and emotion

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 - Romanticism derives from literary “romance” (precursor to novel)
- Music reflects freedom from convention Nationalism
- Composers emphasized extremes - Shared language and culture as
- Increased range of musical elements available to composers basis for social identity
“Most Romantic of All the Arts” - Ethnicity crossed national
- Instrumental music engaged the imagination boundaries
- Freedom from words allowed music to reach beyond humanity - Music was powerful outlet for
- Fundamental shift from older thinkin expression of nationalistic
Originality feelings
- Composers believed to have window on the infinite and the spiritual - Composers expressed sense of
- Audience expected each work to be a revelation national pride
- Composers become conscious of place in history The Revolution in Transportation
- Originality required study of past masterworks - Increased mobility fostered
A Piano in Every Home commercial and cultural
- Industrial Revolution increased scale of production, lowered prices connections
- Pianos became common fixture in homes - Music publishers distributed
- Demand for music to be played at home music globally
- Composers wrote music to satisfy this demand - Musicians toured Europe and
Music as a Political Force the United States
- Broad impulse to achieve foals of French Revolution - Technological innovations
- Representative government, social equity, fraternity “shrunk the world”
- Music expressed political sentiment, rallied support for causes

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Symphony no. 5 in C Minor, op. 67

Rhythm – listen for how the basic rhythmic idea (short-short-short-LONG) is varied in all four movements
Dynamics – notice the repeated and sudden contrasts between loud and soft
Timbre – listen to how Beethoven varies the sound of the full orchestra by using all of it at times and only a small portion of it at
others; listen for new isntrumenrs in the finale
Form – 1st movement: sonata form; 2nd movement: variations of two themes; 3rd movement: ternary form; 4th movement: sonata
form
Symphony no. 5 in C Minor, op. 67
- Composed: 1808
- Famous rhythmic motif underlies entire composition
- Possible program of “Fate”
- Beethoven’s symphonies helped establish his reputation as the greatest instrumental composer of his time
Rhythm: A Germinal Cell
Profile: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-
- Basic theme: four notes, two pitches, instruments in unison (short-short-short-LONG)
1827)
- Basic rhythmic idea transformed in many different ways - Difficult relationship with
- Always remains recognizable father, an abusive alcoholic
Dynamics: Loud vs. Soft - Studied with Joseph Haydn
and others through a royal
- Music quickly moves between extreme loud and soft
grant
- Transition from movement 3 (very soft) to movement 4 (very loud) especially extreme - Began to go deaf in his late
- Wide dynamic extremes unprecedented 20s
Timbre: The Orchestra Grows - Became withdrawn, even
- New instruments appear in finale (piccolo, contrabassoon, trombones) contemplated suicide
- Music considered demanding
- Reinforces dynamic contrast with previous movements - Despite acclaim, faced
- Wind instruments pitted against string instruments difficulty in later life
- Oboe and double bass receive unusually prominent passages - At death, hailed as a national
hero
FRANZ SCHUBERT “Erlkönig,” D. 328
Form – listen for the way in which the same basic musical ideas is presented in each strophe of the text, but in a new guise each
time
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Word-Music Relationships – listen to how the song captures the rhythms of the horse’s hooves beating along the road
- Notice the way in which this conveys the perspectives of four different characters – the narrator, the father, the child, and
the Erlking – by changes in register (high vs. low), dynamics (loud vs. soft), and harmony (minor vs. major)
“Erlkönig,” D. 328
- Composed: 1815
- Text by Johann Wolfgang Goethe
- Ballad – poem that tells a story
- Lied – German song for voice and piano
- Schubert’s earliest Lied, composed at age 18
Modified Strophic Form
- Text has 8 strophes (stanzas)
- Modified strophic form – same melody and rhythm for each strophe, but musical setting around it varies
- Effect of theme and variations
Expand Your Playlist: Schubert
- Modifications to strophes fit the text
- “The Trout” (“Die Forelle”). D. 550
Word-Music Relationship: Creating Characters - Piano Quintet in A Major (The Trout) D.
- Close connection between music and text 667
- Rhythm illustrates riding horseback - “Death and the Maiden” (“Der Tod und
- Unique register for narrator, father, son, and Erlking das Mädchen”). D. 531
- String Quartet in D Minor, D. 810
- Unique dynamic profile for each character (father always sings in forte) - Symphony no. 8 in B Minor, D. 759
- Motion through different key areas creates variety (“Unfinished”)
Profile: Franz Schubert (1797-1828) - Symphony no. 9 in C Major, D. 944
- Prolific composer of songs for voice and piano Expand Your Playlist: Schubert’s Song
- “Getchen am Spinnrade” (Gretchen at
- Only lived to age 31
the Spinning Wheel”)
- By age 18, had composed 144 songs - “Prometheus”
- Used settings of verse by the greatest writers of his day - “Ständchen” (“Serenade”)
- Also composed symphonies, piano sonatas, and character music
- Small, devoted following in Vienna

HECTOR BERLIOZ Symphonie fantastique, fourth movement (“March to the Scaffold”)

Timbre – listen for the massive sound of the orchestra, especially in the brass and percussion
Word-Music Relationships – Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique is a work of program music. How does the music reflect the scenario
outlined here?
Form – listen for the alteration between large sections of music in the minor mode and large sections in major mode. What
happens at the very end of the movement?
Word-Music Relationships: The Program
Symphonie fantastique, fourth movement (“March to the Scaffold”) - Each movement has a distinctive
- Composed: 1830 title
- Re-creates thoughts, dreams, and nightmares of an artist in music o 1. “Dreams – Passions”
- Most celebrated example of program music o 2. “The Ball”
o 3. “Scene in the
- Berlioz wrote a detailed prose narrative describing the program
Countryside”
- Music illustrates gothic and grotesque details o 4. “March to the Scaffold”
The Modern Orchestra o 5. “Dream of a Witches’
- Berlioz first great master of orchestration (Art of arranging music for Sabbath”
orchestral instruments) - Melody associated with the artist’s
lover called an idée fixe
- Introduced new instruments and found new effects on older instruments
- Idée fixe present in all five
- Brass and percussion sections particularly prominent movements, but transformed
- Berlioz wrote a treatise on orchestration - In “March to the Scaffold,” the idée
fixe is interrupted as the artist is
beheaded
Musical Form, Programmatic Form
- Simple alteration of two themes
- Introduction/a/b/a/b/a/coda
- A in minor mode, B in major mode
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 - Each section represents a particular mood (“gloomy and ferocious” or “solemn and brilliant”)
- Abrupt ending represents fall of guillotine blade
Profile: Hector Berlioz (1803-1869)
- Symphonie fantastique as autobiography
- Obsessed with actress Harriet Smithson
- Originally rained in medicine before studying music
- Viewed as talented but undisciplined student
- Whole music criticism to supplement income
- Later achieved public accolades
Performance: How Loud is Too Loud?
- Large instrumental ensembles inflicted physical pain
- Orchestra created loudest sound of their times
- Standards of loudness change over time
- Loudness measured in decibels
- Prolonged exposure to sounds over 80 dB can cause hearing loss

CLARA WIECK SCHUMANN “Forward!”

Timre – listen for the range of voices from highest (soprano) to lowest (basses); notice that there are not instruments in this work
Melody – listen for the return of the opening melody at later points in the work, and listen for how it is varied each time; also listen
for the contrasting melody between these returns of the opening theme
Word-Music Relationship – listen for how the melodic contour or texture of the music emphasizes certain words in the text; Which
words – evens if on first hearing you do not understand their meaning – sound the most important?
“Forward!”
- Composed: 1848 Profile: Clara Wieck Schumann (1819-1896)
- Clara’s father opposed her marrying
- Birthday present to her husband, Robert Schumann
a musician
- Text is political, not personal - Eventually married her father’s
- Advocated a unified, democratic Germany, created from various German student Robert Schumann
states - After Robert’s death, she became
even more independent
- German unification became reality in 1871
- Performed publicly and taught widely
A Cappella Timbre - Hailed as piano virtuoso and
- A cappella chorus – group of unaccompanied voices composer
- Mixed chorus includes men and women
- Choral music socially significant in Germany
- German choruses were political organizations in all but name
- Find an example of work that includes at least one extended passage performed Expand You Playlist: Clara Wieck Schumann
a cappella - Three Songs on Texts by Rückert
- Variations on a Theme by Robert
- Ie. Kansas, “Carry On My Wayward Son” (1976); barber shop quartets Schumann
Contrasting Melodies - Piano Trio in G Minor, Op. 17
- Follows five strophes of text - Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 7
- Strophes 1, 3, and 5 set to a loud, energetic melody Historical Context: Music and Politics
- Music demonstrates cultural and
- Strophes 3, and 4 set to a softer, smoother melody material power
- Each melody is varied when it returns - French Revolution created new ways
- Approximate rondo form: A B A’ B’ A’’ of connecting music and politics
Painting Revolutionary Words - Communal singing fostered solidarity
- Political threat of music (ie. jazz, rap,
- Key words Vorwärts (“Forward!”) emphasized through unison texture and
hip-hop)
trumpet-like melody
- Word painting – illustrates words and concepts like heaven, calm, and peace
RICHARD WAGNER The Valkyrie, Act III, selection (“Wotani’s Farewell)
Texture – listen to the relationship between the voices and the orchestra; in traditional opera, the orchestra supports the voice, in
Wagner’s operas, the two blend into a single unit

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Word-Music Relationships – listen for the return of certain musical themes or fragments of themes and their relationship to what is
being sung or acted on the stage
The Valkyrie, Act III, selection
- Composed: 1856
- Libretto of Wagner’s Ring of the Nïbelungs draws from northern European mythology
- Wotan bids an emotional farewell to his daughter Brünnhilde, who falls into a deep sleep and is encircled by fire
Historical Context: Wagner and Tolkien: A Tale of Two Rings
- Intriguing parallels exist between Wagner’s The Ring of the Nibelungs and Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings
- Cycle of four works: prelude
Texture: The Relationship of Voice and Orchestra
- Wagner emphasized dramatic integrity and intelligibility of text
- Vocal writing tends toward syllabic, fluid rhythm
- Less virtuosity and text repetition
- Drama as “deeds of music made visible”
Word-Music Relationships: The Themes and the Drama
- Leitmotifs – musical ideas connected dramatically to some person, event or idea
- Demonstrate what happens onstage
- Unstable music for an unstable character or element (character of Loge and element of fire)
- Other leitmotifs for Wotan’s spear, Sleep, The Sword, and Fate
- Leitmotifs transform themselves and combine flexibly
Profile: Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
- Wagner and his music provoke extreme reactions
- Operas full of social and political messages
- Carefully studied Beethoven’s music
- Gained fame as conductor
- Forced into exile, but invited to return by King Ludwig II
- Constructed an opera house at Bayreuth still in operation
- Wagner’s music later appropriated by the Nazis
Closer Look: Wagner’s World
- Wagner built a Festpielhaus – a “festival drama house” – in Bayreuth to help unify Germany culturally
- He travelled throughout Europe during his career:
o 1813 Born in Leipzig
o 1837 – 1839: Ringa
o 1839-1842: Paris
o 1842-1849: Dresden
COMPARISON OF ERAS
Classical 19th Century
Texture Both polyphonic and homophonic, but on whole more Both homophonic and polyphonic
homophonic
Melody Growing importance of periodic phrase structure in all Periodic phrase structure continues, but also more
genres of music, not just in dance fragmented thematic ideas;
Rhythm More smoothly flowing melodies Highly varied, from simple to complex?
Timbre Establishment of the modern orchestra (Strings, winds, Orchestra continues to grow, with addition of trombones,
percussion) tubas, piccolos, contrabassoon, and more percussion
instruments
Harmony Harmony becomes increasingly important as a large- Harmony becomes increasingly chromatic
scale structural element (tonic/nontonic/tonic)
Form Themes and variations, minuet (ABA), rondo, sonata Sonata forms, ternary forms, theme and variations, modified
form, double-exposition concerto form strophic form
Word-Music Relationships Word painting still present, but not as prevalent and Greater importance of progr am music
often more subtle
Since 1900
- Increased pace of musical life
- Change in musical style and technology
- Music moved in many different directions, some traditional, some modern
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 - Ragtime, jazz, and blues developed tonal harmonies and traditional meters
- Music for mass-audience markets
- African-American and Latin composers and musicians gained prominence
Modernism
- Composers wrote in new ways
- Modernism disregard tradition, sought novelty
- Aspects of modernism in all the arts eventually became widely accepted
- Neoclassicism reacted to modernism – sought to synthesize old and new styles in a more accessible idiom
- Postmodernism sought to bring together old and new in different ways
Audio Technology
- Listeners could listen to music anywhere
- Radical change in music history
- Audio recordings, radio, film, television, and the Internet expanded listeners’ musical choices
- Changed production of music
Social Diversity
- Twentieth century began with radically divided society
- Music played important role in social progress
- Ragtime, the blues, jazz, rock, and hip-hop all became part of mainstream American culture
- Pop music integral to social change and protest
Globalization
- Increase in ross-cultural musical encounters
- Innovations in technology and transportation made musical world smaller
- Music became a global phenomenon
o Marketing, trafficking of music, idea of world superstar, global means unifying musical sounds has ugly parts to it
o Ie. American pop music being played everywhere vs. cultural music not played as much anymore
CHARLES IVES The Unanswered Question
Timbre – listen for the distinctive sound of three different groups of instruments: strings, solo instruments, and wind instruments
Melody – listen for the contrast in the melodies played by each of these three groups of instruments
Texture – listen for the layered texture of these instruments; notice that the strings play continuously, while the trumpet and winds
come and go
Harmony – which groups play the most conventional-sounding or unconventional harmonies?
Layered Texture
The Unanswered Question - Contrasting instrumental groups
- Composed: 1908 common
- Trying to find new expressive means to transcend musical tradition - Multiple layers
- This piece epitomizes struggle between old and new o Strings carrying on
o Trumpet and winds in
Contrasting Timbres
dialogue
- Three contrasting instrumental groups: - Three blocks of sounds move
o Strings play continuously independently of one another
o Solo trumpet interjects the “question” Atonal vs. Tonal Harmony
o Wind quartet provides “Answers” - Combines tonal and atonal harmony
- Strings play in tonal fashion
Profile: Charles Ives (1874-1954) - Solo trumpet and winds play atonal
- Absorbed and rebelled against musical traditions fragments
- Grew up in Connecticut, absorbing many musical influences - Harmonic contrast symbolizes struggle
- Became wealthy through insurance, composing in spare time between old and new
- Dissonance gives the sense that
- Compositions rarely publicly performed during lifetime something has not quite been finished
Igor Stravinsky The Rite of Spring, Part One or resolved
Harmony – are the harmonies here tonal or atonal? Do you hear a harmonic center of gravity?
Melody – listen for the fragmentary, abrupt nature of the melodies
Rhythm – what is the meter of this work? Can you tap a regular pattern of beats? Are some sections more regular than others?
Timbre – listen for the variety of sounds in all families of instruments
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Word-Music Relationships – the dancers present through movement and gesture the storyline of the ballet  what images, events,
or moods come into mind as you listen to this music?

Rite of Spring, Part One

- Composed: 1913
- Ballet emerged as independent genre in late 19th century
- Commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev for his Ballet Russes (Russian Ballet)
- Highly novel music caused a famous riot as its premiere
Performance: The Audience Riots
- Audience at premiere of The Rite of Spring in Paris, May 1913, scandalized by the music and dancing
- Stravinsky and Nijinsky, the choreographer, watched the debacle unfold
- Riot turned to Stravinsky’s advantage, audiences across Europee in the coming months greeted the work w/enthusiasm
- Initial rejection help to rally artists of modernist tendencies
Polytonal Harmonies Historical Context: The Business of Dance
- Neither tonal nor atonal - Sergei Diaghilev commissioned many
- Juxtaposed multiple tonal centers composers to write for his Ballet
- Creates effect of polytonality Russes
Pentatonic Melodies - Also worked w/many visual artists
- Many melodies built on pentatonic scale (scale w/5 notes instead of - Keen sense as businessman
conventional 7) - Riot at premiere produced good press
- Captures a folk-like sound - Ballet Russes declined after WW1
- Projects an exotic, non-Western sound Closer Look: The Mega-Orchestra
- Brief and repetitive melodies - By 20th century, the size of orchestra
Irregular and Regular Rhythms was much larger than those used
- Meter sometimes changes every measure during Haydn’s lifetime
- Frequent use of ostinato figures (singly rhythmic/melodic gesture - Conductor
repeated many times) - 1st violins; 2nd violins; violas; cellos;
Timbre and the Mega-Orchestra double basses; harp
- Call for an enormous orchestra - Woodwinds; horns; trumpets;
o Quintuple woodwinds trombones; tuba
o 8 horns, 5 trumpets, 3 trombones, 2 tubas
o Large percussion and string sections - Stations in Stravinsky’s Life
Unsung Words: The Scenario o Oranienburg
- Dancers present the storyline of scenario (Lomonosov), born 1888
- Scenario shapes form of music o St. Petersburg, 1901-11
- Set in pagan Russia, a series of loosely related scenes o Parid, 1911-14
- Two parts, each scene through-composed o Switzerland, 1914-20
- Percussion o Paris, 1920-39
Profile: Igor Stravinsky (1882-1972) o Cambridge,
- Constantly reinvented himself Massachusetts, 1939-40
- Early works reflet Russian ancestry o West Hollywood,
- Adopted neoclassicism around 1917 California, 1941-69
- Emigrated to US during WWII, settling in LA o NYC, 1969-71
- Later embraced 12-tone composition o Venice, buried
- Stravinsky and Schoenberg regarded as greates composers of 20th century
- Successfully connected w/audiences
Charlie Parker “Ornithology”
Timbre – listen as the instruments blend to play the opening melody and then introduce themselves separately with short solos;
notice the different sounds the drums make in different sections of the piece
Melody – listen for melodies that rise and fall rapidly, for sustained dissonant pitches, and for short motifs that repeat
Texture – notice the clear melodic line throughout, and its rhythmic accompaniment

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Form – listen for timbre changes that mark the beginning of new sections; listen also for repeating chord progressions

Ornithology
- Composed: 1946
- Bebop difficult to dance and listen to
- Emerged just after end of WWII
- Small groups called “jazz combos”
- Emphasis on improvisation as means of self-expression
- Bebop soloists used more dissonant notes, developed a simple approach to musical form (composed new melodies)
- These melodies or “heads” were the core of the piece
Jazz Combo Timbre Sectional Form, “Ornithology”
- Lead instruments play the head together - Five sections, called choruses
- Timbral changes mark new sections - Sectional form – first and last chorus the same
- Unique timbres in extended solos (muted trumpet, high range in tenor - Each chorus uses A A’ form (three segments
with a varied repetition)
saxophone)
- Sectional form
From Improvisation to Melody - Abandons familiar AABA 32-bar form
- Head has three segments - Pattern of choruses similar to theme and
- Second segment is a short, descending fragment that is then variations
sequenced Profile: Charlie Parker (1920-1955)
- “changes” (chord progression) borrowed from another popular song - Raised in Kansas City, Missouri
- Sat in the local ensembles and practiced
- Each solo echoes the head
obsessively
- Important features of bebop melodic style - Moved to NYC in 1939
o Angular melodic lines - Developed virtuosic solo style
o Forced sound in high register - Struggled w/drug addiction and personal
o Prolonged dissonant notes problems
Texture: Rhythm Section Plus Soloist - Solos and compositions reversed among jazz
fans
- Bass, drums, piano form rhythm section
- Create steady foundation and groove
- Piano and bass provide chords
- Piano also a solo instrument (fills)
Ruth Crawford Piano Study in Mixed Accents
Rhythm – what is the meter of this piece? Can you tap the beats? Are some notes longer than others?
Texture – do you hear one melodic line played at a time or more than one? Do you hear a melody plus accompaniment?
Harmony – can you hear a tonal center?
Melody – how would you describe the contours of the melody?
Form – how is this piece divided into sections? Can you identify what makes sections similar or different? Can you identify an
overall shape to the piece?
Piano Study in Mixed Accents
- Composed: 1930
- Used new idiom freed from conventional restraints
- Avoids basic elements like meter, tonality, patterned rhythms
- Emerged from the atmosphere of modernism in Berlin
Mixed Rhythms
- Very fast notes of equal value  Neither duple nor triple meter
- Irregular groupings of notes
- Metrical unpredictability contributes to unconventionality
Monophonic Texture Historical Context: Twelve-Tone Composition
- A single melodic line; monophony - Avoids giving prominence to any one pitch
- Both hands plat same notes, separated by an octave - Schoenberg’s method of “12-tone composition”
- No accompaniment or interplay between different lines most widely used
- Rare example of twentieth-century monophony - Fundamental basis is ordered series of 12 notes of
chromatic scale
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- Rows written forward, backward, inverted, or
inverted and backward – or transposed in
different pitches
An Absence of Harmony
- Atonal – projects no sense of tonal center
- Not based on a scale
- Different pitches occur w/same frequency
- Contributes to modern style
Registers of Melody
- melody difficult without tonal center
- Crawford creates variety through register (range in which a melody is presented)
- Different sections occupy different registers
- Gives the piece a sense of shape
Sectional Form, Piano Study in Mixed Accents
- Silences punctuate work
- Sections and registral profile created symmetrical large-scale shape
Aaron Copland “Hoe-down” from Rodeo
Melody – how long bfore you hear an actual melody? Is it conjunct or disjunct? What about later melodies?
Timbre – twork is for large orchestra. How often do all instruments play? Listen for longer passages for smaller orchestral groups
Rhythm – listen to how the meter and rhythm are simple at times, complex at others
Form – listen for the repeated return of the opening section’s main idea and the contrast w/sections based on other melodies 
this movement is a rondo
“Hoe-Down,” from Rodeo Profile: Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
- Composed: 1942 - Came of age in 1920s and 1930s
- Written for dancer Agnes de Mille - Desired to write “American music”
- Trained in European tradition of modernism
- Story takes place in American West
- Political and emotionally a populist
- Uses actual American folk tunes - Used folk tunes and wrote for Hollywood films
- Musical counterpart to the West - Superb lecturer and writer on music
Folk Melodies Historical Context: The Politics of Culture
- Opening melody a traditional fiddle tune called “Bonaparte’s - Most prominent composer brought before
Retreat” McCarthy hearings of early 1950s
- Suspended “Communist sympathizer”
- Melody in middle also based on a traditional fiddle tune called
- Music part of Cold War struggle
“McLeod’s Reel” - Led to difficulty traveling and gaining recognition
- Both contribute to identifiably American sound - Later awarded Congressional Gold Medal
Timbre: Smaller Ensembles within the Orchestra
- Orchestration varied throughout
- Full orchestra w/large percussion section vs. smaller groupings of instruments
- Bright and transparent timbres
- Sections and ranges project their own sonic identity
Dance Rhythms
- Energetic duple meter typical of hoe-downs
- Occasional use of triple meter
- High use of syncopation
- Contribute to forward momentum
Rondo Form
- Main theme alternates w/contrasting melodic ideas
- Introductory orchestra “tune-up”
Béla Bartók Concerto for Orchestra, second movement (“Game of Pairs”)
Timbre – listen for the variety of instrumental sounds, beginning with a succession of prominent passages by the woodwinds
(bassoons, then oboes, clarinets, and flutes), then the brass instruments (trumpets, trombones, horns, and tuba). A small side drum
introduce and ends the movement
Melody – listen for phrases and cadences within each melody; also listen for a tonal center in each melody
Form – listen for the large-scale ABA’ form; where does the B section begin? How is A’ different from the original A?
Concerto for Orchestra
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 - Composed: 1943
- All instruments come to fore at different times
- This movement features woodwinds and brass in turns Profile: Béla Bartók (1831-1945)
- One of the most frequently performed twentieth-century - Active as composer, scholar, and performer
- Collected and recorded music of different European
orchestral works
ethnic groups
Wind Timbres - Performed his own works and others’ on piano
- Series of paired wind instruments - Emigrated to US in 1940
- Bassoons, then oboes, clarinets, flutes, and trumpets - Concerto for Orchestra commissioned by Boston
- Full brass section (trombones and tuba, followed by horns) Symphony Orchestra – still popular today
emerges to play quieter melody Historical Context: Bartók the Ethnomusicologist
- Ethnomusicology 00 subfield of musicology; the scholarly
Folk-Inflected Melodies
study of music in general, focuses on social dimension
- Bartók collected and used many melodies and use of music within and between cultures
- Evokes musical ideas outside Western art music - Origins of the discipline began in the late 19 th century
- Tonal idiom, but unconventional w/study of non-Western and vernacular (“folk”)
Asymmetrical-Symmetrical Form repertoires, many or which transmitted by oral tradition
- Ternary form with varied return (ABA’) - Bartók among first generation of scholars conducting
ethnomusicological field work
- Lifelong fascination with symmetry
- Travelled as far as Middle East and northern Africa
- Introduction/A/b/A/Coda - Found inspiration for his own compositions in folk music
- Movement constructed in “mirror” form
LEONARD BERNSTEIN “Tonight” from West Side Story
Melody – listen for the two contrasting melodies. How are they different? Who sings which?
Texture – listen for the growing complexity of texture from homophony to polyphony
Form – listen for how the scene grows from a series of solos, to a trio, to a quintet; listen for how the two main themes are varied
then combined
Increasingly Complex Textures
Word-Music Relationships – the key word is “tonight”; listen for how it Is sung
- Move from one part (homophony; solo) to
consistently in both melodies; notice, too, how the singers arrive at the word many parts (polyphony; trio then quintet)
together from different routes - Ends with five monologues sung
“Tonight” from West Side Story simultaneously
- Composed: 1957 - Advantage of sung drama over spoken
- Retelling of Romeo and Juliet drama: five parts spoken together would be
babble
- An instant hit at its premiere
Word-Music Relationships: “Tonight,” Two Ways
- Uses elements of jazz
- Basic word “tonight” approached
- Musical – spoken drama w/substantial amounts of sining, based on differently by two groups
operetta tradition - Melodies shared by different characters or
- Jazz-like orchestration groups serve to unify them – a couple in
Representative Melodies love or bringing together rival gangs
- Emotion of hate and love represented by different melodies Profile: Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
- Led “four lives in one”
- Fast-paced melody over an ostinato  gives basses their workout LOL
- Major conductor of 20th century
- Both emotions united by a desire for togetherness - Composer for stage, concert hall, ballet,
Additive Form and film
- Each character introduced one by one, then brought together musically - Pianist
- Sections alternate between two melodies - Educator
- Culminates in a quintet for Maria, Tony, Anita, Sharks, and Jets
- Additive Form – two basic melodies distributed among different characters, new layers constantly added
Gamelan Gong Kebyar of Belaluan Bali Keybar Ding III, “Oncang-oncangan”
Timbre – how would you describe the sound of the individual instruments you hear?
Melody – how would you describe the melodies you hear?
Dynamics – listen for the gradual changes in volume
Form – listen for changes in the speed of the music and the way in which each section of the piece has its own tempo
Kebyar Ding III
- Recorded: 1928
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 - Gamelan – consists of melody and rhythm instruments, originated in Java and Bali
- Main instruments are gender (bronze-keyed vibraphones) and tromping (bowl-shaped gongs)
- Compositions built as ostinatos
- Gamelan deeply influenced many 20th century composers Form
Shimmering Timbre - Different sections maintain different tempos
and dynamics
- Shimmering effect produced by paired instruments tuned slightly
- Kebyar explosions and sections with unified
apart
rhythms mark off sections
- Very noticeable effect - Piece moves without direction
A Textured Melody - Static, meditative quality
- Melody played in high-register gender Closer Look: The Gamelan
- Rapid speed achieved by dividing all pitches among players - Gamelan music originated in Indonesia in
- Each note “interlocks” with the next to form the melody South East Asia
- Trompong play independently of gender - Ceremonial type of music (rituals and
Dynamics and Tempo religious gatherings)
- Variety of instruments drums and other
- Widely varying dynamics and tempo
percussion instruments, gender (a kind of
- Changes mark beginnings of new sections
vibraphone), and tromping which are gongs
- Kebyar – all instruments struck together
Philip Glass “Knee Play 1” from Einstein on the Beach
Timbre – listen for three layers of sound: (1) the bass line (organ), (2) the chorus of voices above it, and (3) the two seemingly
independent speaking parts
Harmony – listen for the simple and strongly tonal harmonic progression that is repeated over and over in this scene
Form – listen for the repeated pattern in the bass line; try to identiy variations in the basic rhythmic and melodic vocal patterns 
be aware of the added elements (new voices, speaking and singing) that emerge over the course of the scene as a whole

Einstein on the Beach Profile: Philip Glass (b. 1937)

- Composed: 1976 - Born in Baltimore, trained at
- An opera w/little singing and no plot Peabody Conservatory of Music
- No true characters and Julliard School of Music in
- Audiences choose their own interpretation NYC
- Minimalism – brieg musical idea(s) repeated and varied incrementally over a - Studied in Paris (with Nadia
long span of time Boulanger) and in Asia (with
- Passage of time creates trance-like state Ravi Shankar)
Layered Timbres - Moved to NYC in 1960s and
- Electronic organ, small mixed chorus, two speakers established his own ensemble
- Chorus and organ move together, speakers enter randomly to reach audiences more
- Glass’s score allows freedom in performance directly
Simple Harmony - Prolific composer
- Outline simple harmonic progression (IV-V-I)
- Simple harmony directs attention to other elements (rhythm, texture, dynamics)
Variation Form
- Variations on short melodic fragments over an ostinato bass
- Variety created through altered rhythms, divided, voices, addition of spoken voices

Austin Wintory “Nascence”, from Journey

Word-Music Relationships – this game is about one character’s journey; how does this piece reflect that idea?
Timbre – listen to the diversity of instruments: solo cell, harp, bass flute, string orchestra; this variety keeps the piece exciting
Melody – “Nascence” begins w/melody played by cello  listen for how this melody changes each time it is repeated
Texture – listen to how the music moves through there textures quickly: a monophonic opening, a homophonic central section, and
a polyphonic dialogue between cello and orchestra Historical Context: Changing Technologies
“Nascence” from Journey - Today’s game composers face few technical
- Composed: 2012 limitations, unlike 25 years ago
29 - Older game music developed traditions
based on technical limitations: “loops,”
“blips,” and “bloops”
- Memory increases and innovations in sound
 - Journey atypical as video game: asks players to reflect on its meaning
- Music helps creates the game’s plot
- Immerses players in the game’s atmosphere
Word-Music Relationships: Beginnings
- Title “Nascence” means “birth” or “coming into existence”
- Music represents some kind of beginning for the player
- Introduces themes, harmonies, and instruments for the entire game
- This music develops throughout Journey, paralleling players’ changing experiences with the game
Timbre: Between Familiar and Exotic
- Combines familiar and unfamiliar instruments
- Cello and string orchestra common in Western classical music
- Bass glute, harp, and finger cymbals provide exotic, international sound
Texture: Layers of Meaning
- Distinctive combination of instruments represents unfamiliar desert
- Increasing sense of drama in short span
landscape - Melodic embellishment and textural
Melody: A Journey in Sound layering create tension and development
- Single melody played three times - Moves through monophony,
- Basic phrase shape remains, but details differ each time homophony, and polyphony – provides
- Variations reinforce unpredictable nature of video game sense of direction
Performance: Interactivity
Chuck Berry “School Day”
- Game music similar to film and TV
Rhythm – tap along w/beat and try to identify the rhythmic patterns that appear music, but with unique challenges and
most frequently; listen for the moments when the entire band stops together problems
Timbre – notice the aggressive tones of the guitar that cut through the sound of the - How to match variability of experience
rest of the instruments; listen for the high notes in the piano that are present with music?
throughout almost all of the recording - Game composers create adaptable
Form – listen for individual verses; try to identify the length (number of measures) music through “layering” (textures
and harmonic pattern of each verse change w/game) and “branching” (forms
change w/game)
- Music can ensure beat possible gaming
“School Day”
experience
- Composed: 1957
- Rock ‘n’ roll created in mid-1950s
- Blended blues and honky-tonk w/edgy attitude
- Capitalized on youth culture and contradictions between general prosperity and social unrest
Shuffle Rhythm and Stop Time
- Rhythm creates excitement of song
- Shuffle rhythm propels motion forward
- Lyrics follow shuffle groove
- Stop time – accompaniment group plays a single note then rests, punctuating end of sections
- Anacrusis – notes that begin a phrase before the downbeat (“pick-up notes)
Rock ‘n’ roll Timbre
- Electric lead guitar, drums, bass, guitar, piano
- Berry’s signature guitar introductions typically borrowed from other songs
12-Bar Blues Form, “School Day”
- Strophic song
- Each verse in 12-bar blues form
- Guitar solo provides contrast and excitement
- Solo builds momentum between verses
Historical Context: Television and Rock ‘n’ Roll
- By 1954, 55% of homes owned a TV
- Variety shows popular among audiences
- An appearance on Ed Sullivan Show solidified Elvis Presley’s status as cultural icon
- American Bandstand introduced new records, new artists, and new dance styles

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Profile: Chuck Berry (b. 1926)
- Grew up in St. Louis, absorbed influence of blues, hillbilly, and Western swing
- Established himself as a multitalented guitar player and songwriter
- Charismatic performer, known for “duck walk”
- Heyday of rock ‘n’ roll lasted from 1954 to 1959
- Berry later recorded more hits and toured successfully

Public Enemy “Fight the Power”

Timbre – listen for many different layers of sound and for fragments taken from other recordings; notice the reverberation on the
low bass and drums
Form – listen for obvious changes in timbre, rhythm, and lyrics that divide the song into sections; notice that some sections repeat
w/slight variations
Rhythm – be aware of repetition in the rhythmic groove; feel the steady pulse; listen to the rhythmic pattern of the lyrics and how it
creates tension against the accompaniment’s meter
Word-Music Relationships – notice references to other artists, historical figures, and songs

“Fight the Power”

- Composed: 1990
- Written for Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing
- Recording conveyed radical tension in Brooklyn neighborhood
- Rap music combines rhymed speech patterns with hip-hop beats (sampled from 1960s and 1970s albums)
Historical Context: Hip-Hop’s Element
- Hip-hop includes graffiti, deejaying, emceeing, and break dancing
- Harsh economic conditions, gang violence, and a sense of despair motivated first generation of hip-hop artists to find
creative outlet through their music
- Records, radio shows, and growing media coverage, hip-hop grew beyond original neighborhoods
- Mainstream acceptance of hip-hop was slow in coming
A Layered, Sampled Timbre
- Begins w/sample from speech by King
- Groove established by densely layering samples
- Fuzz and distortion evoke cassette tapes, give vocals more clarity
- Hip-hop sound identified w/”scratching” (developed in 1980s)
Verse-Chorus Form
- Verse-chorus form w/modifications
o Extensive opening section
o Expanding verses
o Repeating hook in chorus
o Instrumental breaks
o Epilogue
A Repetitive Rhythmic Groove w/Syncopated Lyrics
- Rhythmic character w/three elements
o Steady, throbbing pulse
o Complicated rhythmic patterns establish a groove
o Syncopated lyrics
- Relation of lyrics to groove establishes tension
- Phrase “fight the power” is the hook
Word-Music Relationships: Politically Charged Rhymes and References
- Connects to audience through references to late 1980s hip-hop culture
- Comments on quality of contemporary black music and older white entertainers
- Encourages listeners to join crusade for black nationalism
Profile: Public enemy

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 - Brought political commentary to East Coast hip-hop
- Garnered a contract w/Def Jam Records in 1986
- Ensemble of musicians and producers unusual for record studios
- Formed self-contained production and entertainment unit
- Unique hip-hop beats reinforced serious, aggressive political message

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