final 331 Flashcards
Define operetta
A Parody making fun of serious opera
EX: Orpheus in the Underworld
Name one french and one English composer/librettist duo
Offenbach - French
Gilbert (Librettist) and Sullivan (Composer)
Describe the early history of musicals and the genres that contributed to it
Born from burlesque shows, blackface minstrelsy, and European operettas
describe early musicals
George Cohen credited for the invention of early musicals, meant to tell stories about ordinary, American people somehow experiencing something extraordinary (good or bad), following popular fads and musical trends
Describe the significant innovation of Showboat, including its handling of racism
Social realism: social injustice, alcoholistm, marital infidelity, social class, race
Biracial cast was considered high risk
wide range of musical styles
Describe musicals in the 1940’s and 1950’s
More discussion about serious social issues and incorporation of Jazz
Describe the most significan musical and social issues in Westside Story
Social issues dealt with opposing gangs
Uses jazz and bebop elements combined with baroque elements of having a fugue section
Define Bebop
Complex, improvisational style of jazz
- fast tempos,
- intricate melodies, and
- virtuosic instrumental solos.
Intentionally elitist,
wanted to be on the same level as classical music.
Define cool jazz
relaxed style of jazz with softer timbre, more rhythmic and dynamic subtleties, with a focus on melodic clarity. Inspiration from classical compositions.
Modal jazz
type of music where musicians focus on musical modes rather than specific chords, allowing for a more free and open style of improvisation.
Use of Whole tone scale and slow harmonic progressions with few chords.
Influenced by Ravel, Debussy, and Stravinsky.
Free Jazz
Spontaneous improvisation
Describe Coltrane’s style
Fast playing, motivic development, new sonorities, greater dissonances, shorter phrases, arpeggios, extended technique.
Define minimalism
Short, driving ideas that constantly evolve.
Define post minimalism
More frequent changes, particularly in timbre, and rhythmic pulse, clear harmonic progressions.
Still
Afroamerican Symphony, 1st movement
What elements of the blues and jazz are incorporated into this movement? (Still)
12 bar blues AAB melody
sycncopations
call and response in woodwind and brass
blues notes
walking baseline
wind and brass emphasis
Why were these elements (in Still’s piece) considered daring?
Blues and classical tradition combined was new and provocative
associated with violence
making a political statement that blues is important to world culture
symphony was the most important classical genre
Describe Still’s manipulation of sonata form
Was a reverse recap.
Why were Still’s achievements so unusual for the era?
First african american to have long-form symphonic piece performed by a major orchestra.
Who were Still’s colleagues and African-American contemporaries
Florence Price, Langston Hughes, Margaret Bonds, Paul Dunbar
Chavez
Sinfonia India
Describe the Mexican stylistic characteristics in Chavez’s Sinfonia India
Rhythmically driven
Complex/frequent meter changes
Polychords
Traditional Mexican instruments
Inspiration from indigenous groups in Chavez’s Sinfonia India
Huichol
Cora
Yaqui
Seri
Describe the instruments in Chavez’s Sinfonia India
Water gourd: half a gourd inverted and partly submerged in water, struck with sticks. Thud sound with mallet
Güiro: played by rubbing stick along notches to produce ratchet sound.
Tenabari: string of butterfly cocoons usually worn around the ankles. Shaker sound.
Grijutian: string of deer hooves. Metallic sound
Crawford Seeger
String Quartet 1931, fourth movement
How does Crawford Seeger alter serialism?
Adds parameters to serialism outside of pitch; ten-note rows on rotation, two-part counterpoint (violin against all other parts)
Describe Crawford Seeger’s Career and the reasons her career track changed.
Before 1933, composing music, making dissonant counterpoint, experimenting with serial techniques.
1933 – gets married to Seeger. He influences her career, and she changes focus to folk songs. Earliest systematic studies of folksong, preserving folk songs, getting recordings, publishing transcriptions and arrangements.
1952 – suit for wind quintet and won an award at the National Association of American Composers and Conductors and gets back into composing modernist works. Dies of cancer before she can get back into it.
Messiaen
Quartet for the End of Time, first movement
Explain the repeated pattern of pitched and durations in the piano and cello parts.
Repeated sequence of 5 notes in the cello and piano, limited transposition because you’ll only get the wholetone scale.
describe the movements use of birdsongs in Messiaen
conveys sense of contemplating gifts of nature and divinity, altruistic.
describe the significance of the instrumentation in Messiaen
violin clarinet cello piano were the only instruments available in his war camp.
What are the symmetrical elements in Messiean’s movement?
nonretrogradable rhythms, patterns preserve idenity outside of time, symbolizes the eternal.
What is Messiean’s composition program about?
meant to convey that time is eternal.
Bernstein
Westside Story, Act 1 No. 8 Cool
Describe the classical compositional techniques in Cool
Use of fugue subject and countersubject in flute line and bassoon.
Britten
Peter Grimes, Excerpt Act III, scene 2
How does polytonality relate to the plot of Peter Grimes
Bitonality - indifference to the sea and the townspeople. Orchestra represents the sea (C Major)
Voice and Brass hymnlike quality represent townspeople’s daily routine (A Major)
Modal inflections - Lydian and Phrygian
How did Britten’s Personal life intersect with his career as a composer and with the libretto of Peter Grimes?
In the original poem, Grimes in ostracised by the village because he is gay, making him the story’s villain. Pears and Britten took out homoeroticism so that the audience could feel more empathy towards him.
John Adams
Doctor Atomic, Batter My Heart
Describe the contrasting styles that are present in Doctor Atomic
Instrumental ritornello is post-minimalism. Sung sections are baroque operas.
Baroque monody
Scotch snaps in the vocal lines, expressive dissonances.
What are the sources for the words of the aria in Batter My Heart?
John Donne Poem Batter My Heart, early 17th century poet. Depicts conflict between faith and action trying to juggle psychological issues.
What is Dr Atomic about?
Focuses on Robert Oppenheimer and the test of the atomic bomb.
Bright Sheng
Seven Tunes Heard in China, No. 1 Seasons
What are the Western Classical elements in this piece and traditional Chinese elements in Seasons.
The main melody is the Chinese folksong “Spring is Coming”
Influenced by Ehru and Qin instruments.
Western influence is Western motivic development, borrows from modernism polytonality Am and EbM.
Dance like, motivic repetitions, sequences, simulated polyphony, double stops
Golijov
La Pasión según San Marcos: Nos. 24-26
Which elements of Golijov’s piece came from which country?
Brazilian Samba
Cuban Salsa
Spanish Flamenco
Argentine tangos
Describe the struggles Golijov dealt with in relation to religion and politics
Caroline Shaw
Partita for 8 Voices, first movement
List the borrowed elements from Shaw’s piece
Inuit throat singing (courant), Tuvan throat singing (lowest part of allemande)
Yodels glissandi
Square dance calls
Discuss issues concerning appropriation in Shaw’s piece.
Though thought they were being taught an example of a technique, not a piece of established music.
