Unit 6: North American Composers Flashcards
Who was a leading figure in establishing Canadian music internationally and in paving the way for female composes in Canada?
Jean Coulthard.
Who was Jean Coulthard influenced by?
Ralph Vaughn Williams, Bela Bartok, Aaron Copland, and Arnold Schoenberg.
Where did Jean Coulthard study?
In London, England at the Royal Academy of Music with Ralph Vaughn Williams.
Describe the neo-Romantic characteristics in Jean Coulthard’s music:
Lyricism, lush harmonies, emotional intensity.
True or false? Coulthard had a popular appealing style.
True.
Give examples of Coulthard’s music that features nationalism in the form of quotations from Canadian folk music:
Canadian Fantasy, The Pines of Emily Carr.
What did Coulthard experiment with?
Serialism, aleatoric procedures, and electronic music.
Coulthard’s interest in pedagogy demonstrated in ___ works for both piano and violin.
Didactic.
True or false? Coulthard received the Officer of the Order of Canada.
True.
Who was “The Contended House” from Canada Mosaic commissioned by?
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra for a tour of Japan in 1974.
What does “The Contended House” from Canada Mosaic resemble?
Film music.
Which side of Coulthard is put on display in “The Contended House” from Canada Mosaic?
More conservative, accessible style.
“The Contended House” from Canada Mosaic is an example of Canadian neo-___.
Romanticism.
What is the genre of “The Contended House” from Canada Mosaic?
Orchestral music.
What are the performing forces in “The Contended House” from Canada Mosaic?
Large orchestra with expanded percussion section.
What is the overall structure of Canada Mosaic?
Seven movements.
What were Coulthard’s three objectives in Canada Mosaic?
- Use Canadian folk songs from different parts of the country.
- Create an image of Canada. Ethnic groups and varied scenes.
- Relate to the people and scenes of own childhood melodies.
What is the form of “The Contended House” from Canada Mosaic?
Free-form.
What is the origin of the text in “The Contended House” from Canada Mosaic?
A la claire fontaine, a French Canadian folk song.
Who was a founding member of the Canadian League of Composers?
Harry Somers.
Who is considered to be the foremost English-Canadian composer of their time?
Harry Somers.
Somers’ work walks a fine line between an elite modernity and…
Popular appeal.
Who introduced Somers to the twelve-tone technique?
John Weinzweig.
Somers’ music displays a wide range of contemporary characteristics, including…
Serialism, quasi-diatonic harmony, and neo-Classicism.
While studying in Paris, Somers was influenced by…
His teacher Darius Milhaud, as well as his contemporaries, Pierre Boulez and Oliver Messiaen.
Whose music inspired Somers to add nationalism, quotation in music, and write in a neoclassical style?
Bela Bartok and Aaron Copland.
True or false? Somers abandoned tonality in the 1960’s/
True.
What languages did Somers use in his opera, Louis Riel?
English, French, Cree, Latin.
True or false? Somers’ work is picturesque, and can even be considered programmatic.
True.
Somers was an advocate of “light music.” What does this mean?
Many works were intended for players of limited ability. These works offer performers an opportunity to increase their musical understanding and ability.
True or false? Somers occasionally explored indeterminacy (chance or aleatoric music).
True.
True or false? The Picasso Suite is light music.
True.
What is the genre of the Picasso Suite?
Orchestral suite.
Who was the Picasso Suite commissioned by
The Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra.
What was the source of the Picasso Suite?
Adapted from music for a TV program on the life of Picasso.
What is the structure of the Picasso Suite?
9 movements.
What are the performing forces in the Picasso Suite?
Flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, trumpet, strings, two percussionists, piano, celesta.
What was Sondheim’s finest achievement early in his career?
Being invited by Leonard Bernstein to write the lyrics for West Side Story.
True or false? Sondheim was a realist.
True.
What indication is given that Sondheim was a realist?
He replaces sentimentality with emotional intensity.
True or false? Somers wrote all of is song lyrics.
False, this was Sondheim.
Sondheim ensured that the quality of language matched…
The characters. The more clever the rhyme scheme, the more sophisticated the character.
Sondheim’s music is linked to…
The character and the action. It is mostly heard in its dramatic context.
Describe Sondheim’s characters.
Multi-dimensional, with neuroses and ambivalent traits. Characters undergo a confused search for self and stability.
True or false? Sondheim had an affinity for complex, challenging issues inspired by a wide array of sources, including films, plays, history.
True.
Sondheim was an exponent of ___ theatre, which is meant to “instruct” an audience, raising their awareness of socio-political issues.
Didactic.
Sondheim developed the “concept” musical. What is this?
All elements in the work are integrated to suggest a central thematic image or idea. For example, the Kabuki inspired Pacific Overtures.
True or false? Sondheim creates stories with logical flow.
False, they are not always logical or linear. Sondheim skilfully fuses together fantasy with reality.
True or false? Sondheim used leitmotifs.
True.
How does Sondheim achieve the perfect union between melody and text?
Rhythmic complexity.
Sondheim rejected the standard AABA song form, instead choosing to…
Experiment with novel, even through-composed forms.
Sondheim’s rich harmonic language had stylistic ties to…
Johannes Brahms, Maurice Rabel, Sergei Prokofiev.
True or false? Sondheim is known as the master of contrapuntal writing.
True.
What did Sondheim draw on for writing “My Friends” from Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street?
The French Grand Guignol tradition of theatrical horror.
What is the tory in “My Friends” from Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street?
There is a barber who has an all-consuming thirst for justice. He kills all those who get in the way of his target, a judge who destroyed his family. His landlord and him form an alliance, and she grinds up his victims and puts them in her meat pies. The barber’s day of reckoning with the judge comes to pass, but at an enormous costs to himself and those he loves.
What is the genre of Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street?
Musical.
Who wrote the music and lyrics to Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street?
Stephen Sondheim.
Who wrote the book (dialogue) for Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street?
Hugh Wheeler.
What is the source of the plot for Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street?
1973 play Sweeney Todd by Christopher Bond.
What is the structure of Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street?
Two acts.
What is the key of “My Friends” from Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street?
Modal (melody opens in B flat Dorian).
What is the form of “My Friends” from Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street?
a (solo), A (duet).
Who is a Grammy Award-winning composer and percussionist?
Steve Reich.
Who went to Juilliard School?
Reich.
Describe Reich’s style.
His own personal style of minimalism, merging popular, classical, and technological elements.
Name some of Reich’s minimalist peers.
La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Phillip Glass, and John Adams.
What does Reich combine to form his style?
European classical, non-Western popular music sources, and electronic innovations.
What did Reich study at the University of Ghana, and what did this do for him?
African drumming, allowed him to incorporate its rhythmic complexity into his compositions.
Which composer studied Balinese Gamelan music?
Reich. This allowed him to absorb this into his formal and harmonic procedures.
Reich’s musical style draws on collaborations with American jazz, rock, hip-hop, and performance artists such as…
Pat Metheny, David Byrne, Brian Eno, Laurie Anderson, and his wife Beryl Korot.
What does Reich emphasize in his minimalist works?
Process of change, slow evolution of melodic, harmonic, and contrapuntal features.
Who used “phase shifting”?
Reich.
Phase Shifting
Slowing down and speeding up tape loops to create a constantly evolving musical density.
True or false? Reich’s works often brim with the motor drive characteristic of minimalism.
True.
Name some choreographers Reich has worked with:
Alvin Ailey, Maurice Bejart, Jerome Robbins.
Who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 2009, and for what piece?
Reich for Double Sextet.
Who was Electric Counterpoint written for?
American jazz guitarist Pat Metheny.
What are Reich’s contemporary influences, evidenced in Electric Counterpoint?
Jazz, rock, world beat, minimalism, electronic manipulation.
What are Reich’s historical influences, evidenced in Electric Counterpoint?
Counterpoint.
What is the genre of Electric Counterpoint?
Guitar music.
What is the structure of Electric Counterpoint?
Three movements.
What are the performing forces in Electric Counterpoint?
Solo electric guitar accompanied by ten guitars and two bass guitars (or pre-recorded tape of the accompaniment).
