As I have never been good with a clear chronological understanding of events, I am once again surprised to look at the dates of Haydn and Mozart and actually see them becoming active during Bach's time, not later.
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) - String Quartet in Eb Major, Op 33 No.2, Presto
The last movement in this string quartet also titled "The Joke". I love that ending! Haydn plays the main theme with rests in between so the audience doesn't quite know when it will return again, and then it just ends mid-phrase.
Reading though Haydn's history and his work under a patron, he was quite constricted to his patron's whimsy and wasn't able to explore composition freely. Instead he brought a personality and sense of humor to work within those restrictions.
Some musical evolution here from the previous time period:
Instrumentation
A string quartet, replacing the trio sonata, no longer relying on a chordal instrument to produce harmonies, but working them in with 4 melodic instruments. The sound of a quartet is more fluid and resembles the earlier vocal music in texture.
Form
Rondo. Music is getting fixed forms that are driven by harmonic functions and melodic motives.
Harmonic Importance
Harmonic shifts that are based on functional harmony seem to be the main prospect
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) - Symphony in G minor, No. 40
It's so fun to listen to Mozart and follow the score, it sheds even more light on his genius. I love Mozart so much.
What I love about Mozart is his effortless control of complex harmony, phrasing, orchestration, motivic development, knowledge of instruments, dynamics, sudden shifts.. I can go on and on. I love Mozart.
From my many days of playing Mozart on the piano and singing in a choir, I have grown to appreciate Mozart through participation. Especially as a choral singer, once you witness chromatic lines and key changes that are really not very easy to sing, you come away with an awe of how easy he makes everything sound.
People who aren't musicians often find Mozart boring and that his music sounds the same, I think that stems from the fact that he was so prolific and is performed in so many different mediums while still holding on to his sensibilities. My response is usually once you perform him the amount of intricacy, detail and complexity is so cleverly written that it comes off as too easy.
As promised, my appropriation selection for Mozart is "Mozart in Egypt" - An orchestra and a "classical Egyptian" ensemble going back and forth throughout the piece. I think Mozart would have liked the absurdity of it!
The attempt of weaving these two thoughts together is not always successful but is pretty interesting. There is a whole series of those.
I'm pretty sure Mozart also would have loved this Don Giovanni setting featuring girls in bikinis
Mozart's individuality as he fought for artistic right and freedom while constantly working to develop and absorb new things is inspiring.
Also inspiring is Gluck's resolution to go against patrons and diva singers to reclaim the importance of text, sentiment and musical integrity.
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Baroque
put on your wig everyone, here we go...
In a way I'm almost disappointed to be at the stage where I am familiar with most of the music, I enjoyed listening to new and modal things...
Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713) - Trio Sonata #2 in D major
Corelli made a name for himself as a working musician in Rome. He got good gigs as a violinist, I assume he performed many of his own works.
There is development in this piece in several regards:\
Instrumentation -
Written for 2 violins and continuo - which is usually cello and some type of chordal instrument. This is a new development - a small chamber ensemble. Although it informally existed when various instruments were substituting or supporting part vocal music in the past, this is officially written for a small number of specific instruments and for their specific timbres and capabilities.
Form -
A sonata da chiesa, a collection of 4 movements with specific tempo and mood designation. This is also new since so far we've only seen multi-movement pieces in the church.
Although there are 4 distinct movement they are short and sweet. It obvious they were written more for entertainment then to fully explore the composer's artistry.
Imitation, counterpoint and harmonic progressions are the focus here, as well as a metric steady pulse.
Out of our key words, the one that comes to mind here is control. Corelli wrote the music he performed, as well as working basically as a gigging freelancer.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) - Prelude and Fugue in A minor
The big kahuna. We all know about his prolific writing, genius, and contribution to the development of counterpoint, theory, rhythm, motivic development and music in general.
A few notes about this piece and development through it:
Instrumentation -
Solo organ. The instrument allows a large amount of sound combinations, and with 10 fingers and 2 feet Bach milks it to its fullest potential. The instrument is part of the church (literally), bringing solo instrumental music to be part of the religious service. Although this piece among many other are more about intellectual exploration then the function they serve in the church. The sound of the organ is intimidating, maybe that's enough in a religious service...
Form-
2 parts, with especially the fugue dedicated exploring complex motivic, contrapunctal, and harmonic development while maintaining a metric steady rhythm.
Technique -
We are past 8th notes now! Similarly to Corelli, Bach played his own compositions and expand on keyboard technique and fast passages we haven't seen until now. The fact he would also improvise this stuff is baffling. Control is present here as well, not only over a large number of musical concepts but also physically with being able to execute yourself what you have written.
The affect here is awe, which is achieved by the sound of the instrument and fast, constant rhythm.
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) - Excerpts from Massiah.
Hallelujah!
Sometimes I forget Handel and Bach are complete contemporaries, history likes to list Bach as first...
Instrumentation -
4 part choir, 4 part strings and a chordal instrument realizing chords. This is now brought to a church, although we already saw similar instrumentation in the opera.It is also easy to forget Handel wrote this piece for a fairly small ensemble and the bombastic version we are familiar with is an orchestration.
Form -
An oratotio, the religious answer to opera. Multi-movement piece consisting of a plot, choral movements, solo arias and instrumentals. No recitatives however.
Technique -
This piece is a huge push forward from the Italian opera as far as complicated part writing and counterpoint.
It is also technically more demanding from the performers with fast passages in the instruments and vocal parts. Wikipedia brings an anecdote of Corelli refusing to play in Handel's orchestra because the violin part went too high, only to be shamed by Handel who produced the note.
The focus here is on Handel's ability to handle (pun intended) all the different musical elements and complexities.
In the spirit of bringing contemporary artists' interpretation of our weekly material I offer these selections:
This is my colleague, NYC cellist Jessie Reagen Mann who worked with a DJ to create beats to Bach's cello suites. The beats drop around 5:00.
and this guy, beatboxing the Badinerie:
a gospel version of "Hallelujah". it's cheesy as hell. I sang it Carnegie Hall... it was pretty bad there too...
In a way I'm almost disappointed to be at the stage where I am familiar with most of the music, I enjoyed listening to new and modal things...
Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713) - Trio Sonata #2 in D major
Corelli made a name for himself as a working musician in Rome. He got good gigs as a violinist, I assume he performed many of his own works.
There is development in this piece in several regards:\
Instrumentation -
Written for 2 violins and continuo - which is usually cello and some type of chordal instrument. This is a new development - a small chamber ensemble. Although it informally existed when various instruments were substituting or supporting part vocal music in the past, this is officially written for a small number of specific instruments and for their specific timbres and capabilities.
Form -
A sonata da chiesa, a collection of 4 movements with specific tempo and mood designation. This is also new since so far we've only seen multi-movement pieces in the church.
Although there are 4 distinct movement they are short and sweet. It obvious they were written more for entertainment then to fully explore the composer's artistry.
Imitation, counterpoint and harmonic progressions are the focus here, as well as a metric steady pulse.
Out of our key words, the one that comes to mind here is control. Corelli wrote the music he performed, as well as working basically as a gigging freelancer.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) - Prelude and Fugue in A minor
The big kahuna. We all know about his prolific writing, genius, and contribution to the development of counterpoint, theory, rhythm, motivic development and music in general.
A few notes about this piece and development through it:
Instrumentation -
Solo organ. The instrument allows a large amount of sound combinations, and with 10 fingers and 2 feet Bach milks it to its fullest potential. The instrument is part of the church (literally), bringing solo instrumental music to be part of the religious service. Although this piece among many other are more about intellectual exploration then the function they serve in the church. The sound of the organ is intimidating, maybe that's enough in a religious service...
Form-
2 parts, with especially the fugue dedicated exploring complex motivic, contrapunctal, and harmonic development while maintaining a metric steady rhythm.
Technique -
We are past 8th notes now! Similarly to Corelli, Bach played his own compositions and expand on keyboard technique and fast passages we haven't seen until now. The fact he would also improvise this stuff is baffling. Control is present here as well, not only over a large number of musical concepts but also physically with being able to execute yourself what you have written.
The affect here is awe, which is achieved by the sound of the instrument and fast, constant rhythm.
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) - Excerpts from Massiah.
Hallelujah!
Sometimes I forget Handel and Bach are complete contemporaries, history likes to list Bach as first...
Instrumentation -
4 part choir, 4 part strings and a chordal instrument realizing chords. This is now brought to a church, although we already saw similar instrumentation in the opera.It is also easy to forget Handel wrote this piece for a fairly small ensemble and the bombastic version we are familiar with is an orchestration.
Form -
An oratotio, the religious answer to opera. Multi-movement piece consisting of a plot, choral movements, solo arias and instrumentals. No recitatives however.
Technique -
This piece is a huge push forward from the Italian opera as far as complicated part writing and counterpoint.
It is also technically more demanding from the performers with fast passages in the instruments and vocal parts. Wikipedia brings an anecdote of Corelli refusing to play in Handel's orchestra because the violin part went too high, only to be shamed by Handel who produced the note.
The focus here is on Handel's ability to handle (pun intended) all the different musical elements and complexities.
In the spirit of bringing contemporary artists' interpretation of our weekly material I offer these selections:
This is my colleague, NYC cellist Jessie Reagen Mann who worked with a DJ to create beats to Bach's cello suites. The beats drop around 5:00.
and this guy, beatboxing the Badinerie:
a gospel version of "Hallelujah". it's cheesy as hell. I sang it Carnegie Hall... it was pretty bad there too...
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Early Opera
I love having the perspective of approaching this historically, seeing the musical evolution that led to opera.
The courts are becoming the main patrons of not only music but arts and theater. It would make sense for the court's employees to start collaborating, especially when musicians have already been playing during intermissions.
Composers have become well versed and sophisticated with different genres of secular music; song, dance, instrumental and choral settings it is logical that those skills can lead to one body of work that showcase and explore all of those abilities and style. This also brings in the attention to words and emoting that has become so prominent.
This medium can bring together the common and cerebral music traditions, different moods, techniques and genres under one roof. It also significantly longer in length then any previous works.
There is a emphasis on entertainment as well as well musical sophistication. I assume the target audience for this was the rich and educated who wanted to be intellectually entertained.
This medium certainly shows both appropriation and complete control of all these various elements. This undertaking and masterful execution is no doubt a mark of genius.
The one drawback that opera can have is that the music is often perceived as supporting to the show and is not listened to for its own merit.
Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) - Excerpts from Orfeo
Orfeo, the first opera that is still regularly performed.
The emotional range of the music orfeo is vast, from happy dances, to depiction of death and hell.
Jean Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) - Armide
Lully, a court musician to the king of France (although "to his great distress the king was not able to attend any performances of Armide"). This seems to be a new symbol of status, such as being the musician for the Notre Dame would have been 3 centuries earlier.
This is almost 3 hours long and the harmonic language has shifted to the Baroque we all know.
I stumbled upon this very entertaining production from 2008:
Henry Purcell (1659-1695) - Dido and Aeneas
I am actually very familiar with the opera since I sang in the production in the chorus when I was younger. The parts must have been written for a more amateur production since us chorus members where quite young...
The opera was more popular privately probably so amateurs can act it.
Dido's lament of course is that famous aria with a bass ostinato.
It is very popular not only with classical musicians. Here's a version I love by 90s indie rock artist Jeff Buckley, even more powerful since he died very young.
(I was fortunate to work as his producer's assistant during my time in NYC)
The courts are becoming the main patrons of not only music but arts and theater. It would make sense for the court's employees to start collaborating, especially when musicians have already been playing during intermissions.
Composers have become well versed and sophisticated with different genres of secular music; song, dance, instrumental and choral settings it is logical that those skills can lead to one body of work that showcase and explore all of those abilities and style. This also brings in the attention to words and emoting that has become so prominent.
This medium can bring together the common and cerebral music traditions, different moods, techniques and genres under one roof. It also significantly longer in length then any previous works.
There is a emphasis on entertainment as well as well musical sophistication. I assume the target audience for this was the rich and educated who wanted to be intellectually entertained.
This medium certainly shows both appropriation and complete control of all these various elements. This undertaking and masterful execution is no doubt a mark of genius.
The one drawback that opera can have is that the music is often perceived as supporting to the show and is not listened to for its own merit.
Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) - Excerpts from Orfeo
Orfeo, the first opera that is still regularly performed.
The emotional range of the music orfeo is vast, from happy dances, to depiction of death and hell.
Jean Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) - Armide
Lully, a court musician to the king of France (although "to his great distress the king was not able to attend any performances of Armide"). This seems to be a new symbol of status, such as being the musician for the Notre Dame would have been 3 centuries earlier.
This is almost 3 hours long and the harmonic language has shifted to the Baroque we all know.
I stumbled upon this very entertaining production from 2008:
Henry Purcell (1659-1695) - Dido and Aeneas
I am actually very familiar with the opera since I sang in the production in the chorus when I was younger. The parts must have been written for a more amateur production since us chorus members where quite young...
The opera was more popular privately probably so amateurs can act it.
Dido's lament of course is that famous aria with a bass ostinato.
It is very popular not only with classical musicians. Here's a version I love by 90s indie rock artist Jeff Buckley, even more powerful since he died very young.
(I was fortunate to work as his producer's assistant during my time in NYC)
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
16th Century
There is a strong shift from French composers to the Italian/Flemish school. Most of this week's listening is in Italian.
Giovanni Perluigi de Palestrina (1595-1594) - Missa Papae Marcelli
I love this balance of modal and tonal. With out modern ears this music feels free from the constrictions of later tonal harmony while feeling a stronger tonal center and and a more familiar harmonic progression. The cadences are now dominant, and in triads, this is getting closer to that traditional harmony we all know and love.
Contemporary composers are coming back to this exact sensibility, making music sounds pretty and familiar while freeing themselves from strict tonal harmony.
There is a strong emphasis on words and the vocal parts are crafted around the words. There is play with harmonic progression and development of counterpoint in great balance between the voices.
It is possible the words are audible in reaction to the church's objection that liturgical music was losing the words and isn't focusing on devotion. I think that's a good point there.
Carlo Gesualdo de Venosa (1560-1613) - "Il parto e non piu dissi"
(why is Gesualdo known by his last name and not by "Venosa"?)
There is a coloration of the text. The mood of the text changes often dramatically based on the words sung.
I love Gesualdo, probably because of that modal/tonal/chromatic balance. He jumps around to chords that we are not used to hearing together, and yet make it all work. My goal! The first time I heard Gesualdo I contemplated quitting composing... I regained my composure and figured I have some other elements in my sleeve and not all is lost, but his music had quite an effect on me.
There is a darkness, moodiness, emotion and expressivity about his writing, perhaps that is why he evokes emotion in me as a listener. This is the first time I'm getting an emotional response since the beginning of our history timeline.
I'm sure part of that darkness came from his life story that sounds straight out of Hollywood:
A young Italian nobleman marries his cousin, she begins a long affair that is known to everyone but him. He tricks her into thinking he has left, catches her and her lover in action and kills them both. He displays their mutilated bodies in front of the palace and is immune to persecution since he is a nobleman.
He remarries, is abusive, depressed, asks servants to beat him daily, loses his children and dies in isolation.
fun.
I love this one. It's dark, chromatic, and beautiful.
Giovanni Gabrielli (1554-1612) - Canzon Septimi Toni a 8
How exciting, instrumental music! Although instrumental music isn't new and instruments were used to double or replace vocalists, it is the first time that we see formal written music for instruments only.
The properties of the music sound like "typical renaissance". The meter is steady, virtuosic soloists, music that is getting to sound very similar to baroque but still modal. This music is fun and enjoyable, and the purpose here is to entertain while still keeping a high sophistication or counterpoint, voice leading and harmony.
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