Gosh, what an interesting piece. The first thing I noticed was how the first 15 seconds or so sounds exactly like the Dolby Digital introduction that they have at the cinema.

The second thing I noticed was, in some parts, how incredibly dense the sound was because of those glisses. Obviously this wasn’t a constant, there were times that the sound thinned out to just a triangle, or to some small subsection of the orchestra. I had honestly never heard such a dense, thick orchestration and it’s entirely due to these intense clusters that Xenakis develops throughout the orchestration.

The pieces isn’t 12 tone, it uses Xenakis’ unique mathematical mind to use things such as the fibonacci sequence to develop his scales and choose the notes in his melodies. At the same time, however, the piece could also be considered microtonal, due to the very long glisses that no one could possibly play in time with one another, and having different sections moving independently adds to this.

This piece demonstrates the use of mathematics to create a very musical piece and the use of huge blocks of sound to create an interesting structure

Saska

B. Bartok – Concerto for Orchestra

Concerto for Orchestra is Bela Bartok’s final work, it is an homage to Bach’s fugues, Schoeberg’s atonality, traditional Eastern European music and, in part (well, just in the fourth movement), his hatred of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7.

Firstly, to explain the last point, When Bartok was writing the fourth movement he heard the 7^th Symphony come on the radio and was enraged at, what he believed to be was, trite and militaristic music being so popular. Bartok incorporated a bastardised part of the symphony in the 4^th movement, out of spite.

Bartok was in poor health when he wrote this, having just fled from the Nazi’s in Europe and leaving all his financial backers there he come to America quite paranoid, until he was commissioned by the Boston symphony Orchestra to write this piece, it revived him.

This is a 5 movement piece,

1. introduzione
2. guico delle Coppie (Game of Pairs)
3. Elegie
4. Intermezzo Interrotto (interrupted)
5. Finale

The First and fifth movements are both in Sonato form. The First movement also uses drone (found in folk musics) with a melody played by the higher register instruments over the top, Bartok also plays with atonality between the drone and the melody giving it a perverted Eastern European sound, it also creates a quiet, and subtle tension. The themes presented here are not so much melodic ideas as they are rhythmic idea, any melodic idiom they posses is overshadowed by the atonality. For me, the best thing about atonality is that it makes me stop searching for a melody (which is what I’m used to when listening to music) and makes me focus on other aspects, such as the discordance or sweetness of individual harmonies as snapshots, or rhythmic complexity, or the effect of register on a piece as a compositional tool independent from harmony and tonality.

- Jamie

G. Mahler, 3rd Symphony

 

The third symphony is about evolving, transformation and nature. In this six-movement, program symphony, Mahler presents the strata of society and nature from “bottom” to “top”. The movements were given program notes on first performance but these were dismissed before publishing, they were;

1. Pan awakes, Summer marches in
2. What the flowers on the meadow tell me
3. What the animals in the forest tell me
4. What man tell me
5. What the angels tell me
6. What love tells me

The symphony is epic, and one of the longest ever written 95 – 110 minutes. It is said that Mahler was inspired by Wagner’s ring cycle to create the longest symphony, it is also said that Mahler referred to it as “My beast”. Fair enough, as encapsulation of all the earth is comprised of and celebrating existence in symphony form is not an easy task.

First Movement

This is a grand opening to the symphony. At over half an hour long and with a vast spectrum of moods, it is an intense listening. The piece is loosely on sonata form but with many variations. An oddity about this movement is the “exposition” sounding much more like a funeral march than a celebration of summer. It begins in D minor and with brass as the focal point, punctuated by percussion. The instrumentation slowly evolves to woodwinds and then strings. Especially in more emotive renditions (such as the LSO) the gentle melancholy and moments of silence in this opening section, are a surprising beginning for a symphony celebrating nature. But what this theme is framing, in exposition and recapitulation, is a middle section in a major key at a fast pace with many sections and a joyous tone. In this section the strings take a more prominent role, leading much of the melodies, parts of this section sound like a dance and parts sound like the theme music to Indiana Jones. When seen in perspective the beginning and end feel much more reflective than melancholic and are, in fact, a perfect beginning and end to a first movement.

The selection of instruments is also quite grand, on top of having a full orchestra he also uses a choir and a soloist for two of the shortest movements. Mahler quoted Nietzsche’s “thus spoke Zarathustra” in the vocal sections of his work (fourth and fifth movements).

-Jamie

 

 

Aaron Copland – Appalachian Spring

Because ghosts are real...

Dear Aaron Copland,

Your two books; “What to Listen for In Music” and “Music and the Imagination” are amazing reads. They are inspiring, interesting, astute and all kinds of other good things. But I’m afraid that Appalachian Spring is just… well, it’s boring. I’m sorry, I really am.

Love,
Vince.

PS. Compliments on sounding distinctly American.
PPS. For writing “Fanfare for the Common Man”, you need to be smacked.

—

So, Appalachian Spring; the most uninteresting music to listen to? No, but it’s pretty damn uninteresting. However, compositionally speaking, it is somewhat interesting in the post-Beethoven kind of way.
Copland recycles the same ideas throughout the piece, quoting himself with variation.

Some of the variation techniques he uses are:

+ Rhythmic augmentation and diminution
This means that he takes a motive, something like crotchet minim minim, and adds to it: dotted crotchet, minim, dotted minim, for example. Or shrinks it, quaver crotchet crotchet. Stravinsky uses this same technique judiciously throughout “The Firebird”.

+ Melodic variation
This is where you take a small motive, let’s use the arpeggio “A C E” and make it “A C# D E”, before it may have been crotchet crotchet minim, now it is crotchet quaver quaver minim. OOOH THAT’S DIRTY, DO YOU THINK SO?!

What I find really interesting about this piece (and Copland in general) is that, given modern context, he sounds distinctly American. The other interesting thing about this statement is the following question: does this make Aaron Copland distinctly American-sounding, or is it to do with my limited knowledge of American classical music since: John Williams, for example. Is Copland’s music only “American” to my ears due to everything since, and my association, or is it actually “American” sounding.

My thoughts are that his use of brass and woodwind is a lot different to that of European composers in general, I presume that this is due to the explosion of brass in jazz bands throughout the early 1900s.

Interesting…

Vince

Peter Sculthorpe – Kakadu

Sculthorpe wrote this piece as a reflection on his feelings towards the Kakadu National Park in Northern Australia, which is well known for its environmental extremes and its Aboriginal heritage.

The piece begins in an extremely energetic matter, with an ongoing eighth note pulse in the timpani and syncopated rhythms in the strings. This driving rhythm is punctuated by occasional striking chords from the oboes in their upper registers.

A contrasting section with less movement then develops, although a constant underlying pulse remains in the cello. The other strings continue with their syncopation, while horns take over the main melodic line. It is not so much rhythm but texture which builds this section as parts overlap and interweave into a dense, rich sound. A lovely dissonant chord signals entry to a new phase.

An expressive oboe solo takes over, while underneath other instruments play quite eerily. This section evoked images for me of the hollowness and emptiness of the Australian desert. Sculthorpe also makes clever use of the strings to create very authentic bird calls and insect sounds. The latter is developed further through the use of continuous quarter-tone vibrato and glissandos. This leads into a very mysterious, quite chilling part of the composition, with the harsh string sounds interspersed with brief tom-tom rhythms and fast, random motifs in the oboes.

The following section makes use of soft, steady rhythms in the strings before a cor anglais solo appears. I know little about this instrument, but it does have a particularly memorable sound which permeates into the texture of the music. As this section diffuses, the huge rhythmic energy of the opening stanza returns, this time held together by semiquavers in the bongos and syncopated stabs from the horns.

Sculthorpe demonstrates just how memorable rhythm can be in any composition. It directly affects how the listener interprets Kakadu, perhaps slightly more than the other musical elements. I found that different images of the Australian environment came to mind depending largely on what was happening rhythmically at the time. That said, texture is also incredibly important in conveying the sights and sounds of the natural environment in this piece. Once again, I am astounded by a composer’s ability to reflect what it is they are envisaging through their music. This is something I strive for in my own composing.

-Tully

Jeux, Poeme Danse – Debussy

This “danced poem” was composed for a ballet and is an example of late Debussy, it was his last orchestral work. In this work Debussy highlights the erratic mood changes and fragmentary nature of his music, he does not flood them with subtle, atmospheric string harmonies like his earlier works, instead saying “here is a melodic phrase. Did you hear it? I’ll repeat it once for you. Okay forget about that, listen to this one. Did you hear it? I’ll repeat it once for you.” And so on until the subdued, genius ending.

My imagined Debussy ramblings mean that in Jeux a prominent feature is short melodic phrases, mostly played twice and rarely returned to. This piece is quite playful and it could be suspected that because Debussy did not take the ballet’s premise seriously he decided to be slightly ridiculous (in a good way) with the music. The constant tempo changes, sudden mood switches, the lack of tonal centre, the absurd amount of climaxes all decorated with continuous “scale” runs on all the instruments, leaves the listener uncertain whether the work is brilliantly innovative or clumsy, this was my feeling anyway…

With Debussy I always have to remind myself to let go, to just listen and experience it and with Jeux this is very much the case.

For me, I find earlier Debussy pieces such as La Mer or Nocturnes far less confronting as, although they don’t follow the musical structures the ear is used to, the changes are handled delicately and, generally, subtle sustained strings can make almost any music cohesive.  This piece is much more aggressive in it’s changes and requires multiple listenings to grasp any notion of form.

Although Jeux jumps around in mood and tempo, there is a structure. The piece begins almost without you noticing (because it begins so quietly) and ends without you noticing (because it sounds as though it ends halfway through a phrase). Between these two points there is a rise and fall of climaxes, gradually getting louder and more dramatic until reaching the final, most dramatic point at “[78] Tres Modere”.

Now, the ending, the ending! It has two, almost. The actual ending is preceded by a few bars of the violin and harp exchanging quiet single notes and after a silence, the wind section sustains a slow melody while the violins play very, very fast, and very, very quiet downward runs. These runs are barely audible; yet create such an interesting orchestral atmosphere. The piece ends with 3 quick notes from all the instruments, occurring quickly after a single unaccompanied tambourine hit, which to me is a bizarre and quirky way to end a piece that is so bizarre and quirky.

- Jamie-Leigh

Webern – Symphonie Op. 21, II Theme and Variation

The second movement of Anton Webern’s Symphonie Op. 21 is built entirely on one theme, and its variations.

I really enjoy Webern’s music, but this offered a new insight into his composition technique as not only a composer of wonderful ideas, and perhaps a precursor to Varese and “sound mass” style composition.

In the opening 11 measures, Webern sets his material up, we have close-intervals and larger leaps, along with a sequence of four tones. This is the basic material he uses.

He then goes on to vary and orchestrate the material.

For example:

Variation I

This movement is entirely in the strings, restating the leaping movement in a far more rhythmically intense texture, with overlapping musical gestures. It is essentially the large-leap motive from the theme restated in many different forms and on all of the strings. It forms a contrasting “sound mass” when compared to the sparse texture in the theme.

Variation II

The strings move into and overlap the harp and other instruments in the second movement, the texture again thins out and this time Webern has focused on adding the four-note motive to the leaps motive, with a few select alterations. The orchestration then leads into

Variation III

Where the entire ensemble is used, and motives are repeated (imitation) throughout the orchestra in an ascending and descending way, like a hyper-passage of the same ideas.

The Rest

As the movement continues, Webern experiments with more alternative statements of the same material, and with the aforementioned soundmasses, where there may be everything, and then nothing. Silence is a friend of Webern’s.

I conclude that the best thing to be learnt from this asides a study in transformation, is that of orchestrating material across multiple instruments to great effect.

Vince

PS. This is a great site on 12-tone technique which is easy to follow and understand. For anyone interested in exploring this type of music, I highly recommend http://www.robertkelleyphd.com/12-tone.htm and also the book “Introduction to Post-Tonal Theory” by Joseph Strauss, usually available at the book shop. This post concludes my Webern studies for the moment.

Webern – Orchestra Pieces (1913)

Hi,

So first up I need to be clear that I’m not sure if this is the “Orchestral Pieces” listed on set listening, the track names are “Funf Orchesterstucke”, but in any case, this is my first listening exercise for the semester.

Webern: serial or not serial?

I tried to find a tonerow in the first couple of bars, but if they are used then Webern is too subtle for my analysis, so I will give my thoughts on each, and a few important compositional points lacking serial analysis.

As a general introductory overview – even though according to the notes at the beginning of the score, some of these pieces are ‘incomplete’ by the composer’s notes – Webern shows an incredible level of artistic and individualistic expression in a very short amount of time in each of these five pieces. This is pertinent in relation to what we all did recently with Barry Conyngham, and also as a general method of articulating one’s musical self clearly without overdoing anything, and through the wringing out of the same idea rather than throwing heaps of new ones at the page.

I – Bewegt. (0:58s)

Texture: very sparse and thing, but still identifiably orchestral, and ornamental effects of fluttertonguing and such, expanding and contracting in dynamics.

Motives: there are two discernable motives or gestures: an ascending/descending run of three notes and a descending or ascending, stepwise motive.

It is these two qualities we can hear the exploration of orchestral texture that preceded people like Takemitsu, where the ‘growl’ of a double bass or the growl of a fluttertongued trombone are equally valid musical gestures as the melodic and rhythmic ones.

I may revisit the other movements later, but the score has been on loan since I returned it.

Vince

W.A Mozart – Symphony .41 in C major, k.551 A.K.A The Jupiter Symphony.

“Someone once wrote that it is better for the 41st Symphony to be called “Jupiter” than to have a “mathematical dissertation” (i.e. “No.41 in C major, K.551″) for a name.”

- Chia Han Leon

The Jupiter symphony was created in Mozart’s prolific summer of 1788, in which he completed, Symphony’s no. 39, 40 and 41. It’s a piece full of energy; from the forte, tutti beginning to the five part fugato final movement.

The first two movements have quite a bit in common: They both begin with contrasting sections one loud tutti, the other quiet and lyrical which then proceeds into a melody. They are both in Sonata form, both have repeats at the same point in the piece and, as far as note durations, rhythms and accidentals go, they look very similar on the page, that being said, they sound completely different from each other. The tempo is far slower in cantabile and it has a much sweeter tone, it also modulates from F major to C minor and sustains the minor key for quite sometime whereas the first movement is mostly in major also the second movement is a sarabande.

But of all four movements the most spectacular is the finale, Allegro Molto. The movement that prompted the title “Jupiter” for it’s gallant and epic proportions.

Allegro Molto uses five themes, which are interweaved into one single body. Each theme in it’s own right could be the focus for a single piece of music. What is incredible about Molto Allegro is how it does not sound convoluted. The lack of confusion in this piece is aided by;

• no accidentals being used (though there are key changes, but all instruments follow suit).
• The rhythms are also very simple, mostly crotchets, quavers and minims
• as well as partially repeated rhythmic patterns being used.
• Throughout the five themes small parts of each other are repeated through the use of inversions, retrograde and sequences.

There are multiple elements being repeated but cohesion is maintained by the similarities between the instruments and their parts. In 1788 a five part fugato had never been attempted, the most was three. I can only imagine the self-restraint required and difficulty of balancing the parts for the final movement.

As I’m sure many music-lovers feel, there is a part of me that would love to be hearing this in the 1700’s, to hear the Symphony for how ground breaking and spectacular it truly is. Because although I enjoy Mozart’s music, I find the Jupiter Symphony excites me in a way his other works don’t, it is challenging to listen to and even more so in attempting analysis.

- Jamie-Leigh

The Rite of Spring – I. Stravinsky

Where to begin?! It’s impossible, and pointless to write an overview on this exciting piece of work so I’ve chosen the fourth section or “Spring rounds” to comment on in a more detailed way.

Spring rounds has this fantastic ostinato which is quite simple but (for lack of a musical term) it does something to me.

(A quick reduction I did on Sibelius).

But spring rounds begins on a completely different note, a delicate, legato opening theme. Although the ostinato is so captivating, this movement exists in two halves, without the stark contrast neither aspect would be so appealing.

The piece begins with a polytonal melody or A section; a slow melancholic phrase, with multiple grace notes (it reminds me somewhat of a folk tune). The first two bars are mixolydian of each respective key, i.e. C mixolydian and F mixolydian while the final 3 bars of the opening theme are in D aeolian and G aeolian), played against a delicate high pitched trill from 3 flutes. The polytonality here does not clash but accentuates the modal key of the A section.

The sinister ostinato enters and is played primarily by the strings with a few wind instruments rounding out the sound. This ostinato is interspersed regularly with a sweet, major, dance like phrase from the higher register instruments.

Once the pulse is established via the ostinato the wind and brass perform a call and response melody followed by a solo flute with a 4 bar phrase that resembles much traditional eastern music solos (sustained notes broken up with rapid scalic runs).

Suddenly, the ostinato is elaborated on by incorporating all the instruments. By using polytonality that feels distinctly like different keys occurring simultaneously, as opposed to the supporting role the polytonality played in the opening section.

With a quick, high register phrase from the flutes, the A section is repeated.

The supreme manipulation of contrast by Stravinsky is the key to the beauty of Spring Rounds, the perfect amount of opposition without feeling contrived. For me, the most appealing aspect of this movement is how Stravinsky has turned the simple, fundamental elements of  “Spring Rounds” into complex, varied and interesting. The two roles polytonality plays as supporting and opposing as well as the contrast between the sombre ostinato and delicate melodies makes it deceptively intricate as well as ridiculously enjoyable to listen to.

- Jamie