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Unit 9 (Javanese Gamelan (Performed at: (Shadow-puppet theater (wayang)…
Unit 9
Javanese Gamelan
Traditional ensemble music of Java, Bali, and Sundan-
Indonesia
Hindu, Islamic, and Buddhist influences
Mostly metallic percussion instruments
Oral tradition & performed by memory
Passed down from master to apprentice
Interaction of the melodic movement with a cyclical rhythmic
structure determines the form of the work
1889 Paris World Exhibition- introduced to Western culture
Performed at:
Ritual ceremonies, court performances
Shadow-puppet theater (wayang)
Shadow-puppet plays begin early evening and
continue until dawn
Ives: Country Band March (LG 51)
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1903
March for wind band
Complex mesh of tunes, mostly well-known musical quotations from Ives’s childhood
London Bridge
Arkansas Traveler
Semper Fidelis
Battle Cry of Freedom
Yankee Doodle
Marching through Georgia
British Grenadiers
Simulates an amateur band’s skills
Out of tune notes
Bad entrances
Wrong notes
Harshly dissonant, polytonal
Sense of humor
Details
Melody > Forceful march theme, over which many well-known tunes occur; main march return throughout
Rhythm/meter > Mostly duple, but with syncopation and triplets that disguise the meter
Harmony > Harshly dissonant, polytonal
Form > Sectional (A-B-A-B'-A").
Expression > Humorous; the realism of amateur band; nostalgic American tunes
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Performing forces > Large wind ensemble, including woodwinds (piccolo, flute, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, saxophones), brass (cornets, trumpets, French horns, trombones, baritones, tubas), and percussion (drums, cymbals, bells, triangle, xylophone).
North Indian Classical Music
Centuries-old performance tradition linked to Hinduism (12th century)
Music passed down via oral tradition
Apprenticeships
Master players- pandit or ustad
Repertories of motives and themes- not a piece of music
All memorized- no notation
System of North Indian Classical Music
Raga: series of pitches, projects mood, time of day
Pitches for the organized melody
Ascent sequences- aroha
Descent sequences- avaroha
Other characteristics-
Vadi- most important note
Samavadi- 2nd most important note
Pakad- essence of musical phrase
Played on sitar
Long-neck plucked string instrument with metal strings & gourd resonator
Tala- complex rhythmic cycle; translation- clap
Accompaniment to raga
Tabla or Pakhawaj- Hand drums
Drone- form of harmony; striking of strings that sustain pitches
Tanpura- long-necked, plucked ; string instrument
Shruti box- bellows drone; electronic today
Swarmandal- Indian harp
Ravi Shankar
One best known sitar players and teacher
Apprenticeship system
Taught his daughter Anoushka and the
Beatle George Harrison
Raga Rock
Influenced Indian music in 1960 & 70s
pop music
Performed at Woodstock in 1969
Patalon
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Overture to shadow-puppet play
Story from Hindu epic- Ramayana
Story of Kind of Rama whose wife is
kidnapped by evil king
Melody based on pentatonic scale
Drum marks transition between
sections
First section slow & stately
Singer elaborates melody
The Story of The Red Lantern
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Based on 1958 novel- Will be Followers of Revolution by Daoyuan
Story-
Japanese occupation of China in 1920s and ’30s
Li Tiemei takes up the cause of the communist martyrs after parents death of parents
No romance
Heard on radio, film, and live performances
Singing styles and accompanying instruments very different from Western opera
“To be such a person” for soprano soloist accompanied by traditional Chinese instruments
Erhu, Yang Qin, Pipa
Singing lines in the erhu
Hammering, repeated notes on the yang qin
Percussive plucking on the pipa
Mandarin
Heterophony
East African Drumming
Repeating patterns that
superimpose on each other
Europeans once viewed
African music to be “primitive”
due to lack of melodic &
harmonic content
Oral tradition
Passed down from master to
apprentice
Royal Drum Ensembles of Uganda - Entenga
Uganda
East Africa borders Kenya & Lake Victoria
Influenced by Arab, Indonesian, and British cultures
Music played at courts
Consist of both pitched and unpitched drums
Ensemble has 6 musicians and 15 drums
4 musicians plays on pitched drums (called drum chimes & played with curved beaters)
2 musicians accompany on unpitched drums
Use pentatonic melodies and polyrhythms
Copland: Appalachian Spring, excerpts (LG 52)
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1945
Ballet Suite in 7 sections
Collaboration with choreographer Martha Graham (1894–1991)
Portrays a pioneer celebration
Section 1-
Opening section of the suite evokes daybreak
Slow & Tranquil
Polychordal- gentle dissonance
Details
Melody > Rising motive quietly unfolds outline a triad
Rhythm/meter > Very slow, tranquil; changing meter is imperceptible
Harmony > Overlapping of chords (polychordal) produces a gentle dissonance
Texture > Individual instruments are featured
Expression > Introduces the characters; evokes a broad landscape at daybreak
Section 7-
Set of variations on the song Simple Gifts
Shaker song
Lots of changing tone colors and individual instruments featured
Majestic closing
Details
Melody > Theme with four phrases (a-a' b-a"); later variation use only parts of the tune
Rhythm/meter > Flowing duple meter, then tune in augmentation (slower)
Harmony > Moves between various keys
Form > Theme and five variations, on a traditional Shaker song
Timbre > Each variation changes tone color; individual instruments are featured
Expression > Calm and flowing; majestic closing
Raga Bhimpalasi
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Improvised melodic elaborations
Ascending and descending raga
Form-
Introduction- Alap
Slow/unmetered
Sitar alone
2nd Section- Gat
Tabla enters
Rhyhthmic cylce
3rd Section- Jhala
Faster tempo
Interplay of instruments
Complex Rhythm
2+4+4+4
Echigo Jishi (The Lion of Echigo)
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1811
Kabuki play
Dance-drama
Much style- costumes, makeup, etc.
Story
Kakubei- entertainer- steals things while
performing a lion dance
Two versions presented here:
Simple tune played on the shamisen
Basic five note scale, with gaps; the tune is played with a pulse.
Dance performance with drum and shamisen
variations
Varied plucking and strumming techniques on the shamisen, the drum punctuating the dance, and the changing tempos.
Ensiriba Ya Munange Katego
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Pentatonic
Gapped melodies with interweaving new patterns
Polyrhythmic
Story
Subchief- Kangawo- wears a leopard skin headband for good luck.
One night the headband disappears and he feels so unprotected that he falls ill and dies.
Homage to Frederico Garcia Lorca (LG 53)
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1937
Frederico García Lorca was executed by a Fascist firing squad
Homage blends Mexican vernacular and European modernist music
Movement III, Son
Melody > Three themes, syncopated; colorful and folklike ideas
Rhythm/meter > Strongly rhythmic and syncopated; shifting meters (simple (3/4) and compound (6/8); percussive accents.
Harmony > Dissonant, with mariachi-like idea played in thirds (C section)
Texture > Polyphonic and complex
Form > Sectional (A-B-A-C-A-C-B-A-C-coda)
Expression > Evokes a mariachi ensemble
Timbre > Unusual instrumentation, focused on winds; trumpets and violins in pairs; piano prominent
Performing force > Chamber orchestra (piccolo, E-flat clarinet, two trumpets, trombone, tuba, piano, percussion, two violins, and bass) Prominent piano part and wind instrument focus
Still: Suite for Violin and Piano, III
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1943
Established practices to evoke images of black America’s artistic efforts
Each movement based on a different artwork by African American artists
I- Barthe’s African Dancer
II- Johnson’s Mother & Child
III- Savage’s Gamin (LG 49)
Melody > Bluesy, short, syncopated ideas, with flatted third and seventh scale tones; ideas exchanged between violin and piano
Rhythm/Meter > Quick 2/4 meter; Rhythmic and highly syncopated, with chords played on offbeats
Harmony > Modal, with blues chords; stride bass; use of ostinatos
Texture > Mostly homophonic
Form > Sectional form, with four and eight measure ideas; opening returns frequently
Timbre > Violin trills, glissandos, and double stops
Expression > Playful and humorous; evokes image of cocky street kid depicted by sculpture.
All movements use modal harmonies and blues-style melodies
Chinese Opera
Leading form of entertainment in China
for centuries (13th century)
Beijing opera
Most prestigious
Blend- music/mime/dance/costumes
Themes- novels & politics
Cultural Revolution (1966)
Opera
Traditional operas were banned
After the Cultural Revolution, Beijing opera enjoyed a revival
8 approved as “model plays”
Example- The Story of the Red Lantern
Communist Regime
Leader- Mao Zedong
Purge China of class-structured society
The WEST the enemy
Mexican Musical Modernism (Ch 60)
A Culture Combined
The culture and history of the U.S. and Mexico are intertwined
Other Americans also crafted a uniquely American sound
Realized a nationalist approach through reference to vernacular traditions
Musical Traditions of Mexico
Mexico colonized by Spain 1519, achieved independence in 1821
Late-nineteenth-century goal of creating a nationally distinctive style via Amerindian and mestizo
cultures
Mexican revolution of 1910 conjured up strong feelings of patriotism
Carlos Chávez instigated a government-sponsored program to promote national music
Mariachi ensembles a strong nationalist voice
Costumes of the charros (Mexican cowboys)
Melody group (violins and trumpets)
Rhythm section (vihuelas, guitar, guitarrón, harp)
Silvestre Revueltas
Born in Durango
Studied composition in Mexico City and in the
U.S.; became assistant conductor of the Orquesta
Sinfónica de Mexico
Went to Spain during Spanish Civil War of 1930s
Love for Mexican provincial music
Mestizo realism drew on elements of Mexico’s
traditional culture
Highly flavored with folk elements, especially
mariachi band traditions
Sounds American: Ives, Copland, and Musical Nationalism (CH 59)
Modern American Nationalism
Patriotism a part of national identity
Compelling American sounds from attempts to integrate vernacular and “serious” music
traditions
Music from various parts of the country
Art should “serve the American people” (Copland)
Non-concert traditions played a vital role in North American musical life of the late 1800s
Charles Ives
Born in Danbury, Connecticut
Father former Civil War bandleader
Church organist (13)
Studied composition at Yale
Decided against music as a profession and became insurance
agent; composed in his spare time.
Gradually became known to the general public; famous by age 73
Experimental Composer
Used vernacular heritage
Polytonality
Polyharmony
Polyrhythm
Aaron Copland
Born in Brooklyn
Studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger (Composition teacher)
Returned writing jazz and neo-Classical styles
In the 1930s and ’40s changed directions- populist style
Popular ballets & film scores
Billy the Kid & Appalachian Spring
Of Mice and Men, The Red Pony, The Heiress
Investigated in 1950s as Communist supporter
Wide appeal and music useful in a variety of contexts
Rooted primarily in Appalachian and other Anglo-American
folk melodies
Japanese Music
Little contact with the West until 1854
US Navy ended isolation
Japan adopted elements of Western culture
Westerners experienced a “craze” for all things
Japanese
Scale System
Pentatonic (5 notes)
Modern American Sound (LG 57)
The Harlem Renaissance
In the 1920s and ’30s, African American artists paying tribute
to their heritage
Location- Harlem, NYC
Growing sense of a new black identity
Looking to Africa for inspiration
Seeking racial equality and black cultural pride
Famous Artists-
Sculptor Richmond Barthé
Poet Langston Hughes
Imitated the rhythms and flow of jazz
Poet Zora Neale Hurston
Musicians Duke Ellington and William Grant Still
William Grant Still
Grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas
Studied Violin
Moved to Memphis, then New York
Arranger for radio and musical theater
Studied composition with Varèse
Search for a “modern American sound”
Opened wider range of opportunities for African American
musicians
1st Symphony
Afro-American Symphony (1931)
1st symphony by African American composer to be
performed by major American orchestra
1934 moved to Los Angeles- film and television scores
1949 opera Troubled Island
1st opera to be premiered by an African American
composer