Unit 5: Party Music
Chapter 37: Early 19th Century American Pop Culture: The US changes and develops the European art song and opera
19th Century American Music POP culture
European immigrants brought cultivated repertories to the US
Opera, chamber music, symphonies
American Style Developed
Lighter music, Vernacular, American popular identity
Popular = Belongs to the People
POP Music:
Minstel Shows
Parlor songs
Marketing and POP Culture
Marketing
Minstrel- Variety Shows
White performers
Black face
Plantation life
Publishing Companies
Parlor Shows - for the home (parlor is what people called their living room in the home
Amateurs at home
only white people would perform in these, they would black out their faces but still had white circles around their eyes
Stephen Foster (1826-1864)
Professional songwriter
Pittsburgh, PA
First hit: Oh! Susanna (many different versions)
songs from minstrel shows published later as ballads and love songs
mostly write parlor songs but some for minstrel shows
sympathetic to abolitionist cause
Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair (listening guide 28)
parlor song
wrote 1853-54 after separating from his wife
bittersweet tone
Anglo-Irish folk song tradition
Strophic A A' B A
voice and piano
major key
homophonic
Chapter 51: End of an Era: Late 19th Century American Pop Music: Music for marching band
Marching band - prominent form of performing for the community/ being a part of the community
The Band Tradition
Music for brass bands in Britain
Roots:
Came from Europe and Britain
Started in the US after the Revolutionary War
18th Century US Marine Band
Marine band members also have to be a marine but they focus more on the music
Civil War era bands:
Concert and Dance assemblies
Patrick S. Gilmore - started the concept an one of the first leaders of the marine band
Each branch had a band but the marine band is one of the best
John Philip Sousa (1854-1932)
Born in Washington D.C.
Known as the "March" King
Conducted US Marine Band
wrote over 130 marches fro band
Stars and Stripes Forever
Semper Fidelis
The Liberty Bell
The Washington Post
1892: Forned civilian group
Toured extensively
Sheet music sold incredibly well
Mass-marketing of recordings
Composer/ Conductor/ Violinist
Jazz and Blues Tradition (end of Chapter 51 & Chapter 56)
Pre-Jazz: Ragtime Dances
1890s
African American style that modified Euro-American traditions
Rhythmic, melodic variation, lots of syncopation and texture
Pianists accompanying social dances
people were expecting to dance with these types of songs
Scott Joplin (1868-1917)
Born in texas
Left home at age 14; played in honky-tonks and piano bars
Most well-known for ragtime/ pre-jazz
He was the only African American to perform at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893; he performed his ragtime jazz there
"King of Ragtime"
Balanced phrasing and key structures with highly syncopated melodies
Strove to elevate ragtime to a serious art form
Maple Leaf Rag (listening guide 42)
published 1899
piano roll performance
Syncopated melody with steady accompaniment
4 sections/ main ideas each repeated 2 times- allows people to feel familiar to this song so they can dance to it A-A-B-B-C-C-D-D
sold a million copies
Joplin insisted on royalties rather than a flat payment
Jazz Roots
traditionally associated with US
Roots:
West African traditions from 18th Century slaves
lots of call and response with instruments
certain vocal inflections
bent notes: bend in pitches
long notes
scatting - vocalist doesn't sing real words, more like babbling (same concept as improvising)
Ella Fitzgerald was very famous and very good at scatting
Euro_American vernacular traditions
New Orleans CLAIMS jazz
Keeps evolving by incorporating many styles
Famous Jazz Artists:
Louis Armstrong
Ella Fitzgerland
Billie Holiday
Duke Ellington
Blues Roots
traditionally associated with the U.S.
Roots:
Came from the Mississippe Delta area around the time of the civil war
Voiced difficulties of everyday life
three-line stanzas
12 Bar Blues - Twelve-measure harmonic patterns (most important part of blues)
Famous Blues Artist:
Charlie Patton
Bessie Smith
B.B. King
Some people more of a sad mood when listening to blues
Not the same as Jazz/ Blues came before Jazz
Feel the beat on 2 and 4 (offbeats) rather than 1 and 3 (example: The Thrill is Gone - B.B. King)
Louis Armstrong (1901-1971)
New Orleans Jazz scene
Trumpet player
band leader
singer
in a lot of movies - known for his humor
not really a pure, clear singing voice but very characteristic in sound, expressive which became more and more popular
Billie Holiday (1951-1959)
Born in Philadelphia, PA
Moved to NYC - sang at clubs in Brooklyn and Harlem
1933 discovered by a talent scout who arranged to record with Benny Goodman
1935 recording with best jazz musicians of her day
learned by actually doing it/ playing (couldn't read music because she learned by ear)
Most famous song: Strange Fruit
Also has a very characteristic, expressive, interesting voice that keeps listeners on the edge of their seats
Later life is sad: addictions and abusive relationships
Billie's Blues (listening guide 47): Improvising instruments
1936
intersections between jazz and blues, also jazz and dance
mix of Jazz and Blues and Dance
12-Bar Blues
short intro
six choruses: pattern of melody and harmony pattern
The Swing or Big Band Era
1930s-40s; World War era
Written, arranged and composed vs. improvised
Larger group of players
2 trumpets, one cornet, 3 trombones, 4 saxophones (double on clarinet), 2 basses, guitar, drums, vibraphone, and piano
Wide audience: really incorporated white culture and black culture
really incorporated dance and music
all about the band (only sometimes was a singer present)
Example: Louis Prima - Swing, Swing, Swing
Edward "Duke" Ellington (1899-19174)
born in Washington D.C.
Studied Piano
1920s played in NYC jazz clubs: Washingtonians
Composer/ arranger
concern for structure resulted in complex forms
Major figure in the Harlem Renaissance
Composed music for his band with Billy Strayhorn
sometimes Duke Ellington is given all the credit for songs but Billy Strayhorm was very much "behind the scenes" and wrote a good bit as well
Take the A Train (listening guide 48)
Swing style
Billy Strayhorn composed it
32-bar song form AABA
intro followed by 3 choruses then coda
Lush, composed-out jazz style
stills some elements of improvisation
call and response
synocaption
riffs - repeated phrases
bent notes
shakes - brass extreme vibrato
Glissandos - fast up and down of pitches