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Unit 9: Music & Cultural Identity (Modern American Sound (William…
Unit 9: Music & Cultural Identity
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 completely memorized
System
raga: series of pitches, projects mood, time of day
pitches for the organized melody
ascent sequences (aroha)
descent sequences (avaroha)
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 (1920-2012)
well-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
Raga Bhimpalasi
improvised melodic elaborations
ascending and descending raga
Form:
introduction (Alap)
slow/unmetered, sitar alone
second section (gat)
tabla enters, rhythmic cycle
third section (jhala)
faster tempo, interplay of instruments
complex rhythm (2+4+4+4)
Chinese Opera
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 opera was banned
after the Cultural Revolution, Beijing opera enjoyed a revival
8 approved as "model plays" (The Story of the Red Lantern)
Communist Regime
Mao Zedong (leader)
purge China of class-structured society
viewed the west as the enemies
The Story of the Red Lantern
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
Mandarin
heterophony
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)
Echigo Jishi (1811)
Kabuki play
dance-drama
much style (costumes, makeup, etc.)
Kakubei (entertainer who steals things while
performing a lion dance)
two versions presented
simple tune played on the shamisen
dance performance with drum and shamisen
variations
Javanese Gamelan
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 different settings
ritual ceremonies, court performances
shadow-puppet theater (wayang)
shadow-puppet plays begin early evening and
continue until dawn
Patalon
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
East African Drumming
Drumming
repeating patterns that
superimpose on each other
Europeans once viewed African music to be "primitive" due to lack of melodic and harmonic content
passed down from master to
apprentice
oral tradition
Royal Drum Ensembles Of Uganda - Entenga
Uganda's east Africa borders Kenya & Lake Victoria
Uganda 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
pentatonic melodies and polyrhythms
Ensiriba Ya Munange Katego
pentatonic
gapped melodies with interweaving new patterns
polyrhythmic
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
3 basic patterns (A, B, C), played in 2 1/2-octave range
12 tuned (melody) drums (4 players) and 3 bass drums (2 players)
Modern American Sound
The Harlem Reniassance
1920s-30s African American artists paying tribute
to their heritage
Harlem, NYC
growing sense of a new black identity
looking to Africa for inspiration
seeking racial equality and black cultural pride
famous artists: Richmond Barthé, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Duke Ellington & William Grant Still
Hughes imitated the rhythms and flow of jazz
William Grant Still (1895-1978)
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
First Sympony
Afro-American Symphony (1931)
first 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
first opera to be premiered by an African American
composer
Modern American Nationalism
non-concert traditions played a vital role in North American musical life of the late 1800s
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
Copland believed art should “serve the American people”
Charles Ives (1874-1954)
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 public; famous by age 73
experimental composer
vernacular heritage
polytonality (Halloween)
polyharmony (Symphony 4 mvt. 3)
polyrhythm (Central Park in the Dark)
Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
born in Brooklyn
studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger
returned writing jazz and neo-Classical styles
in the 1930s and ’40s changed directions to 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
Other Listening Guides From Book
Appalachian Spring (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)
changes of meter that are imperceptible to the ear
shifting, transparent timbres that feature various solo instruments
Section 7
many changing tone colors and individual instruments featured
theme and four variations, based on a traditional Shaker hymn shaker song
set of variations on the song Simple Gifts
majestic closing
duple meter with tune appearing in augmentation
shifting, transparent timbres that feature various solo instruments
symphonic orchestra
Suite for Violin and Piano (1943)
established practices to evoke images of black America’s artistic efforts
each movement based on a different artwork by African American artists
1- Barthe’s African Dancer
2- Johnson’s Mother & Child
3- Savage’s Gamin
flashy and syncopated, with a “stride” bass
sectional
modal with blues chords
instrumental suite
duple meter
homophonic
all movements use modal harmonies and blues-style melodies
Country Band March (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/wrong notes, bad entrances
harshly dissonant, polytonal
sense of humor
polyphonic
A-B-A-B'-A'
mostly duple with syncopation and triplets
large wind ensemble with woodwinds, brass, and percussion