Mind map 9
NORTH INDIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC CH. 30
Music passed down via oral tradition
Repertories of motives and themes-not a piece of music
Centuries-old performance tradition linked to Hinduism (12th century)
Apprenticeships
Master players-panditor ustad
All memorized-no notation
Music System
Raga: series of pitches, projects mood, time of day
Pitches for the organized melody
Descent sequences-avaroha
Other characteristics
Ascent sequences-aroha
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
Shrutibox-bellows drone; electronic today
Swarmandal-Indian harp
Tanpura-long-necked, plucked ; string instrument
Ravi Shankar (1920–2012)
One best known sitar players and teacher
Apprenticeship system
Taught his daughter Anoushkaand the Beatle George Harrison
Raga Rock
Influenced Indian music in 1960 & 70s pop music
Performed at Woodstock in 1969
RAGA BHIMPALASI
Ascending and descending raga
Form-
Improvised melodic elaborations
Introduction-Alap
Slow/unmetered
sitar alone
2nd Section-Gat
Tabla enters
Rhyhthmiccylce
3rd Section-Jhala
Faster tempo
Interplay of instruments
Complex Rhythm
2+4+4+4
CHINESE OPERA CH. 44
Leading form of entertainment in China for centuries (13th century)
Beijing opera
Blend-music/mime/dance/costumes
Themes-novels & politics
Most prestigious
CULTURAL REVOLUTION (1966)
Opera
After the Cultural Revolution, Beijing opera enjoyed a revival
8 approved as “model plays”
Traditional operas were banned
Example-The Story of the Red Lantern
Communist Regime
Purge China of class-structured society
The WEST the ENEMY
Leader-Mao Zedong
The Story of the Red Lantern
Based on1958 novel-Will be Followers of Revolution by Daoyuan
Story-
Japanese occupation of China in 1920s and ’30s
Li Tiemeitakes up the cause of the communist martyrs after parents death of parents
No romance
“To be such a person” for soprano soloist accompanied by traditional Chinese instruments
Heard on radio, film, and live performances
Singing styles and accompanying instruments very different from Western opera
Erhu, Yang Qin, Pipa
Mandarin
Heterophony
JAPANESE MUSIC CH. 47
JAPANESE MUSIC
Little contact with the West until 1854
Japan adopted elements of Western culture
Westerners experienced a “craze” for all things Japanese
US Navy ended isolation
scale system
Pentatonic (5 notes)
ECHIGOJISHI(THE LION OF ECHIGO)
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
Dance performance with drum and shamisen variations
JAVANESE GAMELAN CH. 62
JAVANESE GAMELAN
Oral tradition & performed by memory
Passed down from master to apprentice
Mostly metallic percussion instruments
Interaction of the melodic movement with a cyclical rhythmic structure determines the form of the work
Hindu, Islamic, and Buddhist influences
1889 Paris World Exhibition-introduced to Western culture
Traditional ensemble music of Java, Bali, and SundanIndonesia
Performed at:
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
Singer elaborates melody
Melody based on pentatonic scale
Drum marks transition between sections
First section slow & stately
EAST AFRICAN DRUMMING CH. 64
Europeans once viewed African music to be “primitive” due to lack of melodic & harmonic content
Oral tradition
Repeating patterns that superimpose on each other
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
ENSIRIBAYA MUNANGE KATEGO
Polyrhythmic
Gapped melodies with interweaving new patterns
story
Pentatonic
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.
MODERN AMERICAN SOUND CH. 57 & 59
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
Musicians Duke Ellington and William Grant Still
Poet Zora Neale Hurston
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
Opened wider range of opportunities for African American musicians
1st Symphony
Search for a “modern American sound"
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
listening guide 49- GRANT STILL’S SUITE FOR VIOLIN AND PIANO
Established practices to evoke images of black America’s artistic efforts
Each movement based on a different artwork by African American artists
1943
II-Johnson’s Mother & Child
III-Savage’s Gamin
I-Barthe’sAfrican Dancer
The last movement (LG 49) flashy and syncopated, with a “stride” bass
All movements use modal harmonies and blues-style melodies
MODERN AMERICAN NATIONALISM
Compelling American sounds from attempts to integrate vernacular and “serious” music traditions
Music from various parts of the country
Patriotism a part of national identity
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 (1874-1954)
Born in Danbury, Connecticut
Church organist (13)
Father former Civil War bandleader
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
listening guide 51- COUNTRY BAND MARCH
March for wind band
Complex mesh of tunes, mostly well-known musical quotations from Ives’s childhood
1903
Battle Cry of Freedom
Yankee Doodle
Semper Fidelis
Marching through Georgia
Arkansas Traveler
British Grenadiers
London Bridge
Simulates an amateur band’s skills
Bad entrances
Wrong notes
Out of tune notes
Harshly dissonant, polytonal
Sense of humor
AARON COPLAND (1900-1990)
Born in Brooklyn
Studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger (Composition teacher)
Returned writing jazz and neo-Classical styles
Popular ballets & film scores
In the 1930s and ’40s changed directions-populist style
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
listening guide 52- 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
section 7-
Shaker song
Lots of changing tone colors and individual instruments featured
Set of variations on the song Simple Gifts
Majestic closing