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Unit 9: Music and Cultural Identity (Javanese Gamelan (Patalon (story from…
Unit 9: Music and Cultural Identity
North Indian Classical Music
Centuries-old performance tradition linked to Hinduism (12th Century)
Music passed down orally
Apprenticeships
Master Players-
pandit
or
ustad
Repertories of motices and themes- not a piece of music
All memorized - no notation
Music System
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
sit on the floor and cross your legs to play it
long-neck plucked string instrument with metal strings and gourd resonator
multiple strings
Tala
- complex rhythm 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)
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 and 70s
performed at Woodstock in 1969
Raga Bhimpalasi
improvised melodic elaborations
Ascending and descending raga
form:
Introduction- Alap
slow/unmetered
Sitar alone
2nd Section- Gat
Tabla enters
Rhythmic cycle
3rd Section- Jhala
Faster tempo
interplay of instruments
Very complicated and complex rhythm (2+4+4+4)
Chinese Opera
Leading form of entertainment in China for centuries (13th century)
Beijing opera
most prestigious
Blend- music/mime/dance/costumes
themes- novels and politics
Cultural Revolution
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
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
no romance
Heard on the 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 (all written in Mandarin and very heterophonic)
Communist Regime
Leader- Mao Zedong
Purge China of class-structured society
The WEST the ENEMY
Japanese Music
Little contact with the West until 1854
US Navy ended isolation
Japan adopted elements of Western culture
Westerners experiences a "craze" for al things Japanese
Scale System: pentatonic (5 notes)
Echigo Jishi (The Lion of Echigo)
1811
Kabuki play:
Dance-drama
a lot of style- costumes, makeup, etc.
Story: Kakubei- entertainer- 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
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 rhythm 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
before television, was a way to have multimedia
Patalon
Overture to shadow-puppet play
story from hindu epic-
Ramayana
story of Kind of Rama whose wife is kidnapped by evil king
Pentatonic
melody based on pentatonic scale
drum marks transition between sections
first section slow and stately
singer elaborates melody
East African Drumming
repeating patterns that superimpose on each other
Europeans once viewed African music to be "primitive" due to lack of melodic and harmonic content
oral tradition
passed down from master to apprentice
Royal Drum Ensembles of Uganda-Entenga
Uganda:
East Africa borders Kenya and Lake Victoria
Influenced by Arab, Indonesian, and British cultures
Music played at courts
Consists of both pitched and unpitched drums
ensembles has 6 musicians and 15 drums
4 musicians plays on pitched drums (called drum chimes and played with curved beaters)
2 musicians accompany on unpitched drums
use pentatonic melodies and polyrhythms
Ensiriba Ya Munange Katego
pentatonic
gapped melodies with interweaving new patterns
polyrhythmic
Story:
Subchief Kangawo- wear a leopard skin headband for good luck
one night the headband disappears and he feels so unprotected that he falls ill and dies
all about the rhythm and complexity of polyrhythm
seen as simple but actually very complex
the harmony consists of several rhythms going on at once
Modern American Sound
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 Barthe
Poet Langston Hughes
Imitated the rhythms and flow of jazz
Poet Zora Neale Hurston
Musicians Duke Ellington and William Grant Still
William Grant Still (1895-1978)
very under represented
grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas
Moved to Memphis, then to New York
Studied composition with Varese
arranger for radio and musical theater
Search for a "modern American sound"
Opened wider range of opportunities for African Americans
1st Symphony
Afro-American Symphony (1931)
1st Symphony by African American composer to be performed by major American orchestra
1934 moved to LA- film and television scores
1949- opera
Troubled Island
1st opera to be premiered by an African American composer
Grant Still's Suite for Violin and Piano (LG 49)
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 and Child
III- Savage's Gamin
all movements use modal harmonies and blues-style melodies
the last movement (LG 49) flashy and syncopated, with a "stride" bass
Modern American Nationalism
Non-concert traditions played a vital role in North American music life of the late 1800s
Patriotism a part of national identity
Compelling Americcan sounds from attempts to integrate vernacular and "serious" music
music from various parts of the country
Art should "serve the American people" (Copland)
Charles Ives (1874-1954)
Born in Danbury, Connecticut
Father former Civil War bandleader
Church organist at 13
Studied composition at Yale
Decided against music as a profession and became insurance agent; composition in his spare time
gradually became known to the general public; famous by age 73
Experimental Composer
used vernacular heritage
polytonality - Halloween
Polyharmony- Symphony 4 movement 3
Polyrhythm - Central Park in the Dark
Sounds chaotic but actually very complex
Country Band March (LG 11)
Intentionally wrote songs that made it seem like a band of kids were playing
bad entrances
wrong notes
out of tune notes
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 Grenadaiers
wanted to prove that music can be weird and it can be OK
Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
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 and films scores
Billy the Kid
and
Appalachian Spring
Of Mice and Men, The Red Pony, The Heiress
investigated in 1950s as Communists supporter
Wide appeal and music useful in variety of contexts
Rooted primarily in Appalachian and other Anglo-American folk melodies
Appalachian Spring (LG 52)
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 and Tranquil
Polychordal- gentle dissonance
Section 7
set of variations on the song
Simple Gifts
Shaker song
Lots of changing tone colors and individuals instruments featured
Majestic closing