From Piet Mondrian

to Libby Larsen

An Interdisciplinary Exploration of Boogie-Woogie

Mr. Rathgeber

MU

S_E

D 345-0: M

usic and the Interdisciplinary C

urriculum

CM

2009-2010

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Composition with Yellow, Blue, and Red

Piet Mondrian, 1942

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Composition No. III Blanc-Jaune Piet Mondrian, 1942

Piet Mondrian

Dutch Painter and creator of the

1874-1944

- Arts should not represent anything in the real world.

- Uses only straight horizontal or lines

- Uses only black, white, and primary colors

vertical

REDYELLOW

BLUE

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Neo-Plasticism Style

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Broadway Boogie Woogie

Piet Mondrian, 1943

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Composition with Yellow, Blue, and Red

Piet Mondrian, 1942

What happened to Mondrian?It had something to do w

ith music…

In 2 groups, create music that could go along with this painting.

Try to create music that you think would have inspired Mondrian to create Broadway Boogie Woogie

It had something to do with music…

Try to create m

usic that you think would have inspired M

ondrian

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William “Count” Basie

1904 - 1984

Famous American jazz pianist, bandleader, and

composer.

Mondrian was inspired to paint Broadway Boogie

Woogie after hearing music like Basie’s in the jazz clubs

of New York.

Created between 1942 and 1943. Mondrain moved to New York after living in London.

moved to London to avoid the fascismhe found in France at the time.

Discovered a love of New York on his evening. The fast pace, the racing taxis,Soon fell in love with jazz and the styleof boogie-woogie. Wanted to express thesyncopation of the music and the brightlights of the city. Lines of the buildings

New York City Night Life &Boogie-woogie Jazz

What is being expressed?

Bands of colors made up of yellow, gray, red, blue, and white rectangles. Some larger rectangles disrupt the bands.

Painting (Oils on Canvas)

What techniques did the creator use to help us understand what is being expressed?

Piet Mondrian1874-1944

A Dutch Painter and creator of the Neo-Plasticism

Broadway Boogie Woogie

Discuss Boogie Woogie…..

Play a “walking” bass line and improvise a “riff” over the top

Walking Bass Line “Riffing”

Teach a 2 bar representation of boogie-woogie

Syncopation

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What aspects of Count Basie’s Boogie Woogie do you see in Mondrian’s Broadway Boogie?

What ideas or themes was

Mondrian trying to express?

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Compare your composition to what you now know about boogie-woogie?

Are there any similarities?

Did Mondrian effectively express boogie-woogie visually?

Now that we have seen boogie-woogie in art workwe have heard it in m

usicand we have performed/improvised some boogie-woogie of our own,

Let’s hear what a modern classical composer did with boogie-woogie

we have heard it in music

Let’s hear what a m

odern classical composer did w

ith boogie-woogie

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Composed in 1983

Commissioned by the Minneapolis Artists Ensemble. Name refers to a stick-shift car (4gears and the shifter on the floor)

Breakneck is theme of the piece, an America that is

speeding up Faster and faster, jazzing

into eternity”- Larsen (1983)

What is being expressed?

Piano, Violin, Cello, and Double Bass in an ABA form. Piano plays a walking bass line while strings provide the melodic and harmonic elements. Some use of Double Bass

as a rhythmic instrument. Pizzicato

A classical work for Piano and Strings.Distorted ABA form….Intro A B A riffing

What techniques did the creator use to help us understand what is being expressed?

Libby LarsenA living American composer born in 1950.

Four on the Floor

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In your groups, compare and contrast Broadway Boogie Woogie and Four on the Floor.

Broadway Boogie Woogie Four on the Floor

- Did Mondrian’s painting effectively express boogie-woogie and the fast-paced life style?

In the end, what does Mondrian’s painting and Larsen’s composition have in common?

Foundational Elements Thematic Elements

Both share common:

Texture

Rhythm

Syncopation

Boogie-woogie

CarsFast-Paced Life

Others?Others?