M100: Music Appreciation Discussion Group

Ben Tibbetts, T.A.benjamintibbetts@yahoo.com

Welcome! Please sign the attendance at the front of the room.

Tuesday February 12, 2013

Please remember to do your reading assignmentsbefore class.

I don’t (can’t!) cover everything.

Today’s Agenda

• Sections• Tests• Listening Logs & Concert Reports• Pages 98-104 & 118-125• In Class Assignment

Section Locations:

Ben Tibbetts Herter 231 (here)

Christie Cho Herter 102 need 3 volunteers

Meg Bowen Room 110 need 1 volunteer

Kristen Wallentinsen Herter 114 need 3 volunteers

Elements Test

Pass back

Elements Test

Section A1. C2. E3. B4. H5. D6. I7. J8. E9. A10. G

Section B1. C2. A3. D4. B

Elements Test

Section CGenres listed in the book (p.14-15): mass, song, instrumental

music, madrigal, anthem, dance music, opera, fugue, concerto, suite, cantata, oratorio, string quartet, symphony, choral music, concert overture, chamber music, piano music, orchestral music, ballet, Broadway musical, aleatory music, percussion ensemble music, film music, Native American chant, Caribbean music, Central African music, Japanese court music, Beijing Opera, Indian raga, Balinese gamelan [music]

Not usually considered “classical”: ragtime, blues, big band jazz, bebop, rock ‘n’ roll, gospel, Motown, punk, hip hop

Elements Test

Section D #1

Elements Test

Section D #2

Elements Test

Section D #3

Elements Test

Section D #4

#5: W, H, H, WExtra Credit:

F, C#B, Eb

The top number tells you how many beats are in every measure. (3)

The bottom number tells you which note gets the beat. (quarter note)

Questions?

See me after class (or email)

Upcoming Wind Ensemble Concert

• March 2nd.• You will be asked to write a concert report

(more on that later).• To prepare you for this experience, we

have in-class “listening logs”.• Listening Log Collection #1 is March 7th.

Writing About Music

(like learning to “spit like a man.”)

Part of this course entails learning to write and talk about music with competence and

specificity, “like a musician”.

Writing About Music

Two commonly misused words:• “Classical music” technically refers to the

Classical era (1750-1820).

Better: the Classical era, orchestral music, the composer’s name, the name of the piece, etc.

• A “song” refers to music with words, sung by a vocalist.

Better: piece (any music), song (used correctly), track (recorded music)

Writing About MusicWhat not to write in a Listening Log or Concert Report:Filler.• “’Tu se morta’ is by Claudio Monteverdi, an Italian composer, gambist

and singer who was born on May 15, 1567 and died on November 29, 1643, famous for developing Renaissance polyphony and…”

• “On December 4, 2012, at 8:00pm, I attended a concert for the Music 100 ‘Music Appreciation class instructed by the Benjamin Tibbetts, Kristen Wallentinsen, Meg Bowen and Christie Cho, led by Professor Miriam Jenkins, in the Fine Arts Center at the University of Massachusetts…”

• “The first piece on this concert was ‘_____’. The second piece on this concert was ‘____’. The third piece on this concert…”

• “This piece, ‘_____’ featured two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, one tuba, timpani, about ten violins…”

Writing About Music

What not to write in a Listening Log or Concert Report:

Storytelling.• “I was distracted because the guy in front of

me turned around and said…”• “The seats were warm so I was comfortable,

but I was a little tired and…”• “I was in a bad mood that day because my

friend Sandra told me…”

Writing About Music

What not to write in a Listening Log or Concert Report:

Incorrect use of vocabulary.• “The dynamics of this piece were smooth…”• “Their sound changed as the piece went faster and

slower…”• “Loud rhythms here crescendo-ed into…”• “The solo cellist played four songs which were…”• “The timbre of the piece was loud and…”

Writing About Music

What not to write in a Listening Log or Concert Report:Opinion or Judgment.• “I was so impressed by…”• “It was amazing because…”• “This concert sucked. The musicians were terrible and…”• “Those musicians played so passionately…”• “I really enjoyed…”• “I thought I would hate it but I was pleasantly surprised to

find that I loved it because…”• “The best piece on the program was…”

Writing About Music

What not to write in a Listening Log or Concert Report:

Kissing-up.• “I am so glad I came to this concert. I used to hate

classical music but now I love it. I am going to be a musician now. My iPod will have nothing but Mozart on it from now on. Thank you so much for this amazing opportunity to explore this fantastic new world of wonder and discovery…”

Writing About Music

What to write in your Listening Logs and Concert Reports:

• Observations about the music itself…• Observations about your experience of the

music…

…using fundamental musical vocabulary.

Writing About MusicSome of the vocabulary you know already from the “musical elements”

chapter.• Meter (duple vs. triple)• Melody vs. harmony or accompaniment)• Texture (monophonic, homophonic, polyphonic)• Genre• Timbre• Dynamics• Tempo• Rhythm• Motion (conjunct vs. disjunct)• Word painting

As we move forward in this course, more vocabulary will be added to this arsenal (and you will be expected to incorporate it).

Henry Purcell

1659-1695

English composer

Henry Purcell

Henry Purcell wrote one of the earliest English operas, Dido and Aeneas, based on Virgil’s Aeneid.

Henry PurcellA well-known aria (song) from Dido and Aeneas: “Dido’s Lament”This recording is by Emma Kirkby.This will be a Listening Log.

Thy hand, Belinda, darkness shades me,On thy bosom let me rest,More I would, but Death invades me;Death is now a welcome guest.

When I am laid, am laid in earth,May my wrongs createNo trouble, no trouble in thy breast;

Remember me, but ah! forget my fate.

Johann Sebastian Bach

German composer/organist

1685-1750

Bach In-Class AssignmentWork on this during discussion and pass it in at the

end of today’s discussion.

Baroque Take Home AssignmentThis is a separate assignment. It requires the book.

You’ll be taking this home and passing it in on Thursday.

Heads up! Both assignments are double-sided.

Fugues

Fugue – “a polyphonic work based on a central theme and employing imitation.”

(p. 516)

Subject – “the central theme of a fugue.” (p. 518)

Fugal exposition – “the opening section of a fugue, in which all the voices enter with the main subject.” (p. 516)

FuguesSo what does that mean?

A fugue (adjective “fugal”) is polyphonic. This means that there are multiple melodies happening at once, and they’re are all equal to each other.

In a fugue, each of these multiple “melodies” (also called “lines” or “voices”) is actually the same melody—it’s just beginning at different times.

We call this melody a subject. Every time the subject begins, we call that an entrance of the subject.

This layering of the subject over itself is at its most obvious and striking in the fugue’s exposition, or beginning section.

Fugues

Listen: the Nokia Ringtone

vs.

Video: the “Nokia [Ringtone] Fugue”

(composed by Vincent Lo)

Fugues

Presentation and manipulation of the subject isn’t all that’s happening.

But it’s the easiest thing to pick out.

FuguesJ.S. Bach’s

Fugue in G Minor (“The Little”), BWV 578

Organ recording by Helmut Walcha, Austria

We’ll listen to the beginning of the subject by itself first, then we’ll listen to the whole fugue.

This will be a Listening Log.

Fugues

Let’s listen to an orchestration of this piece.(Orchestration usually refers to re-arranging music

for orchestra or another large ensemble.)

This orchestration of Bach’s “Little Fugue” in G minor is by Leopold Stokowski.

Please complete your in-class assignments at this time. (Again, notice that these are two-sided sheets.)

Final Reminders / Homework

• Pass in your in-class assignment• Read pages 126-145• Baroque Take Home Assignment due Thurs.• Questions? Email:benjamintibbetts@yahoo.com