Pratt Music Hum Wk 6 - Lecture notes 12-13 PDF

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Notes: Ryan Pratt's Music Hum...

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Tuesday, October 13, 2015 – Thursday, October 15, 2015 Masterpieces Of Western M (MUSI 1123, section 029) (Ryan Pratt) Note taker: Samantha Rhoads 2015 - 10 - 13 TUESDAY 

Romantic Period o Emphasis on the individual o Fantasy of the unknown o Supernatural - dipping into ancient myths o Exploration of nature o Emphasis on Death o Beethoven is a transitory figure into this era  Pressure associated with Beethoven and his struggle  Idea of having to suffer for your work  Wunderlust - German term for suffering  Freddy Kampf - Beethoven - Sonata Pathetique 1 mov  Associations with moodswings  Begins really heavy and impending but then...  First exposition - positive uplifting theme  Next exposition - negative/discouraging theme  Switches back and forth with emotion  Beethoven can capture so many different emotions - consistently surprising - influential  Beethoven wrote lots of piano music  idea of the social misfit who suffers for his art - still an idea alive today  Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op 67 - Leonard Bernstein  Sometimes the rhythmic motive is detached from the pitches/melodic elements  Rhythmic motive here = transformed  Generally symphonies like this written in the same key (C minor here)  In first symphony - begins in an unexpected key (D minor?) but then changes  Known for lots of modulations  He’s tricky  Chamsky describes language as a difference between competence and performance  Competence: syntax, perfect mathematical system  Performance: individual or context specific in language o More Beethoven  READ BACH AND BLASPHEMY ARTICLE - could be on midterm  Along with theme - idée fixe - term only really relevant to Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique o Theme can be specifically tied to a specific person o Programatic music - (similar w/ Vivaldi’s 4 Seasons - this was programmatic because it describes a series of events)

Programmatic Music: is a term usually applied to any musical composition on the classical music tradition in which the piece is designed according to some preconceived narrative, or is designed to evoke a specific idea and atmosphere  Could be understood even if you haven’t heard the program - as long as you know the cultural cues  Beethoven, Symphony 7, Allegretto, mvt 2 Very intense Many counter-melodies  Berlioz juxtaposes Beethoven Berlioz Idee Fixe.m4v  5 movements:  I. Daydreams  II. A ball  III. Scene in country  IV. March to scaffold  V. Dreams of witches sabbath  Obsessed with this actress - Harriet Smithson  Sent her numerous love letters  unanswered  wrote a symphony for her  Married - then separated after a few years of unhappiness Berlioz: “Symphonie Fantastique” - 1st Mvt. (Part 1) - Leonard Bernstein  Program Music contrasts absolute music absolute doesn’t follow a program 3 B’s of music:  Bach  Beethoven  Brahms - he uses absolute music  (Berlioz eventually but not influential enough) - he uses program music 

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2015-10-15 THURSDAY 

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Beethoven - Complete String Quartets o Each member of the Quartet is like a personality o kind of improvisation  used on sitcoms also Berlioz Idee Fixe o Leitmotiv - light motif Berlioz: “Symphonie Fantastique”. 1st Mvt. (part 2) - Leonard Bernstein o Gradual development o The melody can be followed with the pulse o Tremolo - a wavering effect in a musical tone, typically produced by rapid reiteration of a note, or sometimes by rapid repeated variation in the pitch of a note or by sounding two notes of slightly different pitches to produce prominent overtones o Breaks in the accompaniment o 2nd movement: Why would you have 2 harps?  The harp has a large limitation on the notes it can play  The harp & piano have the same range

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 But harp can only play w/ 7 note scales Pastoral duet in the third movement  hope  calm in heart  happy color in midst of love business  hope of no longer being alone  But what if he’s betrayed?  Takes a turn for the dark - sway in emotion - conflicting characters o 4th movement: a man witnesses his own execution  The crash represents the blade crashing down  timpani - kettledrums, especially when played by one musician in an orchestra. o 5th movement - dream of the witches sabbath  becomes a vulgar dance tune - grotesque  funeral bell tolls  dance of the witches  Dies Irae - day of wrath  becomes the new fixed idea  it finally gets to a duo tempo  death theme overcomes the song...