The Enlightenment

            

           The eighteenth century marked the beginning of a new away of thinking. This thought process would bring thought and performing arts into a new generation. The movement of new thinking, called the Enlightenment, brought scientific thought and social justice together because of the minds of such philosophers as Voltaire and Rousseau. This whole period broke down social structures and sought to improve education. No longer was society only focused on themselves, but rather the entire population around them (“all men are created equal”).

            Music and its influence over society were changing as the demand for music was being spread to every class system. Changes in musical structures and forms were adapting to what the public wanted to hear rather than the higher, upper class. Musical forms such as opera, symphonies, and chamber music (string quartet, sonatas) were beginning to take shape in this pivotal time of music. Their structures were being created around the most interesting parts of baroque music. For example, a baroque opera was only formed with the people of wealth and what they wanted. Once musical appeal shifted to almost every class structure, new forms of opera (such as comic opera) were created to feature real people in real situations. Composers were making music that was simpler with amusing plots. Also, looking at the structure of an aria within an opera, the form was made simpler, with it being in ABA format. This was designed to make the movement sound more lyrical and songlike.

            With the start of the Enlightenment period, composers and their individual sound was making an influence on the musical world. Mozart and Franz Joseph Haydn were making a name for themselves by making innovations to the way music was traditionally composed. Haydn’s operas were lyrical, inventive, and moving, while Mozart began creating masterpieces at a very young age. The work of these two men marked the beginning on new composing and new listening. No two pieces were the same, leaving the audience on their toes through their careers.

            I found the Enlightenment to be the beginning modern music; music that I found an interest in. Looking at the Mozart and his opera “Don Giovanni.” There are parts of the opera where I can easily pick out characteristics of the Enlightenment. Mozart’s use of bringing real life situation, such as adultery, makes it seem like Mozart was a composer for the people. He seamlessly brings together the idea of equality between two people, and music. For example, the dialogue between Zerlina and Don Giovanni was equality split between the two characters. Don Giovanni would either ask a question, or make a point and Zerlina would respond. Evidently, it seemed like the two characters had their own sound, which made it easier for the audience to follow. This music was created for the people and this mindset would later influence the great artists of the future.

            Above is a my favorite piece my Mozart, “Lacrimosa” written for this Requiem Mass in d minor.

Folk What Music Means To Me

            Since starting this unit on folk music, the definition of folk music has changed. Before coming to Ithaca, I would listen to music in the comfort of my room or with my friends because I enjoyed the simplicity of the music and lyrics. Now that I am in Ithaca, a town that is filled with the folk music, my view and passion for this genre of music grew. For the first time, I was able to see how music is able to bring forth a community and rejoice in the sounds that their neighbor or friend has created. Currently, I would have to say that my definition of folk music is a combination of my thoughts before and after arriving in Ithaca. Folk music is, at least to me, simple music that brings a community together by making the listener think. In the cases that we talked about in class, a lot of the issues that musicians want to highlight are social change.

            I believe the category that was most useful was the discussion between oral tradition vs. written is a very important topic to bring up. I feel like many people believe that folk is made singularly by a singer/songwriter. An interesting thought that Nettl brought up in this writing is the idea of oral tradition. I thought it was interesting the idea of oral tradition because, bringing a classical song into the modern age, many singers had there own spin into a song. For example, in class we listen to “Blowin’ In The Wind,” which was originally a song written by Bob Dylan. Now, although the idea of oral tradition falls into the category of religious music, I believe this song plays a very good example in oral tradition. Years after Bob Dylan released the song; Peter Paul and Mary released their version of the song, adding a music deeper meaning to it. The overall idea of adding vocal harmony to a three-person group vs. Bob Dylan performing solo adds to the idea of oral tradition; passing a song down to each generation.

            An idea that I personally don’t agree with was his idea of professionalism vs. “common folk.” I personally don’t think that there needs to be a separation between the two. I believe that folk music was created for the people, by the people for a functional cause. Although many agree that there are many nonprofessional groups performing folk music, there are many professionals who have the same amount of impact on a community. Again, looking at “Blowin’ In The Wind,” Peter Paul and Mary are a professional group spreading the word of social justice during the time of the Civil Rights movement. They were able to spread the world of social justice as professional folk musicians.  

            The idea of the song including something about change is something I think Nettl should have talked about. I remember in class, we discussed the idea of the song asking the listener a question and answering the question with what they believe. In a majority of songs that we listened to in class, the songwriter is trying to convey a point through the song. The idea of what the lyrics play in the song is incredibly important to any song, but especially in folk music.

            Folk music can come in many forms but its sense of community for be everlasting. I believe that Nettl wrote compared different forms of folk music to get the reader to really think about folk music. Some points we are able to agree with, other we are not. But what we can be certain of is folk music’s functioning purpose in society; to bring a community together.  

The Senior Recital of Rachel Mikol

         

   On September 14^th, I got to see the senior recital of Rachel Mikol, a soprano in the Dawn Pierce studio. For her recital, she chose a theme to all the songs she sang in the hour and a half program. Her theme, “Unveiling the Underestimated: An Exploration of Female Composers,” featured songs from various female composers from various countries. For her recital, she had three violinists along with a pianist.

            Through the recital, she sang in such languages as Italian, English, German, and Norweign. I believe her best performance was with the Norweign and English pieces. She sang three songs by Agathe Backer-Grondahl and three songs by Amy Beach.. At this point in her recital, she had already sang throw a lot of her pieces and, I believe, she left the best for last. She was able to become the character and tell the story throw her acting and vocal dynamics. A quick history of these two authors, they were composing music at the same time, making it interesting to compare genres and composition between the six songs. Both composers where alive during the beginning of the 20^th century, and both sounded very classical.

            A moment that sticks out for me about her performance is her choice of instruments. The first song was accompanied with a harpsichord and three violins. I believe this was a very interesting start for a recital. It gave me the impression that she really wanted to make a statement with this first piece, especially since all of these instruments were only used once in her recital. I loved how the violins began the piece, all-starting off in harmony, followed by the harpsichord, and then her vocals. The entire piece beautifully highlighted all the instruments being played, making the listener very overwhelmed by the end of the song. (AND THIS ONLY THE FIRST SONG).

            I found all the songs to be very repetitive; much makes me think that a lot of the songs were written in a AABA form. Just like the folk music that we are currently looking at, the songs went through many verses with a lot of the same melodies and accompanying chords.

            I thought that Rachel was outstanding! I remember being stunned by the voice that rang throughout the entire hall. Her stage presence was remarkable and her acting really helped deliver the message of the song.  I also really enjoyed the theme of her recital. I thought it was very interesting to perform various selections from different composers who are all woman. Overall, I had a very good time! I walked away from her recital really thinking about different women composers and their influence on music. Great job Rachel!

Porchfest 2013

This weekend marked the 7th annual Porchfest in Ithaca and I have to say, it was a highlight of my time here at IC so far. The people, the music, and the atmosphere of this event was something I have never experienced before. Since I am a big fan of folk music and the beauty of creating a song with minimal instruments and vocals, the entire day was a blast for me.

Walking down the street to this event, my group followed the sound of music playing in the distance to find our way to this event. The first group we saw a group of men playing for a huge group of people (and their dogs). With a saxophone, bass guitar, drums, and acoustic guitar, they immediately took my breath away. I have to say, one of their songs entitled "Collegetown" impressed me a lot. In class, and in previous blog posts, we talked about how important the relationship between the lyrics and the melody are to a song. Since this song is about the town, I found it amazing how they took the sound that a lot of people would connect Ithaca to (folk music), and created a song. Like my friend Olivia said, folk music is community, which is exactly was Porchfest was. A community coming together to share music.

The rest of the bands were just as fantastic. The texture of the music was slow and steady. At time, you could clearly hear the beat of the songs they were playing. For example, there was one group that was using a box instrument to keep a steady beat for the entire song. Because the beat was easy to find, the people of the town had no trouble tapping their foot to the beat (and it one case a little girl was dancing a long to the music).

I would like to point out how talented the people of Ithaca are. I was blown away by how creative everyone was and how accepting/supportive the entire town was. Great job performers!

When I'm Sixty Four by The Beatles

Trying to find a song that ends a thought with a half cadence and later ending with a PAC was very tricky to find but I was able to find a song by one of my all time favorite bands, THE BEATLES! I found that their song, "When I'm Sixty Four" begins a period (or thought) with a half cadence, before ending it with a PAC (or a complete thought). 

I performed this song with my high school's all male acapella group, the Bro-Squad (cool name, I know), and I found that with each thought that the melody presented with first start off unresolved in both the melody (Solo) and accompanying parts (in this case the Tenor 1, Tenor 2, Baritone, and Bass part). 

Looking at the first thought:

When I get older, losing my hair / Many year from now. 

This is the end of the first thought. Listening to the first note that the melody sings, one can compare the beginning now (when), to the last note (now) and notice that it is the dominant. For all the music theory students in the class, the key that this song is in is E Major so the tonic triad/chord will be E-G-B (Do-Mi-Sol). Now looking at the last note, now, we can tell that it is not the tonic of the scale. Instead, the song ended on Ti, which is in the dominant V of the key (Sol-Ti-Re), concluding that his phrase ends on the dominant chord. 

Continuing with the phrase: 

Will you still be sending me a Valentine / Birthday greetings bottle of wine? 

This phrase starts exactly where the last one ended, with the Ti of the scale. Continuing to the end of the phrase, it sounds complete towards the end, making it a PAC. Some might think that the end might not end of the tonic but I believe, since it is ending as a question, it sounds complete. 

Listen to the rest of the song and listen out for the many thoughts the originally end with a half cadence and later end with a PAC. 

The Times They Are a-Changin' by Bob Dylan

It's amazing to watch music impact the way society thinks, especially during a time of social revolution. Bob Dylan, who is one my favorite artists, did exactly that when he released "The Times They Are a-Changin." In the short 3 minutes and 11 seconds, Dylan takes a strong stance against all social problems by keeping a strong beat and powerful lyrics throughout the piece. 

The piece beings with a guitar playing for just a couple of measures. In these first couple of measures, Dylan keeps a steady beat, one that he will continue with for the rest of the piece. He keeps to a meter of 3/4 with a strong first beat. When Dylan starts singing, he keeps to the same melody throughout all the verse. He begins by singing at a lower pitch and then begin to heighten. At the end of every verse, the vocal line drops out and he begins to play his harmonica while keeping to the beat he has already established. Through the entire piece, Dylan would only play two instruments at a time (either his vocals/guitar, or harmonica/guitar). 

The chords of the guitar repeatedly progress throughout the entire piece. At the beginning/end of each song, he will place the tonic of the chord, giving off the impression that it is the end of a thought for the singer. It must be added that at the strong beat for every 3 beats land on very powerful words. He doesn't keep to one subject throughout the piece, instead switching off between a lot of different groups and feelings. Examples of this are the words: parents, senators, and congressman. He also uses equally as powerful words such as command, no, a-changin, and stalled. Dylan makes it clear that social reform is greatly needed. 

Looking at some of the lyrics.....

Come senators, congressmen / Please heed the call / Don't stand in the doorway / Don't block up the hall / For he that gets hurt / Will be he who has stalled / There's a battle outside / And it is ragin' / It'll soon shake your windows / And rattle your walls / For the times they are a-changin'. 

This is just a little example the message Dylan was trying to convey.

With a steady beat and powerful lyrics that cut right to the chase of things, Dylan was able to create a powerful song during a time of reform. I believe that the strong, repetitive chord progression adds to the powerful message that Dylan is trying to convey.