Caspar David Friedrich's "Wanderer Above the Sea of Mist" (1818)

The Romantic Era marks a change in human thought. The time of order, restraint, and objective exercise of the intellect were over, marking the end of the Enlightenment. The rise of the individual was growing emphasizing imagination and and spontaneity. the age of emotions, irrationality, and passion was here! Nature was viewed as more powerful than humans. The community was placed higher than the individual. Artists were viewed as a contributor to society, requiring the audience to analyze the artwork in front of them.

The picture "Wanderer Above the Sea of Mist" by Caspar David Friedrich has a lot of traits from the Romantic Era. The picture shows a man in the center standing on top of a peak/mountain. He is looking out into the distance at mountains and the sea. Their is also a fog through the picture. For one, the picture is located in nature which was viewed as a symbol of peace and restoration compared to the life in the growing industrialized cities. It seems like the sea and the sky/landscape are being blended in together. It is hard to tell when one starts and where the other ends. Also, the way the man is standing in the center of the picture makes it seem like he discovered this land. It exemplifies human thought. He is going against the social norm and sending time in what is considered universal order. He is the division of the humans and nature.

There are a lot of qualities that Friedrich leaves the audience to think about. Exactly where do you think the sea ends and land starts? What does the man look like? Why is he there? All traits that makes one wonder what the meaning behind the picture is. Are we supposed to be happy or sad while looking at this picture? The meaning is different for everyone.

The artistic style of this painting leads the audience to think of Romantic ideals. Nature and individual imagination are traits that are clearly formed during this era.

Choral Collage

On October 6th, I had the opportunity to watch the School of Music's annual choral concert. The concert was conducted by two professors, Derrick Fox and Janet Galvan. Mr. Fox conducted the Ithaca College Chorus and Madrigal Singer, while Ms. Galvan conduced the Women's Chorale, and the Ithaca College Choir. All choirs featured students from all over campus, singing choral music from different composers.

All the songs that were performed were choral, with a diverse timespan of composers. Fox and Galvan were able to put together a concert that was able to combine classic choral songs to modern age composers. For example, the Madrigals, which is conducted by Fox, performed "Amor vittorioso" by Giovanni Gastoldi (1566-1609) while the chorus, also conducted by Fox, performed "Seal Lullaby" by Eric Whitacre, who is still composing today. I thought all the songs overall were a great pick for each group. It was nice to listen to each group sing a diversity of choral genres from different time periods.

Looking directly at "Seal Lullaby" by Eric Whitacre, the harmonies were incredible! The flow of the song is created to be effortless. For this song, someone in the choir was playing piano as the rest of the choir was singing. The song begins with the entire choir singing before breaking off into a soprano solo section, which set up the reset of the song beautifully! The dynamics that were used during the song were really impressive. Many times during the song, the choir would start of soft and build to the climax of the piece. The overall sound of the choir was very unison, which makes it even more impressive.

I was very impressed with this concert! I thought the choir sounded fantastic! It was great to see four very different choirs perform songs that were diverse in different ways. It was not a concert where you had to listen to the same type of song over again. Each song was different from one another. I also liked how the chorus danced to their final song, "Fiela."I thought it was a great performance choice!

Compared to other works we listened to, the songs in the concert would most relate to classical music. Again, looking at "Seal Lullaby," a lot of the phrases that were used were very repetitive and effortless. The songs were very structured with each voice part coming in a certain times throughout a piece.

Great job IC Choral!

Ave Verum by Mozart

This week, I decide to take a look at Ave Verum by Mozart. I performed this song multiple times last year and I think the way that Mozart was able to incorporate harmonies and stringed instruments are remarkable. At no point during this song is one more straining to be heard. Before I start analyzing the piece, I would like to point out that the recording I have with this post is by the Vienna Boys Choir, which means that the parts normally sung by a soprano and alto are sung now by young boys.

Looking at the sheet music that came with the recording, we can tell that the song is in D Major because of the key signature (2 sharp keys - F# and C#) and that it's meter is in cut time. Cut time, for those who may not now what this means, is another name for 2/2 (2 half notes per measure). Also, the part with the melody is the soprano line (top line) with the other parts (alto, tenor, and bass) all providing a harmony below. At the beginning of the song, the tonic note (D) is sung by the bass part.

I found that at one point in the song, a phrase ends in a Imperfect Authentic Cadence before resolving in the following phrase. Skip to 1:50. I marked the end of phrase 1 at the lyrics "examine." I had to listen to this part a couple of times before realizing that it sounds like a IAC. I can hear the Do, Mi, Sol in the the voices but the melody does not sound resolved. Although it sounds like it returns home (tonic), there seems to be uncertainty about it. The way I like to think about cadences is that a HC would sound more like a question, with the next phrase being the answer. Well, it seems like for this end chord, there is some sort of question while sounding like it returns home. The following phrase ends on, what I think is, a more complete cadence; it returns home.

Going off the end of the song, I would have to say that it isa contrasting sectional period because both phrases are completely different. The beginning phrase starts with the higher voices (soprano, alto) starting off the section with the lower voices (tenor, bass) later joining. It is very much a bounce back between the two parts. In the following phrase, all parts are together before ending on a more complete cadence. Phrase 2 answers the question that phrase 1 asks.

The sentences of this song is very repetitive. The beginning of the song is set up in the sentence structure of basic idea, repeating the idea, and a continuation. First, it starts with the idea (Ave), before repeating the word again, then continuing to a new idea (verum corpus).

I believe this song is very much exhibits a lot of traits from the Enlightenment. I think the main trait would be the detail to structure. I believe that Mozart was very organized in the writing of this piece because of the way the voices were organized. I also think this piece was very simple in the sense that a lot of people would be able to perform it. For example, when I listen to this piece, I can picture a large professional group performing it, or my choir for high school. I believe the simplicity of this piece is what makes it so amazing. It is very effortless to sing.