Listening Blog #5 – “The Thriller! Rag” – May Frances Aufderheide

Instrumentation: Piano

Texture: The texture of the song is homophonic: a solitary melodic line with accompanying chords moving simultaneously. For a song with only one instrument, the texture is very thick: this is due to the interplay between the left and right hand parts –maybe they are playing complementary parts of the same chord? I’m not exactly sure. The bass part/left hand is also played quite heavily, giving it a fuller feel and texture.

Range: The range is fairly standard for this piece: although there is a lot more jumping around in the bass part than the treble part. Also, one of the chord progressions near the end goes pretty low.

Tempo: The tempo is quite fast and upbeat. It stays pretty constant throughout the song. The treble part shows some subdivision, (2 notes for every beat of the bass part).

Meter: The meter is duple beat, as the song displays a fast constant “march” beat.

Volume: Fairly loud. I noticed that the performer grows in volume when they are approaching the opening chords of the left hand that signifies either a repetition of a previous section or a new section. Overall, it seems that the bass part is playing louder than the treble part which, from my knowledge of piano, is somewhat unusual: in classical piano, the treble part is always supposed to take precedence. Here, I would say the two parts share in equal volume, if not louder volume in the bass part.

Other: The timbre of the song is joyful/happy/exuberant – probably because it stays largely in major key. The full chords that occur near the end of the piece are very dramatic, providing a contrast to the “quaint” (and quiet) final ending chords. This song is very much in the “ragtime” piano tradition: I think it must be the combination of the chord progressions and the jauntiness of the moving bass line.

EXTRA LISTENING TRACK - "Venise" - Teresa Carreño

Instrumentation: Piano

Texture: I would say the texture of the song is sparse, since there is only a melody (treble line) and accompaniment (bass line chords). However, the texture of the piano itself is very rich.

Range: While the range never goes very low and tends to sit in the middle range, it does take some leaps to higher notes, which the performer does with care and delicacy to make them seem fragile, not grating.

Tempo: The music has a fairly slow tempo, which remains pretty much constant throughout the entirety of the piece.

Meter: The rhythmic beat is triple beat: it has a very clear waltz quality to it – however, the pianist often delays the placing of the beat.

Volume: The volume is mostly soft: the volume diminishes for dramatic effect when the pianist is playing the higher keys, in order to maintain a delicate sound.

Other: I didn’t originally plan to write a listening journal on this song: however, as I was working on the last piece (Amy Beach’s “Scherzo”), this began to play as the next track on the CD. I was surprised to find how much I enjoy it: I typically don’t like songs that consist only of piano, but this one seemed exceedingly elegant and beautiful in a simple way to me. I find it interesting to contrast the sound of Beach’s piece with Carreño’s piece, due to the reading on Beach’s childhood, which told of the two’s extremely different upbringings (Carreño as a young prodigy and virtuoso, Beach as a woman restrained from touring), and Carreño’s apparent role-model influence on Beach. Their differing experiences no doubt influenced the sound of their compositions: yet I find it interesting that Carreño, the one with more freedom, has composed the more typical traditional “feminine” piece, while Beach has composed a much more ambitious and “manly” sounding (according to the Bowers/Tick chapter) piece.

Listening Blog #4 - "Scherzo" - Amy Beach

Instrumentation:

-Piano, strings section (violin, viola, cello?), Oboe

Texture: Polyphonic (multiple lines moving different directions)

However, this aspect of the music actually stuck out to me the most. As complex as the music was, it sounded noticeably thinner and sparser than I would have expected it to. I don’t know if it was missing certain orchestral instrumentation I expected or what (a horn section, perhaps? And there seemed to be minimal bass), but I thought the song as a whole had a bare aspect to it that was a little disappointing to me.

Range: None of the instruments really pushed the boundaries of their ranges in this song: I wouldn’t say that it was a focal point of the piece.

Tempo: Overall, the tempo of the piece was very fast-paced. The piano arpeggiation helped to create a feeling of rapidity and break-neck speed (as the piano player’s hands have got to be moving extremely fast to play that).

Meter: I think the meter was duple beat, as one could imagine a march (although it would have to be very fast!) to the music.

Volume: Throughout the piece, Beach uses swells in the dynamics for emphasis, creating an ebb and flow feeling of the song. It also puts emphasis on the quieter parts as well, as they stand out.

Orchestration: I liked the violin tremolo at the beginning along with the oboe: I thought it created a nice tension and sense of anticipation for the piece.

The piano remained a constant focus of the piece, and arpeggios were a very characteristic quality of the piece, giving it a sense of whimsicality and precision. The descending solo run at around 3:11 was also quite impressive: the fact that no other instrument was playing drew all the more attention to it.

The ending piano chords also work towards the same effect, signaling the end in a very common chord ending.

The timbre varied: at times it seemed quaint and simpler, while sometimes it seemed lush and sweeping and romantic, at others more dark and forboding.

Overall, I did like this song: however, I have to say that after reading the praise of Beach in the Bower/Tick text, I had a much different expectation of what her music would sound like. I expected something much more loud and forceful, with a lot more weight and full orchestral sound.

Listening Blog #3 – “Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann” – Clara Wieck Schumann

Instrumentation: Piano

Texture: Homophony – the treble and bass clef piano parts combine in harmony

Range: Mostly centered in the typical piano range, between the ranges of bass and treble clefs. During the piano’s runs and arpeggios during one of the middle sections, a couple of higher notes (and a few low) are hit at the end of the ascending/descending runs.

Tempo: Ranges from slow and stately, to fast and light, to energetic and pounding

Throughout the song, however, Schumann does take artistic license as she sees fit, slowing certain phrases for dramatic effect.

Rhythmic pulse: There wasn’t a definable beat in this piece as far as I could find – therefore, it has a fluid meter.

Volume: The volume of the piece begins fairly low: the opening section is soft and bare in nature, and the volume reflects that. As the piece progresses to different sections, it gradually grows in volume: in particular, the fast-paced and energetic section in the middle is much louder, due to the pounding quality on the keys of the section. After this section, Schumann returns to the delicate first section, providing a stark contrast in volumes.

Other:

One might think that the timbre of the piece is fairly homogeneous, seeing as there is only one instrument: however, each section does a good job of highlighting the piano’s different sounds capabilities. In the first section, the piano sounds very precise and delicate: the bareness of the composition at this point brings out the inherent sound of the piano. During the middle sections, the timbre changes: the runs and arpeggios create a pure, complicated intricate sound. During the chord-heavy, energetic pounding middle section, the timbre is much heavier, yet also sprightly.

I found the form of the song to be a very interesting aspect: Schumann distinctly sets each section of her song apart by the pregnant silences between them. Additionally, each section possesses a different attitude that sets the tone of that section. I enjoyed the building upon and deviations from the first section that gradually morphed into completely independent sections, and the final return to the original section.

I found the minor key to play a heavily influential in this piece: it set the tone to a more somber, serious side, sounding mournful at times, and eerie at others. However, I found the piece in general to be beautiful: alternatingly delicate, elegant, complicated, harsh, and stately, all depending on the section.

Listening Blog #2: “Hor che appollo” – Barbara Strozzi

Instrumentation: Voice (soprano woman soloist), Harpsichord, strings (violins?)

Texture: medium: Homophonic: the voice provides the primary melody, with the harpsichord playing accompaniment (Voice with Harpsichord accompaniment, Harpsichord and strings interludes?)

Range: The vocalist demonstrates a wide vocal flexibility, but remains fairly high in the vocal register for most of the song.

Tempo: The song moves fairly slowly during the vocal/harpsichord interludes, and picks up during the harpsichord/strings interludes for a brief change of pace. There is one exaggerated change ¾ of the way through the song.

Meter: For the most part, the song remains in triple beat: there is one section where the meter changes to a rapid duple beat, and some runs the singer takes artistic license with and so are in fluid meter.

Volume: The volume of the piece stays mostly moderate: this is because the focus is not on dynamics, but on the intricacy of the melody and its interplay with the accompaniment.

Other:

Timbre: The timbre of the song generally seems to be sad: the voice seems especially sorrowful, while the harpsichord and violin interludes sound elegant and refined. In contrast, the one short interlude is very joyous and energetic, with frivolous runs in the singer’s line and excited twanging from the harpsichord.

The song seems to me to sound distinctly Baroque: maybe it’s the presence of the harpsichord, or the trills/appogiaturas the singer does.

It did seem to get pretty repetitive after a while (12 minutes?), and it seemed maybe a little more bare than baroque music I am used to hearing (string-heavy) – maybe because of the audience it was intended for (private or smaller audiences) …?

Listening Blog #1 "O rubor sanguinis" - Hildegard von Bingen

-Instrumentation: The instrumentation of this piece is a women’s choir (composed of soprano voices) singing a cappella.

-Texture: Although monophonic (one melodic line), the singers blend almost seamlessly together to create a strong, unified voice and thick texture to the piece.

-Range: The vocal range required in this piece was fairly large: while the piece was solidly within the range of a soprano voice, it did include a large leap into the higher vocal register of the singers.

-Tempo: the tempo of the music was very slow throughout the piece: it seemed almost ceremonial, perhaps used formally in a church as sacred music?

-Meter/Rhythmic Speed: Additionally, the meter of the piece was highly varied and unpredictable: as fluid meter, it didn’t seem to follow a set pattern.

-Volume: The piece showed a good use of dynamics: Whenever beginning a phrase the singers would start off with a soft volume, crescendo into a strong volume at the climax of the phrase, and then decrescendo into soft volume at the end of the phrase. This created a powerful rising/falling dynamic in the piece.

-Timbre: The timbre of the voices was very straight and still with no vibrato, which is a common sound for choirs. It created a very pure, angelic sound.

Other notes: I thought the piece was powerful in its simplicity: the bare quality of the singer’s voices made it seem very intimate and mysterious and emphasized the rise and fall of their voices. There was definitely a strong religious undertone present, in the reverent quality of the sound and the religious lyrics.

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9/1/09 @ 11:36 PM: Posted?