Final Projects!

As all of you know already (from emails, probably), the only thing to do be done from now on is work on your final pieces! Remember: 30 to 50 measures, and 1 to 4 instruments (I suggest 1 or 2).

Last week Saturday, even though we did not have class, some of you met with Steve Taylor for some individual help. This will happen AGAIN TOMORROW (Saturday, 3/23). I encourage you to show up and get some guidance! The reading session for your pieces will be on Saturday April 13th, which comes very soon.

That's all for now . . . I'll update this post with more information as it comes to light. All of the previous posts on this blog, with video links to pieces, etc, should just serve as inspiration. There's no need to use any of it in particular. Good luck!

Interesting News Story - Major and Minor

Check out this interesting story I heard on NPR. You can read the article, but I suggest listening to the audio link at the top of the page, as in the interview they play musical examples for you.

http://www.npr.org/2013/03/08/173832177/can-you-make-sad-songs-sound-happy-and-vice-versa

Although the story is about changing songs from Major to Minor, or visa versa, it also talks about how a composer changes his/her musical ideas over time. This is called "developing" musical ideas, of which the major/minor switch is just one example.

Samuel Barber

In the Stravinsky post, I talked about how "Rite of Spring" is constructed in block-like sections. Barber, however, is a master of the "long line." His melodies are expansive and can have incredibly long arcs.

His "Adagio for Strings" is a great example of this. Listen for how the entire piece slowly builds in intensity. While the "Rite" has several sections, "Adagio" is almost like one big section. Here it is:

Another fantastic piece by Barber is his Violin Concerto. Below are all three movements, but pay close attention to movements 1 and 2, as both of these demonstrate Barber's use of long melodic lines.

Incidentally, movement 3 is a "Perpetuum Mobile" or "Moto Perpetuo," which is a piece where there is a non-stop steady stream of notes of a particular rhythm. Notice that the violin hardly stops whatsoever for the entire movement.

And by the way, in my humble opinion, the 2nd movement is one of the most beautiful slow second movements of any concerto. It's definitely one of my favorites.

Mov 1:

Mov 2:

Mov 3:

Stravinsky and the Rite of Spring

We haven't had a chance to talk about this piece in class yet, but if you haven't listened to Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" then you should check it out! Fantastic composition. Even though it's not chamber music per se, hopefully it will inspire some ideas.

Below are the videos, and they have the piano reduction to follow along. Notice that the piece is very sectional . . . meaning, the music seems like it is constructed almost out of blocks. One section has a specific character and sound, then the next section has a very different character and sound, and on it goes. Compare this with the post on Samuel Barber (which I will post in just a moment).

Last note: in video #1, at around 3:30, is a famous section called the "Dance of the Adolescents." Listen to what happens, and I hope we can chat about it in class a bit. Enjoy!

And part 2:

And part 3:

And part 4, the last one!

Steve Reich and Phasing

Recall our brief discussion of Steve Reich and phasing. Check out this video of Reich's clapping music (a much better video than the one I showed in class). Notice that the bottom rhythm, when it changes, is just moving out of phase with the top rhythm. Otherwise, both rhythms are exactly the same, and neither change.

You should try this using your own melody. Or write a new short melodic idea (make the rhythms interesting), and try phasing it against itself. You can do this by copying the melody (highlight the music in Sibelius and type Command-C) and pasting it (with Command-V) on a different staff, but slightly offset.

And as we talked about in class, this is Steve Reich's "Piano Phase" below. In the sheet music, notice how the second piano speeds up slightly during each transition. By the way, this is called "continuous phasing" while the above is called "discrete phasing."

Here's a vid of a performance:

Assignment for Sat, Feb 23rd

As discussed in class:

(1) Please finish up your short preludes, if you haven't done so already. I've seen preludes from most of you, and good work!

(2) Write a melody. We will discuss more about melody next class, so don't worry about the melody . . . just try to write one!  Remember to consider melodic contour (the shape of the melody), and rhythmic interest (try adding syncopations and a variety of note lengths).

(3) If you have time, take your melody and compose a short passage that sets the melody in one of the textures discussed in the pdf (see the previous post for the download link). You may choose any texture you like, but I recommend one of the following three: (i) chordal texture, (ii) homophonic texture (think melody and accompaniment), or (iii) monophonic texture with decorations and embellishments.

Orchestration Textures

Here's a link to a much larger PDF that includes the "Orchestration Textures" images a few posts down. Download the PDF from here to view!

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/19603359/Orchestration%20Textures.pdf