Thursday February 14, 2013

1. M100: Music Appreciation Discussion GroupBen Tibbetts, T.A.benjamintibbetts@yahoo.comWelcome! Please sign the attendance at the front of the room. Thursday February 14, 2013

2. Upcoming Events • No class next Tuesday (Monday schedule)

3. Today’s Agenda • Collect Baroque assignments • Timbre revisited • Pages 126-145

4. Collect Baroque assignments

5. Timbre (revisited for clarification) Timbre refers to • Individual instrument • Individual section • Individual “voice”/“line”

6. Timbre can also be called “color” or, in the case of individual instruments, “tone quality”. Fairly specific words include: reedy, brassy, clear, focused, unfocused, breathy, rounded, piercing, strident, harsh, warm, mellow, resonant, dark, bright, heavy, light, flat (source: www.cnx.org/content/m11059/latest/) Really general (food-derived) words include: acidic, biting, bitter, bland, bold, bubbly, buttery, chilly, course, crisp, dry, dull, fiery, greasy, gritty, heavenly, icy, liquid, mild, nasty, rich, robust, sharp, sizzling, smooth, smothered, snappy, sour, strong, sweet, syrupy, thick, tough, warm, watery, wild, zesty (source: www.kathytemean.wordpress.com/2009/04/25/101-descriptive-words-for-foods/) Feel free to use, but PLEASE USE SPARINGLY!!! Timbre is just one aspect of music.

7. (Moving too fast? These slides are online at www.bentibbetts.net/M100/spring2013/)

8. Timbre and Vibrato • Vibrato is a specific aspect of timbre. • Refers to the fluctuation of pitch in a held note • Most often refers to voice, but can also refer to instruments Vibrato can be described: • Narrow or wide • Slow or fast Example: excerpt from Tallis’ Miserere nostri performed by Stile Antico (group of singers usually = more narrow vibrato) Example: excerpt from “Nessun Dorma” from Puccini’s Turandot performed by Paul Potts (solo singer usually = wider vibrato)

9. Movements • Long pieces are often broken up into movements: smaller musical pieces which are self-contained. • These movements are meant to be heard in a certain order (like tracks on an album) • Between every movement, there’s usually a short period of silence • Etiquette tip: don’t clap until all the movements of a piece have been played. Example: Clementi’s Sonatina in C major, op. 36 no. 1 (recording by pianist Cory Hall) This four-minute piece has three movements. Each movement has a different tempo marking (which serves as a title for each movement): • Spiritoso • Andante • Vivace

10. Form • “The structure of a musical work; the way in which its individual units are put together.” (p. 516)

11. Form Common confusion: • When applied to a multiple-movement piece, refers to each individual movement. • When applied to a single-movement piece, refers to the entire piece.

12. Form • Described using letters, like: “The form of that music is ‘AABA’.” • Each letter refers to a different musical section. • Historically, each section is separated by some kind of cadence (stopping point). • Describing the form of a pop song, the verse would get a different letter than the chorus. Example: California Gurls by Katy Perry / Snoop Dogg The form of this song is roughly “ABABCB”.

13. Binary Form • Some forms are so common historically, they’ve been nicknamed • Binary form is “a musical structure consisting of two repeated halves (AABB)” (p. 515)

14. Binary Form Example (notice there’s repetition even within the sections)

15. George Frederic Handel 1685-1759 German/British composer

16. Suites • A suite is one type of multiple-movement piece. • “A series of individual dance movements, typically in a variety of types such as minuets, gavottes, and gigues, and a variety of characters such as fast vs. slow, lively vs. stately, duple vs. triple.” (p. 518)

17. Binary Form The Hornpipe movement from Handel’s “Water Music” Suite No. 1 in F Major, HWV 348 • In “binary form” • Pattern happens 3 times: (AABB, AABB, AABB) • Each repeat utilizes different instruments

18. Antonio Vivaldi (again) 1678-1741 Italian composer

19. Concertos and the Ritornello Principle Concerto - “An instrumental genre for a soloist (or sometimes more than one soloist) and a larger ensemble” (p. 515) Ritornello – “Italian for ‘little return’; name for the statement and return of the full ensemble, in a work alternating between the orchestra and soloist(s)” (p. 518) Ritornello principle – “The formal design of alternating ritornello and solo sections” (p. 518)

20. Example of the Ritornello Principle in concertos: the first movement of Winter from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons Recording featuring violinist Daniel Phillips.

21. Johann Sebastian Bach (again) 1685-1750 German composer/organist

22. Concerto Grosso concerto grosso – “Italian for ‘big concerto’; a concerto with multiple soloists.” Example: the first movement of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 (concerto for harpsichord, violin and flute) Recording by the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra

23. Final Reminders / Homework • No class next Tuesday (Monday schedule) • Reading for next Thursday: pp. 146-165 • Questions? Email: benjamintibbetts@yahoo.com