Copland: Billy the Kid

Author

Aaron Copland (1900-1990: American)

• born in Los Angeles, attended Pomona College
• studied in Paris
• realized that a new public for contemporary music was being created by the radio, phonograph, and film scores
• attempted to simplify music so that it would communicate to the larger public
• used many "old west" songs as inspiration for some of his works
• Wikipedia Article
  

About the Piece

(much of the description comes from elements that were brought out by Forney and Machlis, The Enjoyment of Music, and the accompanying DVD)

• Genre is orchestral suite (originally for ballet)
• uses tunes from numerous cultural songs: Git Along, Little Dogies is the strongest of these themes
• also includes tunes from Great Grand-Dad, The Old Chisholm Trail, The Streets of Laredo, and Goodbye, Old Paint
• several meter shifts, including a dance meter
• extensive use of percussion
• upbeat, very "old west" sounding

Purpose

• entertainment
• American nationalism
  

Reflections

I am not so interested in this piece. It's too "new" to be exciting and old, but not different enough to grab my attention. It probably doesn't help that the romantic ideal of the old west never really apealed to me. It may also just be the context; after the fantastic experimentation of Rite of Spring, Tromba Lontana, and Sonata No. 5, I just didn't enjoy the return to the usual quite as much.

Cage: Sonata V

Author

John Cage (1912-1992: American)

• born in Los Angeles, attended Pomona College
• invented what he called the "prepared piano"
• much of his music reflects his preoccupation with East Asian philosophy
  
• composed many works involving chance and indeterminacy
  
• Wikipedia Article
  

About the Piece

(much of the description comes from elements that were brought out by Forney and Machlis, The Enjoyment of Music, and the accompanying DVD)

• Genre is non-Western music
• Prepared piano is used to emulate non-Western sounds
• irregular length phrases
• score looks relatively normal, but piece doesn't even sound like a piano (it's amazing what a few screws and rubber bands can do)
• meter is unclear and rhythm is constantly changing
• binary form
• distinctly different timbre (actually, quite a few different timbres, all coming from the same instrument)
  
• YouTube Video
  

Purpose

• experimentation
• entertainment
• expression of Eastern ideas and music in Western instruments
  

Reflections

I love this piece! Of all the pieces in this course so far, this is probably my favorite. Wow! It's fascinating to me how all of those different timbres can come from a piano just by putting screws and rubber bands in the back of it. The preparing of the piano is something I think would be fun to experiment with. It's too bad that it's not good for the piano. Whatever people may say about Cage's 4'33", they cannot deny that this is art and creativity in its finest.

Adams: Tromba Lontana

Author

John Adams (b. 1947: American)

• minimalist
  
• educated at Harvard University
• went to teach at San Francisco Conservatory in 1972
• composes operas, symphonic works, film scores, chamber music, piano solo pieces, and other forms of music as well
  
• won a Pulitzer Prize for On the Transmigration of Souls (2002) about 9/11 terrorist attacks
• Wikipedia Article
  

About the Piece

(much of the description comes from elements that were brought out by Forney and Machlis, The Enjoyment of Music, and the accompanying DVD)

• Genre is orchestral? (genre for this piece is not easily defined)
• title means "Distant Trumpet"
• commissioned by the Houston Symphony Orchestra
• piece consists mostly of call and response between two trumpets
• strings are there in the background, but barely audible
• triangle? or some other percussion instrument is the only other thing clearly heard (the book says it is a glockenspiel)
  
• piece is not pure call and response between the trumpets, since the two trumpets participate in some more complex counterpoint as well
  

Purpose

• entertainment
• piece was commissioned, so we can't say too much about the author's purpose or non-monetary reasons for writing it
  

Reflections

I don't know what I think about this work. The first time I heard it, I though it was dumb. Two trumpets, and not really doing that much exciting either. But it has grown on me. The more times I hear it, the more I realize how beautiful it is. The fact that the entire rest of the orchestra is there, and playing, but your concious mind never really percieves that fact is at the very least interesting. I actually also like the "minimalist counterpoint"(?!?) expressed in this piece. All told, I think this is a well written piece of music.

Debussy: Prelude to the Afternoon

Author

Claude Debusse (1862-1918: French)

• impressionist
  
• parents kept a china shop
• entered the Paris Conservatory at age eleven.
• established a reputation as one of the wittiest critics of his time.
• died during the bombardment of Paris in March 1918
• Wikipedia Article
  

About the Piece

(much of the description comes from elements that were brought out by Forney and Machlis, The Enjoyment of Music, and the accompanying DVD)

• Genre is symphonic poem
• "lyrical, sinuous melodies that repeat"
• ternary form, (very loosely)
• lots of fast moving sixteenth notes throughout, but they don't intensify the piece, but rather contribute to silkiness
• work has a very smooth feel to it
• characteristic instruments include strings, flute, oboe, harps, clarinets, and English and French horns
• free flowing; gives a sense of floating
• several melodic themes repeated throughout
  

Purpose

• entertainment
• inspired by a poem

Reflections

I like this piece too, but not this late in the quad, when I haven't had enough sleep and I am tired. It's a beautiful, dream-like piece, but listening to it without falling asleep can be difficult. I like all of the movement on the oboe and flute parts; movement is one of my favorite things to hear in orchestral pieces. The gliding sixteenth notes in this piece are fantastic. Not my favorite piece so far, but certainly worth hearing again.

Stravinsky: Rite of Spring

Author

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971: Russian)

• father was the leading bass singer at the (Russian) Imperial Opera
• parents wanted him to study law, pursued musical studies on the side at University of St. Petersburg
• received his first major commission in 1910
• became an American citizen in 1945
• considered the most celebrated figure in twentieth century music
• Wikipedia Article
  

About the Piece

(much of the description comes from elements that were brought out by Forney and Machlis, The Enjoyment of Music, and the accompanying DVD)

• Genre is ballet, though it is often performed as a concert piece for orchestra
  
• harsh, percussive chords set rhythm that doesn't quite fit into any clear time signature (since accents are in weird places)
• melody smooths out a very little bit before tensing up again
• strange time signatures throughout, including 9/8 and 7/8
• uses strings for percussive effect, brass and woodwinds to eek out a melody of sorts
• this particular selection gains speed throughout
• more irregular accents and trills end the movement
  

Purpose

• entertainment
• perhaps he wanted to make a statement?
• perhaps he felt this was the next step in progression?
• perhaps he wanted to honor old Russian traditions?
• no one really knows what exactly Stravinsky was thinking
  

Reflections

I actually really like what Stravinsky is doing here. The huge, awkward sounding chords and strange folk melodies with weird time signatures keeps me on the edge of my seat wondering what will come next. The strange time signatures (9/8?!?) also contribute to the sound of foreignness of the piece. Overall quite enjoyable.