Discovery Aq045 Unit 1 Analysis

Discovery A

1.) Ros, Irupe Tarrago

2.) AQ045 - ARGENTINA Irupe Tarrago Ros: Jazmin - Pequena cancion (after R. Schumann)

3.) The unaccompanied solo piece resembles that as described under unacompanied solo by Eckhardt-Gramatte in unit II of chapter 2. In Die Kranke und die Uhr or "The sick girl and the clock", we can visualize what the girl is going through as the song paints a picture, just as Pequena cancion. To me the song sounds very homophonic as one part supports the other. Since the piece is less than 40 seconds long there is not much time for development of the sound but it seems to follow a strophic form and would begin to slowly repeat itself.

4.) This piece was found using a random draw click and browsing through the composer's

catalog. In hearing the instrumental piece for the first time it didn't seem to have much substance but upon listening a second and third time to the piece, it began to paint a vivid picture in my mind of a spring day wedding. The foreground piano part expressing the joy of the occasion while the supporting background part offered a warm tone to it.

Discovery B

1.) Ludwig van Beethoven

2.) 5099970441352 - BEETHOVEN, L. van: String Quartets (Complete) (Alban Berg Quartet) - String Quartet No. 1 in F Major, Op. 18, No. 1

3.) Joseph Haydn was the father of the string quartet and in researching more into his style and his background I found he was the the teacher of one of the most well known composers of all time, Beethoven. Seeing this I wanted to know how much of Haydn's style carried over to Beethoven. In comparing one of Beethoven's pieces to the example of Haydn's string quartet provided, I found them to be extremely similar. The piece followed slightly more with romantic string quartet than the classical falling in the second generation of string quartets along with Franz Schubert. This came later in Beethovens composing times at around 1815, falling right around the rise of the romantic string quartet.

4.) In hearing the pieces first compared to Haydn's Quartet #54 I thought they were nearly identical. The pieces were in a slightly different order but they all had very similar characteristics. Comparing to Schubert on the other hand, many of the pieces matched up identically and with every comparison they seemed to grow more and more familiar. The discovery of how closely related Beethoven was to his predecessor, Joseph Haydn, and two his fellow composers of the time is the reason I chose this piece.

Discovery C

1.) Cipriano de Rore

2.)825646148370 - RORE, C. de: Choral Music (Sacred Sounds) (Currende Consort) - Track 4: Ave Regina Caelorum a 7

3.) This piece fits into the 16th century madrigals. Rore's ideas were revolutionary as he brought in five voices instead of four as was common to many of the early madrigals of the 16th century. Writing over 100 madrigals, Rore's polyphonic style was revolutionary for his time and widely accepted leading to many late century madrigals following his suite.

4.) In listening to this piece the first time I thought it closely resembled the Don Carlo Gesualdo example. The sound had many of the same tones and with the base singers providing a beautiful ground base texture to the song. After a few listens I did notice that the Rore's sound was more full than Gesualdos and that may be since his piece included the fifth madrigal singer instead of the classical four as Gesualdos had.

Discovery D

1.)Arnold Bax

2.)5099902898957 - Best of British - Track 12: Mediterranean

3.) When learning about orchestral music, symphonic poems were one of my favorite. This piece by Arnold Bax follows right along with Frederick Delius in its soothing sounds making you feel as though you are in a different place. Bax's piece falls perfectly in place for during the early 20th century being produced at the same time as Delius's and many others symphonic poems before the type began to see a decline.

4.) In hearing the piece the first time I knew it was a symphonic poem just as Delius' example was. Listening to it a few more times the dramatic structure was interwound with the nondramatic structure as though it were illustrating a picture in your mind. One thing that I couldn't help but think about was the classic mute cartoon I watched as a kid, Tom and Jerry. The climaxes of the instruments made it seem as though the characters were devising some plan against one another and then they'd implement it. This piece brought back a few nostalgic memories to say the least.

Discovery E

1.) Howard Hanson

2.)8.559703 - HANSON, H.: Symphonies (Complete), Vol. 4 - Symphonies Nos. 4 and 5 / Elegy / Dies natalis I (Seattle Symphony, Schwarz) - Tracks 1-4: Symphony No. 4, Op. 34, "The Requiem"

3.) This piece by Howard Hanson fits right next to our in class example by Johannes Brahms. The symphonies are two begin very much the same. They start off with a slow beginning to the first part and then move on working up to the more energetic third part before slowing back down at the end of the fourth part. Although Hanson did not compose his music until over 75 years after Brahms, the style was phenomenally close to one another. Hanson followed Brahm's conservative course and his structure that stemmed of Mozart's period.

4.) Stumbling across this piece came when I was looking more into symphonic poems and I noticed that Hanson's Symphony no. 4 achieve a Pulitzer Prize in 1944. This was interesting to me and in listening to the piece it sounded very familiar and I thought it may have the same structure as other symphonies I had listened to over the course of the class. In listening to both at the same time and making direct comparison they were incredibly similar as I said before. The first two parts were more slow and the third escalated to become more energetic and then gently sloping at the end of the 4th part. The second time through I listened more carefully and found that the piece was exactly as I had described and the Brahms' example excluding his more intense finish in the fourth part of the symphony.

Discovery F

1.) Carl Nielsen

2.) 8.226610 - NIELSEN, C.: Vocal and Choral Works (Sung in English) (The Unknown Carl Nielsen) (Beck, Reuter, Ars Nova Copenhagen, Bojesen) - Track 7: Paaske-liljen (The Easter Lily), FS 59 (Sung in English)

3.) Looking for more symphonic poems I found Carl Nielsen's Paaske-lilien and instantly loved it.

The piece sounds much like other madrigal music but only used male voices. The piece stems from the nearly 300 years after most madrigals but similar tones and voice types. The piece also seems to take on the theme and variations form in how the sound seems to repeat itself.

4.) In hearing the song for the first time it brought me back to our mens ensembles in high school and all the fin we had. The sound was so nicely blended it really grasped me. The second time through the structure of the music formed as I noticed that it repeated itself.

Discovery G

1.) Conlon Nancarrow

2.) OM1002-2 - NANCARROW, C.: Lost Works, Last Works (Nancarrow) - Track 1: Prelude

(arr.Trimpin)

3.) Looking back into the later units of music I found that Conlon Nancarrow was one of the most unique composers I had ever heard. Many of his pieces I listened to involved his use of the player piano and before researching into his style it sounded as though 4 or 5 people were playing the instrument all at the same time. Much of his work did seem to closely resemble one of his composing teacher, Nicolas Slonimsky, style with the sight twist. It seemed as though Nancarrow took two of Slonimsky's pieces and combined them by laying one on top of another to create a whirlwind of sound. The piece I chose represents this well. It doesn't seem to have specific place in music but I believe it is related to the example by Antonio Soler, again with slightly more complexity. The music fit well for the time period as the player piano an relatively new instrument and he was among the first to experiment with the device and create truly unique music. Much of what was produced has polyphonic feel with many different interwoven parts making it far more complex than any other music we listened to throughout the course.

4.) Listening to the part for the first time it began as a normal piano piece but escalated very quickly and soon it was very clear that no one person could play the piece without a machine. A second listen found that it was very much polyphonic with a combination of a high piano part and a low piano part. At the beginning, the higher part seemed to jump around to single keys more and the bottom part played more cords and about half way through it switched creating a very dramatic structure to the piece. Finding other composers of this same type was very difficult since the player piano was not widely popular but I believe Nancarrow's pieces are some of the most unique we were introduced to during this course, compelling me to find more of his work and this piece.

Discovery H

1.) Lauro Rossi

2.) Naxos Video: ROSSI, L.: Cleopatra (Sferisterio Opera Festival, 2008) - Act 1

3.) Lauro Rossi's Cleopatra is much like the operas we experienced through class. The piece I chose has a close resemblance to one of his teachers', Niccolo Zingarelli, operas. Along with whom his Zingarelli, Rossi's Piece also has a close resemblance to the Claudio Monteverdi example from the text. They begin with an instrumental piece before the opera story begins. They then follow the natural speech patterns, or recitatives, as well as arias and choruses which develop more in act 3 and 4.

4.) In the first viewing Act I of the opera video I found that it was quite close to the same as our examples of an opera.

It wasn't until the second time through that I watched closely to what was going on and attempted to grasp the message that was being conveyed. It begins with a man in a black robe singing to a group who appear to be his peers until a woman and another man appear. They sing to one another and appear to be declaring their love for one another while he watches. They eventually leave and he is left to alone and appears to be heart broken over their appearance. Then the couple make there way back into the act and are accompanied by many others who sing for the couple as a dancer in a red gown entertains them. The couple then drinks together until the man in the gold robe gets a letter that angers him and he rips it up. From them on the couple seems to converse back and forth until the entire group joins them and act I is finished. The piece seems very dramatic and the remaining acts I'm sure would not disappoint. The conductor does a very good job at keeping the opera lively and convey the overall tone of what is happening very

nicely.

Discovery I

1.) Gustav Holst

2.) Naxos Video: HOLST, G.: Winter Idyll (A) (Falletta) (from Naxos 8.572914) - Part 1: A Winter Idyll (First Run Through)

3.) Through a search on woodwind quintets my search came to Gustav Holst, not because of one of his quintets but more of a his orchestra style pieces, A Winter Idyll. The orchestra plays out very much like our other examples from class play out. The songs polyphonic texture matched with its variation theme makes for a great choice by the composer. The piece was much influenced by his teachers, Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss who were deemed crucial in his development as a young composer. Historically the piece was written while Holst was finishing his schooling which fell right around the turn of the 20th century, the same time as modern conceptions of the orchestra began to develop. Although it was a time of new sound and styles, Holst's piece reflects more towards a symphonic poem such as our example from Frederick Delius.

4.) The first time I listened to the piece I thought it to be very much like our other symphonies and orchestral pieces from the same time. The second time through though I found that the piece was very similar to a symphonic poem. It has the same meandering tone with climaxes every so often as to make you feel removed. Some parts of which are very dramatic while others are soft and slow.

Discovery J

1.) Giuseppe Verdi

2.) Naxos Video: VERDI, G.: Vespri Siciliani (I) (Teatro Regio di Parma, 2010) - Part2: Act IV

3.) Giuseppe Verdi's Vespri Siciliani is a opera from the year 1855, around the time of Mussorgsky but Part 2 Act IV seems to me to be closer to Prokofiev's The Field of The Dead. The piece has a very classical opera structure but ties in well with the modern twentieth century pieces as well. Much of Act IV uses the support of the orchestra to really paint vivid picture of the whole scenario and entice the audience.

4.) Viewing the piece for the first time I did not use subtitles and listened to the performance and interpreted what was going on by the actions of the performers and the orchestral music. It seemed as though the main performer who begins the act (wearing an military uniform with three strips on his arms) is worried of something and until the woman shows up. Then they proceed to go back and fourth until they appear to forgive each other and all is well. New a second man shows up and every thing seems to go haywire for a bit until they leave. This is when I got confused and restarted using subtitles for the second time through. As I predicted the military man was worried and it was about his friends in the prison. I found that I was also correct on how the woman and the military man forgave each other and then came the question of why things went haywire. It seems as though the second man who showed up sentenced more than one person to death and the woman and the military man were not happy with this. A few moments later the woman is to be executed the second man steps in and pardons everyone and then everyone starts to sing and rejoice. A very dramatic series of events in one act. Choosing this piece came at random and I feel that it fits well with other opera pieces that I have discovered as well as the examples we were given in class.