Opera Workshop

School of Music Presents: 

The Opera Workshop

The Opera Workshop was held at the Hockett Family Recital Hall in the School of Music, November 20th. The workshop was about an hour and a half long and contained 16 arias, a long accompanied song for a solo voice, taken from operas such as Don Giovanni, Cosi fan tutte, and Faust. At the beginning of the workshop the director, Brian DeMaris, explained to the audience about how students will be portraying these operas. He explained that body language, scenery and costumes was important to understanding the opera because those aspects help with telling the story. Two performers demonstrated what it looked like to use aggressive body language while still being able to beautifully sing the piece. DeMaris also touched on the point that opera singers sometimes use gibberish to get the point across rather than focusing on the words that are being sung. 

The first aria was a piece from Romeo et Juliette, sung by a soprano, Kelly Timko. Accompanied by the pianist, Timko actively used body language to portray the romance between her and Romeo. She sang beautifully. Even though I had no idea what she was singing I knew what it was about from her gestures she made towards Romeo. The second piece was from the opera Don Giovanni, which is a piece I am familiar with because we studied it in class. The singer, Eliodoro Castillo was humorous and seductive. He effectively played the role of Don Giovanni and he represented him well by using licentious gestures. "Ding! Ding! Ding!" performed by Michael Palmer was an aria that stuck with me. The song was fast and aggressive. Palmer had clock numbers drawn on his face that made the piece more interesting to listen to because he was playing a grandfather clock. 

I thought operas were mostly about romances but after watching and listening to the workshop I noticed that there are a variety of different operas. The operas that were performed were all from different time periods that we have studied in class. There were countless arias from the classical time period by Mozart. There was an aria by Maurice Ravel, who is comparable to Claude Debussy, that contributed to impressionist music. There was also an aria from the romantic period by Giacomo Puccini. 

Opera singers are incredible and I don't understand how they can sing that high and that loud with their voice. The piano pieces from Mozart stood out to me because they were fast and his style was recognizable because we studied him in class. I love that the pianist accompanies the opera singer but isn't overlooked. 

Personally I thought I wouldn't be a huge fan of these performances but surprisingly I enjoyed them. The humor that most of the performances contained kept it entertaining. I loved that each aria was set up as a different scene, rather than having the singer stand on stage and sing to the audience. They did a wonderful job with telling the stories of the operas. I probably won't go to an opera in the future because it frustrates me that I can't tell what they are singing but I liked this workshop because it wasn't only focused on one opera. I didn't get bored because each aria was different and told a different story. I like that there was a variety of music and arias performed. I highly recommend this workshop to people who can't just sit through one opera.

Popular Music

Arctic Monkeys

Mardy Bum

Modernism: Impressionistic Dream

Modernism: Impressionistic Dreams

            The age of modernism began in the 20^th century and was a huge movement of cultural and artistic ideas. A contrast to the Romantic period, 20^th century ideas were pessimistic instead of optimistic and fluctuating instead of stable. This period gave rise to artistic movements including cubism, surrealism, expressionism, and impressionism. Impressionism was an important movement of art in the 20^th century as it provided a significant contribution of chaotic and fragmented ideas that were then infused into the music of the time. Musicians of the 20^th century began to use a variety of specific scales, including the pentatonic scale and the whole tone scale. Musicians aimed to upend conventional music ideas such as symmetry and the use of tonic, or do. In The Rite of Spring, Igor Stravinsky represents these 20^th century modernism ideals through his use of fragmented phrase structures and the whole tone scale, which incorporates the disjunction of melodies and rhythm. 

            Stravinsky embodies modernistic ideals through the use of fragmented phrases structures in his pieces to depict a single story. The minute long excerpt of The Rite of Spring consists of four different ideas; this can be described as block form. The first idea, prominently played by the bassoon, lies within the time of 2:00-2:20. The clarinet and bassoon then present a new idea between 2:21-2:33 ending with a different idea combining the first idea with the second. In the 20^th century, phrases were longer because, unlike the music of the Romantic period, it wasn’t traditional. Generally, phrase structures had been smoothed, balanced and predictable. Modernistic music presented no sense of “home” or tonic and was unpredictable. These ideals mimicked the culture of the 20^th century, which had no center or values. The chaotic and fragmented phrase structures related to the period’s depressed and disorganized society, which was caused in part by the Russian Revolution, WWI and The Great Depression. Stravinsky also uses a fragmented and unrecognizable phrase structure that incorporates the whole tone scale to portray a dreamy state of consciousness, or a single story.

            The whole tone scale is a unique scale initially used in the age of modernism to portray a dreamy sensation to the listener, using complex rhythms and unpredictable melodies. During the 20^th century, musicians usually alternated between different meters in a piece while using a more complex rhythm. Melodies before modern music were usually predictable and balanced, but these were soon replaced by irregular rhythms and erratic leaps of notes. The whole tone scale divides the octave into six whole steps that can only be played two ways. This is unlike the pentatonic scale, which allows one to play it up and down multiple ways. Stravinsky’s disjunction of melody, rhythm and the use of the whole tone scale are exceptionally noted by the bassoon and clarinet that play up and down the scale at different times, creating a dreamy sound texture. The disjunction of melody and rhythm that was expressed in 20^th century music can also be seen in the art movement of impressionism. The artwork from this movement is without details and left to the imagination of the viewer, much like the sound color and texture were to the listener. The visionary sounds of the melodies and rhythms in The Rite of Spring clearly portray 20^th century ideals, as they represent vague, and imaginative ideas created by one’s own stream of consciousness.

            The modernist movement impacted many musicians, such as Claude Debussy, Arnold Schoenberg and Igor Stravinsky. Stravinsky uniquely uses modernistic ideals in his piece The Rite of Spring, when he emphasizes block form and unpredicted melodies and rhythms to create a dreamy sensation to the listener. The structure of this piece is individual and abstract, a style that is also seen in the artwork of the time, including the painting of Rouen Cathedral by Monet and The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dalí. Music had broken all the old rules in the age of modernism, upending traditional, classical styles of music. Modernistic music was drastically different than the periods preceding it, and the ideals have influenced music that young adults listen to today, including techno and dubstep.

Outline

Thesis: In the Rite of Spring, Stravinsky represents 20^th century modernism ideals through the use of fragmented phrase structures and the whole tone scale that incorporates the disjunction of melodies and rhythm.

Intro

Topic Sentence: The age of Modernism began in the 20^th century and was a huge movement of cultural and artistic ideas.

Main Ideas

·    Art movement: cubism, surrealism, abstract & expressionism

·    Comparing to music of the time: stream of consciousness, single story, fragmented, juxtaposition

·    Whole tone scale: dreams

Transition: Thesis

Paragraph 2

Topic Sentence: Stravinsky portrays modernism ideals through the use of fragmented phrases structures in his pieces.

Main Ideas:

·    2:00-3:04

      ·    Unrecognizable phrase structures: portrays a stream of consciousness, or a single story

      ·    Presents new stories: 2:00-2:20 (A), 2:21-2:33 (B), 2:34-2:53 (A&B combined), 2:54-3:03 (goes      back to the beginning of the piece ending in a new idea/story) block form

      ·    In the 20^th century phrases were longer: not traditional

      ·    No clear sense of tonic “home”: culture having no values or center

      ·    Chaos: all of the revolutions happening at the time (Russian, Scientific, WWI)

Transition: The fragmented phrase structures used by Stravinsky incorporated whole tone scales that helped create the state of consciousness.

Paragraph 3

Topic Sentence: The whole tone scale is a unique scale used in the age of modernism to portray a dreamy sensation to the listener.

Main Ideas

·      The bassoon in the excerpt using whole tone scale (up and down): dreamy sound

·      Rhythm in 20^th century: musicians usually changed meter within pieces, more complex

·      Melody: wide leaps of notes, irregular rhythm

·      Impressionism and abstract art: dreamy, different, no absolute truth, it portrays something different     to each viewer (disjunction of melodies and rhythms)

Transition: The visionary sounds of the melodies and rhythms in The Rite of Spring clearly portray 20^th century ideals by representing vague, and imaginative ideas created by one’s stream of consciousness.

Conclusion

Topic Sentence: Stravinsky uniquely used modernistic ideals in The Rite of Spring through the use of block form and the dreamy sensation represented by his unpredicted melodies and rhythms.

Caspar David Friedrich

Wanderer Above the Sea of Mist

By Caspar David Friedrich

The Romanticism period started in the early nineteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century. In this period there was a growth in nationalism, a rise of the individual, and an emphasis on a powerful and uncontrollable presence that is nature. 

Artists were the true philosophers of the time and unlike the Enlightenment period, their works were separated from society. Art of the romantic period was very different from the Enlightenment period because artists were considered as the "dreamer". Art was also more organic and less symmetric. The lighting is different in romantic pieces because it is brought to the background instead of the foreground. Mystical skies and powerful nature scenes were starting to be the focus of artist's work. 

This piece by Friedrich represents the romantic era in many different ways. The lighting of this painting focuses on the background which pulls attention to the sky and nature of the valley the individual is looking at. This painting also depicts the concept of the individual as a dreamer because the place where this individual is painted, is a mystery. You don't know what lies beyond this valley and you can't tell if he is standing in the clouds or looking at a patch of fog. This piece is very asymmetric which represents the concept of breaking away from Enlightenment ideals. The only attention pulled to the foreground is the shadow of the individual. 

I think that romantic artwork is mysterious and beautiful. Artist's depict nature as if you were in the picture itself. I think that's why this period focused on the emotions of an individual and these dramatic emotions are shown in the artwork of this time.

Joseph Haydn

Recognizing Phrases Through Haydn's Symphony

When we first started learning about Haydn in class, I had no idea who he was and that he composed classical music. Some would say Mozart is more known than Haydn but in fact Haydn had composed many more pieces of music than Mozart. Haydn had composed over 100 symphonies! Mozart had only composed around 40 symphonies. 

I used Haydn's Symphony No 91 in E-flat major to point out a phrase structure. You don't have to listen to the entire 25 minutes because I only used the first 17 seconds!

This is what I found listening to this piece over and over again:

The phrase diagram is labeled as a contrasting sectional period because both ideas start off differently making them contrasting ideas. The antecedent (opening phrase) ends on an interrupted authentic cadence (mi). This makes the period sectional because the harmony is resolved but the melody is not. The consequent (second phrase) ends on a perfect authentic cadence, or the tonic chord: do. This makes the two phrases a period because the antecedent ends on an "IAC" and the consequent ends on a "PAC".

The antecedent starts off strong and each three notes that are being played go up in scale, raising in pitch. The texture is smooth and you can clearly hear a flute, oboe, violin and cello. I'd like to describe the consequent the opposite of the antecedent because it starts high in scale and goes down in scale with each note being played, ending on the tonic chord. 

This phrase diagram can clearly represent the Enlightenment period we've been studying in class. It represents conversions thinkers would have in the salons. It brings together two different ideas that thinkers would argue over. At the end though the problem gets resolved and they come to a the best conclusion together. Two ideas are always better than one and that is what this phrase diagram represents. 

Ithacappella

Ithacappella Block I Concert

When I think of acapella I think of the movie "Pitch Perfect". I think of the extreme acapella battles that the different groups have. When I went to go watch the Ithacappella's Block I concert I had expected it to be something to what I've seen in that movie. Although there was no "cup song" or puking on stage from nervousness, it was such an awesome event to watch. I have never been to an acapella concert before so I didn't know what to expect. 

I anxiously sat in the dark, crowded, Emerson Suites this past Friday night and when the singers emerged from the side doors, the audience went wild. They started off by singing the Ithaca College anthem and it was done so beautifully, way better than Convocation. You could hear all of the different melodies and harmonies because of how in sync everyone's voices were. After the opening the group made their way to the stage and the stage lights emerged from the background. The group came in with Sing by Ed Sheeran and proceeded with the songs, Working for the Weekend, Mr. Brightside, September, Bang Bang, Sitting on the Dock of the Bay. 

During intermission I had entered a raffle and I so badly wanted to be serenaded by Ithacappella but sadly my darn raffle tickets weren't chosen. Anyways, besides that tragic news, I could clearly hear the different textures of the songs because I could recognize the different sounds being made from each singer (since they are making every sound of the song from their mouths and no instruments). I could hear the beat from the beat boxers, the bass from the bass singer and so on. 

I gained appreciation for the acapella singers when I listened to them sing. I couldn't imagine picking out each sound of a song and trying to re-create the sound with your voice. That's hard work! The coolest thing about listening to acapella singers is that even though the voices blend well together to create the song, you can still clearly pick out the different textures. The music that was sung at the concert wasn't exactly related to what we've been learning in class but I would consider the song Sitting on the Dock of the Bay a folk song. The lyrics of the song are memorable and the music doesn't contain leaps which makes it easy to sing.  

There wasn't a song that stood out to me because every song was performed so well! I did love the freshman introductions though. I love that they didn't just sing the songs, they performed them as actors too which made the show interesting to watch and not just something to hear. This was such a great event and I'm so happy I got to see it. I most definitely will be going to the other events they put on to see how they improve as a group. By the end of the year they are going to be "on point" and I can't wait to hear that progression!

If you want to hear Ithacappella perform, check out their YouTube! 

youtube.com/ithacappella

The Age of Enlightenment

The Age of Enlightenment

As we started the unit, the Age of Enlightenment or The Age of Reason, I honestly wasn't sure what we were going to learn about. I didn't learn much about this era in high school so I was excited to learn about it's history. In our recent class our professor put up some pictures on the projector and asked us how they related to the Age of Enlightenment. At first when I was looking at the pictures I had no idea how they related to the Age of Enlightenment and I wasn't sure why we were being asked to do this, then I realized that these extremely detailed paintings and landscapes have so much to do with this era.

The picture below looks like one of the pictures showed in class:

In class we were asked to describe how this picture represents the Enlightenment era. After we started listing off commonalities, this is what we came up with:

• symmetry: music of this era was known to have balanced symmetry in its melodic phrases
• simple: music of this era is classified as simple classic music because of the harmonies
• overhead view
• swirls: spiraling of education, technology, music and science

We were going through pictures and paintings like these and it really made me think about this era and how art from this age represented the time beautifully and clearly. I believe that this age is so important because it was a time of change and a time of education. There were so many changes that had shaped life after this time and changed lifestyles afterwards. My favorite part of this era is the beautiful and simple music that came out of it. The Age of Enlightenment was the beginning of classical music. This time produced so many performers, writers, and composers who were among the greatest artists of all time. (I think that is so cool!!)

Some of us might hate classical music but I have a lot of respect for it. There is a lot of time and work that is put into composing and playing it. When I first applied to Ithaca, I applied to the music school. I had to do pre-screening auditions and I realized after those auditions I was supposed to have pieces ready in classical style. Let's just say I'm not classically trained on the guitar. I thought that maybe if I had learned the style for about a year I could re-audition to try and get in but once I started learning it, it was probably the hardest style I've ever had to play. So, for that reason I have a lot of respect of the genre. 

Can't wait to learn more about this topic!

Folk Music

Folk music isn’t as old as you think!

As our class was getting to the end of our Folk Music unit, we considered many different definitions of  “folk”. To help us determine the definition we read, An Introduction to Folk Music in the United States by Bruno Nettl. He discussed many opinions about the definition of “folk music”. Some of these opinions/arguments include:

Folk music vs. Cultivated music

Folk music vs. Primitive music

Simple vs. Complex

All of these opinions posed questions about where folk music really originated. The answer is unknown but what we do know is that folk music is always changing. This fact is inevitable because folk music is transferred orally. Each artist who sings a folk song will change the style of the song to fit him/herself. This brings me to my definition of folk music:

~Folk music is orally transferred from generation to generation. It is the foundation of all genres of music and can be created and performed by anyone and everyone.

I think Nettl successfully informs the reader about folk music but the tone of his writing implies he is writing to scholars. He uses the words “primitive” and “cultivated” which suggests folk music is old and not sophisticated. Folk music is the opposite of old, folk music changes everyday. Some of the reasons why folk music changes are failure of memory and the desire to make changes. This creates different versions of songs.

Nettl describes folk music as “simple” because it doesn’t have the depth that classical music contains.  Folk music also has a repeating form that makes it easy for people to learn and sing along but it doesn’t mean the music is simple to play. From my own personal experience, as a guitar player, folk music has different, complex characteristics to it that sometimes makes it a little difficult to learn.

Nettl talks about how folk music is created for activities but I disagree. Folk music tells a story and listeners enjoy the energetic feel to the music that can be played at any moment, not just for an activity.  Every lyric to every song tells a story for any genre of music. I believe that folk music is the foundation to all genres of music because of the story telling tradition and how any song can be orally transferred to other people. An example of that would be singers on YouTube.

I think if Nettl were writing to folk musicians he would need to change up some of his words so that it would make sense and apply to the folk. He explains things from a scientific point of view and not a musician’s point of view, which changes the context of his writing. I agree with Nettl’s topics and points of view about folk music because what he describes contains all the descriptions that our class has discussed about folk music: it's orally passed from person to person, created by the people for the people, it tells a story and it changes throughout the years.

I believe that folk music isn’t old and it isn’t just for the “folk”; it’s for everyone’s ears. It’s enjoyable to listen to and fun to dance to which makes it easy to be passed from generation to generation. This unit has made me realize that folk isn’t a genre, it’s a style, and you see this style in all genres of music. 

PORCHFEST!

PORCHFEST AT ITHACA

September 14th, 2014

Folk band I noticed playing in strophic form.

On this perfect, sunny, fall day I ventured down to Ithaca Commons. From the Commons I walked down the streets near the bus stop. As soon as I started walking towards the neighborhoods on West Buffalo Street and the surrounding streets, music entered my open ears. When I heard the music I walked towards it and that started the journey of my Porchfest experience.

Porchfest wasn't anything I've ever musically experienced before. The idea of local artists performing on their porches would be a crazy idea in Portsmouth, NH but it made me realize how much of an artistic town Ithaca is. Not only did I feel the sense of community on the streets, I saw it too. There were children that had lemonade stands and cookie stands and I even saw a couple of yard/garage sales. It felt like I was back home in my own community. I know I am now technically a resident of Ithaca, NY for the next 4 years but it's not my home and it was very cool to see the locals of Ithaca supporting their community in their town. 

As I walked down the streets of Ithaca I ran into porch after porch of varying musical styles. To me, the concept of this is so interesting; how each porch I went to, whether it being a few houses down or blocks away, the style of music was different. There was a vast variety I got to listen to and watch. I noticed that some porches did covers of songs, some were instrumental and others did their own music. I listened to Led Zeppelin, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", altered/funky instrumental music (I'm not exactly sure how to describe it), blues and folk. 

I walked over to a porch playing folk music. I could recognize guitarists, a banjo and an upright bass. I started to pay attention to the style they were playing and I could tell that they were playing in strophic form (AAA). They music repeated itself but the lyrics were telling a story about a guy loving a women who had just gotten married. Although it's tough doing it live, it was awesome to relate what I was learning in class to what I heard at Porchfest. 

There wasn't just older bands, there were younger bands and soloists too. The first band I ran into was a young group of boys playing Led Zeppelin. They were singing covers of rock songs and weren't afraid to put themselves out there. I ran into an older band playing the blues and I could distinctively point out that it was the blues because they were play a 12 bar form of it and I had learned that on the guitar a couple years ago. 

I don't think that hearing the cadences and the forms of the music made me have a deeper appreciation for it but it definitely made me open up my ears more to what I was listening too. I loved my experience at Porchfest and it's definitely something that I will attend in my future years at Ithaca College.

School of Music Convocation

New & Improved Ford Hall

The School of Music Convocation

This past Tuesday night (9/9) I attended the School of Music's Convocation. Not only was this a beautiful welcome to all music school students, it was also the welcome of the newly renovated Ford Hall. Although I hadn't seen the music hall before this performance, I was blown away with how full and wonderful the music sounded during the concert. The new renovation made this music hall unlike any other. On the walls of this amazing space there are millions of grooved panels. The special thing about these panels is that each one is different and each one emits a different frequency so that you hear the same thing anywhere you sit in the space. It was a such a pleasure to be in the audience for this wonderful performance. 

The dean of the music school came on before and after each of the four performances. He was excited to reveal the new space. The first performance was the brass band of five instruments. They did a fanfare from ballet La Péri. This piece had different textures to it because of the different brass instruments: trumpet, trombone, tuba, french horn and I believe another trumpet. To me the piece sounded a little like Star Wars music. 

After the horn performance a pianist and two, very talented, soprano singers came on stage. I was astounded to hear what they could do with their voices. It was so raw and exquisite. They sang "What Can We Poor Females Do" and "Sound of the Trumpet". These two songs were like nothing I've heard in class because we have yet to study voice and the styles singers have to their voices. 

After that stunning performance, the brass band came back on and performed "Contrapuntist IV" by Yohan Bach. During this piece, each instrument took it's turn playing the melody. I could distinctively recognize each instrument as their turn came around. This piece was full of texture and at first I thought they were performing a "round" but I realized each instrument took turns and then at the end they all played together. This song reminded me of the listening guide that my class listened to in our Understanding Music textbook from Mozart. It had the same style of classical music even though the textures were different. In class we are learning about phrases and because at first I thought this was a round, I could distinctively hear the musical phrases beginning and ending. Although I can't remember what cadence the phrases ended on I could pick out the open and closed cadences. I could also hear the cadence structure of the song.

The last performance of the night was the performance that really blew me away. This piece was composed by Sally McCune: who is a faculty member who teaches composition. The piece is called "River" and it swayed through me. The piece included a piano, violin and a cello. If I had to describe this movement in three words I would say: beautiful, intense, and riveting. There were moments of chaos in this piece where both violin and cello would be playing at fast paces. I found myself in the back row of the concert hall, with my eyes closed, swaying to the beautiful sound. In fact, it was so beautiful and captivating it almost brought me to tears. I could feel the spiral down of chaos and resolution at the end of the piece when the music faded out into nothing. This movement had such an impact on me, I had to wait at least a minute or two to get a hold of myself at the end. I could feel every sound inside of me and it's something that is unforgettable. 

I enjoyed this concert and it was awesome to witness such amazing performances in such an amazing space. I definitely plan on attending other concerts put on by the music school, they are professional and the sound is something I've never experienced before. If it was possible, I would want to be in that space every day making music. The music school means a lot to me because it's why I came to Ithaca College. I had originally auditioned to be a part the school but unfortunately was rejected from the program. I am so thankful to be in this seminar class because it means I can walk through the halls of something I was almost a part of. I still consider myself a music student at IC even though I'm not a music major. So being at these concerts impacts me in a way that is unexplainable. 

It just feels right.

"What Can We Poor Females Do"

                                       The end of "River"

Cadences

Cadence Structure

Row Row Row Your Boat

Nursery Rhyme

When I was trying to find a tune to identify the cadence it was a little difficult at first. I then started to look at some nursery rhymes that had two phrases with different cadence endings. I had gone through about 4 or 5 nursery rhymes and then found this cute, kids version of "Row Row Row Your Boat". I started to sing along with the song and re-played it a couple times singing do re mi fa sol la ti do along with the tune. When I had identified the two phrases I noticed that the first phrase ended on sol or scale degree 5, meaning it was an imperfect authentic cadence (IAC). The second phrase ended on do making it a perfect authentic cadence (PAC). I drew out this phrase digram to help me:

Textures and Time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mFYzKSx4Ps

"Thank God for the Summertime" By Ben Rector

I love this song it has different textures that make it a great song to listen to.

It starts with a simple drum and tambourine beat, then moves into the melody (piano) with strikes of an electric guitar.
It then goes into just the drums, the soft piano and the solo singer.
The tambourine comes back in for the chorus with a louder (mezzo) piano and guitar. The singer's voice sounds like it has more passion and he now has background singers.
This repeats twice (verse, chorus, verse 2, chorus) into the bridge where the piano plays with more passion and louder (forte). The guitar also has a little more freedom in the bridge where you can hear it more.
For the last chorus you hear the guitar more, it makes you want to tap your feet because you can feel the rhythm coming from it.
The song ends with the solo rhythm electric guitar.

This song has a time signature of 4/4 and a duple meter. 

The different textures of the song makes it have a jazzy feel to it. You can feel the beat and feel the passion from the artist's voice and the band's sound. The lyrics are laid back: 
Thank God for the summertime
No cares and I'm doing fine, no cares and I'm doin fine
Thank God for the summertime.
and the beat goes along with it because it has a jazzy "groove" to it. Jazz music has a laid back feel to it and that's why these textures and the time meter fits so well with the singers voice and lyrics.