Monday, March 31, 2014

Listening Journal: Passacaglia




Elements:
-Double simple meter
-Moderato to Allegro tempo
-Noticeable dynamic Change throughout the piece
-Played on a modern piano
-Syncopation is apparaent in most of the song
Structure:
-Piece is based heavily on chordal motif
-This motif is repeated in many different ways throughout the song
-The first time is played without any extra notes to establish the motif
-The volume of the piece will gradually crescendo over time, then suddenly drop in volume
Context:
-This was composed by Handel, a German composer
-It would have been composed somewhere from 1600-1750
-This piece is early-baroque
-It would have been played in more formal environments

Saturday, March 22, 2014

L'Orfeo Listening Journal




Elements:
-Harpsichord, along with several other string intruments
-What seems to be a full choir
-Messenger is played by soprano male
-Orfeo is played by low tenor male
-Euricide is played by soprano female
-Is both monophnic and homophonic
-Little Vibrato in the voices
-Fixed meter in choir and insturmental parts, not so in solo parts

Structure:
-Cycles between the Choir,  Messengar, Euricide, and Orfeo, instruments (which accompany the choir as well), and other important characters
-Choir changes to monophnic in dramatic kissing scene
-Only a couple of string instruments play the last, tragic scene
-Group choir scenes are accompanied with wild dancing

Context:
-Early Baroque Era Oera
-Written by Claudio Monteverdi
-In italian, based off of Greek myth of Orpehus
-A couple of hours in total (this is an excerpt of the opera).

Friday, March 7, 2014

Music Journal: Gabrieli


Musical Elements:

-Free Meter
-Four Voices, 2 male, and 2 female
-Also a singing choir
-Mostly Polyphonic, with some Homophonic
-Organ is being played in Background
-Voices are in constant motion
-Very little vibrato
-Several  authentic cadences trick us into thinking that it has resolved
Structure:
-Not very chromatic, mostly chordal

Structure:

-Sacred
-Starts off sounding very oordinary for the time, then changes to a verse of Hallejula at the end, with most voices singing in Unison
-From about halfway through the song, th choir joins the four voices.
-No verses are repeated, it is a chronological progression

Context:
-Giovanni Gabrieli was Italian
-This is a sacred piece, meant to be sung in a church
-Composed between 1544 and 1612
-Composed at a time when Secular was becoming more and more common and Sacred less and less