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).

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

Ockeghem - "Miserere pie Ihesu / Mort, tu as navré de ton dart"- Analysis

Musical Elements:
-Free Meter
-All Male voices
-Liturgical
-Entirely Homophonic
-Four Voices
-Mostly Syllabic and Nuematic (occasional melisma)
-Voices are constantly moving, but stay in unison (apart from chant)
-Voices are accompanied by what I believe is some kind of early harpsichord, an early cello, and some other kind of chordophone.
-No vibrato

Structure:
-Choir and solo parts, where high voice leads the solo
-also a chant part where all voices sing
-Responsorial, moves back and forth between high voice and rest of the choir
-Ordinary, not proper

Context
-Litrugical/Sacred
-Sung in the latin language
-Would have only been sung in church
-Probably composed between 1450s and 90s

Léonin - Messe du Jour de Noël Analysis

Musical Elements:
-Free Meter
-All Male Voices
-Liturgical
-Organum
-Molstly syllabic in monophonic part, melismatic in homophonic part
-Monophonic part is sometimes nuematic
-Seems like the forward voice in homophonic part changes.

Structure:
-Responsorial
-Changes between monophonic and homophonic in two parts
-Ordinary, not proper
-Simple binary form, chants can start with monophonc or homophonic parts

Context:
-Liturgical/sacred
-From France
-A Christmas mass, only to be sungat that time of the year
-Only would have been sung in a chruch

Music Analysis Part 5: Reflection

Through analyzing this piece, I have found intricate harmonic elements, even without the use of any real chords.  The melody and the use of pedal creates almost an illusion that full chords are being played, even though 2 notes are only ever being played at the same time.  This trend is true for the entire composition, there is not a single chord in the entire piece.

I have also found that John Adams has transformed what would usually be a very dissonant 2nd interval into a mellow, peaceful sound.  To be honest, I am not entirely sure how this works on  a psychological scale, but it is amazing how calm the section is when only two notes are being played again, again, and again.

This piece is probably the most unique piece I have ever seen.  On the surface level, there are a few things that make it stand out. It is a very long piece for solo piano at 1092 measures,  there are very few chords, there are almost no rests in the entire piece, the piece changes key quite frequently, and the two hands are almost always on the same clef, sometimes even playing the same note. All of these make it differ entirely from anything we have listened to in class.   Another aspect of this piece that I have never seen before is that it has no discernible structure.  As I stated in my first blog post, John Adams described it as a "repetitive cell structure:, and that it certainly what I have found.  It s a continuation of changing pattern, where none are repeated.  What I mean by this is that a pattern will start, then the pattern will change in someway and continue, but the first pattern will never be played a again in the entire piece.  This leads to an interesting  feeling.  Listening to the piece is a journey of its own, and  it is unpredictable in the most marvelous of ways.  It may not tell a lot about musical history, but it can definitely tell you about the limits of what music can express.  This kind of music is the cutting edge of what is possible, and I would suggest to anyone that they listen to as much of it as possible.

Music Analysis part 4: Harmonic/Cadence/Partwriting Analysis

Music Analysis part 4: Harmonic/Cadence/Partwriting Analysis

Excerpt from score: 1st page- measures 1-25

Cadences:  There are no noticeable cadences in the first 25 measures

Chordal Analysis:  Although there are no actual chords in this excerpt (or for that matter, at all in the piece), harmonic connections can be made.

For the first seven measures, the only note that is played is E3. 

For the next 9 measures, E3 and F#3 are the only notes played, apart from the occasional E4.  The interesting thing about this section is that even though a second interval played alone sounds naturally dissonant, the melody makes it seem much more mellow.  This could be due to the fact that the interval is hidden by the repetition on the sole notes, (as in E/F# will be played on its own, than the E-F# interval, than E/F# again.)  The occasional E4 adds a little bit of variety to the mix, and further lightens the mood of the piece. 

After these 9 Measures, a B3 is introduced to the mix.  This creates a n interesting relationship between the 5th interval formed by the E3 and B3, and the F#3.  The 5th resolves to the F#3, which forms a 4th with the B that is still resonant from the 5th that was just played (the pedal is being applied). This occurs a couple times in the next two measures as the same pattern from the past 9 measures continues.

Starting at measure 20, the pattern changes, as both hands at a repetitive pattern, with the right hand playing E, F#, B, and the left hand playing E, F#.  This creates a similar harmonic feeling to the measures before it, but seems to be not as thick in texture. 

In measures 22 and 25, a D3 is introduced into the mix.  This creates a 7th interval with the E which resolves the fifth interval.  Although this is just momentary the pedal allows the sound to carry until the next D is played. 

I have not found any connections to 17th century SATB writing thus far.  There are several parallel 5ths, and many instances of crossed voices.  I'm not entirely sure how this piece would even translate to SATB.

Extended Analysis: Part Three

These are the notation symbols I found on page one of "Phrygian Gates"

  Slur- indicates that two or more notes be played in one physical stroke
 Forte- dynamic symbol/direction for Loud
 Mezzo Forte- dynamic symbol/direction meaning half as loud as Forte

 Pianisimo-dynamic symbol/direction meaning very soft

 Piano- dynamic symbol/direction meaning soft

 Apply sustain pedal symbol
 Release sustain Pedal Symbol

 Cresc.- Abbreviation for Crescendo, directing an increase in volume

 Decresc.- Abbreviation for Decrescendo, directing a decrease in volume

Ped.- Abbreviation for pedal, indicating use of damper pedal.

Sim.- Abbreviation for Simile, which means similarly, indicating that the following pssage is to be played similarly to the previous

Poco a Poco- Means Little by Little, modifies other directives given so that they be applied slowly.

Più- Means more, modifies other directions given

Senza- Means without, modifies other directions given

Una Corda- Means one string, indicates that the soft pedal should be applied.

Tre Corde- Means three strings, indicating that the soft pedal should be relreased

Sempre- Means always, implying that any other directions given last infinitely, until others are given.

First Page of Phrygian Gates