For my second performance report I attended a performance by Alpenfest, a group which performs traditional music of the Alps. This particular showing of Alpenfest was at the 2010 German Fest in Munster Texas. The stage, known as the German Stage was inside a large tent and was filled with people with an overflow all around. I arrived a little after the performance had started, the location was not well marked and it was a little hard to find the right area. There were multiple shows and events going on simultaneously. On one certain occasion, when the volume of the Alpenfest music was a little low, a band called Alley Kat could be heard playing Freebird in the distance. People were coming and going, staying long enough to eat their food and drinks before moving on to some of the other events and activities available at German fest. People were very relaxed, wearing blue jeans and T-shirts, or whatever they found comfortable. There were a few people dressed up for the occasion. There were a few wearing some Lederhosen or some variety of older traditional German clothing.
The musicians of Alpenfest were among those wearing the traditional German attire and their instruments were traditional German instruments as well. They used an accordion and eight tuned bells and played a small variety of traditional German folk songs. These songs were sung in the original German. While the live music was the main attraction, a few of the performances had the musicians joining in the dancing and the music was played from a CD that was pre-recorded by Alpenfest. This music featured the accordion, guitar, bells, and several areophones that I could not absolutely identify. The songs were more well known traditional German songs such as Idle Wice, and the up tempo beat made them very easy to dance to, and in fact several of the songs were danced to by performers and audience volunteers.
The line between audience and performers was blurred as the performance was meant to involve the audience. Several of the performers were only involved for a song or two, after which they joined the audience, so it was not always clear who was a performer and who was just an audience member. The Performance shifted between songs that involved the audience to songs that needed the audience to directly participate in either dancing or even playing an instrument. The audience ranged widely in age, many people simply stopped for a few minutes to view the music of Alpenfest before moving on to other events.
The performance involved a few performers dressed in traditional German Lederhosen and Dresses. The instruments used were tuned bells and an accordion. There were a variety of songs played; most were meant to be danced to. The lead singer, an early 30’s, Arian looking woman announced that this was more a variety show and that audience participation was required. There were quite a few activities in the songs. The first involved a game were once a flute was played, during the song, the audience was supposed to jump up and sit back down quickly. Later seven volunteers came from the audience, each one was given a bell and each played their bell when touched on the back by the lead performer. The audience was given several opportunities to dance, both free dance and some traditional German dances that were taught by the lead performer.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
A somewhat recent development in Rock is the advent of Christian Rock, or Rock music with Christian themes. In the early days of Rock and Roll, Rock was looked down on by many in the Christian community and was often referred to as the devils music, many Churches urged parents to sign pledges to keep their children from listening to Rock. Later, in the 70’s and 80’s, there was an emergence of bands like the 2nd Chapter of Acts and Petra, which combined Christian themes, ideas, and worship into Rock songs. Today, there are many different Christian Rock bands playing a variety of styles of subgenres of Rock. Contemporary Christian Rock describes a somewhat wide variety of musical style. This subgenre is often more associated with heavy Rock and metal, but is also often reflective of worship styles of slightly more traditional Christian music. There are several characteristics that help define this genre:
The primary instruments are a drums(trap set), guitar, and base. These three instruments are used in almost every Contemporary Christian Rock song, and while there are occasional exceptions to having all three at once, all bands have a guitarist, bassist and a drummer.
Small ensembles. Like traditional Rock, bluegrass, and country, Christian Contemporary Rock is primarily made of small bands of sizes between 3 and 6 members. The bands usually start as non-professionals who might or might not be associated with a church and involved with worship.
Emphasis on singing. Contemporary Christian Rock is defined by singing, the instrumentals themselves are not different from many other genres of rock, the words are often the biggest difference, and is what defines this subgenre.
Use of technology. Like other rock subgenres, most Contemporary Christian Rock musicians take advantage of recording studio technology and use electronic instruments to manipulate notes and sounds in ways that otherwise would be impossible.
Emotional Emphasis. The songs of Contemporary Christian Rock draw heavily on emotion. The sounds of the song and the vocals are keyed to create certain emotions in the listener, for entertainment purposes and as a better way of communicating the purpose of the song.
Purposeful lyrics. The words of the songs are the most important part of this subgenre and, as stated earlier, is what really separates this subgenre from others. While other rock subgenres songs have meaning behind their words, the words are often used as just another instrument and are not the point to the songs. In Contemporary Christian Rock, the words are always important.
Listening guide for Red’s “Fight Inside”
0:00 Instrumental introduction, drums and several synthesizers start the song slowly.
0:16 the first use of the instrumental which is used as a cadence between verses. This is a heavier, deeper portion of the songs that will indicate the change between verses.
0:35 the vocal starts despite the very heavy instruments that would normally drown the voice of the lead singer, the voice is clearly the lead, marking the prominence of vocals and lyrics in the song
0:50 the theme fight inside is first introduced.
1:07 first use of the repeated melody of the song .This melody is repeated several times in the song and even contains the words for which the song is named.
1:23 Heavy guitar cadence.
1:32 vocals start again.
1:48 main melody is repeated again.
2:20 new instrumental starts, a different sound is used here to mark a change in the song, and that the songs is begging to near conclusion.
2:31 new vocals are introduced, only a few words are sung here, repeated several times.
3:02 Main melody starts a final time.
3:34 change in instrumentals and vocals mark the beginning of the ending of the song.
The primary instruments are a drums(trap set), guitar, and base. These three instruments are used in almost every Contemporary Christian Rock song, and while there are occasional exceptions to having all three at once, all bands have a guitarist, bassist and a drummer.
Small ensembles. Like traditional Rock, bluegrass, and country, Christian Contemporary Rock is primarily made of small bands of sizes between 3 and 6 members. The bands usually start as non-professionals who might or might not be associated with a church and involved with worship.
Emphasis on singing. Contemporary Christian Rock is defined by singing, the instrumentals themselves are not different from many other genres of rock, the words are often the biggest difference, and is what defines this subgenre.
Use of technology. Like other rock subgenres, most Contemporary Christian Rock musicians take advantage of recording studio technology and use electronic instruments to manipulate notes and sounds in ways that otherwise would be impossible.
Emotional Emphasis. The songs of Contemporary Christian Rock draw heavily on emotion. The sounds of the song and the vocals are keyed to create certain emotions in the listener, for entertainment purposes and as a better way of communicating the purpose of the song.
Purposeful lyrics. The words of the songs are the most important part of this subgenre and, as stated earlier, is what really separates this subgenre from others. While other rock subgenres songs have meaning behind their words, the words are often used as just another instrument and are not the point to the songs. In Contemporary Christian Rock, the words are always important.
Listening guide for Red’s “Fight Inside”
0:00 Instrumental introduction, drums and several synthesizers start the song slowly.
0:16 the first use of the instrumental which is used as a cadence between verses. This is a heavier, deeper portion of the songs that will indicate the change between verses.
0:35 the vocal starts despite the very heavy instruments that would normally drown the voice of the lead singer, the voice is clearly the lead, marking the prominence of vocals and lyrics in the song
0:50 the theme fight inside is first introduced.
1:07 first use of the repeated melody of the song .This melody is repeated several times in the song and even contains the words for which the song is named.
1:23 Heavy guitar cadence.
1:32 vocals start again.
1:48 main melody is repeated again.
2:20 new instrumental starts, a different sound is used here to mark a change in the song, and that the songs is begging to near conclusion.
2:31 new vocals are introduced, only a few words are sung here, repeated several times.
3:02 Main melody starts a final time.
3:34 change in instrumentals and vocals mark the beginning of the ending of the song.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
The Gullah
The Gullah people are decedents of slaves brought to America from a variety of African regions. The largest groups were from Wolof, Mandinka, Fula, Baga, Susa, Limba, Temne, Mende, Vai, but the current culture most reflects the culture in Sierra Leone. This background has been uniquely preserved by the Gullah people due to extreme isolation from the days of slavery till post World War Two, and really only recently have been less isolated. The Gullah still use many words from their African roots, these words are often mixed with English to create a unique dialect that can be traced back to its roots in Mende, Vai , Fula or other dialogues from the Guinea/Sierra Leone region.
The Gullah people still have songs that are very distinctly African, using polyrhythmic beats with membraneophones and idiophones providing the only instrumentation aside from vocal elements, although on some occasions more modern electrophones are used as well. These songs are pervasive throughout the culture being used in celebrations, in worship songs or even in communications, such as when someone in the community has died. Despite many Gullah’s moving away to the rest of the United States for jobs, this music has been preserved as a way of keeping contact with the Gullah past and heritage. Keeping in touch with their past and remembering where their people come from is very important to the Gullah, and this music is one of the ways in which they do this.
The Gullah audience is often other Gullah, preserving the Gullah tradition and passing it along. Their audience also includes many non Gullah for whom they perform, again, to preserve and pass along their unique culture. These songs are performed by many in the community and there are few, if any professionals in their particular dances and songs.
The Gullah people still have songs that are very distinctly African, using polyrhythmic beats with membraneophones and idiophones providing the only instrumentation aside from vocal elements, although on some occasions more modern electrophones are used as well. These songs are pervasive throughout the culture being used in celebrations, in worship songs or even in communications, such as when someone in the community has died. Despite many Gullah’s moving away to the rest of the United States for jobs, this music has been preserved as a way of keeping contact with the Gullah past and heritage. Keeping in touch with their past and remembering where their people come from is very important to the Gullah, and this music is one of the ways in which they do this.
The Gullah audience is often other Gullah, preserving the Gullah tradition and passing it along. Their audience also includes many non Gullah for whom they perform, again, to preserve and pass along their unique culture. These songs are performed by many in the community and there are few, if any professionals in their particular dances and songs.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Shakespeare in song, it was
Shakespeare has been sung for almost as long as Shakespeare has been played. While singers were not the focus of Shakespearian plays, many of his plays featured songs in some form, and many songs have since been made from some famous scenes in Shakespeare. (performance pamphlet)
I attended the march 27th 2010 Shakespeare in song event for this performance report. This event was held in the Jonsson Performance Hall. For those of you unfamiliar with Jonsson, it reportedly seats 199 people in the audience in a half amphitheater styled seating arrangement with a fairly small stage at the base. The room is decorated in green with wood paneling. The room does have a small sound system, but this was unused in this performance, with the relatively small room size, and the power behind the singer’s voice, there was no need for it. The room projector was used however to display for the audience what song was being sung, some basic information about the song and to indicate the beginning intermission and end.
The majority of the audience arrived well before the start of the performance, and no one, that I noticed, came in late. The audience was not quite large enough to fill half of the theater which, as stated earlier, seats 199 at most. Many in the audience, most of those who arrived 10 or more minutes before the start of the show appeared to be family members, families with younger children and Grandparents. Later, closer to the start of the show, students came in and doubled the size of the audience. There was quite a bit of talking before the performance but little, if any, during the performance. The group continued talking again during intermission and after the performance, including talking quite a bit with the performers themselves; which many seemed to know.
The Performers came in just a minute or two after 8:00 PM, the group appeared to be nearly 1:1 male to female, were fairly young in age, early 20‘s, with the exception of two of the students who appeared to be in their late 30‘s. The Choir director was obviously a teacher, their teacher of course, but a professor at the University and the accompanying pianist appeared to be a professor as well. The performers were wearing costumes that were similar to period costumes from Shakespeare lifetime. The entire choir and the director and even the pianist had a costume. All together there were 8 Sopranos, 6 Altos, 6 Tenors and 8 Baritones in the choir, for a total of 32 performers including the pianist and Director.
There were a total of 16 songs by these performers, 8 before intermission and 8 after. These came from many of Shakespeare’s plays, comedies and tragedies. Each individual performance taken from Shakespeare’s plays had dialogue that introduced the song as part of the play and set the stage for the song itself. There were often several from the troupe that came to the side of the stage and spoke lines from the play as if they were in the play. Sometimes these actors were the main singers or even soloists in the songs. On two occasions, singers who had been sitting on the front row, and not singing with the rest of the choir came and sang solos. This occurred during Cymbeline and a female in Twelfth night. Much of the focus in most songs was the harmony sung by the entire choir, however, many songs such as The Tempest Act1 Scene 2 and Act 2 Scene 2, along with Hamlet, Cymbeline Othello, the Twelfth night, along with many others were sung by a set of the performers who had come to the front of the stage to act and sing. The wide range of voices in the choir, along with the individual soloists gave each song a very unique texture. A song could start out very quiet, and then get much louder, warmer, and richer. The “Willow Song”, song stands out as a great example of the versatility and range of the choir. The song starts off with exclusively the women only, altos and sopranos, who sing a somewhat melancholy song, the men latter join in both tenors and bass singing different words at the same time to make the song polyphonic. This added a very warm texture to the song that complimented the earlier melancholy mood.
The music sung by the Shakespearean choir incorporated many unique elements of music to play on emotions and communicate a wide range of subjects. The choir’s range and number allowed for a different texture in each individual song. Heterophony, polyphony and monophony were all incorporated at some point in the performance. Disjunct and conjunct motion allowed for the manipulation of mood, both the characters on stage, and the audience. All in all, the entire choir had a large repertoire of tools at their disposal, and were able to create very complex and very simple textures.
References:
Performance pamphlet "Shakespeare in Song." School of Arts and Humanities March, 26-27th, 2010
"Shakespeare in Song." School of Arts and Humanities March,27th, 2010 8:00 PM
I attended the march 27th 2010 Shakespeare in song event for this performance report. This event was held in the Jonsson Performance Hall. For those of you unfamiliar with Jonsson, it reportedly seats 199 people in the audience in a half amphitheater styled seating arrangement with a fairly small stage at the base. The room is decorated in green with wood paneling. The room does have a small sound system, but this was unused in this performance, with the relatively small room size, and the power behind the singer’s voice, there was no need for it. The room projector was used however to display for the audience what song was being sung, some basic information about the song and to indicate the beginning intermission and end.
The majority of the audience arrived well before the start of the performance, and no one, that I noticed, came in late. The audience was not quite large enough to fill half of the theater which, as stated earlier, seats 199 at most. Many in the audience, most of those who arrived 10 or more minutes before the start of the show appeared to be family members, families with younger children and Grandparents. Later, closer to the start of the show, students came in and doubled the size of the audience. There was quite a bit of talking before the performance but little, if any, during the performance. The group continued talking again during intermission and after the performance, including talking quite a bit with the performers themselves; which many seemed to know.
The Performers came in just a minute or two after 8:00 PM, the group appeared to be nearly 1:1 male to female, were fairly young in age, early 20‘s, with the exception of two of the students who appeared to be in their late 30‘s. The Choir director was obviously a teacher, their teacher of course, but a professor at the University and the accompanying pianist appeared to be a professor as well. The performers were wearing costumes that were similar to period costumes from Shakespeare lifetime. The entire choir and the director and even the pianist had a costume. All together there were 8 Sopranos, 6 Altos, 6 Tenors and 8 Baritones in the choir, for a total of 32 performers including the pianist and Director.
There were a total of 16 songs by these performers, 8 before intermission and 8 after. These came from many of Shakespeare’s plays, comedies and tragedies. Each individual performance taken from Shakespeare’s plays had dialogue that introduced the song as part of the play and set the stage for the song itself. There were often several from the troupe that came to the side of the stage and spoke lines from the play as if they were in the play. Sometimes these actors were the main singers or even soloists in the songs. On two occasions, singers who had been sitting on the front row, and not singing with the rest of the choir came and sang solos. This occurred during Cymbeline and a female in Twelfth night. Much of the focus in most songs was the harmony sung by the entire choir, however, many songs such as The Tempest Act1 Scene 2 and Act 2 Scene 2, along with Hamlet, Cymbeline Othello, the Twelfth night, along with many others were sung by a set of the performers who had come to the front of the stage to act and sing. The wide range of voices in the choir, along with the individual soloists gave each song a very unique texture. A song could start out very quiet, and then get much louder, warmer, and richer. The “Willow Song”, song stands out as a great example of the versatility and range of the choir. The song starts off with exclusively the women only, altos and sopranos, who sing a somewhat melancholy song, the men latter join in both tenors and bass singing different words at the same time to make the song polyphonic. This added a very warm texture to the song that complimented the earlier melancholy mood.
The music sung by the Shakespearean choir incorporated many unique elements of music to play on emotions and communicate a wide range of subjects. The choir’s range and number allowed for a different texture in each individual song. Heterophony, polyphony and monophony were all incorporated at some point in the performance. Disjunct and conjunct motion allowed for the manipulation of mood, both the characters on stage, and the audience. All in all, the entire choir had a large repertoire of tools at their disposal, and were able to create very complex and very simple textures.
References:
Performance pamphlet "Shakespeare in Song." School of Arts and Humanities March, 26-27th, 2010
"Shakespeare in Song." School of Arts and Humanities March,27th, 2010 8:00 PM
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Puccini's Madame butterfly
The piece I am reviewing for this blog is Un Bel De Vedremo”, from Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. The song consists of a soprano soloist singing the melody, and in fact is the main “instrument” in the song. She sings a very wide range, from very high pitch to some relatively low notes. The singer is obviously a professional of the western Opera she has a light vibrato. The song being in Italian does create some difficulties in analyzing the song, such as is there a strophic? I personally could not hear any repetition of any verse. The song had a range of movements occasionally being very loud and then very soft, the motion of the song depended on what mood the singer was portraying, there were certainly elements of conjunct and disjunct motion at certain points in the song.
While the Soloist had the most prominent role in “Un Bel De Vedremo”, the orchestra provided the harmony, although there were divisions of the song where the orchestra played so softly, compared to the soloist, that the song took on the characteristic of being monophonic. The music did not stay that way, there was certainly times were the music was polyphonic and even heterophonic. The instrumentals had a much smaller range that the soloist. The orchestra was comprised of chordophones and areophones only, no membraneophones which I found surprising, as I have heard versions of this song with membraneohones. The song was filled with accents, quite then loud then quite and so on, for both the voice and the instrumentals.
While the Soloist had the most prominent role in “Un Bel De Vedremo”, the orchestra provided the harmony, although there were divisions of the song where the orchestra played so softly, compared to the soloist, that the song took on the characteristic of being monophonic. The music did not stay that way, there was certainly times were the music was polyphonic and even heterophonic. The instrumentals had a much smaller range that the soloist. The orchestra was comprised of chordophones and areophones only, no membraneophones which I found surprising, as I have heard versions of this song with membraneohones. The song was filled with accents, quite then loud then quite and so on, for both the voice and the instrumentals.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Music of Avatar
The music of Avatar is both unique and familiar. The movie score itself was full of western influences and used music theory to convey the emotion proper for the moment. There was a full orchestra of violins, cellos, percussion, and various aereophones. All these sounded very familiar. While occasionally there were some sounds that were somewhat more foreign, from the west that is, there was nothing that hasn't been used before.
The music of the Na'vi was different. Obviously the point of the sound of the Na'vi was to sound different and alien, and while the sound was fairly unique, it never strayed too far away from our, or at least my, definition of normal music. The chants were "religious" sounding. The vocals, although not exactly like any specific type, group or style, were similar to many types, groups and styles. The drums had a unique sound, but the beat/timing was familiar. They sounded similar to, and this was confirmed by an interview with Ethnomusicologist Wanda Bryant, who consulted on the Avatar music, the African talking drum. This is a unique sound that only works with languages that can communicate through pitch, which the made up language of the Na'vi, and certain African dialects have in common.
Overall the music, was very powerful and sounded different without becoming that we the audience couldn't recognize as music. The music served its purpose very well by taking the audience away from their world and connecting them to the world of the Na'vi.
The music of the Na'vi was different. Obviously the point of the sound of the Na'vi was to sound different and alien, and while the sound was fairly unique, it never strayed too far away from our, or at least my, definition of normal music. The chants were "religious" sounding. The vocals, although not exactly like any specific type, group or style, were similar to many types, groups and styles. The drums had a unique sound, but the beat/timing was familiar. They sounded similar to, and this was confirmed by an interview with Ethnomusicologist Wanda Bryant, who consulted on the Avatar music, the African talking drum. This is a unique sound that only works with languages that can communicate through pitch, which the made up language of the Na'vi, and certain African dialects have in common.
Overall the music, was very powerful and sounded different without becoming that we the audience couldn't recognize as music. The music served its purpose very well by taking the audience away from their world and connecting them to the world of the Na'vi.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Music Ethnomusicology of DSO
Josiah L Knowles
Professor MaryAnn Young
Musi 1306
10 March 2010
Classical Music Culture at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra
1. Introduction to the DSO:
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra has been an integral part of the music culture of the greater Dallas area since its beginnings in 1990. Hans Kreissig started the orchestra as a 40 member ensemble and it quickly began gaining recognition nationally. Eventually the DSO became an all professional Orchestra in 1945. The DSO has continued to contribute to and even shape the DFW area music and art culture. The orchestra now features 97 professional full time musicians playing chordophones, membraneophones, areophones, idiophones and even electrophones of every shape and size, primarily western classical instruments such as the violin, bass, French horn, harp, timpani etc. The DSO falls under the cover of several genres. Jazz, choral, instrumental, pop, orchestra are the self proclaimed genres that the DSO falls under; of course, the focus of the DSO is on western classical music and is certainly considered “art music.” The Dallas symphony Orchestra has and continues to play a vital role in the development of The Dallas Music culture, offering material, support and introducing music to many Dallas area residents, as well as affecting the culture of music nationally and internationally.
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra is a very large and well known institution, finding resources, and doing research was very straight forward. The bulk of my information comes directly from the DSO’s own website, http://www.dallassymphony.com/, which publishes information about all of its activities, concerts, and events along with their core beliefs about the place and purpose of music.
My research was not limited to sitting and reading about the DSO, but also included a trip to the Meyerson center, the home of the DSO, to listen to a performance of Leningrad written by Shostakovich. The research online gave me the knowledge of what the all the DSO does and believes, my trip to the Meyerson gave me the opportunity to experience, observe and understand the way that those beliefs and activities are acted upon.
Lastly, while I was unable to conduct a personal interview I listed to podcast hosted by WRR 101.1, the first radio station in Texas, and the only 24/7 classical music station in the Dallas area. These podcast featured interviews of Marvin Hamlisch, the recently named Principle Pops Conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and also the interview of Andrew Litton, who is Music Director Emeritus of the DSO along with Jon Kimura Parker a solo pianist playing at the DSO. These men are of great importance to both the DSO and the classical music culture worldwide. These interviews provided better information than any interview that I could have conducted myself, with anyone that I could have actually interviewed.
Aspects of Music Culture:
One of the most defining aspects of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra is its belief in the idea that everyone should have access to music. “The Dallas Symphony Orchestra has a long-standing commitment to making music accessible to everyone." (Heartstrings Program) The DSO looks to allow as much inclusion of as many groups as possible, offering free concerts that are open to the public, along with their normal, ticket based concerts.
The DSO plays a wide variety of music at these events and while it supports no specific religion, many classical western musicians were influenced by the Christian religion, being Christians and/or supported by the Church, it is not uncommon for a piece of music to be Christian based, even a hymn written for praise purposes. Marvin Hamlisch, when asked about the Christmas special he and the DSO will be playing this December, brought up that while they will be playing, in part, some more secular Christmas songs, the latter half will be of a more religious aspect. (Marvin Hamlisch) This is just an example of how, because the DSO is involved with the Dallas culture, that religion is part of the concerts, but not promoted by the Orchestra itself.
There are events and concerts played by the DSO several times a week and on or around national holidays. The music is a constant part of the greater Dallas art culture, and recordings of these concerts are available for purchase. The music has no specific proper context except to be listed to whenever the listener desires. The music is appropriate whenever the emotions of the listener desire to hear that music.
As mentioned earlier, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra plays concerts that are open to anyone who wants to buy a ticket to listen. There are, however, also free events held during the spring, at certain park in the metroplex, allowing patrons to enjoy the music free of charge, and with no need to dress in any special way. This also allows some of the younger children who might be less likely to attend the normal concerts to experience the music first hand and live. Open rehearsals are also held where students can come and listen to the Orchestra practice, free of charge.
The Dallas Symphony also holds contests for young musicians in order to encourage local residents to pursue music on their own. There are programs to educate kids and adults alike about and how to play music. “Through programs like Studio DSO and DSO Discover the Dallas Symphony Orchestra shares its artistic and educational resources with Dallas area schools and universities by bringing the world's finest professional musicians into direct contact with students of all ages”(College and Beyond)
Many types of musicians have benefitted for the DSO teachings, not just classical music lovers. The DSO has a vast repertoire of music genres that it plays. Choral music, instrumental, pop and classical as well as Jazz are played at the DSO. In fact, the DSO just recently played a series of Jazz concerts and before that, played the music of Pink Floyd. Artists from around the world have played at the DSO. Principle Pops Conductor Marvin Hamlisch not too long ago played at a concert along with AR Rahman, composer of the music in Slumdog Millionaire. (Marvin Hamlisch) Rahman is, of course primarily an Indian music composer. While this was not featured at the DSO, this is an example of the many influences on the DSO and that the orchestra tries to give to the Dallas area.
Some of the guests are choirs or famous singers, which of course means that there are lyrics to some of the songs played by the DSO. The main genre played by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra is western classical, tradition often finds the lyrics in Italian, which is a language not spoken by many of the patrons of the DSO. In these cases, the emotions portrayed by the singers and instruments tell the story of these words which can take the form of being a main instrument, often holding the main melody. These words are associated with a story of some sort.
The music culture of the DSO is far reaching, with performances in Mexico and Singapore, as well as a fifteen city tour of Europe, however the influences of the DSO do not just stop at the musical performances themselves, and not necessarily to just music itself. The DSO is active politically, involved with American Symphony Orchestra League ASOL. The ASOL is an institution which promotes policies that give as many people as possible access to orchestral music. The Meyerson, which is the home of the DSO, has its own restaurants and a gift shop with everything from batons to opera glasses to t-shirts and figurines of famous composers.
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra has been a powerful shaping force of the Dallas area arts culture. The DSO has been providing Dallas Area residents, and people across the globe with the opportunity to experience the music of western classical, jazz, African and Latino influenced, among many other genres and types of music for nearly 110 years. The DSO has, and continues to fulfill its stated purpose of giving everyone access to music by being both politically and socially active within and outside the DFW area.
Works Cited:
1.) "IMPROVING LIVES THROUGH MUSIC." Dallas Symphony Orchestra. DSO, 2009. Web. 10 Mar 2010..
2.) "COLLEGE & BEYOND." Dallas Symphony Orchestra. N.p., 2009. DSO Web. 10 Mar 2010..
3.) “Marvin Hamlisch.” WRR PRESENTS Feb. 3, 2010. Web. Podcast. 10 March 2010.
< http://www.wrr101.com/?id=233>.
4.) “Andrew Litton and Jon Kimura Parker.” WRR PRESENTS Jan. 13, 2010. Web. Podcast. 10 March 2010..
5.) "Symphony and SymphonyOnline." League of American Orchestras. League of American Orchestras, 2010. Web. 10 Mar 2010..
6.) “Playbill February” Dallas Symphony Orchestra Playbill. Dallas Symphony Orchestra. February 2010.
7.) Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Leningrad with Violinist Simone Lamsma. Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Meyerson Center, 2301 Flora Dallas TX 75201. Classical music concert.
Professor MaryAnn Young
Musi 1306
10 March 2010
Classical Music Culture at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra
1. Introduction to the DSO:
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra has been an integral part of the music culture of the greater Dallas area since its beginnings in 1990. Hans Kreissig started the orchestra as a 40 member ensemble and it quickly began gaining recognition nationally. Eventually the DSO became an all professional Orchestra in 1945. The DSO has continued to contribute to and even shape the DFW area music and art culture. The orchestra now features 97 professional full time musicians playing chordophones, membraneophones, areophones, idiophones and even electrophones of every shape and size, primarily western classical instruments such as the violin, bass, French horn, harp, timpani etc. The DSO falls under the cover of several genres. Jazz, choral, instrumental, pop, orchestra are the self proclaimed genres that the DSO falls under; of course, the focus of the DSO is on western classical music and is certainly considered “art music.” The Dallas symphony Orchestra has and continues to play a vital role in the development of The Dallas Music culture, offering material, support and introducing music to many Dallas area residents, as well as affecting the culture of music nationally and internationally.
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra is a very large and well known institution, finding resources, and doing research was very straight forward. The bulk of my information comes directly from the DSO’s own website, http://www.dallassymphony.com/, which publishes information about all of its activities, concerts, and events along with their core beliefs about the place and purpose of music.
My research was not limited to sitting and reading about the DSO, but also included a trip to the Meyerson center, the home of the DSO, to listen to a performance of Leningrad written by Shostakovich. The research online gave me the knowledge of what the all the DSO does and believes, my trip to the Meyerson gave me the opportunity to experience, observe and understand the way that those beliefs and activities are acted upon.
Lastly, while I was unable to conduct a personal interview I listed to podcast hosted by WRR 101.1, the first radio station in Texas, and the only 24/7 classical music station in the Dallas area. These podcast featured interviews of Marvin Hamlisch, the recently named Principle Pops Conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and also the interview of Andrew Litton, who is Music Director Emeritus of the DSO along with Jon Kimura Parker a solo pianist playing at the DSO. These men are of great importance to both the DSO and the classical music culture worldwide. These interviews provided better information than any interview that I could have conducted myself, with anyone that I could have actually interviewed.
Aspects of Music Culture:
One of the most defining aspects of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra is its belief in the idea that everyone should have access to music. “The Dallas Symphony Orchestra has a long-standing commitment to making music accessible to everyone." (Heartstrings Program) The DSO looks to allow as much inclusion of as many groups as possible, offering free concerts that are open to the public, along with their normal, ticket based concerts.
The DSO plays a wide variety of music at these events and while it supports no specific religion, many classical western musicians were influenced by the Christian religion, being Christians and/or supported by the Church, it is not uncommon for a piece of music to be Christian based, even a hymn written for praise purposes. Marvin Hamlisch, when asked about the Christmas special he and the DSO will be playing this December, brought up that while they will be playing, in part, some more secular Christmas songs, the latter half will be of a more religious aspect. (Marvin Hamlisch) This is just an example of how, because the DSO is involved with the Dallas culture, that religion is part of the concerts, but not promoted by the Orchestra itself.
There are events and concerts played by the DSO several times a week and on or around national holidays. The music is a constant part of the greater Dallas art culture, and recordings of these concerts are available for purchase. The music has no specific proper context except to be listed to whenever the listener desires. The music is appropriate whenever the emotions of the listener desire to hear that music.
As mentioned earlier, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra plays concerts that are open to anyone who wants to buy a ticket to listen. There are, however, also free events held during the spring, at certain park in the metroplex, allowing patrons to enjoy the music free of charge, and with no need to dress in any special way. This also allows some of the younger children who might be less likely to attend the normal concerts to experience the music first hand and live. Open rehearsals are also held where students can come and listen to the Orchestra practice, free of charge.
The Dallas Symphony also holds contests for young musicians in order to encourage local residents to pursue music on their own. There are programs to educate kids and adults alike about and how to play music. “Through programs like Studio DSO and DSO Discover the Dallas Symphony Orchestra shares its artistic and educational resources with Dallas area schools and universities by bringing the world's finest professional musicians into direct contact with students of all ages”(College and Beyond)
Many types of musicians have benefitted for the DSO teachings, not just classical music lovers. The DSO has a vast repertoire of music genres that it plays. Choral music, instrumental, pop and classical as well as Jazz are played at the DSO. In fact, the DSO just recently played a series of Jazz concerts and before that, played the music of Pink Floyd. Artists from around the world have played at the DSO. Principle Pops Conductor Marvin Hamlisch not too long ago played at a concert along with AR Rahman, composer of the music in Slumdog Millionaire. (Marvin Hamlisch) Rahman is, of course primarily an Indian music composer. While this was not featured at the DSO, this is an example of the many influences on the DSO and that the orchestra tries to give to the Dallas area.
Some of the guests are choirs or famous singers, which of course means that there are lyrics to some of the songs played by the DSO. The main genre played by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra is western classical, tradition often finds the lyrics in Italian, which is a language not spoken by many of the patrons of the DSO. In these cases, the emotions portrayed by the singers and instruments tell the story of these words which can take the form of being a main instrument, often holding the main melody. These words are associated with a story of some sort.
The music culture of the DSO is far reaching, with performances in Mexico and Singapore, as well as a fifteen city tour of Europe, however the influences of the DSO do not just stop at the musical performances themselves, and not necessarily to just music itself. The DSO is active politically, involved with American Symphony Orchestra League ASOL. The ASOL is an institution which promotes policies that give as many people as possible access to orchestral music. The Meyerson, which is the home of the DSO, has its own restaurants and a gift shop with everything from batons to opera glasses to t-shirts and figurines of famous composers.
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra has been a powerful shaping force of the Dallas area arts culture. The DSO has been providing Dallas Area residents, and people across the globe with the opportunity to experience the music of western classical, jazz, African and Latino influenced, among many other genres and types of music for nearly 110 years. The DSO has, and continues to fulfill its stated purpose of giving everyone access to music by being both politically and socially active within and outside the DFW area.
Works Cited:
1.) "IMPROVING LIVES THROUGH MUSIC." Dallas Symphony Orchestra. DSO, 2009. Web. 10 Mar 2010.
2.) "COLLEGE & BEYOND." Dallas Symphony Orchestra. N.p., 2009. DSO Web. 10 Mar 2010.
3.) “Marvin Hamlisch.” WRR PRESENTS Feb. 3, 2010. Web. Podcast. 10 March 2010.
< http://www.wrr101.com/?id=233>.
4.) “Andrew Litton and Jon Kimura Parker.” WRR PRESENTS Jan. 13, 2010. Web. Podcast. 10 March 2010.
5.) "Symphony and SymphonyOnline." League of American Orchestras. League of American Orchestras, 2010. Web. 10 Mar 2010.
6.) “Playbill February” Dallas Symphony Orchestra Playbill. Dallas Symphony Orchestra. February 2010.
7.) Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Leningrad with Violinist Simone Lamsma. Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Meyerson Center, 2301 Flora Dallas TX 75201. Classical music concert.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Noh
Traditional Noh Theatre is very unique and is characterized by a number of specific elements. The sets are sparse, a few elements meant to remind the audience of the outdoors, where Noh Theatre was originally performed, are all that decorate the stage. In contrast the Noh performers themselves are often dressed in elaborate and often flashy costumes with very vivid masks. Noh performers have traditionally been, and still are all male. Noh performance has been a job that has been handed down from father to son, however that is not always the case now.
The musical aspect of Noh theatre is another very unique element within Noh. “Each Noh performance is accompanied by three or four traditional musical instruments and the chorus of six or eight people.” TokyoJapanGuide The Instruments can vary between performances, in one youtube example that I found, there were no actual instruments, just the chorus.
Noh Performance
The chorus is arguably the most important musical aspect to Noh theatre, and one of its most distinct features. Drums also play a large role in Noh theatre, although I have had a hard time identifying the drums used in this video, there appears to be an o-tsuzumi and a ko-tsuzumi, which are a traditional part of the Noh theatre. The drum beats by various patterns at the same time giving the drums a very layered feel. Lastly, within this video, and traditionally, a nohkan aerophone is used as a main instrumental, playing the melody.
The musical aspect of Noh theatre is another very unique element within Noh. “Each Noh performance is accompanied by three or four traditional musical instruments and the chorus of six or eight people.” TokyoJapanGuide The Instruments can vary between performances, in one youtube example that I found, there were no actual instruments, just the chorus.
Noh Performance
The chorus is arguably the most important musical aspect to Noh theatre, and one of its most distinct features. Drums also play a large role in Noh theatre, although I have had a hard time identifying the drums used in this video, there appears to be an o-tsuzumi and a ko-tsuzumi, which are a traditional part of the Noh theatre. The drum beats by various patterns at the same time giving the drums a very layered feel. Lastly, within this video, and traditionally, a nohkan aerophone is used as a main instrumental, playing the melody.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Understanding Hindustani Music
This particular music was performed in Rollins College in Florida, A Liberal Arts college, by and for College students. The Instruments featured in this video include one aerophone, the bansuri, one chordophone, the very famous Sitar, and two membraneophones, the mrdangam and the tabla. All of these instruments are classical Indian instruments used in both Hidustani and Karnatic music cultures.
The structure of the music follows Classical Hindustani traditional music, the raga, closely. Both the sitar and the bansuri have independent solos accompanied by either the mrdangam and/or the tabala. Occasionally the two instruments came together to create a heterophony, but for the most part the music remained in a homophonous state. Much of the music appears to be improvised. Both instruments improvised using characteristic arohana/avarohana scales. The sitar provides a fairly constant drone throughout both its own solos and the bansuri’s as well.
Both drummers provide a beat throughout the performance but the beat varies between very fast to slow. The timing is simple duple. While staying a relatively uncomplicated beat the variations in tone of the drums, enhanced the overall texture of the song as well as tie both parts from the bansuri and the sitar together, creating a consistency, which otherwise might have been lost through improvisation. The drums occasionally worked together, the mrdangam creating a deep (pitch), constant counting beat, while the tabala provided a varying texture to the music.
Music of India
The structure of the music follows Classical Hindustani traditional music, the raga, closely. Both the sitar and the bansuri have independent solos accompanied by either the mrdangam and/or the tabala. Occasionally the two instruments came together to create a heterophony, but for the most part the music remained in a homophonous state. Much of the music appears to be improvised. Both instruments improvised using characteristic arohana/avarohana scales. The sitar provides a fairly constant drone throughout both its own solos and the bansuri’s as well.
Both drummers provide a beat throughout the performance but the beat varies between very fast to slow. The timing is simple duple. While staying a relatively uncomplicated beat the variations in tone of the drums, enhanced the overall texture of the song as well as tie both parts from the bansuri and the sitar together, creating a consistency, which otherwise might have been lost through improvisation. The drums occasionally worked together, the mrdangam creating a deep (pitch), constant counting beat, while the tabala provided a varying texture to the music.
Music of India
Monday, February 8, 2010
The Music of Googosh: A song analyzed
The music seems uses Aerophones, Membraneophones, Chordophones, and possibly Idiophones. The Aerophones sound fairly western in origin, although with the similar backgrounds of many Western and Middle Eastern Aerophones, these may well be Eastern instruments. These “flutes”, as I will call them, are played mainly during cadences of the singing. The chordophones contain the harmony which accompanies the main melody of Googoosh. Instruments that sound like a violin provide that harmony which also occasionally includes a zither, perhaps the Qanun. There are a variety of Membraneophones and Idiophones, which sound very Eastern in origin, providing a constant beat throughout the song and the occasional ornament, such as a shimmer, to add to the character of the song. The rhythm is a constant pulsatile beat throughout the song. The timing is simple duple meter.
The verses begin each time with a full cadence of the music and are homophonic through most of the song; however, during some of the musical cadences between verses the music takes on a polyphonic nature. The range of the music is not very large and has conjunct motion.
The music video itself seems very western, the hair and makeup are very much Western styles. The set was meant to look Eastern, along with the clothes Googoosh is wearing. The time seems to be during the 80’s but it is hard to pin down, and the video seems as if it were made so that it would be marketable in the west, although it may well have been meant for an Iranian audience, although the lack of head covering would suggest otherwise.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8-duSlrJYY
The verses begin each time with a full cadence of the music and are homophonic through most of the song; however, during some of the musical cadences between verses the music takes on a polyphonic nature. The range of the music is not very large and has conjunct motion.
The music video itself seems very western, the hair and makeup are very much Western styles. The set was meant to look Eastern, along with the clothes Googoosh is wearing. The time seems to be during the 80’s but it is hard to pin down, and the video seems as if it were made so that it would be marketable in the west, although it may well have been meant for an Iranian audience, although the lack of head covering would suggest otherwise.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8-duSlrJYY
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Cultural Exchange with the other side of the World
We were all in the Johnson Performance hall, first we, the Americans showed up at the usual 8:30 A.M. class time and sat down in the first two rows, followed shortly by the Chinese Students sitting on stage. Both groups said very little before prodding from professors from both sides caused the groups of students to start speaking up, asking and answering questions, exchanging cultures.
Aside from the Chinese students sitting on stage, and giving us a few samples of their music, there was very little to distinguish an audience and performers. The main instrument that was used by both sides was the guitar; some traditional Chinese music was played by the UIBE students. On the American side, a little Jazz was played.
The greatest difference between our two groups of students is that, the Chinese students could definitively define their music as Folk, while we, the UTD students, found it hard to find music that we listen to, or really are even aware of that is not considered Pop. There are 56 distinctly different cultures in China, making for a variety of regional Folk music, while in America, easy transport and the lack of restriction of the spread of information has allowed many of the different cultures to mingle, giving people a chance to decide on their own music culture.
One particular Chinese student brought up the fact that much western influence has entered China since the Government became less closed off from the world in 1998. This has lead to a surge of popular western forms entering China. This has brought about many changes in the Chinese music sphere, including the rise of Chui Jian, the Chinese Godfather of Rock.
There is a vast collage of Chinese Music cultures, to vast for us to experience all of them from the UIBE students of the course of an hour, but we were able to hear Peking Opera, Along with several other acapella examples, all of which were very beautiful to listen to, and a few samples of traditional Folk melodies played of the guitar.
Aside from the Chinese students sitting on stage, and giving us a few samples of their music, there was very little to distinguish an audience and performers. The main instrument that was used by both sides was the guitar; some traditional Chinese music was played by the UIBE students. On the American side, a little Jazz was played.
The greatest difference between our two groups of students is that, the Chinese students could definitively define their music as Folk, while we, the UTD students, found it hard to find music that we listen to, or really are even aware of that is not considered Pop. There are 56 distinctly different cultures in China, making for a variety of regional Folk music, while in America, easy transport and the lack of restriction of the spread of information has allowed many of the different cultures to mingle, giving people a chance to decide on their own music culture.
One particular Chinese student brought up the fact that much western influence has entered China since the Government became less closed off from the world in 1998. This has lead to a surge of popular western forms entering China. This has brought about many changes in the Chinese music sphere, including the rise of Chui Jian, the Chinese Godfather of Rock.
There is a vast collage of Chinese Music cultures, to vast for us to experience all of them from the UIBE students of the course of an hour, but we were able to hear Peking Opera, Along with several other acapella examples, all of which were very beautiful to listen to, and a few samples of traditional Folk melodies played of the guitar.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Post 2: My Music Ethnography Proposal
There are many music cultures in the Dallas area, from a variety of cultures. It was a hard choice on what to choose as the music culture that I wanted to study, however one particular music culture has been a part of the Dallas area for many years, and that music culture is the Classical western music. The first radio station in Texas was WRR (http://www.wrr101.com/?id=1 ), a classical music station, the Van Cliburn competition (http://www.cliburn.org/ ) is held in the Dallas area, a very large competition for pianists who, of course, play classical music. Studying this music culture sheds light on the entire DFW area culture and has been a part of the Dallas soundscape for generations.
I will be attending the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s presentation of Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7 on Friday February 19th. http://www.dallassymphony.com
The music presented by the DSO is unique to the Dallas area because it is played by Dallas area residence, supported by local DFW patrons, playing the music that Dallas area classical music enthusiasts want hear. This has created performances that are special Dallas, and experiences that only those who attend the DSO will experience.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Post1: (My Most Profound Musical Influence)
There are many different music cultures that constantly surround us, some we enjoy and are a part of, and others we barely recognize. I have had many musical influences, Classical Music, Classic Rock, Contemporary Christian Rock, Jazz and Nu Jazz, but of all my influences the most powerful, the one that shaped my understanding of music, and even served as my introduction into the world of music was the traditional hymns of the Lutheran Church. I spent much of childhood attending a Lutheran Church where my Grandmother was choir director and my aunt was the hand bell choir director. I listened and sang these hymns for many years, this was music to me. Throughout my life and throughout all the changes in my taste in music have still continued to love these hymns; the power of the organ, a staple of Lutheran hymns, the harmony of the choirs created a reverence that I personally have not found in other styles of music.
I have previously mentioned that I had an Aunt and Grandmother involved in directing the music, but in fact, much of my family has been a part of that music culture. My Grandfather sang in the choir, and my Grandmother on the other side of my family along with my Mother and Father sang and listened to these hymns both at and out of the Church setting. With this much influence, I was obviously deeply involved, from birth, with this music. Much of the hymns were written by Johann Sebastian Bach such as Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdWVfrZ3MeQ&feature=related. A very famous hymn “A Mighty Fortress is our God”, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Snj9yR5Ae_k&feature=related , was written by Martin Luther, founder of the Lutheran.
These songs have been a part of my soundscape for as long as I have been alive, and are the songs which helped to create my own music culture.
I have previously mentioned that I had an Aunt and Grandmother involved in directing the music, but in fact, much of my family has been a part of that music culture. My Grandfather sang in the choir, and my Grandmother on the other side of my family along with my Mother and Father sang and listened to these hymns both at and out of the Church setting. With this much influence, I was obviously deeply involved, from birth, with this music. Much of the hymns were written by Johann Sebastian Bach such as Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdWVfrZ3MeQ&feature=related. A very famous hymn “A Mighty Fortress is our God”, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Snj9yR5Ae_k&feature=related , was written by Martin Luther, founder of the Lutheran.
These songs have been a part of my soundscape for as long as I have been alive, and are the songs which helped to create my own music culture.
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