Post by Eiric Biançéu on Jul 25, 2012 12:56:19 GMT -6
No attachments to start with.
First, as always, an apology. I'm too far behind and I ask forgiveness.
Second, on to Class.
This is a tough one, so lets start with the most basic ideas.
Why does a melody make you feel a certain way?
What makes certain melodies stand out?
Lets start with the first question:
These aren't hard and fast rules but they do seem to be prevalent in most
First question listening list.
*Descending line in slow tempo: Pavonne for a dead princess (Ravel), Adagio for Strings (Samuel Barber), First movement of Mahler 3 (after the opening fanfare).
*Descending line in a fast tempo: Firebird (Stravinsky's)
*Ascending Line in a slow tempo: Somewhere in time (John Berry), Fanfare festive (Michael Geisler)
*Ascending line in a fast tempo: Final movement Beethoven's 9th Symphony.
*Very fast tempos: Short ride in a fast machine (John Adams)
*Movement depictions: Mars (Gustav Holtz), waltz "3b" from tales from the Vienna Woods (Strauss)
"Pines of Rome" by Respighi covers a lot of these different ideas in one
*The Pines of Villa Borghese has a sequence of children playing and is extremely fast and the whole movement is based on a rising quick melody.
*Pines near a catacomb is slow deep and calm, it features a downward moving melody that is meant to show a reflective mood and is a little somber.
*The Pines of the Janiculum starts reflective but moves into a more "moving" style before ending in birdsong. It also features a downward moving melody.
*The Pines of the Appian Way is a heavy march. It has a constant moving percussion line that is supposed to imitate the feet of roman soldiers as they marched off. It features a "moving" line building into an upward moving strongly dramatic melody.
(this was the piece I did my composition final exam on and has always been one of my favorites.)
Have Fun out there.
Please listened to the listed pieces if possible and give me your input on what they expressed to you.
Thanks
Eiric
;D
First, as always, an apology. I'm too far behind and I ask forgiveness.
Second, on to Class.
This is a tough one, so lets start with the most basic ideas.
Why does a melody make you feel a certain way?
What makes certain melodies stand out?
Lets start with the first question:
- A descending melodic line sounds sad
- An Ascending melodic line sounds uplifting (not necessarily happy)
- A Melodic line that contains quickly moving triplets or 16th notes helps depict movement.
- Slow moving melodic lines help depict many different ideas but mostly cover visceral ideas such as romance, Death, Thoughtfulness, etc...
- Faster moving melodic lines can help show action, Suspense, Marches, Carnivals and fairs, etc...
- extremely fast pieces such as reels and troikas are usually dances or depictions of frenzied scenes.
These aren't hard and fast rules but they do seem to be prevalent in most
First question listening list.
*Descending line in slow tempo: Pavonne for a dead princess (Ravel), Adagio for Strings (Samuel Barber), First movement of Mahler 3 (after the opening fanfare).
*Descending line in a fast tempo: Firebird (Stravinsky's)
*Ascending Line in a slow tempo: Somewhere in time (John Berry), Fanfare festive (Michael Geisler)
*Ascending line in a fast tempo: Final movement Beethoven's 9th Symphony.
*Very fast tempos: Short ride in a fast machine (John Adams)
*Movement depictions: Mars (Gustav Holtz), waltz "3b" from tales from the Vienna Woods (Strauss)
"Pines of Rome" by Respighi covers a lot of these different ideas in one
*The Pines of Villa Borghese has a sequence of children playing and is extremely fast and the whole movement is based on a rising quick melody.
*Pines near a catacomb is slow deep and calm, it features a downward moving melody that is meant to show a reflective mood and is a little somber.
*The Pines of the Janiculum starts reflective but moves into a more "moving" style before ending in birdsong. It also features a downward moving melody.
*The Pines of the Appian Way is a heavy march. It has a constant moving percussion line that is supposed to imitate the feet of roman soldiers as they marched off. It features a "moving" line building into an upward moving strongly dramatic melody.
(this was the piece I did my composition final exam on and has always been one of my favorites.)
Have Fun out there.
Please listened to the listed pieces if possible and give me your input on what they expressed to you.
Thanks
Eiric
;D
