Welcome, solfeggists!
As I look out my window today, I could easily be hoodwinked into believing that spring has arrived in Denver -- but, I've lived here long enough to know this is almost certainly just a tease. I grew up on the west coast, and by now, we'd be at the end of crocus season and the daffodils would be raring to take over with tulips close on their heels, but here....not so much. However, the 60-degree weather is a welcome change, though I know it's only for the next few days (for you non-Coloradans out there, I like to think of Denver as the only place I know where people could reasonably dream of a White Easter and probably eat their Thanksgiving Dinner on their outdoor picnic table later the same year...it's a weird place)....I have to make the most of bits of spring as they come here, since there's often just a stark segue from the last April or May blizzard directly into summer.
So, let's find some springtime music to enjoy!
Rising Level 2's
Here's a recording to listen to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf6P2K_uXH8
(There are plenty of other recordings of this piece on YouTube, and feel free to choose another one if you like it better)
Try to figure out the rhythmic pattern you're hearing before you look at the score below - note that the meter isn't constant and that the pattern seems to be anacrusic. Speak the rhythmic pattern in tas and ta-tis, then transcribe it.
Check your transcribed rhythm against the score here:
http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/images/7/74/Lejeune_Revecy.pdf
What metric decisions did you make aurally? Do they differ from the notation here? How?
Now, sing through the various parts in solfa -- nothing too difficult, yes? Almost completely diatonic (the odd fi and di pop up, but nothing earth-shattering), and lots of stepwise motion. What do you notice about the texture throughout the piece.
Finally, read this little Wikipedia write-up on the genre this piece is frequently used to exemplify in music history classes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musique_mesurée
So yeah, it's a piece about spring, but evidently it was also one more weapon in the arsenal of a bunch of French guys looking to save the world through music. Some commentators have also said that the rhythmic pattern of this little ditty (though the same pattern is also found in Latin American dances) was actually Bernstein's inspiration for writing this piece...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rjy9acXwovE
Rising Level 3's
Listen to this lovely tune:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjJzPok_qmE
After one time through the whole recording, I bet you'll be able to derive the form of each strophe -- what is the form? What is the meter? How long does each phrase last?
Now that you have that information, listen a few more times and put each line into solfa. Which line has the chromatic bit? What interval does the chromatic syllable create with the note it is approached by? How does the singer in the recording treat the chromatic note?
Memorize the melody. Transcribe it in a key comfortable for your voice.
Now, look at this score:
(higher voices)
http://conquest.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/c/c0/IMSLP46772-PMLP99648-Mozart_-_Sehnsucht_nach_dem_Fr__hlinge__K_596.pdf
(lower voices)
http://javanese.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/0/0e/IMSLP115749-PMLP99648-Mozart_-_Sehnsucht_MV_rsl.pdf
Does your solfa line up with what you see here?
Now, notice how simple the accompaniment is...you probably discerned that from the recording (although the pianist there added some fancy stuff), and maybe you even saw this phase of the assignment coming...
Do a quick Roman numeral analysis of the accompaniment, including figured bass.
Now, either working from your figured bass (which might prove to be easier) or from the score, accompany yourself as you sing the memorized melody in solfa. If that's easy, transpose to a new key.
Rising Level 4's
Listen to this piece:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MhxgM84Th8&feature=related
Listen to the whole thing the first time to get a sense of what happens in the piece. Then, focus on the first statement of the melody by the sopranos and altos. What is the metric structure of this theme -- is there one meter throughout, or are there several (hint: watch the conductor...he's extremely clear!)? What is the tonal language being used?
The words (drawn from the Song of Solomon in the Bible) are:
Awake, O north wind, and come, thou south;
Blow upon my garden
That the spices may flow out
That the spices flow out
Let my beloved come into his garden
And eat his pleasant fruits.
Memorize the theme (upper part when it splits briefly) with the words. Notice that it is treated imitatively later in the piece -- what do you think this depicts?
Now for the tricky part -- try to solmize this. It won't be easy, but I bet you can do it. You have my permission to use piano to help yourself if you get reeeeeeeeally stuck, but try to go without it as much as possible. Here are my hints:
You will probably be tempted to call the first leap in the melody mi-la. You can do that, but it'll mean you'll need to use fi several times later on. However, the good news is that that's the only chromatic syllable you'll need at all -- and you won't even need that if you call the first leap la-re.
The first note and last note of the tune are the same.
The highest note in the piece is an octave and a fifth above the starting note.
If you successfully solmize the whole theme, you should transcribe it and send it to me and I will tell you that you're wonderful and send you a prize. No, seriously, I will.
Good luck, all, and have a fantastic week!
Showing posts with label modes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label modes. Show all posts
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Monday, June 27, 2011
Nifty fifty....
Hello, solfa adventurers!
Guess what! Blogger (our host site) just told me that this is my fiftieth post! Now, the number really should be higher than that, if I were to have been consistent in my weekly posting since the blog's 2009 inception, but still....this is a milestone, and I think we should celebrate with some solfa and some beautiful music from La belle epoque....
Rising Level 2's
Day 1: Select 3 sight-singing examples (try Ottman, ch. 9) -- choose the 3 you'd like to try before you actually sing them. Begin with the first, and be sure to use your tuning fork to set your key. As you begin, take notice of what you do to prepare yourself for the task at hand, and after you're done with the first example, make some decisions about what to do differently for the next example, and build upon this experience for the third example. Once you've completed all three examples, make a note of which process was most successful for you, and write it out, step-by-step.
Day 2: Using your step-by-step list from yesterday, sing through 3 more sight-singing examples. Does the process still work for you? Edit as needed.
Day 3: Type up your process and save it as a PDF...email it to me and to your colleagues so we can compare notes!
Day 4: Look over other folks' processes and compare theirs to yours. Hunt down some new melodies and try out someone else's process. How does it work for you?
Day 5: Take a look at this beautiful piece by Reynaldo Hahn:
Sing through the melody....what do you suppose is happening with that E-natural?
Rising Level 3's
Follow the instructions above, but use Ottman chapters 13 and 14 for your sight-singing fodder...or the Haydn section of Classical Canons, if you prefer.
Also, on Day 5, look at this little gem, theme and variation 1:
How will you navigate through those chromatic passages? Will having an aural imprint of the theme (which is largely diatonic) help you along? I believe so....
Rising Level 4's
Follow the same instructions as the rising level 2's, but use the Mozart and Caldara portion of the Classical Canons book for your sight-singing fodder.
And, on day 5, look at this link, song #6:
What do you suppose "Mode Hypodorien" means? Do a little digging around (search for the anglicized spelling: "Hypodorian") and see what you come up with. Why would Mr. Hahn be fussing around with modes, anyway?
Oh, and extra points to anyone who can tell me (no Google/Wikipedia cheating!) where Reynaldo Hahn was born and what famous singer he was friends with....
Monday, May 23, 2011
Repetition and magic
My dear friends,
It's the end of the school year for most teachers here in CO....I'm guessing you all are winding down as well. All my best wishes to you as you endure to the end!
Over the past few weeks, it has been my pleasure to take on a few new students who are interested in studying music fundamentals. We've been having a really great time, as it turns out, and I've been learning a lot.
First, I tend to get all freaked out about people getting bored, so I like to move quickly from one thing to the next. However, it seems that this is yet another opportunity for me to witness that new knowledge has a sort of germination period that is a bit different for everyone, especially when dealing with a system (like music theory) where the nomenclature is so specific and fussy (i.e., "a note" is essentially synonymous with "a tone", but "whole note" and "half note" refer to rhythm and not pitch, and "tone" and "semitone" refer to pitch, but so does "whole step" and "half step". Don't even get me started on the fact that seconds are one note apart, thirds are two notes apart, etc....that one really throws beginners). It isn't just a matter of memorizing the facts quickly and being able to recite them. It's a matter of taking on a whole new system, constructing a new paradigm in which one can interact differently with information, and building the system into one's head in order to master that interaction....all this on top of the actual vocabulary, mind you. So, patience is extremely important. This kind of rewiring is delicate and difficult work, and it takes both time and repetition.
Conversely, the moment when it clicks....is magic! And, the privilege of watching someone's face when s/he first independently aligns information with an understanding of the system at work is astonishing. Whether the person having this experience is young or old, male or female...it seems not to matter. In that moment, s/he makes a discovery that is newly and miraculously his/her property forever. No one can take it away. It is the best kind of empowerment. However, the stage must be set. Understanding of the system has to be there as a foundation, and the encounter with new information needs to be timed just right.
All Levels:
This week, your challenge is to take on something that puzzles you, something you've looked at before and couldn't quite get your head around. Maybe it's secondary dominants (use section 2 of chapter 13 from the Ottman, or chapter 17 from Benjamin/Horvit/Nelson), maybe it's modes (check out "Modes Made Easy" and use chapter 20 in the Ottman), maybe it's spotting modulations (check out the rising 4's assignment from last week...listening with the score really, really helps your ear grasp the concept, and your eye will get quicker with repetition...the later Kodály 15 2-parts have good imitative examples, too). It could be anything, and you likely know best what your own weak spot is. Make this week an exercise in exploring it. Take time to look at the problem from a variety of perspectives. Use music you like, or music that you've performed earlier in your life on your primary instrument...take steps to make it fun!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
The Armed Man
Hello, solfa crusaders!
Whew! This week has been a whirlwind! Classes are in full swing, choirs are all back in session as of tonight...the plates, they are a-spinning!
The most unusual thing I've been up to so far has been a presentation I gave to Douglas County music teachers on repertoire-driven musical literacy. These nice people sat through a lot of me talking and asking them lots of strange questions (you know, the kind of stuff I torture you poor AKI people with for 3 weeks straight every summer) and giving them various "gifts" (see previous parenthetical statement). It was a really good learning experience for me, and at the end of the day's activities, a very nice woman who teaches elementary general music stayed behind to talk to me for awhile. In my tired end-of-the-day state, I probably overshared my personal convictions about musical literacy -- basically, that I think of it as comparable in many ways to teaching people in impoverished conditions to read and write language, thereby empowering them to make their lives better (and I probably said something about overthrowing their oppressors, too...I guess that means my default setting in a state of mental fatigue is "Norma Rae"...). And, to my hindsight's surprise, this woman not only didn't start backing out of the room, she seemed to really agree. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised at the general aura of receptivity over the course of the day. It seems that musical literacy may be an idea whose time has come.
Now, in my life as a graduate student, I am currently in a very cool class on vocal music in the Renaissance, and the focus of the first half of the class is polyphonic mass settings based upon the "L'Homme Arme" tune. Chances are you've come across this tune at some point in your musical studies, but I know I'm learning tons of stuff about it I never knew before...the folks writing these mass settings really went nuts with this tune, and folks in the 20th and 21st centuries have spilled a lot of ink over trying to figure out whose setting came first and what the significance of this tune was to the people who were using it (among other issues). I'll take the risk of over-simplifying and say that the tune definitely seems to have acted as a rallying point, a means for people to say that they were in on something, whether it was a musical idea, a military goal, or a political opinion. So, since I seem to be a little extra Norma Rae-ish these days, I thought we might have a little fun of our own with the Armed Man.
Rising Level 2's
Check out this link:
Sing through the original melody, which you could think of as basically being in 6/4, but felt in 2 -- the number of dotted-half-note beats is 32 (31 + 1, actually -- for specific political reasons, it seems...if you're curious, look up The Order of the Golden Fleece). I'd sing it as so-so' Mixolydian (feel free to transpose if it's more comfortable).
Now, look ahead to Ockeghem's Kyrie and sing through the tenor line (note that it's in 3/2). With the exception of the last 4 bars, what's going on with the tenor line as it relates to the opening melody?
OK, now the fun begins -- go back to the original melody and add a B-flat to the signature. Now sing the melody with the B-flat (I recommend re-re' Dorian). What do you think? Do you like it better this way? As it turns out, lots of composers decided to use the tune this way, too....Ockeghem did, too, later in this same mass, but not in the Kyrie.
Go ahead and sing through the other voice parts as written. Heck, have a little L'Homme Arme sing-along with some of your pals!
Rising Level 3's
Go through the same steps as the rising Level 2's.
Now, in addition to singing the melody in so-so' Mixolydian and re-re' Dorian, I'd like you to also experiment with a two-flat signature (Aeolian) and a one-sharp signature (Ionian). What works the best for your ear? Apply your favorite rendition to a sing-through of one of the other voice parts of the Kyrie. What happens?
Rising Level 4's
Go through the same steps as the rising Level 2's.
Now, in addition to singing the melody in so-so' Mixolydian and re-re' Dorian, I'd like you to also experiment with a two-flat signature (Aeolian), a one-sharp signature (Ionian), and a two-sharp signature (Lydian). Lydian is particularly difficult....why? Would they have used this version in the early Renaissance? Why not? Apply your favorite rendition to a sing-through of one of the other voice parts of the Kyrie.
All Levels
Knowing what you now know about the opening contour of this melody, do you hear a striking resemblance to the chorus of this well-known tune:
Hmmmmm.....
Oh, and you can listen to a cool performance of the whole Ockeghem Missa L'Homme Arme here:
Just keep following the links in the right sidebar to find the Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei. Now that you know the tune, can your ear pick it out of the polyphonic texture? Do you notice that the notes on the page for the Kyrie are somewhat altered in this performance, especially at cadences? What are the singers doing?
Enjoy!
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