Welcome, readers!
DISCLAIMER: While I'd like to think this post will be musically substantive, you should probably know up front that I'm going to sound kind of like a hippie. But, since I grew up in Portland and have spent the last decade spending large portions of my time in Boulder, I don't think any of you should really be that surprised.
Last week's Alan Lomax post, in combination with my journey to the OAKE conference a few weeks back, got me thinking about "music of the people" for the past few days. I tend to get a little shifty about this whole topic, torn between the fairly hard-core opinions of the traditional Kodály camp (the most conservative of whom tend to profess that the only legitimate folk music tradition in North America is that of its indigenous people, and all the English-language stuff is either stolen from Great Britain or composed, and therefore not technically folk music) and a more "progressive" point of view. I find the former far too restrictive (especially in its more extreme incarnations), but I'm also not entirely comfortable with the inclusion of songs like "Rock around the Clock" on this list assembled by NAofME (formerly MENC) of songs that have a place in the American "canon" of songs everyone should be able to sing. I think it's a sticky dilemma all around -- on the one hand, we want people to sing, and it stands to reason that they're more likely to sing songs they like. However, I sort of think of "Rock around the Clock" as the musical equivalent of Cheetos....many will find it appealing, but the song is fundamentally without musical or emotional (nutritional) value. And, like several other songs they include, it's pretty difficult to sing it well, which means that when people unaccustomed to singing try to sing it, it won't sound good. Now, one might argue that "it doesn't matter what it sounds like," but I agree with one of my favorite authorities on communal singing, Alice Parker, on this one. In her book Melodious Accord, Ms. Parker writes:
"...the statement 'I just want the people to enjoy singing; it doesn't matter how they sound' is meaningless. Music is sound, and the better it sounds, the better it is -- and the more people will be caught by it."
So, all of that has me taking a big step back into a more classic Kodály paradigm. But, at the same time, I don't really have a problem with "Edelweiss" or "Over the Rainbow" making the list. Is that just my personal taste talking? Maybe. Can we really consider either one of those pieces folk music? Nope. However, I think there's something emotionally honest and compelling about both of them, and I think they have melodies that are made for singing (even though there are some tricky leaps). I don't believe they're necessarily what we should be teaching kids to sing in kindergarten music classes, but I do think it'd be a great thing if kids grew up singing those songs at home with their families, and I feel that way about maybe 60% of that list, give or take. And, it should be said that I cut my teeth on the musical equivalent of strychnine in the form of really awful church music from the words-on-the-overhead-I-V-IV-I (no, that's not a typo)-sing-the-chorus-9000-times-Jesus-is-my-boyfriend tradition, and somehow I still came out loving Bach and Josquin, so there you go. Maybe all those Wee Sing and Simon & Garfunkel tunes (with a little help from the classical station always playing at my grandparents' house) were enough to prevent my permanent descent into the ignoble.
I'm asking all levels to do the same assignment yet again, but as always, I encourage you to regulate your own difficulty level -- if it's too easy, kick it up a notch; if it's too difficult, dial it back.
All Levels:
Read through this article:
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/03/how-communal-singing-disappeared-from-american-life/255094/
And check out this link (the NAofME list mentioned above):
http://www.nafme.org/resources/view/get-america-singing-again
Follow these steps:
1. Take a quick look through the list of songs on the link above. Without thinking too much about it, mark which ones you think everyone ought to be able to sing. If you don't know a song, skip it. If you're feeling conflicted because you LOVE a song, but you fear it might be trashy, include it -- I promise not to judge you.
2. Make a note of how much of NAofME's collection you actually chose to use. Sort the pieces into genres: true folk songs, patriotic songs, composed traditional songs (I'd put Stephen Foster in this category, but I'll leave John Denver and Joni Mitchell up to you), pop songs, or any other designation you come up with.
3. Dust off your solfa chops and put syllables to a few songs from each genre. Try to transcribe one from each genre in a key you think is appropriate for communal singing.
4. Analyze your transcriptions informally, but with an eye towards the elements you look for in your song collection analyses. What elements are easy to find? What elements are almost non-existent? What makes a song difficult or easy? How did you deal with the rhythms in the more syncopated examples? Did you find that you really didn't want to have to write down the rhythms the way that you actually sing them?
5. If you were to make your own list from the songs you chose, plus others you know, what songs would you include? Remember, these are songs you think every grownup in North America should know and be able to sing...not necessarily the songs you'd use in your classroom (so, in a sense, I'm asking you to choose with your heart rather than your head). How do your examples differ from the songs you chose to leave off your list? Do your own examples come from your Kodály song collection, or from another source? How personal are these songs to you?
6. Just for fun, as you go about your daily life, sing some of your favorite songs -- with others, or just by yourself. Who knows? Maybe you'll inspire other grownups to lift up their voices and sing.
Showing posts with label online resources. Show all posts
Showing posts with label online resources. Show all posts
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Spring Break with Alan Lomax
Hello all!
Well, my writing obligations are not yet completely fulfilled, so I need to make another brief (and late....sorry!) post. However, the resource we'll be using is quite the treasure trove, and I hope it provides you with many happy hours of diversion, not only as solfa practitioners, but as people who are listening for the enrichment of your hearts.
All Levels:
First, read this:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2012/03/28/148915022/alan-lomaxs-massive-archive-goes-online
(I especially like the part where the blogger describes Alan's analytical system as being "like Pandora for grad students".....yeah, dude, if you only knew.....)
Then, follow the link in the article here:
http://research.culturalequity.org/home-audio.jsp
(the server seems to be pretty busy, so be persistent if it doesn't work the first time)
Break out your tuning forks and manuscript paper (or stick notation), and get ready to party. You might even be able to add to your song collection!
Listen, transcribe, and enjoy!
Well, my writing obligations are not yet completely fulfilled, so I need to make another brief (and late....sorry!) post. However, the resource we'll be using is quite the treasure trove, and I hope it provides you with many happy hours of diversion, not only as solfa practitioners, but as people who are listening for the enrichment of your hearts.
All Levels:
First, read this:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2012/03/28/148915022/alan-lomaxs-massive-archive-goes-online
(I especially like the part where the blogger describes Alan's analytical system as being "like Pandora for grad students".....yeah, dude, if you only knew.....)
Then, follow the link in the article here:
http://research.culturalequity.org/home-audio.jsp
(the server seems to be pretty busy, so be persistent if it doesn't work the first time)
Break out your tuning forks and manuscript paper (or stick notation), and get ready to party. You might even be able to add to your song collection!
Listen, transcribe, and enjoy!
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Balance
Welcome, dear readers!
Spring-like weather is tentatively continuing here in Denver...I am attempting to remain skeptical, but all these sunny days have my hopes running sky-high for real spring! My journey to Phoenix later this week will probably only make it harder to keep my spring fever at bay, since they're expecting high 70's and 80's. I plan to bask unapologetically the entire time I'm there -- will any of you be joining the big OAKE party? If so, let me know, and let's catch up!
Thinking about the weather is an extremely pleasant distraction from the rigors of degree-finishing and future-forging that occupy most of my head-space at the moment. It's an interesting time, and my hopes are high -- I'm lucky to have good support from my faculty, and I believe that good things are on their way, employment-wise. Keeping the sense of urgency at bay is hard, sometimes too hard, and panic kicks me around the schoolyard and steals my sleep (like so much lunch money) and makes me feel like I'd better get my hands on a refrigerator box ASAP. And then, I'm lucky again...my dear friends help me piece my sense of well-being back together and remind me that sometimes I just need a good night's sleep and maybe an afternoon off...and having those things will not prevent me from getting everything done.
I'm sure I am not at all alone in this. The middle path is difficult to keep track of, and I'm not really sure why. It's just too easy to run to extremes -- enough somehow usually doesn't seem like enough. It's too big an issue for one little blog, really. But, a funny thing I caught myself doing two times today is sort of the inspiration for this week's assignment. Immediately upon both church services finishing, I made for the out-of-doors and immediately did something extremely silly -- skipping in my choir robe, quoting this movie, maniacal giggling, you get the idea. Why? Not because I disliked the services (I actually like the services and the music quite a bit), but because I had to behave myself just so for a certain period of time, causing a backlog of silliness that demanded to be set free the moment such a thing became possible. It felt good (like the proper resolution of a V7 or a 4-3 suspension), no one seemed to be the worse for wear, and balance was restored to my little corner of the universe. So, in that vein...
Rising Level 2's
Here's a little gem for you:
http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/images/5/53/Praetorius_-_Wie_schoen_leuchtet.pdf
We've dealt with this tune before, so hopefully it sounds a little familiar to you, though the rhythmic language of this setting is a bit more complex than what we've worked on before.
Therefore, start with the lowest line (extra points if you can tell me a little something about what "Bassus generalis pro organo si placet" means), just so you're not distracted by melodic material. Determine what meter you're actually in (hint: the top number in the time signature is NOT an 8, and neither should you count in 8), then tap or clap your way through. Once that feels comfortable enough, sing that bottom line (note the clef changes -- you may choose whatever octave you want to sing in).
Now, go do something silly for five minutes.
At your next practice session, look at the top line and clap/tap your way through. Try tapping the rhythm with one hand while you conduct with the other.
Now, go do something silly for five minutes.
Next time, sing through that top line. Note that the B-naturals are just a little chromatic inflection that you will call "fi" -- they shouldn't pose much of a problem.
Guess what? Go do something silly for five minutes.
Now, tackle the rhythm of the middle line....it's probably the most rhythmically challenging, and conducting along with your tapping is a good idea.
Done? Good...time for your five-minute break!
Try singing the middle line...like the top line, it has a "fi" here and there, but no worries.
And one more five-minute break!
If you can, find a friend or two to sing through this with....it'll be fun, and then you can take your silly breaks together!
Rising Level 3's
And here's a piece for you:
http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/images/sheet/scar-exr.pdf
Note that there's a rhythmic error in the next-to-last measure in the alto part -- that last C-sharp should be a whole note, not a half note.
You're going to follow the same general practice-break scheme as the 2's, but your learning procedure will be a little different.
First, look over the piece up to m. 45 and find what material Mr. Scarlatti used imitatively -- basically, you're hunting for motives or themes. The first one is easy: the opening of the soprano part, which I think you might call Theme A. Does it happen in other parts? Is it transposed? Find and label any repetitions. Then, find a few more themes like that in between the beginning of the piece and m. 45.
Now, what changes at m. 46 (hint: think texture)? How are you going to deal with the chromaticism you encounter? Go back through the whole piece and locate any places you suspect you may need to change keys.
Now, just tackle one vocal line per day. If you whip through that easily, do a solfa chord analysis of m. 46-end. Again, singing through the piece with friends could be a lot of fun....
Rising Level 4's
For you guys, something very Lenten and fun:
http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/images/f/fe/Battishill_o_lord_look_down.pdf
You're also on the alternation-of-work-and-fun plan, like the 2's, and your learning process is going to be rather similar to the 3's.
Begin by looking over the whole piece, noting any divisi and marking any homophonic sections. Do a cursory examination of the accidentals you encounter, and decide where you might want to change keys.
Now, look over the text and see if you can associate particular themes or motives with textual sections. Label these motives if you discover them.
Sing through the lines one at a time, paying special attention to intonation in any minor seconds or augmented seconds you encounter.
For fun, using the keyboard score (which is essentially a simplified reduction of the vocal lines), do a Roman numeral analysis of this piece. Or, if you don't have time for the whole piece, focus on these spots:
mm. 71-86 (in C minor)
m. 107-end (trust the key signature)
Enjoy!
Spring-like weather is tentatively continuing here in Denver...I am attempting to remain skeptical, but all these sunny days have my hopes running sky-high for real spring! My journey to Phoenix later this week will probably only make it harder to keep my spring fever at bay, since they're expecting high 70's and 80's. I plan to bask unapologetically the entire time I'm there -- will any of you be joining the big OAKE party? If so, let me know, and let's catch up!
Thinking about the weather is an extremely pleasant distraction from the rigors of degree-finishing and future-forging that occupy most of my head-space at the moment. It's an interesting time, and my hopes are high -- I'm lucky to have good support from my faculty, and I believe that good things are on their way, employment-wise. Keeping the sense of urgency at bay is hard, sometimes too hard, and panic kicks me around the schoolyard and steals my sleep (like so much lunch money) and makes me feel like I'd better get my hands on a refrigerator box ASAP. And then, I'm lucky again...my dear friends help me piece my sense of well-being back together and remind me that sometimes I just need a good night's sleep and maybe an afternoon off...and having those things will not prevent me from getting everything done.
I'm sure I am not at all alone in this. The middle path is difficult to keep track of, and I'm not really sure why. It's just too easy to run to extremes -- enough somehow usually doesn't seem like enough. It's too big an issue for one little blog, really. But, a funny thing I caught myself doing two times today is sort of the inspiration for this week's assignment. Immediately upon both church services finishing, I made for the out-of-doors and immediately did something extremely silly -- skipping in my choir robe, quoting this movie, maniacal giggling, you get the idea. Why? Not because I disliked the services (I actually like the services and the music quite a bit), but because I had to behave myself just so for a certain period of time, causing a backlog of silliness that demanded to be set free the moment such a thing became possible. It felt good (like the proper resolution of a V7 or a 4-3 suspension), no one seemed to be the worse for wear, and balance was restored to my little corner of the universe. So, in that vein...
Rising Level 2's
Here's a little gem for you:
http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/images/5/53/Praetorius_-_Wie_schoen_leuchtet.pdf
We've dealt with this tune before, so hopefully it sounds a little familiar to you, though the rhythmic language of this setting is a bit more complex than what we've worked on before.
Therefore, start with the lowest line (extra points if you can tell me a little something about what "Bassus generalis pro organo si placet" means), just so you're not distracted by melodic material. Determine what meter you're actually in (hint: the top number in the time signature is NOT an 8, and neither should you count in 8), then tap or clap your way through. Once that feels comfortable enough, sing that bottom line (note the clef changes -- you may choose whatever octave you want to sing in).
Now, go do something silly for five minutes.
At your next practice session, look at the top line and clap/tap your way through. Try tapping the rhythm with one hand while you conduct with the other.
Now, go do something silly for five minutes.
Next time, sing through that top line. Note that the B-naturals are just a little chromatic inflection that you will call "fi" -- they shouldn't pose much of a problem.
Guess what? Go do something silly for five minutes.
Now, tackle the rhythm of the middle line....it's probably the most rhythmically challenging, and conducting along with your tapping is a good idea.
Done? Good...time for your five-minute break!
Try singing the middle line...like the top line, it has a "fi" here and there, but no worries.
And one more five-minute break!
If you can, find a friend or two to sing through this with....it'll be fun, and then you can take your silly breaks together!
Rising Level 3's
And here's a piece for you:
http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/images/sheet/scar-exr.pdf
Note that there's a rhythmic error in the next-to-last measure in the alto part -- that last C-sharp should be a whole note, not a half note.
You're going to follow the same general practice-break scheme as the 2's, but your learning procedure will be a little different.
First, look over the piece up to m. 45 and find what material Mr. Scarlatti used imitatively -- basically, you're hunting for motives or themes. The first one is easy: the opening of the soprano part, which I think you might call Theme A. Does it happen in other parts? Is it transposed? Find and label any repetitions. Then, find a few more themes like that in between the beginning of the piece and m. 45.
Now, what changes at m. 46 (hint: think texture)? How are you going to deal with the chromaticism you encounter? Go back through the whole piece and locate any places you suspect you may need to change keys.
Now, just tackle one vocal line per day. If you whip through that easily, do a solfa chord analysis of m. 46-end. Again, singing through the piece with friends could be a lot of fun....
Rising Level 4's
For you guys, something very Lenten and fun:
http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/images/f/fe/Battishill_o_lord_look_down.pdf
You're also on the alternation-of-work-and-fun plan, like the 2's, and your learning process is going to be rather similar to the 3's.
Begin by looking over the whole piece, noting any divisi and marking any homophonic sections. Do a cursory examination of the accidentals you encounter, and decide where you might want to change keys.
Now, look over the text and see if you can associate particular themes or motives with textual sections. Label these motives if you discover them.
Sing through the lines one at a time, paying special attention to intonation in any minor seconds or augmented seconds you encounter.
For fun, using the keyboard score (which is essentially a simplified reduction of the vocal lines), do a Roman numeral analysis of this piece. Or, if you don't have time for the whole piece, focus on these spots:
mm. 71-86 (in C minor)
m. 107-end (trust the key signature)
Enjoy!
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Dear March, come in!
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!
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!
Monday, February 27, 2012
Choose to Bless the World
Greetings, dear friends!
Well, it's happened....I got older today -- a nice prime number this time around, and have had a great day of feeling extremely loved and remembered. What more could a person want?
It's been a busy weekend (ergo the late post!), but a good one, filled in part with rehearsals with my beloved Denver Gay Men's Chorus. They're prepping for a very exciting collaboration at the moment, and one of the pieces they've begun rehearsing has struck quite a chord with me, especially as a new year of life begins. The piece is "Choose to Bless the World" by Nick Page, and is based on three divergent somewhat unlikely elements: Page's own arrangement of "Niska Banja," a poem by a Unitarian Universalist minister named Rebecca Parker, and Michael Praetorius' well-known canon "Jubilate Deo" -- you can listen to/watch a recording of one of my new favorite people conducting it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xabP5G-Q1A
(I know, it has the Lentenly forbidden A-word, but try to forgive me...)
The full text of the poem is this:
Your gifts
whatever you discover them to be
can be used to bless or curse the world.
The mind's power,
The strength of the hands,
The reaches of the heart,
the gift of speaking, listening, imagining, seeing, waiting
Any of these can serve to feed the hungry,
bind up wounds,
welcome the stranger,
praise what is sacred,
do the work of justice
or offer love.
Any of these can draw down the prison door
hoard bread,
abandon the poor,
obscure what is holy,
comply with injustice
or withhold love.
You must answer this question:
What will you do with your gifts?
Choose to bless the world.
Cynicism and exhaustion are by-products of almost any graduate program, I think (and as many of my AKI students will likely attest), and it can be hard to remember that we still have a choice. We don't have to buy into the drama that our little grad program worlds tend to create. Or, if we do, we can catch ourselves and make a new choice. The circumstances of our lives are what they are, and on days when we're feeling the burn, it can be so hard to remember this, but we still have a choice. In every moment, no matter how crappy we think we are, no matter how hard things have been, no matter how little we think we have to offer, the choice is still there. We can choose to bless the world....and the secret wonder of making that choice is that it doesn't take anything away from us to do this. Our egos and bone-weariness might convince us that trying to bless the world is like trying to get blood from a turnip. But, it's not a matter of trying. It's a matter of choosing to honor what we already are in a state of being....we are each and all a blessing to the world.
So, if you have the energy and the inclination, there are lots of cool things you could transcribe from the recording above, or you could teach yourself to hand-sign the canon in two parts (or three -- one with your voice and one with each hand), or you could always catch up on your sight-singing. However, the assignment I'm going to work hard to embrace this week and in the coming year is this:
All Levels:
Choose to bless the world.
Well, it's happened....I got older today -- a nice prime number this time around, and have had a great day of feeling extremely loved and remembered. What more could a person want?
It's been a busy weekend (ergo the late post!), but a good one, filled in part with rehearsals with my beloved Denver Gay Men's Chorus. They're prepping for a very exciting collaboration at the moment, and one of the pieces they've begun rehearsing has struck quite a chord with me, especially as a new year of life begins. The piece is "Choose to Bless the World" by Nick Page, and is based on three divergent somewhat unlikely elements: Page's own arrangement of "Niska Banja," a poem by a Unitarian Universalist minister named Rebecca Parker, and Michael Praetorius' well-known canon "Jubilate Deo" -- you can listen to/watch a recording of one of my new favorite people conducting it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xabP5G-Q1A
(I know, it has the Lentenly forbidden A-word, but try to forgive me...)
The full text of the poem is this:
Your gifts
whatever you discover them to be
can be used to bless or curse the world.
The mind's power,
The strength of the hands,
The reaches of the heart,
the gift of speaking, listening, imagining, seeing, waiting
Any of these can serve to feed the hungry,
bind up wounds,
welcome the stranger,
praise what is sacred,
do the work of justice
or offer love.
Any of these can draw down the prison door
hoard bread,
abandon the poor,
obscure what is holy,
comply with injustice
or withhold love.
You must answer this question:
What will you do with your gifts?
Choose to bless the world.
Cynicism and exhaustion are by-products of almost any graduate program, I think (and as many of my AKI students will likely attest), and it can be hard to remember that we still have a choice. We don't have to buy into the drama that our little grad program worlds tend to create. Or, if we do, we can catch ourselves and make a new choice. The circumstances of our lives are what they are, and on days when we're feeling the burn, it can be so hard to remember this, but we still have a choice. In every moment, no matter how crappy we think we are, no matter how hard things have been, no matter how little we think we have to offer, the choice is still there. We can choose to bless the world....and the secret wonder of making that choice is that it doesn't take anything away from us to do this. Our egos and bone-weariness might convince us that trying to bless the world is like trying to get blood from a turnip. But, it's not a matter of trying. It's a matter of choosing to honor what we already are in a state of being....we are each and all a blessing to the world.
So, if you have the energy and the inclination, there are lots of cool things you could transcribe from the recording above, or you could teach yourself to hand-sign the canon in two parts (or three -- one with your voice and one with each hand), or you could always catch up on your sight-singing. However, the assignment I'm going to work hard to embrace this week and in the coming year is this:
All Levels:
Choose to bless the world.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
O tell me the truth about love
Greetings, much-loved solfeggists!
First, in honor of Valentine's Day, please indulge me in reading the following by one of my all-time favorite poets, W.H. Auden. Benjamin Britten set it and three of Auden's other poems about love in his "Cabaret Songs" -- you can follow this link to hear a performance of all four songs (the audio quality isn't the best....sorry!).
Some say that love's a little boy, and some say it's a bird,
Some say it makes the world go round, and some say that's absurd:
But when I asked the man next door who looked as if he knew,
His wife grew very cross indeed and said it wouldn't do.
Does it look like a pair of pyjamas or the ham in a temperance hotel?
O tell me the truth about love.
Does its odour remind one of llamas, or has it a comforting smell?
O tell me the truth about love.
Is it prickly to touch as a hedge is, or soft as an eiderdown fluff?
Is it sharp or quite smooth at the edges?
O tell me the truth about love.
I looked inside the summerhouse, it wasn't ever there,
I've tried the Thames at Maidenhead and Brighton's bracing air;
I don't know what the blackbird sang or what the roses said,
But it wasn't in the chicken run or underneath the bed.
Can it pull extraordinary faces? Is it usually sick on a swing?
O tell me the truth about love.
Does it spend all its time at the races, or fiddling with pieces of string?
O tell me the truth about love.
Has it views of its own about money? Does it think patriotism enough?
Are its stories vulgar, but funny?
O tell me the truth about love.
Your feelings when you meet it, I am told, you can't forget,
I've sought it since I was a child but haven't found it yet;
I'm getting on for thirty-five, and still I do not know
What kind of creature it can be that bothers people so.
When it comes, will it come without warning, just as I'm picking my nose?
O tell me the truth about love.
Will it knock on my door in the morning, or tread in the bus on my toes?
O tell me the truth about love.
Will it come like a change in the weather? Will its greeting be courteous or bluff?
Will it alter my life altogether?
O tell me the truth about love.
Clearly, Auden isn't being too serious about all this (ergo the allusion to nose-picking), but his request is well-taken. We've all been enculturated into the rosiest of illusions about love, courtesy of the Disney princesses, Hallmark, eHarmony, etc. We've also seen the reality of our own and others' relationships, and the cognitive dissonance between the illusory and the real can be hard to take. In particular, I've been noticing that this concept of the ideal often prevents people from having the guts to talk about what's real (and what's really bothering us) because we feel guilty that we haven't managed somehow to magick fantasy into reality. Then, we get resentful because things drift ever further away from the way we want them to be, and it becomes harder and harder to salvage whatever's gone wrong. Luckily, no one has a perfect memory, and we all forget many of our disappointments, which turns into a kind of accidental forgiveness....but it's clear that this isn't a real solution, and sometimes it isn't so easy to wait until the feelings pass.
My rising level 3's will remember me saying several times this summer:
Solfa is like therapy. When you talk about your problems, it becomes a lot easier to solve them.
I'd like to add to that:
Your relationship to your own ideal musical self is like any other relationship. It doesn't thrive because you feel fuzzy about it. It thrives because you work on it.
This is not to say that you shouldn't enjoy the work. Lucky for us, there's a lot to love about being a musician, and we should strive to immerse ourselves in the most satisfying parts of that as often as we can, whether that's performing, listening, composing, whatever. But, there's also spinach to be eaten...and we can't expect to be virtuosi if we shy away from the aspects of our musicianship that fall short. We have to be honest about them. We have to talk about them. We have to give them some attention, and be ok with the fact that it might be intellectually and emotionally difficult in the short run. But, if we believe it's worth it, we have to try.
All Levels:
Take a look at this love song by Hans Leo Hassler:
http://www3.cpdl.org/wiki/images/sheet/hassler/hass-gmu.pdf
The gist of the text is, "Woe is me, I'm in love with someone too good for me..."
Sing through the melody first, and then as many of the harmony parts as you care to tackle.
Memorize the melody
Do a chordal analysis (rising 2's, do as much as you dare) -- you can take your pick of solfa chords (meaning that you start with a Do major) or Roman numerals.
Then, look at this setting of essentially the same melody:
http://www.saengerkreis-bamberg.de/noten/geistlich/passion/Bach_WennIchEinmalSollScheiden.pdf
Sing through the parts, and do a Roman numeral analysis (again, as you are able).
The text of this verse of the chorale (taken from Bach's St. Matthew Passion, and this harmonization is sung just after Christ dies) is:
When I must once and for all depart,
then do not depart from me;
when I must suffer death,
then stand by me;
when my heart will be
most fearful,
then snatch me from the terrors
by the virtue of your own fear and pain!
....and suddenly it's a whole other kind of love song. You can listen to it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8Q6rxdPT7A
And finally, to answer Mr. Auden's question:
Love is little, love is low
Love will make my spirit grow
Grow in peace, grow in light,
Love will do the thing that's right.
(Shaker Hymn)
Happy Valentine's Day!
First, in honor of Valentine's Day, please indulge me in reading the following by one of my all-time favorite poets, W.H. Auden. Benjamin Britten set it and three of Auden's other poems about love in his "Cabaret Songs" -- you can follow this link to hear a performance of all four songs (the audio quality isn't the best....sorry!).
Some say that love's a little boy, and some say it's a bird,
Some say it makes the world go round, and some say that's absurd:
But when I asked the man next door who looked as if he knew,
His wife grew very cross indeed and said it wouldn't do.
Does it look like a pair of pyjamas or the ham in a temperance hotel?
O tell me the truth about love.
Does its odour remind one of llamas, or has it a comforting smell?
O tell me the truth about love.
Is it prickly to touch as a hedge is, or soft as an eiderdown fluff?
Is it sharp or quite smooth at the edges?
O tell me the truth about love.
I looked inside the summerhouse, it wasn't ever there,
I've tried the Thames at Maidenhead and Brighton's bracing air;
I don't know what the blackbird sang or what the roses said,
But it wasn't in the chicken run or underneath the bed.
Can it pull extraordinary faces? Is it usually sick on a swing?
O tell me the truth about love.
Does it spend all its time at the races, or fiddling with pieces of string?
O tell me the truth about love.
Has it views of its own about money? Does it think patriotism enough?
Are its stories vulgar, but funny?
O tell me the truth about love.
Your feelings when you meet it, I am told, you can't forget,
I've sought it since I was a child but haven't found it yet;
I'm getting on for thirty-five, and still I do not know
What kind of creature it can be that bothers people so.
When it comes, will it come without warning, just as I'm picking my nose?
O tell me the truth about love.
Will it knock on my door in the morning, or tread in the bus on my toes?
O tell me the truth about love.
Will it come like a change in the weather? Will its greeting be courteous or bluff?
Will it alter my life altogether?
O tell me the truth about love.
Clearly, Auden isn't being too serious about all this (ergo the allusion to nose-picking), but his request is well-taken. We've all been enculturated into the rosiest of illusions about love, courtesy of the Disney princesses, Hallmark, eHarmony, etc. We've also seen the reality of our own and others' relationships, and the cognitive dissonance between the illusory and the real can be hard to take. In particular, I've been noticing that this concept of the ideal often prevents people from having the guts to talk about what's real (and what's really bothering us) because we feel guilty that we haven't managed somehow to magick fantasy into reality. Then, we get resentful because things drift ever further away from the way we want them to be, and it becomes harder and harder to salvage whatever's gone wrong. Luckily, no one has a perfect memory, and we all forget many of our disappointments, which turns into a kind of accidental forgiveness....but it's clear that this isn't a real solution, and sometimes it isn't so easy to wait until the feelings pass.
My rising level 3's will remember me saying several times this summer:
Solfa is like therapy. When you talk about your problems, it becomes a lot easier to solve them.
I'd like to add to that:
Your relationship to your own ideal musical self is like any other relationship. It doesn't thrive because you feel fuzzy about it. It thrives because you work on it.
This is not to say that you shouldn't enjoy the work. Lucky for us, there's a lot to love about being a musician, and we should strive to immerse ourselves in the most satisfying parts of that as often as we can, whether that's performing, listening, composing, whatever. But, there's also spinach to be eaten...and we can't expect to be virtuosi if we shy away from the aspects of our musicianship that fall short. We have to be honest about them. We have to talk about them. We have to give them some attention, and be ok with the fact that it might be intellectually and emotionally difficult in the short run. But, if we believe it's worth it, we have to try.
All Levels:
Take a look at this love song by Hans Leo Hassler:
http://www3.cpdl.org/wiki/images/sheet/hassler/hass-gmu.pdf
The gist of the text is, "Woe is me, I'm in love with someone too good for me..."
Sing through the melody first, and then as many of the harmony parts as you care to tackle.
Memorize the melody
Do a chordal analysis (rising 2's, do as much as you dare) -- you can take your pick of solfa chords (meaning that you start with a Do major) or Roman numerals.
Then, look at this setting of essentially the same melody:
http://www.saengerkreis-bamberg.de/noten/geistlich/passion/Bach_WennIchEinmalSollScheiden.pdf
Sing through the parts, and do a Roman numeral analysis (again, as you are able).
The text of this verse of the chorale (taken from Bach's St. Matthew Passion, and this harmonization is sung just after Christ dies) is:
When I must once and for all depart,
then do not depart from me;
when I must suffer death,
then stand by me;
when my heart will be
most fearful,
then snatch me from the terrors
by the virtue of your own fear and pain!
....and suddenly it's a whole other kind of love song. You can listen to it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8Q6rxdPT7A
And finally, to answer Mr. Auden's question:
Love is little, love is low
Love will make my spirit grow
Grow in peace, grow in light,
Love will do the thing that's right.
(Shaker Hymn)
Happy Valentine's Day!
Sunday, January 22, 2012
The Morning Star
Greetings, dear solfeggists!
I'm safely through my last first week of classes as a graduate student, and the part about safe is more important to me than usual. Why? Well, there's been a little weirdness afoot in my life, and I think I've had an indirect hand in it, but I'm not entirely sure how to reverse it....or if I want to.
You see, for much of the holiday break, there was a fair amount of hand-wringing going on around my house about the future. Theoretically, I only have to start worrying about the future in earnest if I really pull myself together and graduate like I'm planning to, so I could put those worries off. However, I've reached that point of needing to graduate for the sake of my sanity...a hundred miles of driving for every school day simply can't continue indefinitely. So, over break I realized that means I need a plan, and I need it sort of immediately, and I drove myself up the wall for a week or so worrying about what the plan was going to entail. Then, once I got good and exhausted from that, I changed my tune. Nobody can control the future -- it'll be what it'll be, and I can get myself as ready as I can be, but I can't control it. I can look for jobs, apply for jobs, make my CV look like a million bucks, ask everyone I've ever met for letters of recommendation, and put together the best conducting video known to humankind, and I still won't be able to control the future. So, I started saying to the Universe:
Look....I'm throwing myself on your mercy. I'm scared, but here we go.
And, after the last week, I'm not sure I can recommend this course of action if what you want is peace of mind, but I can definitely recommend it if you're looking for some excitement. Of course, there's no way to say for certain that my change in perspective has caused any of this, but suddenly things are moving in quite an unusual way, quite an unexpected way, and I'm not comfortable with it, but I'm too curious about it to dig in my heels. I still can't control the future, and the future is now looking a lot more open than I expected just a few weeks ago. For the first time in a long time, it looks like an adventure instead of a series of bills I have to figure out how to pay or deadlines I have to meet. And really, it only took a week of strangeness, just a few odd incidents to shake me into this renewed perspective. I don't know what's going to happen. I know a few things have started to happen that I didn't expect, and if they can blindside me like that, just about anything else could follow. I'm only writing my own lines in this script, and there's no way of knowing for sure what anyone else will do or say or what their timing will be like. So, we have to improvise, roll with the punches, keep the center of gravity low...and realize that we are at the mercy of a lot of forces we don't control or fully understand.
In the midst of all of this, we can be especially grateful that we are musicians. Why? Well, we are bearers of a tradition that has bequeathed us the best kind of toolkit for dealing with chaos and unpredictability: beauty, and the knowledge that it is fleeting.
All Levels:
I can't think of a better example of this than Bach, a musical Rumpelstiltskin par excellence....the man not only knew how to seize a moment, he could spin a simple tune like this one (about the beauty of the morning star) into a masterpiece like no one else:
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Scores/BWV001-V&P.pdf
Begin with the chorale at the end of the piece (p. 41). Sing through each part in solfa, paying particular attention to the soprano melody. Notice the form of the tune (you must take the repeat). If you're a rising level 3, you may recognize it from the duet in Cantata 37 from a few weeks back.
Memorize the melody....believe me, it's worth keeping in your mental library.
Now, go back to the beginning of the piece and sing the soprano part of the whole piece. Does it look/sound familiar? How does this part function in relationship to the other three voice parts, both in terms of form and texture? Do the parts come together homophonically at any point? If so, why do you think it happens there? You may want to refer to the text translation in order to answer that last question.
Tackle as many of the other voice parts in the opening movement as you feel able to deal with. There is definitely some flirting with other key areas going on, but Bach doesn't stray too far.....why do you think that is?
If you found all of that reasonably easy, do a Roman numeral analysis of the final chorale and compare it to the key areas visited/referenced in the opening movement. Is there any correspondence?
My friends, embrace the beauty around you -- in the morning star, in the stark beauty of winter, in your lives and the lives of other people. We don't know what's going to happen. But, we have what we have right now.
I'm safely through my last first week of classes as a graduate student, and the part about safe is more important to me than usual. Why? Well, there's been a little weirdness afoot in my life, and I think I've had an indirect hand in it, but I'm not entirely sure how to reverse it....or if I want to.
You see, for much of the holiday break, there was a fair amount of hand-wringing going on around my house about the future. Theoretically, I only have to start worrying about the future in earnest if I really pull myself together and graduate like I'm planning to, so I could put those worries off. However, I've reached that point of needing to graduate for the sake of my sanity...a hundred miles of driving for every school day simply can't continue indefinitely. So, over break I realized that means I need a plan, and I need it sort of immediately, and I drove myself up the wall for a week or so worrying about what the plan was going to entail. Then, once I got good and exhausted from that, I changed my tune. Nobody can control the future -- it'll be what it'll be, and I can get myself as ready as I can be, but I can't control it. I can look for jobs, apply for jobs, make my CV look like a million bucks, ask everyone I've ever met for letters of recommendation, and put together the best conducting video known to humankind, and I still won't be able to control the future. So, I started saying to the Universe:
Look....I'm throwing myself on your mercy. I'm scared, but here we go.
And, after the last week, I'm not sure I can recommend this course of action if what you want is peace of mind, but I can definitely recommend it if you're looking for some excitement. Of course, there's no way to say for certain that my change in perspective has caused any of this, but suddenly things are moving in quite an unusual way, quite an unexpected way, and I'm not comfortable with it, but I'm too curious about it to dig in my heels. I still can't control the future, and the future is now looking a lot more open than I expected just a few weeks ago. For the first time in a long time, it looks like an adventure instead of a series of bills I have to figure out how to pay or deadlines I have to meet. And really, it only took a week of strangeness, just a few odd incidents to shake me into this renewed perspective. I don't know what's going to happen. I know a few things have started to happen that I didn't expect, and if they can blindside me like that, just about anything else could follow. I'm only writing my own lines in this script, and there's no way of knowing for sure what anyone else will do or say or what their timing will be like. So, we have to improvise, roll with the punches, keep the center of gravity low...and realize that we are at the mercy of a lot of forces we don't control or fully understand.
In the midst of all of this, we can be especially grateful that we are musicians. Why? Well, we are bearers of a tradition that has bequeathed us the best kind of toolkit for dealing with chaos and unpredictability: beauty, and the knowledge that it is fleeting.
All Levels:
I can't think of a better example of this than Bach, a musical Rumpelstiltskin par excellence....the man not only knew how to seize a moment, he could spin a simple tune like this one (about the beauty of the morning star) into a masterpiece like no one else:
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Scores/BWV001-V&P.pdf
Begin with the chorale at the end of the piece (p. 41). Sing through each part in solfa, paying particular attention to the soprano melody. Notice the form of the tune (you must take the repeat). If you're a rising level 3, you may recognize it from the duet in Cantata 37 from a few weeks back.
Memorize the melody....believe me, it's worth keeping in your mental library.
Now, go back to the beginning of the piece and sing the soprano part of the whole piece. Does it look/sound familiar? How does this part function in relationship to the other three voice parts, both in terms of form and texture? Do the parts come together homophonically at any point? If so, why do you think it happens there? You may want to refer to the text translation in order to answer that last question.
Tackle as many of the other voice parts in the opening movement as you feel able to deal with. There is definitely some flirting with other key areas going on, but Bach doesn't stray too far.....why do you think that is?
If you found all of that reasonably easy, do a Roman numeral analysis of the final chorale and compare it to the key areas visited/referenced in the opening movement. Is there any correspondence?
My friends, embrace the beauty around you -- in the morning star, in the stark beauty of winter, in your lives and the lives of other people. We don't know what's going to happen. But, we have what we have right now.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Bit by bit
Greetings!
It's the first post of 2012, my friends, and I've proclaimed this the year of "One _______ at a time." As in:
Q. How do you eat an elephant?
A. One bite at a time.
Q. How do you finish a doctorate?
A. One project at a time.
Q. How do you improve your musicianship?
A. One practice session at a time.
There's more, but you get the picture. You see, January has felt pretty heavy so far, in part because I'm such a future-tripper. You can probably guess what future-tripping is (I'm borrowing the term from a friend of mine, who wisely advises against it....against future tripping, that is) -- living in some imagined reality that hasn't happened yet and is based on all manner of predictions, assumptions, words we've put in other people's mouths in imagined conversations that have yet to take place, etc. When I choose to live in this kind of projected reality (a choice I usually don't realize I've made right away), I take on burdens that aren't yet mine to carry...which frequently results in mental exhaustion.
Just to be clear, I don't mean that planning ahead is a bad idea, nor do I think that flying by the seat of one's pants (under the supposed banner of "living in the moment") is the way to reach one's goals. I believe in long-range planning, in setting out a course and following through. But, while looking toward the future is one thing, a good thing, living in it rather than the present is a one-way ticket to stress and frustration. We are best equipped to move toward the future when we live in the present. This isn't easy, and I haven't met many people who can do this consistently without ongoing reminders. I know I can't. I generally have to wear myself to a frazzle with worry before I realize why everything seems so hard -- and it's usually because I'm trying to do everything at once and worry about everything at once instead of taking it one day and one project at a time.
The applications to solfa are pretty obvious. In fact, this philosophy is a big part of the motivation behind this blog: nobody undergoes a total transformation of their musical abilities in a three-week summer session, no matter how intense. So, I encourage you to work incrementally and consistently throughout the year, and if you do it, you'll get better. I don't know this because I can see the future. I know it because it happened to me, and I've watched it happen to others, bit by bit.
So, let's tackle a biggish piece of music and take it on a little at a time:
Rising Level 2's
Look at this piece:
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Scores/BWV037-V&P.pdf
Scroll down to page 23 and look at the chorale.
First, look at the melody. Despite the key signature, I'd advise you to begin in D major. After the first fermata, A major should work well. Sing through the melody a phrase at a time, then all the way through. Sing it through a few times, until it starts to really feel like a melody to you.
Next, look at the bass line. Lest your eyes go buggy with looking at all the accidentals on the page, realize that D-sharps are "di" in the first phrase only, and "fi" thereafter. C-natural is "ma" & it only happens in that little chromatically descending passage. All the other accidentals are either for courtesy or a return to regularly scheduled programming. Sing it through a few times, until you can follow the melody line out of the corner of your eye while you sing it.
Alto and tenor are next on the agenda, whichever you'd rather sing first. The alto line is pretty challenging to begin in D, so experiment with A, and possibly also E minor (remembering to call the C-sharp "fi" if you sing in E minor). Notice all the non-harmonic tones Bach uses...in my opinion, their artful placement is really what separates an A+ four-voice part-writing assignment from truly beautiful music.
Once you get through all four voices, call up a friend and sing through two at a time. Or, sing one and play another. Or, if you'd really like to warm the cockles of my heart, get a quartet together and sing through all four parts together!
Rising Level 3's
You'll be working from the same piece, but you'll start on page 9.
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Scores/BWV037-V&P.pdf
First, the rhythm....you see, J.S. Bach sometimes used a kind of shorthand when notating complicated rhythms in compound meter. Sometimes this shorthand leaves some room for interpretation, and this piece has several incidences of that. With few exceptions (and I challenge you to find them), if you think of the dotted quarter as being the beat, but a beat that can sometimes be divided into two equal eighths instead of three, you'll be fine.
Next, look at one voice at a time -- it might be good to start with the one that sits most easily in your voice (octave exchanges are acceptable). Notice that both voices begin somewhat simply and become more elaborate as the piece continues. I stay in D major the whole time for both voices.
Once you have a handle on one voice, switch to the other. If you run into a strange rhythmic snag, see if you can use the other voice to help you decide what to do.
Notice the patterns Bach used in the melismas....they're a lot less predictable than Handel, are they not? It's tricky to get them to sit in the voice....I'm in the middle of learning that the hard way (I'm singing the soprano part in a concert on Jan. 21...say a little prayer for me!).
Rising Level 4's
You, too, will be drinking at Bach's musical font, but you'll start with the opening movement -- the choral bits begin on p. 2.
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Scores/BWV037-V&P.pdf
Because you all are advanced, I'll leave the key changes up to you.
Begin with the bass voice, and only go as far as Rehearsal B to start with. Then, look at it in relation to the tenor, alto, and soprano voices. Is this a strict fugue? Why or why not?
Cover the ground from Rehearsal B to C next, beginning with the soprano voice this time, and going through the same comparative process.
Finally, work from letter C to the end, again using comparison as you go to help you navigate each line with information from the other lines.
If you like, use the alto/soprano duet at Rehearsal C as a sing/play, and if you had fun with that, do the same with the tenor/bass duet that follows.
Enjoy, my friends, and remember to take it one little bit at a time!
It's the first post of 2012, my friends, and I've proclaimed this the year of "One _______ at a time." As in:
Q. How do you eat an elephant?
A. One bite at a time.
Q. How do you finish a doctorate?
A. One project at a time.
Q. How do you improve your musicianship?
A. One practice session at a time.
There's more, but you get the picture. You see, January has felt pretty heavy so far, in part because I'm such a future-tripper. You can probably guess what future-tripping is (I'm borrowing the term from a friend of mine, who wisely advises against it....against future tripping, that is) -- living in some imagined reality that hasn't happened yet and is based on all manner of predictions, assumptions, words we've put in other people's mouths in imagined conversations that have yet to take place, etc. When I choose to live in this kind of projected reality (a choice I usually don't realize I've made right away), I take on burdens that aren't yet mine to carry...which frequently results in mental exhaustion.
Just to be clear, I don't mean that planning ahead is a bad idea, nor do I think that flying by the seat of one's pants (under the supposed banner of "living in the moment") is the way to reach one's goals. I believe in long-range planning, in setting out a course and following through. But, while looking toward the future is one thing, a good thing, living in it rather than the present is a one-way ticket to stress and frustration. We are best equipped to move toward the future when we live in the present. This isn't easy, and I haven't met many people who can do this consistently without ongoing reminders. I know I can't. I generally have to wear myself to a frazzle with worry before I realize why everything seems so hard -- and it's usually because I'm trying to do everything at once and worry about everything at once instead of taking it one day and one project at a time.
The applications to solfa are pretty obvious. In fact, this philosophy is a big part of the motivation behind this blog: nobody undergoes a total transformation of their musical abilities in a three-week summer session, no matter how intense. So, I encourage you to work incrementally and consistently throughout the year, and if you do it, you'll get better. I don't know this because I can see the future. I know it because it happened to me, and I've watched it happen to others, bit by bit.
So, let's tackle a biggish piece of music and take it on a little at a time:
Rising Level 2's
Look at this piece:
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Scores/BWV037-V&P.pdf
Scroll down to page 23 and look at the chorale.
First, look at the melody. Despite the key signature, I'd advise you to begin in D major. After the first fermata, A major should work well. Sing through the melody a phrase at a time, then all the way through. Sing it through a few times, until it starts to really feel like a melody to you.
Next, look at the bass line. Lest your eyes go buggy with looking at all the accidentals on the page, realize that D-sharps are "di" in the first phrase only, and "fi" thereafter. C-natural is "ma" & it only happens in that little chromatically descending passage. All the other accidentals are either for courtesy or a return to regularly scheduled programming. Sing it through a few times, until you can follow the melody line out of the corner of your eye while you sing it.
Alto and tenor are next on the agenda, whichever you'd rather sing first. The alto line is pretty challenging to begin in D, so experiment with A, and possibly also E minor (remembering to call the C-sharp "fi" if you sing in E minor). Notice all the non-harmonic tones Bach uses...in my opinion, their artful placement is really what separates an A+ four-voice part-writing assignment from truly beautiful music.
Once you get through all four voices, call up a friend and sing through two at a time. Or, sing one and play another. Or, if you'd really like to warm the cockles of my heart, get a quartet together and sing through all four parts together!
Rising Level 3's
You'll be working from the same piece, but you'll start on page 9.
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Scores/BWV037-V&P.pdf
First, the rhythm....you see, J.S. Bach sometimes used a kind of shorthand when notating complicated rhythms in compound meter. Sometimes this shorthand leaves some room for interpretation, and this piece has several incidences of that. With few exceptions (and I challenge you to find them), if you think of the dotted quarter as being the beat, but a beat that can sometimes be divided into two equal eighths instead of three, you'll be fine.
Next, look at one voice at a time -- it might be good to start with the one that sits most easily in your voice (octave exchanges are acceptable). Notice that both voices begin somewhat simply and become more elaborate as the piece continues. I stay in D major the whole time for both voices.
Once you have a handle on one voice, switch to the other. If you run into a strange rhythmic snag, see if you can use the other voice to help you decide what to do.
Notice the patterns Bach used in the melismas....they're a lot less predictable than Handel, are they not? It's tricky to get them to sit in the voice....I'm in the middle of learning that the hard way (I'm singing the soprano part in a concert on Jan. 21...say a little prayer for me!).
Rising Level 4's
You, too, will be drinking at Bach's musical font, but you'll start with the opening movement -- the choral bits begin on p. 2.
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Scores/BWV037-V&P.pdf
Because you all are advanced, I'll leave the key changes up to you.
Begin with the bass voice, and only go as far as Rehearsal B to start with. Then, look at it in relation to the tenor, alto, and soprano voices. Is this a strict fugue? Why or why not?
Cover the ground from Rehearsal B to C next, beginning with the soprano voice this time, and going through the same comparative process.
Finally, work from letter C to the end, again using comparison as you go to help you navigate each line with information from the other lines.
If you like, use the alto/soprano duet at Rehearsal C as a sing/play, and if you had fun with that, do the same with the tenor/bass duet that follows.
Enjoy, my friends, and remember to take it one little bit at a time!
Saturday, December 31, 2011
A True Poem
Welcome, dear students!
It's new year's eve, and everybody's talking about it....including me, it seems. This is, perhaps, a little silly, since today really just feels like another new day, and it will come and go as winter days do (but with extra bluster here in Denver....gusts over 60 MPH, they say). Everyone feels a certain urge to take stock of things -- which my astrologically minded friends might say has more to do with Saturn frowning down at us little earthlings as we labor under the influence of Capricorn than it does with the somewhat arbitrary turning of the year. But, who am I to fight this influence....as you all know, I seldom turn down a chance for some good reflection.
2011 was turbulent, violent, and downright frightening at times. Revolutions and disasters and deaths of prominent people seemed almost commonplace. Hope and fear have danced wildly, as it seemed like every day brought news of some new financial resolution or disaster for the global market. I remember frequently thinking to myself, "Is every year this eventful? Why don't I remember anything like this before?" And, it could be that my own state of affairs as a person finishing a terminal degree (in other words, coming to the end of my last journey as a student to academia's never-never-land) is the cause of my take on 2011 -- I am certainly guilty of being mostly out of the loop on world events when my own little life has me otherwise occupied, and maybe a part of me is just waking up to what everyone else has been saying for years. However, I hear a lot of people around me saying similar things about this year in particular....2011 was a doozy.
So, what to do? We are musicians and artists, not economists or world political leaders. We aren't even engineers or doctors. What can we do? Why does our intonation or rhythmic acuity or performance practice matter in a world that is eating itself alive? I ask myself these kinds of questions a lot (here and elsewhere), and every once in awhile, I get a sliver of answer...
Last night I had dinner with a good friend, and she had spent an absurd amount of time that afternoon at the DMV, during which she passed the time by talking to someone next to her in line. The person she spoke with was a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, and he had some very interesting things to say about his experiences there, particularly about the ways in which the US is "helping" the Afghan people. Specifically, he mentioned that US troops are building schools, which sounds like a lovely thing, right? Well, there's a bit of a problem...there's no money or infrastructure to put books, teachers, or students in these school buildings and run them as schools, and the intended students are part of a culture that doesn't conceptualize education in the same way we do, so the western concept of a school is something that just doesn't compute. So, the buildings wind up standing empty, or they wind up getting repurposed by insurgents, and US troops then have to blow up the buildings they just built. This guy was really frustrated about all of this -- frustrated enough to tell a stranger in line at the DMV about it, and honest enough to say that he didn't know what the answers are. I certainly don't have the answers either, but I can take a stab at diagnosing the cause.
When I first arrived in Hungary for my 10-month stint, I showed up expecting to be disoriented. I expected to need to learn about my environment, adjust to new things, find my way around, etc. I was not at all ready for the constant gnawing feeling that it took me weeks to acknowledge, and probably months to name. The problem was this: nothing about my environment told me that I was who I said I was. The signs on the street, the people around me, the procedure for buying produce at the grocery store -- all those things were foreign, they had been the way they were long before I got there, and would be that way after I left. It had nothing to do with me, and that scared me to death, and I didn't know why. In retrospect, this was just culture shock, but many Americans go through their entire lives without working through a case of it, so we have no idea how "American" we actually are. We live our lives calmly unaware that our pragmatic choices are extremely value-laden. We can't buy a carrot or wash a sock or drink a glass of water without having assumed a whole slough of things about the world around us, and those assumptions are almost 100% unconscious. We think we're being objective, we think we're being pragmatic, and we're actually preaching a gospel we don't even know we believe.
So, what's art got to do with it? Well, what do we learn from art? We learn subjectivity. We learn exactitude. We learn expression. We learn about difference. We learn about interpretation. And, while we still probably have to be caught in the act a lot of times before we really start to get it, this training does give people a basic construct for the idea that different isn't necessarily wrong or bad, and that subtle changes really do matter. It's funny, isn't it? Artists get a pretty bad rap for having "artistic personalities" and for following crazy whims and making irresponsible life choices, but an artistic education might be the best hope any person has for understanding and respecting other people. Why? Because as long as your judgments are unconscious (and therefore you just think of them as "logic"), they control you. As soon as you learn to acknowledge judgments as judgments, it might knock you off-balance, but then you get to be in charge...and you can change your own mind. Like the writer of this poem says, you keep working on it, even though someone might get hurt. You examine yourself, become responsible, and you are able to help others do the same.
My friends, 2011 is at her end. We have worked hard, and we will continue into the new year. I invite you to be the reflective people you are, in your personal lives and your artistic lives, and to allow one to infect the other. Be happy. Enjoy your lives of teaching and music-making. Work on yourself, build up your weaknesses and celebrate your strengths and the strengths of others. Nurture yourself and your students with beauty and goodness, so that you can be strong enough not to shy away from difficulty and ugliness. Say yes. Love each other.
All Levels:
Just some listening assignments this time around....
Cells Planets - Chanticleer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl12ZXZeqa4
Conspirare/Craig Hella Johnson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_qfeE0TjyY
Sweet Honey in the Rock
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCVvoL_F5gA
Happy new year!
It's new year's eve, and everybody's talking about it....including me, it seems. This is, perhaps, a little silly, since today really just feels like another new day, and it will come and go as winter days do (but with extra bluster here in Denver....gusts over 60 MPH, they say). Everyone feels a certain urge to take stock of things -- which my astrologically minded friends might say has more to do with Saturn frowning down at us little earthlings as we labor under the influence of Capricorn than it does with the somewhat arbitrary turning of the year. But, who am I to fight this influence....as you all know, I seldom turn down a chance for some good reflection.
2011 was turbulent, violent, and downright frightening at times. Revolutions and disasters and deaths of prominent people seemed almost commonplace. Hope and fear have danced wildly, as it seemed like every day brought news of some new financial resolution or disaster for the global market. I remember frequently thinking to myself, "Is every year this eventful? Why don't I remember anything like this before?" And, it could be that my own state of affairs as a person finishing a terminal degree (in other words, coming to the end of my last journey as a student to academia's never-never-land) is the cause of my take on 2011 -- I am certainly guilty of being mostly out of the loop on world events when my own little life has me otherwise occupied, and maybe a part of me is just waking up to what everyone else has been saying for years. However, I hear a lot of people around me saying similar things about this year in particular....2011 was a doozy.
So, what to do? We are musicians and artists, not economists or world political leaders. We aren't even engineers or doctors. What can we do? Why does our intonation or rhythmic acuity or performance practice matter in a world that is eating itself alive? I ask myself these kinds of questions a lot (here and elsewhere), and every once in awhile, I get a sliver of answer...
Last night I had dinner with a good friend, and she had spent an absurd amount of time that afternoon at the DMV, during which she passed the time by talking to someone next to her in line. The person she spoke with was a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, and he had some very interesting things to say about his experiences there, particularly about the ways in which the US is "helping" the Afghan people. Specifically, he mentioned that US troops are building schools, which sounds like a lovely thing, right? Well, there's a bit of a problem...there's no money or infrastructure to put books, teachers, or students in these school buildings and run them as schools, and the intended students are part of a culture that doesn't conceptualize education in the same way we do, so the western concept of a school is something that just doesn't compute. So, the buildings wind up standing empty, or they wind up getting repurposed by insurgents, and US troops then have to blow up the buildings they just built. This guy was really frustrated about all of this -- frustrated enough to tell a stranger in line at the DMV about it, and honest enough to say that he didn't know what the answers are. I certainly don't have the answers either, but I can take a stab at diagnosing the cause.
When I first arrived in Hungary for my 10-month stint, I showed up expecting to be disoriented. I expected to need to learn about my environment, adjust to new things, find my way around, etc. I was not at all ready for the constant gnawing feeling that it took me weeks to acknowledge, and probably months to name. The problem was this: nothing about my environment told me that I was who I said I was. The signs on the street, the people around me, the procedure for buying produce at the grocery store -- all those things were foreign, they had been the way they were long before I got there, and would be that way after I left. It had nothing to do with me, and that scared me to death, and I didn't know why. In retrospect, this was just culture shock, but many Americans go through their entire lives without working through a case of it, so we have no idea how "American" we actually are. We live our lives calmly unaware that our pragmatic choices are extremely value-laden. We can't buy a carrot or wash a sock or drink a glass of water without having assumed a whole slough of things about the world around us, and those assumptions are almost 100% unconscious. We think we're being objective, we think we're being pragmatic, and we're actually preaching a gospel we don't even know we believe.
So, what's art got to do with it? Well, what do we learn from art? We learn subjectivity. We learn exactitude. We learn expression. We learn about difference. We learn about interpretation. And, while we still probably have to be caught in the act a lot of times before we really start to get it, this training does give people a basic construct for the idea that different isn't necessarily wrong or bad, and that subtle changes really do matter. It's funny, isn't it? Artists get a pretty bad rap for having "artistic personalities" and for following crazy whims and making irresponsible life choices, but an artistic education might be the best hope any person has for understanding and respecting other people. Why? Because as long as your judgments are unconscious (and therefore you just think of them as "logic"), they control you. As soon as you learn to acknowledge judgments as judgments, it might knock you off-balance, but then you get to be in charge...and you can change your own mind. Like the writer of this poem says, you keep working on it, even though someone might get hurt. You examine yourself, become responsible, and you are able to help others do the same.
My friends, 2011 is at her end. We have worked hard, and we will continue into the new year. I invite you to be the reflective people you are, in your personal lives and your artistic lives, and to allow one to infect the other. Be happy. Enjoy your lives of teaching and music-making. Work on yourself, build up your weaknesses and celebrate your strengths and the strengths of others. Nurture yourself and your students with beauty and goodness, so that you can be strong enough not to shy away from difficulty and ugliness. Say yes. Love each other.
All Levels:
Just some listening assignments this time around....
Cells Planets - Chanticleer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl12ZXZeqa4
Conspirare/Craig Hella Johnson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_qfeE0TjyY
Sweet Honey in the Rock
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCVvoL_F5gA
Happy new year!
Monday, December 19, 2011
To tell the truth...
Greetings, dear readers!
It's a snowy winter's evening here....just right for the week before Christmas, the darkness of the winter solstice almost at its full strength. I think I just might have finished all my Christmas shopping this afternoon, and while there's still Christmas Eve and Day left in the realm of holiday singing obligations, things have finally slowed down. The cycle of the year brings around lots of memories as it moves, and in my line of work, those memories sometimes appear unexpectedly in the form of people who I associate with a past time or former place showing up to concerts in my here and now. And, since the nature of the season inevitably leads to some exhaustion, verbal filters sometimes don't work so well.
This is all sort of an oblique way of saying that I said a little more of what I meant than I really should have at least one time yesterday, and I feel a little bad about it. I'm inclined sometimes to blame my penchant for excessive honesty in these moments on my parents' choice of a name for me, which is derived from Gabriel, angel of the annunciation. Naming a kid after a celestial being who had to start most of his sentences with, "Fear not!" seems like kind of a set-up to me. I've met a few other folks in my time whose names have the same derivation, and we do seem to have this in common...the urge to proclaim sometimes just overrides common sense.
I'm mostly not serious about this, but I'm a little serious about it. People sometimes engage in behavior that is not the best choice for a given situation. People have default settings that steer them consistently in a particular direction, and while it is possible to override those settings under optimal conditions, tiredness has a way of bringing out whatever is most natural or most habitual. For me, that often includes telling the truth...the whole truth, and way more truth than anyone really wants, in far more detail than is necessary or helpful. There have been situations in my life where this tendency has served me excellently -- and probably many more situations where this tendency has gotten me into trouble or made other people feel awkward or created other kinds of problems. We all have stuff like this, I believe. In A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle deals with these kinds of hard-wired personality traits through the character of her protagonist, Meg Murry, who is in the throes of pubescent angst, and is very unhappy, even downright ill-tempered, for much of the book. However, at the moment of crisis, it is Meg's temper and stubbornness that actually winds up saving the world. L'Engle still refers to these traits in Meg's personality as "faults," but it makes me wonder: can the traits that save us truly be considered faults?
To look at the same idea from a different angle, consider a group exercise/pep talk my dear guest blogger, Ted, likes to have with his choirs sometimes:
"Ok, will everyone in this room who is perfect please raise your hand?"
[no one moves, nervous giggles ensue]
"Well, I have news for you. You're all wrong. Each of you is exactly who you need to be. Do you always do perfect? No. But, you all are perfect, right now, today, at this very moment."
So, no matter what we do -- all of us, any of us, even the jerk who stole your parking spot, or the moron who screwed up your account at the bank, or the nasty lady who yelled at you for cutting in line at the coffee shop even though you apologized and said you didn't see her -- we are operating from a good place. We're doing the best we can under the circumstances. It is not easy to believe, and it isn't a release from responsibility or a license to do whatever we want, but...
We're perfect.
And there's nothing that can be done to change that. You can't screw up.
Pretty liberating...and when you get to thinking about it, extremely scary. Sometimes we all feel like freaks/jerks/morons/nasty people...but this is what we've got to work with. And, speaking of work:
Rising Level 2's
Take a look at this piece:
http://www3.cpdl.org/wiki/images/sheet/han-mf10.pdf
Many of you will recognize it -- you're probably used to hearing a soloist sing essentially the same material before the chorus comes in....
For our purposes, use this scheme for the key changes:
in m. 5-6, all parts will move into A Major
at the pickup to m. 19, all parts will return to D Major
in m. 26 and 29, the G-sharp and C-natural are just chromatic inflections
So, you may do as you wish with this piece, but in the spirit of today's blog theme, consider this: what comes the most naturally to you in solfa class? Singing? Analysis? Memory? Sight-singing? Dictation? Whatever your strengths are, design some activities for yourself with this piece that give you a chance to delight in what you already know you do well.
Then, ask yourself about your weaknesses in the solfa classroom. Whatever these might be, design some other activities that will help you build your skills in these areas.
Rising Level 3's
For you, a setting by William Byrd of the same text, but in Latin:
http://www1.cpdl.org/wiki/images/9/9a/BYRD-SUR.pdf
You're on your own for key area choices (though I will tell you that the opening signature is a little deceptive....perhaps even a little Dorian....), but follow the same procedure as the rising level 2's -- seek out your own strengths and weaknesses, and use this piece as a tool to work with both.
Rising Level 4's
And for you, a polychoral setting by Palestrina of the same text, also in Latin:
http://www1.cpdl.org/wiki/images/sheet/pal-surg.pdf
You, too, are on your own tonally, and should follow the same procedure as the others -- use what you know best and do best to access what is harder for you. After all, this is what it's all about.
Notice that the text of all three pieces has everything to do with the theme, too:
Arise, shine, for your light has come!
It's a snowy winter's evening here....just right for the week before Christmas, the darkness of the winter solstice almost at its full strength. I think I just might have finished all my Christmas shopping this afternoon, and while there's still Christmas Eve and Day left in the realm of holiday singing obligations, things have finally slowed down. The cycle of the year brings around lots of memories as it moves, and in my line of work, those memories sometimes appear unexpectedly in the form of people who I associate with a past time or former place showing up to concerts in my here and now. And, since the nature of the season inevitably leads to some exhaustion, verbal filters sometimes don't work so well.
This is all sort of an oblique way of saying that I said a little more of what I meant than I really should have at least one time yesterday, and I feel a little bad about it. I'm inclined sometimes to blame my penchant for excessive honesty in these moments on my parents' choice of a name for me, which is derived from Gabriel, angel of the annunciation. Naming a kid after a celestial being who had to start most of his sentences with, "Fear not!" seems like kind of a set-up to me. I've met a few other folks in my time whose names have the same derivation, and we do seem to have this in common...the urge to proclaim sometimes just overrides common sense.
I'm mostly not serious about this, but I'm a little serious about it. People sometimes engage in behavior that is not the best choice for a given situation. People have default settings that steer them consistently in a particular direction, and while it is possible to override those settings under optimal conditions, tiredness has a way of bringing out whatever is most natural or most habitual. For me, that often includes telling the truth...the whole truth, and way more truth than anyone really wants, in far more detail than is necessary or helpful. There have been situations in my life where this tendency has served me excellently -- and probably many more situations where this tendency has gotten me into trouble or made other people feel awkward or created other kinds of problems. We all have stuff like this, I believe. In A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle deals with these kinds of hard-wired personality traits through the character of her protagonist, Meg Murry, who is in the throes of pubescent angst, and is very unhappy, even downright ill-tempered, for much of the book. However, at the moment of crisis, it is Meg's temper and stubbornness that actually winds up saving the world. L'Engle still refers to these traits in Meg's personality as "faults," but it makes me wonder: can the traits that save us truly be considered faults?
To look at the same idea from a different angle, consider a group exercise/pep talk my dear guest blogger, Ted, likes to have with his choirs sometimes:
"Ok, will everyone in this room who is perfect please raise your hand?"
[no one moves, nervous giggles ensue]
"Well, I have news for you. You're all wrong. Each of you is exactly who you need to be. Do you always do perfect? No. But, you all are perfect, right now, today, at this very moment."
So, no matter what we do -- all of us, any of us, even the jerk who stole your parking spot, or the moron who screwed up your account at the bank, or the nasty lady who yelled at you for cutting in line at the coffee shop even though you apologized and said you didn't see her -- we are operating from a good place. We're doing the best we can under the circumstances. It is not easy to believe, and it isn't a release from responsibility or a license to do whatever we want, but...
We're perfect.
And there's nothing that can be done to change that. You can't screw up.
Pretty liberating...and when you get to thinking about it, extremely scary. Sometimes we all feel like freaks/jerks/morons/nasty people...but this is what we've got to work with. And, speaking of work:
Rising Level 2's
Take a look at this piece:
http://www3.cpdl.org/wiki/images/sheet/han-mf10.pdf
Many of you will recognize it -- you're probably used to hearing a soloist sing essentially the same material before the chorus comes in....
For our purposes, use this scheme for the key changes:
in m. 5-6, all parts will move into A Major
at the pickup to m. 19, all parts will return to D Major
in m. 26 and 29, the G-sharp and C-natural are just chromatic inflections
So, you may do as you wish with this piece, but in the spirit of today's blog theme, consider this: what comes the most naturally to you in solfa class? Singing? Analysis? Memory? Sight-singing? Dictation? Whatever your strengths are, design some activities for yourself with this piece that give you a chance to delight in what you already know you do well.
Then, ask yourself about your weaknesses in the solfa classroom. Whatever these might be, design some other activities that will help you build your skills in these areas.
Rising Level 3's
For you, a setting by William Byrd of the same text, but in Latin:
http://www1.cpdl.org/wiki/images/9/9a/BYRD-SUR.pdf
You're on your own for key area choices (though I will tell you that the opening signature is a little deceptive....perhaps even a little Dorian....), but follow the same procedure as the rising level 2's -- seek out your own strengths and weaknesses, and use this piece as a tool to work with both.
Rising Level 4's
And for you, a polychoral setting by Palestrina of the same text, also in Latin:
http://www1.cpdl.org/wiki/images/sheet/pal-surg.pdf
You, too, are on your own tonally, and should follow the same procedure as the others -- use what you know best and do best to access what is harder for you. After all, this is what it's all about.
Notice that the text of all three pieces has everything to do with the theme, too:
Arise, shine, for your light has come!
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Building Memories
Greetings, dear students!
Here we are, already up to the third Sunday of Advent! How did 2011 go by so very quickly?
I'm guessing that many of you are headed into a week full of concerts, and almost all of you will be dealing with stir-crazy students hopped up on too much sugar and the promise of the imminent winter break. This being the case, I'll try to keep things extra short and simple.
So, I was sitting in a church service this morning and we sang a hymn tune I particularly like (I've included it below for the rising level 4's), and I decided to see how much of it I thought I could sing from memory in letter names (and by sing, I mean audiate -- I think the person giving the sermon wouldn't have appreciated my little game very much if it had happened out loud). It only took a few minutes, and I was able to do it in a moment when I had to be sitting someplace quietly, but where I could divide my aural attention -- this would be a great bus-riding activity, or possibly driving, but be judicious on that one...I don't want to be responsible for anyone getting into an audiation-related car wreck. It's also nice to have a lovely new tune committed to memory, and that way you can share it with a friend or loved one.
The procedure will be basically the same for all levels. Take a couple days with each of the steps below:
Step 1: Listen to the tune a few times until you have it memorized (words are optional for my purposes, but you will probably want to learn them for your own use). Determine the form of the piece and start to think of it in phrases as you memorize, since that will help you with the steps below.
Step 2: Start to solmize the tune phrase-by-phrase. The rising 2's and 3's will keep the same solfa all the way through, but the 4's may choose to modulate if they wish. If you opt to modulate (which you could do more than one time, as it turns out...), be sure to keep track of where you've gone by remembering your original "do" -- otherwise, you'll be a little sunk for the next step.
Step 3: Once you can fluently sing the piece by memory in solfa, try singing it in rhythm names. Then, find a comfortable key for your voice, and start singing the tune in letter names. If things get muddled in the middle (especially for you 4's!), try for the first and last phrase and work inward. Once you're pretty sure you've got it right, write it down and check your notation (I'll leave the tracking down of a notational source to you so as to reduce the temptation to give up too soon).
What tripped you up? What was easy? Did you find it easier to commit the notes or the words (if you used them) to memory? Did you find that your memory of the tune was tied to your memory of the text? My hunch is that they will go together, simply because of the kinds of tunes being used.
Rising Level 2's
Take a listen to this lovely tune from Annie Lennox's new album:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7s_zaF74gc
Rising Level 3's
I'm not crazy about the long pauses at the end of each phrase, but I think the voice on this old LP is quite sweet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_u07i1YdGY
Rising Level 4's
Again, there are some funny phrase things happening here -- if you find a recording of the tune "Jerusalem" (which is the same tune) that's more straightforward, feel free to bring it to my attention:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lpUk3UTJ14
I apologize for being so churchy...if you'd prefer to substitute something a bit more secular, but of a comparable level of difficulty, please feel free!
Enjoy!
Here we are, already up to the third Sunday of Advent! How did 2011 go by so very quickly?
I'm guessing that many of you are headed into a week full of concerts, and almost all of you will be dealing with stir-crazy students hopped up on too much sugar and the promise of the imminent winter break. This being the case, I'll try to keep things extra short and simple.
So, I was sitting in a church service this morning and we sang a hymn tune I particularly like (I've included it below for the rising level 4's), and I decided to see how much of it I thought I could sing from memory in letter names (and by sing, I mean audiate -- I think the person giving the sermon wouldn't have appreciated my little game very much if it had happened out loud). It only took a few minutes, and I was able to do it in a moment when I had to be sitting someplace quietly, but where I could divide my aural attention -- this would be a great bus-riding activity, or possibly driving, but be judicious on that one...I don't want to be responsible for anyone getting into an audiation-related car wreck. It's also nice to have a lovely new tune committed to memory, and that way you can share it with a friend or loved one.
The procedure will be basically the same for all levels. Take a couple days with each of the steps below:
Step 1: Listen to the tune a few times until you have it memorized (words are optional for my purposes, but you will probably want to learn them for your own use). Determine the form of the piece and start to think of it in phrases as you memorize, since that will help you with the steps below.
Step 2: Start to solmize the tune phrase-by-phrase. The rising 2's and 3's will keep the same solfa all the way through, but the 4's may choose to modulate if they wish. If you opt to modulate (which you could do more than one time, as it turns out...), be sure to keep track of where you've gone by remembering your original "do" -- otherwise, you'll be a little sunk for the next step.
Step 3: Once you can fluently sing the piece by memory in solfa, try singing it in rhythm names. Then, find a comfortable key for your voice, and start singing the tune in letter names. If things get muddled in the middle (especially for you 4's!), try for the first and last phrase and work inward. Once you're pretty sure you've got it right, write it down and check your notation (I'll leave the tracking down of a notational source to you so as to reduce the temptation to give up too soon).
What tripped you up? What was easy? Did you find it easier to commit the notes or the words (if you used them) to memory? Did you find that your memory of the tune was tied to your memory of the text? My hunch is that they will go together, simply because of the kinds of tunes being used.
Rising Level 2's
Take a listen to this lovely tune from Annie Lennox's new album:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7s_zaF74gc
Rising Level 3's
I'm not crazy about the long pauses at the end of each phrase, but I think the voice on this old LP is quite sweet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_u07i1YdGY
Rising Level 4's
Again, there are some funny phrase things happening here -- if you find a recording of the tune "Jerusalem" (which is the same tune) that's more straightforward, feel free to bring it to my attention:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lpUk3UTJ14
I apologize for being so churchy...if you'd prefer to substitute something a bit more secular, but of a comparable level of difficulty, please feel free!
Enjoy!
Saturday, November 19, 2011
St. Cecilia's Day
Greetings, my dear Cecilians!
I'm about three days early, but I'm calling it close enough for a little tribute to my favorite saint: Cecilia, patron saint of music.
She's really my favorite because of this poem by W.H. Auden, which he wrote for my beloved Benjamin Britten, who was born on Nov. 22, St. Cecilia's Day. Britten turned around and composed a three-movement choral setting for the poem called "Hymn to St. Cecilia" -- you can listen to a recording here. Normally I might say something critical about the recording (and I'm definitely keeping my own counsel about tempi....particularly in mvt. 3), but this piece is SO difficult that it seems hopelessly uncharitable to find fault.
The story of St. Cecilia is referenced in Auden's poem, but not related in any readily identifiable form, so I'll give you all the concise version:
First, there's Cecilia, a first-century (C.E.) Roman convert to Christianity, daughter of member of the Roman aristocracy. Her pagan father decides to marry her off to Valerian, another pagan nobleman. Well, this is a big problem for Cecilia, since she's made a vow of chastity (sort of like how I've made a vow of solfa....ok, maybe it's not the same...), so at her wedding, she's pretty upset. She's so upset, in fact, that the fervency of her silent prayer for deliverance from this situation became audible to other people as music. It is from this part of the story that her connection with music is made -- our Cecilia was evidently so good at audiation that she could make other people hear it, too (Kidding...kind of....)! Later depictions of St. Cecilia with an organ (like this famous one) actually result from a mistranslation of the original Latin telling of the story -- the word "organis" was used in the story to indicate that Cecilia was praying in her heart, but later, people decided that it meant she was using a musical instrument, and even credited her with the invention of the organ.
Anyhow, after the wedding, she and Valerian had a very serious talk about what was and was not going to be happening that night, and Valerian went out to get some air along the Via Appia, and ran into this guy Urban (later to become Pope Urban) who sent him home. When he got home, he saw the angel who Cecilia had said was there to guard her and her virtue, and Valerian converted on the spot (I mean, wouldn't you?). So, then Valerian tells his brother about all this, and his brother also converts, and then they start spending their days burying the bodies of Christian martyrs. Now, burying the bodies of martyrs was illegal, and Valerian and his brother eventually got caught and martyred themselves. Well, Cecilia went out and found their bodies, buried them, and was also caught and condemned to death. However, it wasn't considered genteel to execute women in quite the same way, so they did what any civilized society would do -- they decided to suffocate Cecilia to death in her bathroom by closing it up and stoking up the furnace until she asphyxiated. Well, Cecilia didn't die for three days, so the Romans thought to themselves, "To heck with the genteel way!" They sent a guy in with an axe to behead poor Cecilia, but there was a law that a beheader could only strike the beheadee three times, and evidently this axe guy didn't eat his spinach, because that didn't kill Cecilia either. The poor thing lived three MORE days, preaching and healing people, and bequeathing all her belongings to the church, and then she finally died. According to tradition, her remains have never decomposed.
Now, what does all of this have to do with solfa, you ask? Not a whole lot, to be honest with you, except that Cecilia was the patron saint of music, and as such, a lot of music has been written in her honor -- the Britten is only one example. These settings have taken on some very interesting forms, and since you all have a bit of a breather coming up this week courtesy of Thanksgiving, I thought you might like to take a very brief tour:
Orlando di Lasso
http://www.mab.jpn.org/musictex/score_lib/ol_cantantibus.pdf
This text is essentially a retelling of the musical part of the story (before all the bloody stuff) -- you see the appearance of the word "organis," and you also see an interesting instruction for the two tenor parts and the bass, who lack pitches for the words "cantantibus organis" - "singing in her heart". The two parts that sing in the octave of a woman's voice (though the piece would have surely been performed only by men and boys at the time of its composition) do sing those words, and the men are basically told to "sing in their hearts" until it is time for them to enter. Notice how particular melodic gestures are matched with particular words and how imitation is used -- these are marks of Renaissance polyphony after Josquin -- folks like Ockeghem and Busnoys weren't doing that yet.
Charles Gounod
And you thought he only wrote that "Ave Maria" setting...
http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/images/9/95/Cecilia6.pdf
This piece comes from Gounod's "St. Cecilia Mass," which is a setting of the mass ordinary. Notice the texture of the choral parts -- obviously, intelligibility seems to be important to our composer, and this brings up yet another Cecilia connection. In the 19th century, some Catholic musicians began to be concerned that Gregorian chant was disappearing from masses, and that church music was becoming too complicated, and more concerned with show than with intelligibility and reverence. So, some composers began dialing back their textural and harmonic palettes in liturgical music and making use of actual chant or chant-like melodies. This movement is known as the Cecilian Movement -- Anton Bruckner is probably the composer most commonly identified with this movement. In this "Benedictus," does Gounod use any chromatic pitches? If so, how do they resolve? Are there any cadences outside of the home key? How would you characterize the soprano solo at the beginning of the movement? Do you think there is something depictive going on there? Is there possibly more than one interpretation, knowing what you know about chant and St. Cecilia?
Charles Hubert Hastings Parry
http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/images/8/8c/Descend-Ye_Nine.pdf
So, Auden was not the first poet to re-tell or reference the Cecilia story in a more secular light. In the same way that Auden referenced Aphrodite, Alexander Pope (of 18th-century Enlightenment-era fame) connected Cecilia with the nine Muses of Greek mythology. Parry scores his setting for chorus and organ, which effectively indicates a nod to the Cecilia-organ connection, but also suggests a church venue for performance of the piece, though probably not as part of a liturgy. Notice what kinds of choral textures Parry uses. What keys does he visit? How is the text set? Does intelligibility seem to be of central concern?
There are many more pieces to discover on this theme -- keep an eye out particularly for Purcell and Dello Joio, and feel free to share your findings!
I'm about three days early, but I'm calling it close enough for a little tribute to my favorite saint: Cecilia, patron saint of music.
She's really my favorite because of this poem by W.H. Auden, which he wrote for my beloved Benjamin Britten, who was born on Nov. 22, St. Cecilia's Day. Britten turned around and composed a three-movement choral setting for the poem called "Hymn to St. Cecilia" -- you can listen to a recording here. Normally I might say something critical about the recording (and I'm definitely keeping my own counsel about tempi....particularly in mvt. 3), but this piece is SO difficult that it seems hopelessly uncharitable to find fault.
The story of St. Cecilia is referenced in Auden's poem, but not related in any readily identifiable form, so I'll give you all the concise version:
First, there's Cecilia, a first-century (C.E.) Roman convert to Christianity, daughter of member of the Roman aristocracy. Her pagan father decides to marry her off to Valerian, another pagan nobleman. Well, this is a big problem for Cecilia, since she's made a vow of chastity (sort of like how I've made a vow of solfa....ok, maybe it's not the same...), so at her wedding, she's pretty upset. She's so upset, in fact, that the fervency of her silent prayer for deliverance from this situation became audible to other people as music. It is from this part of the story that her connection with music is made -- our Cecilia was evidently so good at audiation that she could make other people hear it, too (Kidding...kind of....)! Later depictions of St. Cecilia with an organ (like this famous one) actually result from a mistranslation of the original Latin telling of the story -- the word "organis" was used in the story to indicate that Cecilia was praying in her heart, but later, people decided that it meant she was using a musical instrument, and even credited her with the invention of the organ.
Anyhow, after the wedding, she and Valerian had a very serious talk about what was and was not going to be happening that night, and Valerian went out to get some air along the Via Appia, and ran into this guy Urban (later to become Pope Urban) who sent him home. When he got home, he saw the angel who Cecilia had said was there to guard her and her virtue, and Valerian converted on the spot (I mean, wouldn't you?). So, then Valerian tells his brother about all this, and his brother also converts, and then they start spending their days burying the bodies of Christian martyrs. Now, burying the bodies of martyrs was illegal, and Valerian and his brother eventually got caught and martyred themselves. Well, Cecilia went out and found their bodies, buried them, and was also caught and condemned to death. However, it wasn't considered genteel to execute women in quite the same way, so they did what any civilized society would do -- they decided to suffocate Cecilia to death in her bathroom by closing it up and stoking up the furnace until she asphyxiated. Well, Cecilia didn't die for three days, so the Romans thought to themselves, "To heck with the genteel way!" They sent a guy in with an axe to behead poor Cecilia, but there was a law that a beheader could only strike the beheadee three times, and evidently this axe guy didn't eat his spinach, because that didn't kill Cecilia either. The poor thing lived three MORE days, preaching and healing people, and bequeathing all her belongings to the church, and then she finally died. According to tradition, her remains have never decomposed.
Now, what does all of this have to do with solfa, you ask? Not a whole lot, to be honest with you, except that Cecilia was the patron saint of music, and as such, a lot of music has been written in her honor -- the Britten is only one example. These settings have taken on some very interesting forms, and since you all have a bit of a breather coming up this week courtesy of Thanksgiving, I thought you might like to take a very brief tour:
Orlando di Lasso
http://www.mab.jpn.org/musictex/score_lib/ol_cantantibus.pdf
This text is essentially a retelling of the musical part of the story (before all the bloody stuff) -- you see the appearance of the word "organis," and you also see an interesting instruction for the two tenor parts and the bass, who lack pitches for the words "cantantibus organis" - "singing in her heart". The two parts that sing in the octave of a woman's voice (though the piece would have surely been performed only by men and boys at the time of its composition) do sing those words, and the men are basically told to "sing in their hearts" until it is time for them to enter. Notice how particular melodic gestures are matched with particular words and how imitation is used -- these are marks of Renaissance polyphony after Josquin -- folks like Ockeghem and Busnoys weren't doing that yet.
Charles Gounod
And you thought he only wrote that "Ave Maria" setting...
http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/images/9/95/Cecilia6.pdf
This piece comes from Gounod's "St. Cecilia Mass," which is a setting of the mass ordinary. Notice the texture of the choral parts -- obviously, intelligibility seems to be important to our composer, and this brings up yet another Cecilia connection. In the 19th century, some Catholic musicians began to be concerned that Gregorian chant was disappearing from masses, and that church music was becoming too complicated, and more concerned with show than with intelligibility and reverence. So, some composers began dialing back their textural and harmonic palettes in liturgical music and making use of actual chant or chant-like melodies. This movement is known as the Cecilian Movement -- Anton Bruckner is probably the composer most commonly identified with this movement. In this "Benedictus," does Gounod use any chromatic pitches? If so, how do they resolve? Are there any cadences outside of the home key? How would you characterize the soprano solo at the beginning of the movement? Do you think there is something depictive going on there? Is there possibly more than one interpretation, knowing what you know about chant and St. Cecilia?
Charles Hubert Hastings Parry
http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/images/8/8c/Descend-Ye_Nine.pdf
So, Auden was not the first poet to re-tell or reference the Cecilia story in a more secular light. In the same way that Auden referenced Aphrodite, Alexander Pope (of 18th-century Enlightenment-era fame) connected Cecilia with the nine Muses of Greek mythology. Parry scores his setting for chorus and organ, which effectively indicates a nod to the Cecilia-organ connection, but also suggests a church venue for performance of the piece, though probably not as part of a liturgy. Notice what kinds of choral textures Parry uses. What keys does he visit? How is the text set? Does intelligibility seem to be of central concern?
There are many more pieces to discover on this theme -- keep an eye out particularly for Purcell and Dello Joio, and feel free to share your findings!
Monday, November 14, 2011
Da capo...
Greetings, dear students!
Well, the Grinch is already undergoing his heart-size transformation on TBS (and seeing the Whos come out to sing in the town square after he'd stolen all of their presents totally made me cry this year...that's a first for me...I must be getting even more sentimental, which is saying something for a choral conductor), there is general growling about people's decorations going up too early, and I taught the world's highest Silent Night descant to my graduate choir this afternoon...yes, I believe the holidays may be coming, like it or not.
I've been a little out of touch with the passing of time lately, so the typical post-halloween retail rush into things Christmas-y didn't get my attention like usual...it took something else, something more iconic, something melismatic....
Yes, that's right -- it took the first rehearsal of the choral numbers from Part the First of Messiah for me to realize that Christmas isn't too far away. I hadn't sung them in quite awhile...in fact, I'm reasonably certain the last time I interacted with them closely was way back in my undergraduate days with my pals from the Pacific Conservatory music fraternities. I still have an orange Novello score from the experience that is marked up within an inch of its well-loved life, as I used all of my brain power to digest and understand this music that so many before me have known, sung, played, and loved. It was a nice experience...I felt like I was meeting an old friend. The vocal lines never seem to have left that settled place in my voice, the imitation still makes good sense to my ears, the dance allusions still make my feet itch to move. It made me miss that time in my life, true to the predictions of my dear teacher who heard me do a lot of complaining at that time about how busy I was and how irresponsible my colleagues were being in rehearsal, and how I just wanted the whole darn thing to be over, etc., etc. So, while I feel a little ashamed of the me of a decade past because she couldn't be patient enough to enjoy the process, I am also grateful for one of the things about life that also has a way of driving me (and probably most people) nuts:
For better or worse, things have a way of coming around again.
Perhaps this is the reason why composers dreamt up musical forms like rondo, sonata-allegro, theme and variations, and da capo, where material returns, giving the listener a feeling of closure. A professor told me way back when that humans find repetition psychologically comforting, and that's why the return of A material is such a prevalent practice in music -- I thought he was a little nuts. And now, being the person who gets teary over Dr. Seuss movies and only knows it's almost Christmastime because Handel showed up in my choir folder, I think I believe it. I'm far from the first to notice this, I'm sure, but it seems to be worth saying, just the same.
So, I have some da capo (or at least, repetitive) examples for your analytical, musical, and psychological enjoyment:
Rising Level 2's
Take a look here:
http://erato.uvt.nl/files/imglnks/usimg/4/49/IMSLP11350-
Handel_Messiah_No.18_Rejoice_Greatly_O_Daughter_Of_Zion.pdf
And a listen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1xlYIoekE8&feature=fvsr
You've likely heard it before, but listen with the score anyhow. You'll likely be able to pick out the big sections right away. What distinguishes them from one another? Tonality? Tempo? Character? All of the above? What seems to motivate these changes?
Now, there are modulations within each big section, too. Listen again with the score, and at each cadence you hear, circle the home tone. Do the accidentals leading up to each cadence reflect that change? How would you sing the melody in solfa in light of this information? How would you sing the bass (continuo) line? Where is the easiest place to change keys?
Rising Level 3's
Take a look at this:
http://erato.uvt.nl/files/imglnks/usimg/3/3d/IMSLP11111-Handel_Messiah_No.6_But_Who_May_Abide_The_Day.pdf
And a listen to this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlB3E_OmpT4
(NOTE: I personally like my soloists on this one to sound a little more freaked out -- this guy's calm is impressive and his voice is lovely, but it's all somehow emotionally unsatisfying to me...call me a drama queen, but is it a refiner's fire or a space heater?)
Now, the form of this one is a bit different, yes? The repeated material is marked in even more obvious ways than the rising 2's example. Why do you think that is?
What keys do you go through in order to sing the vocal line of this little ditty? When the surface material gets extremely active in the fast section, what is happening in the bass line?
Rising Level 4's
Here is your wickedly chromatic selection:
http://erato.uvt.nl/files/imglnks/usimg/3/3d/IMSLP11111-Handel_Messiah_No.6_But_Who_May_Abide_The_Day.pdf
And a recording to match (with the recitative that precedes it...the aria begins at about 3:00....and this guy's face totally makes up for the placidity of the rising 3's guy...maybe a little too much, as it turns out...)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rukah9okGs
So, perhaps at this point, you're saying to yourself: um....where's the da capo? Good question.
What was the problem with the da capo aria from a plot-line standpoint? If the singer has to go back and sing the music from the beginning of the aria over again, has the plot progressed? Has his/her mind changed? Nope. That's right, da capo = static, at least to some extent. So, if you look here:
http://imslp.org/wiki/Messiah,_HWV_56_(Handel,_George_Frideric)
at the context of the other movements and the text they contain, can you think of a reason why Handel might have chosen not to bring material back? In terms of the Christmas story, was something important about to happen in, say, the very next movement?
Anyway, see if you can dream up some clever chromatic solfa solutions to this rather tricky melody line. Feel free to email them to me if you come up with something you'd like to share!
Well, the Grinch is already undergoing his heart-size transformation on TBS (and seeing the Whos come out to sing in the town square after he'd stolen all of their presents totally made me cry this year...that's a first for me...I must be getting even more sentimental, which is saying something for a choral conductor), there is general growling about people's decorations going up too early, and I taught the world's highest Silent Night descant to my graduate choir this afternoon...yes, I believe the holidays may be coming, like it or not.
I've been a little out of touch with the passing of time lately, so the typical post-halloween retail rush into things Christmas-y didn't get my attention like usual...it took something else, something more iconic, something melismatic....
Yes, that's right -- it took the first rehearsal of the choral numbers from Part the First of Messiah for me to realize that Christmas isn't too far away. I hadn't sung them in quite awhile...in fact, I'm reasonably certain the last time I interacted with them closely was way back in my undergraduate days with my pals from the Pacific Conservatory music fraternities. I still have an orange Novello score from the experience that is marked up within an inch of its well-loved life, as I used all of my brain power to digest and understand this music that so many before me have known, sung, played, and loved. It was a nice experience...I felt like I was meeting an old friend. The vocal lines never seem to have left that settled place in my voice, the imitation still makes good sense to my ears, the dance allusions still make my feet itch to move. It made me miss that time in my life, true to the predictions of my dear teacher who heard me do a lot of complaining at that time about how busy I was and how irresponsible my colleagues were being in rehearsal, and how I just wanted the whole darn thing to be over, etc., etc. So, while I feel a little ashamed of the me of a decade past because she couldn't be patient enough to enjoy the process, I am also grateful for one of the things about life that also has a way of driving me (and probably most people) nuts:
For better or worse, things have a way of coming around again.
Perhaps this is the reason why composers dreamt up musical forms like rondo, sonata-allegro, theme and variations, and da capo, where material returns, giving the listener a feeling of closure. A professor told me way back when that humans find repetition psychologically comforting, and that's why the return of A material is such a prevalent practice in music -- I thought he was a little nuts. And now, being the person who gets teary over Dr. Seuss movies and only knows it's almost Christmastime because Handel showed up in my choir folder, I think I believe it. I'm far from the first to notice this, I'm sure, but it seems to be worth saying, just the same.
So, I have some da capo (or at least, repetitive) examples for your analytical, musical, and psychological enjoyment:
Rising Level 2's
Take a look here:
http://erato.uvt.nl/files/imglnks/usimg/4/49/IMSLP11350-
Handel_Messiah_No.18_Rejoice_Greatly_O_Daughter_Of_Zion.pdf
And a listen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1xlYIoekE8&feature=fvsr
You've likely heard it before, but listen with the score anyhow. You'll likely be able to pick out the big sections right away. What distinguishes them from one another? Tonality? Tempo? Character? All of the above? What seems to motivate these changes?
Now, there are modulations within each big section, too. Listen again with the score, and at each cadence you hear, circle the home tone. Do the accidentals leading up to each cadence reflect that change? How would you sing the melody in solfa in light of this information? How would you sing the bass (continuo) line? Where is the easiest place to change keys?
Rising Level 3's
Take a look at this:
http://erato.uvt.nl/files/imglnks/usimg/3/3d/IMSLP11111-Handel_Messiah_No.6_But_Who_May_Abide_The_Day.pdf
And a listen to this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlB3E_OmpT4
(NOTE: I personally like my soloists on this one to sound a little more freaked out -- this guy's calm is impressive and his voice is lovely, but it's all somehow emotionally unsatisfying to me...call me a drama queen, but is it a refiner's fire or a space heater?)
Now, the form of this one is a bit different, yes? The repeated material is marked in even more obvious ways than the rising 2's example. Why do you think that is?
What keys do you go through in order to sing the vocal line of this little ditty? When the surface material gets extremely active in the fast section, what is happening in the bass line?
Rising Level 4's
Here is your wickedly chromatic selection:
http://erato.uvt.nl/files/imglnks/usimg/3/3d/IMSLP11111-Handel_Messiah_No.6_But_Who_May_Abide_The_Day.pdf
And a recording to match (with the recitative that precedes it...the aria begins at about 3:00....and this guy's face totally makes up for the placidity of the rising 3's guy...maybe a little too much, as it turns out...)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rukah9okGs
So, perhaps at this point, you're saying to yourself: um....where's the da capo? Good question.
What was the problem with the da capo aria from a plot-line standpoint? If the singer has to go back and sing the music from the beginning of the aria over again, has the plot progressed? Has his/her mind changed? Nope. That's right, da capo = static, at least to some extent. So, if you look here:
http://imslp.org/wiki/Messiah,_HWV_56_(Handel,_George_Frideric)
at the context of the other movements and the text they contain, can you think of a reason why Handel might have chosen not to bring material back? In terms of the Christmas story, was something important about to happen in, say, the very next movement?
Anyway, see if you can dream up some clever chromatic solfa solutions to this rather tricky melody line. Feel free to email them to me if you come up with something you'd like to share!
Monday, October 31, 2011
Sunday, October 23, 2011
The Pilgrim's Progress
My dear fellow travelers:
First, an exciting announcement! Next week, The Other 49 Weeks of Solfa will host its first appearance of a guest blogger! Our guest is none other than my own much-loved and revered teacher, Dr. Cetto, who has graciously agreed to cover for me during the week of my dreaded exams. We're in for a treat, and I'm so grateful for his help!
Over the course of this week, I've continued to immerse myself in exam materials, working with all my might to permeate my poor little brain with everything there is to know about the things I'm supposed to know. And, I can already tell that it's going to be a tremendous relief in some ways to just finally sit down at that computer in the music library and start typing....I'm sure it'll be a relief to all of you when I finally stop talking about it (insert sheepish grin here). In the meantime, I'll keep walking my path and doing my work for a few more days until it's Wednesday, and the only thing to do is open the floodgates and see what comes out. It's sort of like a five-day performance, I guess. I'm on the spot, I know what I know, and I just have to do it.
This is the nature of a test, and this is the nature of performance. Perhaps this is why some of what we do as musicians makes us seem so insane to the non-musician world. We lock ourselves in little rooms and play/sing scales and arpeggios for hours. We go over the same 4 measures 97 times. We go over those same 4 measures 97 more times in our private lesson with a person we pay a lot of money to tell us how those 4 measures really ought to sound...97 times! The outside world has a point: this behavior is pretty darn crazy, but it's for a purpose. We are on a journey unlike that of a lot of other people. We live by what our minds and bodies can do to pay homage to the past, create beauty, and evoke emotions in other people, and often we must do it from memory, all alone on a big stage with only our instrument and our wits while a crowd of people sits across from us, waiting to hear and see what we will do. This is extreme. This makes Survivor look like a piece of cake. This is our pilgrim way.
In order to be successful on our journey, we not only have to learn how to do something (for example, play a scale) once, we must learn how to accomplish that task in an infinite sea of musical variables (tempo, key, articulation, fragmentation, ornamentation, dynamics, register, etc.) as we swim in the infinite sea of extra-musical variables (room temperature, crying babies, head colds, low humidity, cell phones, performance anxiety, newspaper reviewers, bad lighting, etc.). Knowing this makes us the neurotic people that many of us are, and it also means that over-practicing the basics is almost never a bad idea. It's just part of our pilgrim's progress -- sometimes we're on the Hill of Difficulty, scrambling over boulders and scraping our knees. Sometimes we're in the Palace Beautiful, putting up our feet. Sometimes we're in the Slough of Despond, and we have to get a friend to come pull us onto dry land. But all the while, we know where we're going. We must keep to the narrow way, the pilgrim way, and trust that we got on the path for a reason.
All of that being said, I want to keep the workload simple and fairly light this week.
Rising Level 2's
Dig up your copy of "Our Tuning Forks, Our Selves" (if you can't find it, you can print yourself a shiny new one from the link on the right side of your screen), and locate your tuning fork.
Take a day to re-acquaint yourself with the methods for finding each key -- if something doesn't make sense, shoot me an email.
Then, on a daily basis, check yourself and your key-finding ability. Sing songs in your classroom in odd keys that are more difficult to find. When you're listening to music, get out your fork and see if you can figure out what key it's in (sort of the inverse of the key-finding process). Ask a friend to randomly test you throughout the week (over the phone works just fine for this task). Immerse yourself in the world of tonality, and make A440 your mantra for the week...just for fun!
Rising Level 3's
If you know that you have troubles finding keys in a logical, consistent fashion when you're put on the spot, use the same assignment as the rising 2's this week.
However, if you're completely confident in your tuning fork skills, check this out:
http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/images/9/9c/Moza-intr-kyr.pdf
Most of you will recognize this piece by reputation, if not by having sung/played/heard it lots of times. What you may not know, however, is that the soprano solo (starting in m. 21) and the choral soprano line that immediately follows (mm. 27-32) have everything to do with pilgrimage: they are each a statement of the tonus peregrinus, or the pilgrim tone. Tonus peregrinus is a psalm tone, used in Christian churches since the middle ages for chanting biblical psalms (a Google search will get you lots of interesting information, I'm certain). This psalm tone differs from others because the reciting tone (the note used to articulate most of the words in a psalm, usually the same note in both halves of a psalm tone) changes from the first half of the tone to the second half, so those fanciful medieval types gave it a name (peregrinus, the Latin word for "pilgrim") describing that very characteristic. So, sing through these two passages in a comfortable octave (I recommend B-flat do for that section), then tackle the remainder of the Introit movement (notice that it's a sloooooow movement). What keys do you expect to visit? Does the journey in fact take you there? If you're feeling ambitious, feel free to check out the Kyrie that follows -- it's SO cool, and that way you can try your hand at something a little zippier.
Rising Level 4's
If you have any doubts on the tuning fork front, please avail yourselves of the rising 2's assignment. However, I have another pilgrim-y treat for you:
http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/images/0/0e/Bach-suscepit.pdf
If you don't know the Bach Magnificat already, I recommend that you stop whatever you might be doing and go listen to it right, RIGHT now. I like the John Eliot Gardner recording (though his tempo on this movement is soooooo sloooooow and his "Omnes generationes" might singe your eyebrows if you stand too close to the speakers....though it's really fun at that tempo!). Anyhow, this piece provides plenty of fodder for sight-singing and key analysis fun. It's not terribly straightforward, to be honest, and you'll probably find yourself moving within some odd key relationships. Definitely take the time to listen to at least this movement, as it does all sound beautiful and make sense at the end of the day. Now, how does this relate to the pilgrim theme? Well, check out that oboe line. Compare it to the soprano solos in the link listed for the rising 3's. Any correlation? Yup, this, too, is a tonus peregrinus sighting....isn't that neat?
All right, my little pilgrims...good luck to you, and I'll be back in the blogosphere in two weeks! Cheers, and wish me luck!
First, an exciting announcement! Next week, The Other 49 Weeks of Solfa will host its first appearance of a guest blogger! Our guest is none other than my own much-loved and revered teacher, Dr. Cetto, who has graciously agreed to cover for me during the week of my dreaded exams. We're in for a treat, and I'm so grateful for his help!
Over the course of this week, I've continued to immerse myself in exam materials, working with all my might to permeate my poor little brain with everything there is to know about the things I'm supposed to know. And, I can already tell that it's going to be a tremendous relief in some ways to just finally sit down at that computer in the music library and start typing....I'm sure it'll be a relief to all of you when I finally stop talking about it (insert sheepish grin here). In the meantime, I'll keep walking my path and doing my work for a few more days until it's Wednesday, and the only thing to do is open the floodgates and see what comes out. It's sort of like a five-day performance, I guess. I'm on the spot, I know what I know, and I just have to do it.
This is the nature of a test, and this is the nature of performance. Perhaps this is why some of what we do as musicians makes us seem so insane to the non-musician world. We lock ourselves in little rooms and play/sing scales and arpeggios for hours. We go over the same 4 measures 97 times. We go over those same 4 measures 97 more times in our private lesson with a person we pay a lot of money to tell us how those 4 measures really ought to sound...97 times! The outside world has a point: this behavior is pretty darn crazy, but it's for a purpose. We are on a journey unlike that of a lot of other people. We live by what our minds and bodies can do to pay homage to the past, create beauty, and evoke emotions in other people, and often we must do it from memory, all alone on a big stage with only our instrument and our wits while a crowd of people sits across from us, waiting to hear and see what we will do. This is extreme. This makes Survivor look like a piece of cake. This is our pilgrim way.
In order to be successful on our journey, we not only have to learn how to do something (for example, play a scale) once, we must learn how to accomplish that task in an infinite sea of musical variables (tempo, key, articulation, fragmentation, ornamentation, dynamics, register, etc.) as we swim in the infinite sea of extra-musical variables (room temperature, crying babies, head colds, low humidity, cell phones, performance anxiety, newspaper reviewers, bad lighting, etc.). Knowing this makes us the neurotic people that many of us are, and it also means that over-practicing the basics is almost never a bad idea. It's just part of our pilgrim's progress -- sometimes we're on the Hill of Difficulty, scrambling over boulders and scraping our knees. Sometimes we're in the Palace Beautiful, putting up our feet. Sometimes we're in the Slough of Despond, and we have to get a friend to come pull us onto dry land. But all the while, we know where we're going. We must keep to the narrow way, the pilgrim way, and trust that we got on the path for a reason.
All of that being said, I want to keep the workload simple and fairly light this week.
Rising Level 2's
Dig up your copy of "Our Tuning Forks, Our Selves" (if you can't find it, you can print yourself a shiny new one from the link on the right side of your screen), and locate your tuning fork.
Take a day to re-acquaint yourself with the methods for finding each key -- if something doesn't make sense, shoot me an email.
Then, on a daily basis, check yourself and your key-finding ability. Sing songs in your classroom in odd keys that are more difficult to find. When you're listening to music, get out your fork and see if you can figure out what key it's in (sort of the inverse of the key-finding process). Ask a friend to randomly test you throughout the week (over the phone works just fine for this task). Immerse yourself in the world of tonality, and make A440 your mantra for the week...just for fun!
Rising Level 3's
If you know that you have troubles finding keys in a logical, consistent fashion when you're put on the spot, use the same assignment as the rising 2's this week.
However, if you're completely confident in your tuning fork skills, check this out:
http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/images/9/9c/Moza-intr-kyr.pdf
Most of you will recognize this piece by reputation, if not by having sung/played/heard it lots of times. What you may not know, however, is that the soprano solo (starting in m. 21) and the choral soprano line that immediately follows (mm. 27-32) have everything to do with pilgrimage: they are each a statement of the tonus peregrinus, or the pilgrim tone. Tonus peregrinus is a psalm tone, used in Christian churches since the middle ages for chanting biblical psalms (a Google search will get you lots of interesting information, I'm certain). This psalm tone differs from others because the reciting tone (the note used to articulate most of the words in a psalm, usually the same note in both halves of a psalm tone) changes from the first half of the tone to the second half, so those fanciful medieval types gave it a name (peregrinus, the Latin word for "pilgrim") describing that very characteristic. So, sing through these two passages in a comfortable octave (I recommend B-flat do for that section), then tackle the remainder of the Introit movement (notice that it's a sloooooow movement). What keys do you expect to visit? Does the journey in fact take you there? If you're feeling ambitious, feel free to check out the Kyrie that follows -- it's SO cool, and that way you can try your hand at something a little zippier.
Rising Level 4's
If you have any doubts on the tuning fork front, please avail yourselves of the rising 2's assignment. However, I have another pilgrim-y treat for you:
http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/images/0/0e/Bach-suscepit.pdf
If you don't know the Bach Magnificat already, I recommend that you stop whatever you might be doing and go listen to it right, RIGHT now. I like the John Eliot Gardner recording (though his tempo on this movement is soooooo sloooooow and his "Omnes generationes" might singe your eyebrows if you stand too close to the speakers....though it's really fun at that tempo!). Anyhow, this piece provides plenty of fodder for sight-singing and key analysis fun. It's not terribly straightforward, to be honest, and you'll probably find yourself moving within some odd key relationships. Definitely take the time to listen to at least this movement, as it does all sound beautiful and make sense at the end of the day. Now, how does this relate to the pilgrim theme? Well, check out that oboe line. Compare it to the soprano solos in the link listed for the rising 3's. Any correlation? Yup, this, too, is a tonus peregrinus sighting....isn't that neat?
All right, my little pilgrims...good luck to you, and I'll be back in the blogosphere in two weeks! Cheers, and wish me luck!
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Leadership
Hello, solfa sentinels!
Shorts and sandals begone! I looked out my window this morning and saw...
the first snow of the season.
No kidding. The switch has flipped.
So, my mug of mint tea and I got to thinking about this week's blog, and this is what came up:
Leadership. I find this topic interesting, maybe because so much of my time is spent not being the boss, but definitely being in a position where I feel responsible for the way things go. I'm the TA, the big sister, the assistant conductor, the section leader, the Girl Friday. I have come to believe that there is quite an art to this, and while I've spent a good number of years in this kind of role, it's only more recently that I find myself able to comfortably analyze it and cope with everything it means. At the moment, I count myself very lucky to be spending the majority of my professional time in situations where the person in charge really is in charge, both in name and in the way s/he chooses to behave. In this kind of model, it's easy to be a supportive sub-leader -- I just get to do what is asked of me...no fussing, no mind-reading, no power struggles, no secret compensating. And, it's probably quite obvious from the list at the end of that last sentence that I've definitely been in situations that were less copacetic. There are many ways of getting around in such environments, and sometimes those getting-around behaviors stay with us unawares, even when things are better and we don't need them anymore. The upside is that having a whole palette of sub-leader behaviors should theoretically give a person a lot of options in any given situation....and options are powerful when we are able to recognize them as such.
And, since I've grown up in a world where computers have always been present, I tend to think of behavioral choices in terms of a Control Panel -- meaning that there are choices we make actively on a case-by-case basis, but there are also "default settings"...presets that make certain functions automatic. Over time, I think we become more acquainted with our own default settings, we realize that we have the power to change them, and through experimentation and blind luck, sometimes we come upon what works best for us. For me, that has had a lot to do with patience, slowing down, and realizing that consistency and small bites are usually the best way to go. As it turns out, the way I am slowly learning to treat myself is also the best way to lead and to treat other people.
This is perhaps one of the biggest themes of my own pedagogical philosophy, though I don't know if I've ever stated it in so many words before: the best thing I can do for you is convince you that you are your own best teacher. Or, stated another way: I can only make a series of guesses about how any person learns and set up contexts that get at them, but if you know how you learn, you hold the keys to limitlessness. It's just a matter of becoming conscious and then taking the time. In this sense, every student must be a leader. Hopefully, the teacher is capable and the activities and instruction are sound, and just following directions will get you close to where you want to be. However, the last step is always for the student to take -- translating what is outside into what lives inside. That takes guts and patience and knowledge. It takes leadership.
All of that being said:
Rising Level 2's
Take a look at this lovely piece...only as far as the first measure of p. 3, unless you're feeling more adventurous:
http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/images/2/24/Pergolesi_09_Sancta_mater.pdf
You can take a listen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zw4GfuclCc
If you only look at the solo parts (up to the top of p. 3, as indicated), you can use the key of E-flat for the entire soprano solo and B-flat for the entire alto solo. This will mean that you have to cope with one little chromatic syllable (the same one in both parts), but I bet you'll be fine.
I'd advise you to work through the rhythm first, one vocal line at a time - conducting is your friend!
Are there common motives between the soprano and alto lines? What makes them easy? What makes them difficult?
If you do decide to go on to the true duet section, be advised that you'll be traveling in the flat direction around the circle of fifths, and that you'll need to watch out for excursions to minor keys.
Rising Level 3's
Look at this little gem:
http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/images/7/79/Pergolesi_08_Fac_ut_ardeat.pdf
I know it looks long, but I bet you can work your way through it little by little...
You can listen to it here (at ramming speed, but with a wicked countertenor!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnOmk_wAo8c
And here (with a boys' choir, at a much more moderate clip)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afPj4dSuR1Y&feature=related
I'd advise you to print out the score and listen first, then mark the places where the material is repeated.
Once you've set up a little form scheme for yourself, check out the key centers....it does travel a little , but never very far afield. I bet you can puzzle it out.
From there, use your tonal and form schemes to guide your study of the piece. How will you break it up? Would working backwards be a good approach? Are the voice parts roughly equal? Will you count in 4 or in 2? Will going slow actually be helpful or not? You're in charge!
Rising Level 4's
For you, something a little different:
http://imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/9/9e/IMSLP42945-PMLP33670-Strauss--Op_37_6_Lieder.pdf
Check out the first song in the set. You can read the incredibly sweet translation of the text here:
http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=10228
And you can listen to a recording here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRNbjDzBBGw
Once you've had a listen, try your hand at figuring out key areas for the vocal line. If you get stuck, looking at the piano line might be somewhat helpful. There's definitely some enharmonic and remote stuff going on -- and isn't it magic how it all works out in the end?
Make some decisions about the solfa, and try to sing through sections unaccompanied. Once individual key areas feel reasonably secure, try stringing them together. See if you can make it through the whole piece unaccompanied, but in the right keys -- it's a bit of a feat, I must say!
Enjoy!
Shorts and sandals begone! I looked out my window this morning and saw...
the first snow of the season.
No kidding. The switch has flipped.
So, my mug of mint tea and I got to thinking about this week's blog, and this is what came up:
Leadership. I find this topic interesting, maybe because so much of my time is spent not being the boss, but definitely being in a position where I feel responsible for the way things go. I'm the TA, the big sister, the assistant conductor, the section leader, the Girl Friday. I have come to believe that there is quite an art to this, and while I've spent a good number of years in this kind of role, it's only more recently that I find myself able to comfortably analyze it and cope with everything it means. At the moment, I count myself very lucky to be spending the majority of my professional time in situations where the person in charge really is in charge, both in name and in the way s/he chooses to behave. In this kind of model, it's easy to be a supportive sub-leader -- I just get to do what is asked of me...no fussing, no mind-reading, no power struggles, no secret compensating. And, it's probably quite obvious from the list at the end of that last sentence that I've definitely been in situations that were less copacetic. There are many ways of getting around in such environments, and sometimes those getting-around behaviors stay with us unawares, even when things are better and we don't need them anymore. The upside is that having a whole palette of sub-leader behaviors should theoretically give a person a lot of options in any given situation....and options are powerful when we are able to recognize them as such.
And, since I've grown up in a world where computers have always been present, I tend to think of behavioral choices in terms of a Control Panel -- meaning that there are choices we make actively on a case-by-case basis, but there are also "default settings"...presets that make certain functions automatic. Over time, I think we become more acquainted with our own default settings, we realize that we have the power to change them, and through experimentation and blind luck, sometimes we come upon what works best for us. For me, that has had a lot to do with patience, slowing down, and realizing that consistency and small bites are usually the best way to go. As it turns out, the way I am slowly learning to treat myself is also the best way to lead and to treat other people.
This is perhaps one of the biggest themes of my own pedagogical philosophy, though I don't know if I've ever stated it in so many words before: the best thing I can do for you is convince you that you are your own best teacher. Or, stated another way: I can only make a series of guesses about how any person learns and set up contexts that get at them, but if you know how you learn, you hold the keys to limitlessness. It's just a matter of becoming conscious and then taking the time. In this sense, every student must be a leader. Hopefully, the teacher is capable and the activities and instruction are sound, and just following directions will get you close to where you want to be. However, the last step is always for the student to take -- translating what is outside into what lives inside. That takes guts and patience and knowledge. It takes leadership.
All of that being said:
Rising Level 2's
Take a look at this lovely piece...only as far as the first measure of p. 3, unless you're feeling more adventurous:
http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/images/2/24/Pergolesi_09_Sancta_mater.pdf
You can take a listen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zw4GfuclCc
If you only look at the solo parts (up to the top of p. 3, as indicated), you can use the key of E-flat for the entire soprano solo and B-flat for the entire alto solo. This will mean that you have to cope with one little chromatic syllable (the same one in both parts), but I bet you'll be fine.
I'd advise you to work through the rhythm first, one vocal line at a time - conducting is your friend!
Are there common motives between the soprano and alto lines? What makes them easy? What makes them difficult?
If you do decide to go on to the true duet section, be advised that you'll be traveling in the flat direction around the circle of fifths, and that you'll need to watch out for excursions to minor keys.
Rising Level 3's
Look at this little gem:
http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/images/7/79/Pergolesi_08_Fac_ut_ardeat.pdf
I know it looks long, but I bet you can work your way through it little by little...
You can listen to it here (at ramming speed, but with a wicked countertenor!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnOmk_wAo8c
And here (with a boys' choir, at a much more moderate clip)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afPj4dSuR1Y&feature=related
I'd advise you to print out the score and listen first, then mark the places where the material is repeated.
Once you've set up a little form scheme for yourself, check out the key centers....it does travel a little , but never very far afield. I bet you can puzzle it out.
From there, use your tonal and form schemes to guide your study of the piece. How will you break it up? Would working backwards be a good approach? Are the voice parts roughly equal? Will you count in 4 or in 2? Will going slow actually be helpful or not? You're in charge!
Rising Level 4's
For you, something a little different:
http://imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/9/9e/IMSLP42945-PMLP33670-Strauss--Op_37_6_Lieder.pdf
Check out the first song in the set. You can read the incredibly sweet translation of the text here:
http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=10228
And you can listen to a recording here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRNbjDzBBGw
Once you've had a listen, try your hand at figuring out key areas for the vocal line. If you get stuck, looking at the piano line might be somewhat helpful. There's definitely some enharmonic and remote stuff going on -- and isn't it magic how it all works out in the end?
Make some decisions about the solfa, and try to sing through sections unaccompanied. Once individual key areas feel reasonably secure, try stringing them together. See if you can make it through the whole piece unaccompanied, but in the right keys -- it's a bit of a feat, I must say!
Enjoy!
Sunday, October 2, 2011
A Way around It
Happy Sunday, Solfa Adventurers!
October is here, but it's still short-and-sandal weather in Colorado, with delightful cardigan mornings and evenings. Autumn is making quite a positive impression on me this year, I must say!
Many of you know that I've embarked on the adventure of a gluten-free diet (until recently, it's been gluten-free pescatarian, but on the advice of my alternative health practitioner, I've now introduced small amounts of super-humanely-raised-you-can-request-a-picture-and-personal-history-of-the-bird-to-confirm-it-had-a-happy-life chicken...quite a change for me), which has necessitated something of a paradigm shift in what it means to put together a meal. However, it's a LOT easier to do this kind of thing now than it used to be, I believe, especially since lots of other people are on similar journeys and talking about it in interesting and helpful ways.
http://www.elanaspantry.com/
http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/fresh-nourishing-salads-for-all-seasons
Tons of information is out there -- you just have to be willing to look for it, and be willing to embrace a different way of going about the procedure of everyday things. Is it convenient? Not really. However, does it give you an opportunity to grow? Undoubtedly. And, the experience of exploration opens you to new delights, treats and treasures that people who walk the path more-traveled-by don't get to see.
As I've been dipping my toes into new dietary waters, I've been fortunate to have a parallel experience, but from the perspective of the guide rather than the tenderfoot explorer. Several intrepid and delightful women have been studying music fundamentals with me over the past few months, and we've been having tons of fun. As I mentioned last week, new information takes time to sink in, and that tends to worry us unnecessarily. Additionally, I have increasingly come to believe the "direct path" is a myth. Sometimes we get lucky, and the first time we explain something, it sinks in for the learner. However, in the world of music, almost nothing works like that. Multiple modes of operation, conflicting vocabulary, redundant synonyms (how many ways can you think of to say/describe "half step"....it's just plain sick to have that many ways to say the same thing), an ancient notational system, all within a culture where many of our most handsomely compensated "musicians" boast of having no formal training and no knowledge of any of the above -- these are some serious learning barriers. Anyone who makes it in the door despite all of that (especially as a grownup) is worthy of a big dollop of respect in my book, and they deserve to have a teacher who can show them more than one way to navigate through the choppy waters of determining the quality of an interval, unraveling the mysteries of the circle of fifths, constructing the three forms of the minor scale, etc. And, while it's a difficult task to do what we're doing, and many people would consider it more trouble than it's worth for a person who is pursuing music as an amateur, the expressions of empowerment and pride and good old-fashioned geekiness I've seen and heard out of these students have convinced me that this is worth it for them. Sometimes it's just a matter of repetition. More often, it's a matter of repetition from a variety of perspectives, taking a whole panoply of routes past one point of interest until it becomes a landmark, and then adding more landmarks, then determining the spatial/conceptual relationship of one landmark to the others, then creating a map of an ever-larger hunk of musical geography incrementally over time. In this way, being a teacher is sort of like being a human GPS device...and sometimes road closures or human error or bad neighborhoods or new developments make us say "recalculating" about 9000 times along the way, which can be annoying, but it's our job. We're the ones who already have a pretty good map (even though we, too, are always learning), good enough that we can find a way around it.
So, this week:
All Levels
Take a look at Ottman, chapter 2. Yes, I'm serious.
Read pp. 12-13. Now, take yourself back to your earliest sight-singing experience and think through what else your teacher would have needed to say in order for all of this prose to make sense to you. Did you know what a major scale was? Did you know what half steps and whole steps were? How would you define them for someone (like your former self) who had been singing them forever, but who didn't know what they were or why they were called that or why they had other names? Would you use a keyboard?
After thinking through these issues (and others that might come up along the same lines), create a procedure for teaching an older beginner basic sight-singing using the material in Ottman, chapter 2. For the purposes of the exercise, you may assume that the imaginary student already has a basic understanding of rhythms and meters.
Now, if you're curious, empirically minded, or if you have a willing victim/captive audience handy, it might be interesting and fun to try out your strategies on a real live person. In fact, I highly recommend it -- that person will inevitably teach you far more than I can. If your handiest student is a bit beyond chapter 2 skills, adapt your strategies and the material to the situation. Notice what surprises you. Delight in your student's successes. Be creative in your descriptions and your problem-solving. As you think on your feet, remember what it's like not to know. Recalculate as needed.
Enjoy!
October is here, but it's still short-and-sandal weather in Colorado, with delightful cardigan mornings and evenings. Autumn is making quite a positive impression on me this year, I must say!
Many of you know that I've embarked on the adventure of a gluten-free diet (until recently, it's been gluten-free pescatarian, but on the advice of my alternative health practitioner, I've now introduced small amounts of super-humanely-raised-you-can-request-a-picture-and-personal-history-of-the-bird-to-confirm-it-had-a-happy-life chicken...quite a change for me), which has necessitated something of a paradigm shift in what it means to put together a meal. However, it's a LOT easier to do this kind of thing now than it used to be, I believe, especially since lots of other people are on similar journeys and talking about it in interesting and helpful ways.
http://www.elanaspantry.com/
http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/fresh-nourishing-salads-for-all-seasons
Tons of information is out there -- you just have to be willing to look for it, and be willing to embrace a different way of going about the procedure of everyday things. Is it convenient? Not really. However, does it give you an opportunity to grow? Undoubtedly. And, the experience of exploration opens you to new delights, treats and treasures that people who walk the path more-traveled-by don't get to see.
As I've been dipping my toes into new dietary waters, I've been fortunate to have a parallel experience, but from the perspective of the guide rather than the tenderfoot explorer. Several intrepid and delightful women have been studying music fundamentals with me over the past few months, and we've been having tons of fun. As I mentioned last week, new information takes time to sink in, and that tends to worry us unnecessarily. Additionally, I have increasingly come to believe the "direct path" is a myth. Sometimes we get lucky, and the first time we explain something, it sinks in for the learner. However, in the world of music, almost nothing works like that. Multiple modes of operation, conflicting vocabulary, redundant synonyms (how many ways can you think of to say/describe "half step"....it's just plain sick to have that many ways to say the same thing), an ancient notational system, all within a culture where many of our most handsomely compensated "musicians" boast of having no formal training and no knowledge of any of the above -- these are some serious learning barriers. Anyone who makes it in the door despite all of that (especially as a grownup) is worthy of a big dollop of respect in my book, and they deserve to have a teacher who can show them more than one way to navigate through the choppy waters of determining the quality of an interval, unraveling the mysteries of the circle of fifths, constructing the three forms of the minor scale, etc. And, while it's a difficult task to do what we're doing, and many people would consider it more trouble than it's worth for a person who is pursuing music as an amateur, the expressions of empowerment and pride and good old-fashioned geekiness I've seen and heard out of these students have convinced me that this is worth it for them. Sometimes it's just a matter of repetition. More often, it's a matter of repetition from a variety of perspectives, taking a whole panoply of routes past one point of interest until it becomes a landmark, and then adding more landmarks, then determining the spatial/conceptual relationship of one landmark to the others, then creating a map of an ever-larger hunk of musical geography incrementally over time. In this way, being a teacher is sort of like being a human GPS device...and sometimes road closures or human error or bad neighborhoods or new developments make us say "recalculating" about 9000 times along the way, which can be annoying, but it's our job. We're the ones who already have a pretty good map (even though we, too, are always learning), good enough that we can find a way around it.
So, this week:
All Levels
Take a look at Ottman, chapter 2. Yes, I'm serious.
Read pp. 12-13. Now, take yourself back to your earliest sight-singing experience and think through what else your teacher would have needed to say in order for all of this prose to make sense to you. Did you know what a major scale was? Did you know what half steps and whole steps were? How would you define them for someone (like your former self) who had been singing them forever, but who didn't know what they were or why they were called that or why they had other names? Would you use a keyboard?
After thinking through these issues (and others that might come up along the same lines), create a procedure for teaching an older beginner basic sight-singing using the material in Ottman, chapter 2. For the purposes of the exercise, you may assume that the imaginary student already has a basic understanding of rhythms and meters.
Now, if you're curious, empirically minded, or if you have a willing victim/captive audience handy, it might be interesting and fun to try out your strategies on a real live person. In fact, I highly recommend it -- that person will inevitably teach you far more than I can. If your handiest student is a bit beyond chapter 2 skills, adapt your strategies and the material to the situation. Notice what surprises you. Delight in your student's successes. Be creative in your descriptions and your problem-solving. As you think on your feet, remember what it's like not to know. Recalculate as needed.
Enjoy!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
