The Blog

CHAMBER MUSIC ENSEMBLE
Chorus- large group of singers.
Choir- small group, church of sacred music.
Madrigal choir- perform without accompaniment,”part of song”
Chamber choir- cappella; no accompaniment or piano; 24 singers.
Homogeneous- only men voice.
Heterogeneous- others featuring instruments from diff. Families.
CHAMBER MUSIC ENSEMBLE:
String quartet:violin,violin,viola,cello.
Sting quintet: violin,violin,cello,viola,viola.
Piano trio: piano,violin,cello.
String trio: violin,violin or viola,cello.
Woodwind quintet: flute , oboe,clarinet,bassoon,French horn(bass instrument)
Duos: piano, solo instrument.
Piano quintet: piano , violin,violin,viola,cello.
Piano quartet: piano,violin,viola,cello.
Brass quintet: trumpet,trumpet,French horn,trombone,tuba.
(India strings and percussion ensemble; china: plucked, bowed+flutes)

STRING INSTRUMENT-all chordophones, two types: plucked and bowed.
Violin- 1600 to 1750 in Italy; bowed; brilliant and dramatic effect; nuances of f and p.
Viola-bowed ;larger in size than violin; has lower range b/c strings are longer, thicker, heavier; husky lower register; can be double another instrument (octave higher or lower)
Violoncello- bowed; known as cello; lower in range than viola; is for singing quality; resonance of low register.
Double bass- bowed; known as contrabass or bass viol; lowest range in orchestra; supports cello in 8va lower.
Harp – plucked; old instrument in Europe.
Guitar- plucked; old instrument originated in East Europe; lock like is banjo and mandolin.
WOODWOND INSTRUMENT– all aerophones, air vibrates within pipe that has finger holes along its length; embouchure- oral mechanism: lips lower jaw and facial muscles.
Flute- blowing across a mouth hole; is soprano voice, cool, expressive and brilliant in upper range; now made of silver alloy rather than wood; is cylindrical tube closed n one end; melody instrument, notes, scales, trills.
Piccolo- little flute; highest pitched instrument in orchestra; well heard even in orchestra ff.
Oboe- blowing into a mouthpiece fitted with double reed; made of wood; pastoral effect and nostalgic moods;
English horn- is an alto of oboe; wooden tube is wider and longer, ends are pear-shaped opening calls bells-soft and expressive sound.
Clarinet- blowing into a single reed mouth piece; chisel-shaped mouth piece; smooth, liquid tone, rapid scales, trills, repeated notes.
Bass clarinet- blowing into single reed mouth piece; octave lower range than clarinet; rich dark tone, wide dynamics range.
Bassoon- double reed instrument; low register tone, reedy;
Contrabassoon- lowest tone of woodwinds; double reed instrument.
Saxophone- blow single red instrument; conical bore and metal body of the brass instrument; common soprano, alto, tenor, baritone; popular music and jazz.
BRASS INSTRUMENT-aerophones; cap shaped mouth piece attached to a metal tubing that flares at the end into a bell;embouchure-oral mechanism lips and lower facial muscle jaw;
Trumpet- highest pitch;brilliant;clear sound;ceremonial display;
French horn- sft passage;RH insert in the bell(hand stops by plugging);blends with wood winds,brasses and strings.
Trombone – larger trumpet;ich tenor rane;U shaped slide that alters teh legth of vibrating air column.
Tuba- is bass instrument;adds depthto orchestra tone; dark resonance ranging from softness to rumbling.
Cornet- marching band.
Bugle- military trumpet,no valves.
Fluegelhorn- valved bugle with wide bell;jazz and brass bands;
Euohonium- tenor range instruments,resemble tuba.
Sousaphone- adaptation of tuba designed by John Philipsousa
PERCUSSION INSTRUMENT-accentuate rthythm;more excitement;two catagories:definite pitch,indefinite pitch.
Timpani(kettledrums)-played insets of 2 or 4;has hemispheric copper shell head stretched of plastic or calfskin place by a metal ring;pedal changes tension of head;played by 2 padded sticks;arrived in western Europe from middle east.
Xylophone- used in Africa,southeast asia, Americas;consists tuned blocks of wod or metal shaped like a keyboard;struck with mallets with hard head
Marimba- mellow xylohpne in Africa origin.
Vibraphone- in jazz;xylophones with resonators containing disks operated by electric motors that exaggerate vibrato.
Glockenspiel(set of bells)- horizontal steel bars of various sizes struck produce bright,metallic sound.
Celesta – kinda glockenspiel operated by means of a keyboard;resemble miniature upright piano;sreels plates struck by small hammers.
Chimes or tubular bells- sets of tuned metal tubes of various lengths suspended from frame;struck with hammer;simulate church bell.

Indefinite:
Snare drum(side drum)- small cylindrical drum with 2 heads(top and bottom);played with 2 drumsicks;vibrates lower heard agaist taut snares(strings)
Tenor drum- larger in size,has wooden shell,no snares.
Bass drum- played larger soft headed sticks;produce low , heavy sound.
Tom-tom- native American or African drum.
Tambourine- round,hand-held drum with “jingles”(little metals plates insirted in rim);can be stroke by fingers or elbow,shke it, pass hand over the jingles.
Castanets- originated in spain; little wooden clappers moved by player’s thums and forefinger
Triangle- slender rod of steel bent into 3 cornered shape;struck by steel beater.
Cymbals- originated from central asia in middle ages;arrived to west;2 large circular brass plates of equal sizes, struck against each other.
Gong(tam-tam)- circular disk of metal suspended in frame to hang freely;struck with heavy drumstick, deep roar; southeast Asia and far east known gamelan instrument.
KEYBOARD INSTRUMENT
Organ- a keyboard back to the middle ages often associates with church music; sound is generated by air passing through pipes or reeds.
Harpsichord- a keyboard popular from the late 16th through 18th centuries; sound is generated by small quills inside the instrument that pluck the strings.
Clavichord- a small keyboard popular from late 16th through 18th centuries; sound is generated by small metal tangents that strike the strings inside the instruments.
Piano- keyboard instrument invented early 18th century; sound is generated by hammers inside the instrument that strike the string.
Synthesizer- a device (usually played with a keyboard) that generates and modifies sounds electronically. Robert Moog popularized the synthesizer in the 1960.
(Idiophones- sound produced from substance of instrument itself eg.bells, rattles, cymbals, xylophones)
(Membranophones- drum-types, sound produced from tightly stretched membranes eg. Drum)
(Aerophones- produced sound by using air eg. flutes, whistles, accordions, bagpipes, horns)
(chordophones- produced sound from vibrating string stretched btw 2 points eg. violin, guitar, harp, Japanese’s koto)

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

Life and Musical Career
• Born in Hamburg, Germany, into an intellectual and musical Jewish family
• Grandfather, Moses Mendelssohn, was a rabbi and philosopher
• Father, Abraham, was a merchant banker
• Mother, Lea, supervised children’s musical education
• Felix was a fourth child, oldest sister Fanny was a talented pianist and composer
• Because of political and social concerns, the family was converted to Christianity and added Bartholdy to their surname
• Age of 7, Felix had lessons with pianist Marie Bigot in Paris
• Age of 10, studying music history with Carl Friedtich Zelter, director of the Berlin Singakademie
• Age of 12, travels to Europe countries, meets German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
• Age of 16 meets Franz Liszt and Luigi Cherubini.

Click HERE to watch CELINE DION performing “Celle qui m’a tout appris”  (Live in Quebec City)

This is ONE of my IDOL to pursue the singing. Click HERE  to watch an amazing duet video:  Celine Dion with  Ne-Yo

INTRODUCTION TO 19TH CENTURY ART AND MUSIC

The French Revolution 1789 marked the dawning of the Romantic era. Aristocratic privilege was not eliminated entirely; the rise of middle class was restricted. The voice of the individual, freely expressing a uniquely subjective view of the world.
Romanticism came before Classicism. There was balance, asymmetry no followed, emotional restraint was replaced by unbridled passion; objective viewpoints had dominated, a deeply personal, subjective perspective now emerged.
Sehnsucht
• German for “longing”
• Yearning for the unattainable, which found expression in works such as Richard Wagner’s opera “Tristan und Isolde” and Franz Schubert’s song “Gretchen am Spinnrade”
Individualism
• Artists express their won uniquely personal view of the world
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau in “The Confessions”, who said: if I am not better (than other people), at least I am different.
Heightened emotionalism
• Classical restraint gave way to unbridled expressions of human emotions and passions
• Represented in literary works such as Gustave Flaubet’s “Madame Bovary” and Alexandre Dumas’ “ La Dame aux camellias”
• Evident in music for piano , like Robert Schumann’s “ Fantasy “ and Chopin’s “ Nocturnes” and orchestral Tchaikovsky’s “ Symphony No 6 in B Minor po74 “ Pathetique”
Weltschmerz
• German for “ world- weariness”
• Pessimism began to permeate the works of writers, artist, and musicians
• Franz Schubert’s “Winterreise” song cycle.
Exoticism
• Fascination with the distant and foreign
• Evoked in music through melody, rhythm inspired by local dances, modal inflections, chromatic harmony and colorful orchestration
• Giuseppe Verdi “ Aida” , Jules Massenet’s “ Thais”, Delibe’s “Lakme”.

Nationalism
• 19th century political and social climate marked by politics fervor , desire for independence, and escape from oppression
• Folk songs: Frederic Chopin’s “Polonauses” and “ Mazurkas”, Antonin Dvorak’s “Slavonic Dances”, and Franz Liszt’s “Rhapsodies”.
• Also local myths, and legends and historical events were characterized. Like, Bedrich Smetana’s “Vltava” ( “The Moldau”)
Escapism
• Seeking distraction and relief from the pressures of everyday teality
• Flights of fantasy, reveire and imagination. Like literature of personal journal of Thomas de Quincey “Confessions of an English Opium-Easter”
• Example: Hector Berlioz’s “Symphonies Fantastique”
Fascination with the supernatural
• Writers and painters were drawn to mystical, magical and spectral phenomena
• Fairy tales by Brothers Grimm in 1812
• Paintings by John Henry Fuseli “ Titania and Bottom”
• Carl Maria von Weber’s opera “ Der Freischutz”, Adolphe Adam’s music for the ballet “ Giselle “ and Hector Berlioz’s “ Symphonies Fantastique”( 5th movement)
Morbid fascination with death
• Attraction to the finality of death, to the macabre, the sinister
• Franz Liszt’s “Totentanz” (Dance of Death) and the final :love death aria by Richard Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde”(Leibestod)
Art as religion
• Art became a replacement for traditional religion
• The pursuit of the divine spark, the search for sublime beauty
• Richard Wagner referred opera “Parsifal” as festival drama of consecration
Adoration of nature
• Nature viewed allegorically; a mirror of the artist’s soul
• Celebration of the awesome forces of nature, including the violence of ocean storms, untamed wilderness
• Paintings J.M.W . Turner and Caspar David Friedrich; Music Ludwig van Beethoven “Symphony No 6 “ Pastoral”
References “Music History” by J. Lopinski. J.Ringhofer,P.Zarins; “The Enjoyment of Music 10th Edition” by K.Forney, J.Machlis.

Click HERE to see this

Click HERE for see  the performance.

Michael Jackson’s new ‘A Place With No Name’ video was made by Sam Bayer, the director who created the ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ clip for Nirvana.

‘A Place With No Name’ was based on America’s A Horse With No Name. Jackson admitted that the America classic was the inspiration for the ‘new’ track which was recorded in 1998.

Here is the official video for the track, the second from Jackson’s Xscape album. There may also be a bit of deja vu in the shots of Jackson used in the video. They had previously appeared in the video for his hit In the Closet.

Sam Bayer also made Robbie Williams’ Angels.

Click HERE  SEE THE VIDEO: