The Blog

Kristina composed in Sept 2015

RECITAL July 5, 2015 PIANO Rivka

August 20, 2015 0 Comments

RECITAL July 6, 2014 VOICE Rivka

August 20, 2015 0 Comments

RECITAL July 5, 2015 Hijo De la Luna – Rivka

August 20, 2015 0 Comments

Official Video] Say Something – Pentatonix (A Great Big World & Christina Aguilera Cover)

Click  here to listen to an amazing version of  SAY SOMETHING

November 20, 2014 0 Comments

Somebody That I Used To Know – Pentatonix (Gotye cover)

Click here to listen to an amazing performance.

November 20, 2014 0 Comments

CLASSICAL ERA (CA 1750- CA 1825)

UNIT FOUR: THE CLASSICAL ERA (CA 1750- CA 1825)
• Historians often refer to the late 18ht century as the Age of Enlightenment.
 Era characterized by the pursuit of knowledge, rational thinking, and growing desire for equality among all people
 Baroque era was replaced by Classical ideas of proportion, symmetry and balance.
 Musicians, artists and architects in this era took their inspiration form the simplicity and clean lines of Greco-Roman architectural models.

VIENNESE SCHOOL
 Vienna is the capital of Austria
 City stood at the crossroads between Europe and the East and attracted the leading artists, architects and writers and musicians of the day.
 In 18th Vienna, Austria emerged as a musical center
 Principal composers include Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven leader in the forging of the Classical style.

STRUM UND DRANG
 High level of emotionalism and dealing with the individual’s revolt against society
 2 writers use are Friedrich Schiller and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
 German for “storm and stress”
 Literary movement roughly spanning the years 1760-1785
 Artistic aim was to frighten, shock or otherwise overwhelm the reader with emotion
 Musically, it translated into passionate outburst and emphasis on minor keys
 Evident in the music of the sons of Bach, Haydn, and Mozart

SYMPHONY
BACKGROUND
 Developed from the 3 section Italian overture (fast slow fast)
 Mannheim composers inserted the minuet and trio, thereby establishing the 4 movements sonata cycle
 Incorporated the newly emerging sonata form
 Composed with the 4 orchestral families in mind

CHARACTERISTICS
 Multi-movement orchestral work
 Orchestra consisted of the 4 families: strings, winds, brass, and percussion
 Generally had 4 contrasting movements as shown below

MANNHEIM SCHOOL
 Group of composers active at the court of Mannheim, Germany in the latter half of the 18th
 Leading figures included Karl Stamitz and Christian Cannabich
 Developed the orchestral crescendo and rocket theme exerted a strong influence on the composers of the Viennese School

October 28, 2014 0 Comments

KEYBOARD MUSIC

KEYBOARD MUSIC
DOMENICO SCARLATTI (1685-1757)
• Was born in the same year just like J.S.Bach and G.F. Handel, he composed Italian operas, his fame for today rests on brilliant keyboard sonatas
• Technical challenges: hand crossings, arpeggiated figures, ornaments, repeated notes, and rapid passagework, sonatas in binary or rounded binary form.
  MUSICALSTYLE:
• Brilliant harpsichordist
• Contributed to the development of idiomatic writing for harpsichord: rapid passagework, hand crossing, arpeggiated figures
• Frequent use of sequential passages
• Harmonic vocabulary also use of dissonance, acciaccaturas, suspensions, pedal point
• Absorbed international influence: Italian, Spanish, French
• Binary and round binary structures foreshadow sonata form
GENRES AND TITLES:
• Keyboard sonatas: over 500, Exercises for Harpsichord.
• Sacred work: Stabat mater, Salve regina
• Operas: Tolomeo et Alessandro.

PRE-CLASSICAL STYLE: lighter homophonic texture marked with elegant ornamentation and development of sonata form
CARL PHILIPP EMANUEL BACH (1714-1788)
• C.P.E Back was better known then his father, he worked at the court of Frederic the Great King of Prussia at Potsdam.
• Outstanding keyboard player, particularly on the harpsichord and clavichord
• Produced an enormous body of music :keyboard sonatas, concertos, symphonies, cantatas, oratorios
• Contributed to the development of sonata form
• Author of important treatise: Essay on the True of Playing Keyboard Instruments (published 1753) that served as a practical guide to all aspects of keyboard performances including the correct execution of ornaments.
WILHELM FRIEDEMANN BACH (1710-1784)
• A brilliant organist, he held distinguished posts in Dresden and Halle
• Renowned (well known) for his improvisational skills
• Composed numerous solo keyboard works, concertos, organ fugues, chamber music symphonies and cantatas
JOHANN CHRISTOPH BACH (1732-1795)
• Held a lifelong post at the court of Buckeburg
• Composed solo keyboard music, keyboard concertos, symphonies, cantatas, oratorios and operas
JOHANN CHRISTIAN BACH (1735 1782)
• Converted to Catholicism and served as organist at Milan Cathedral
• Spent his last 20 years in London where he serve as music master to Queen Charlotte; historians frequently refer as “the London Bach”, or “the English Bach”
• Composed large body of music , such as keyboard works, chamber music, symphonies, and operas
• Shaped the classical concertos
• Befriended the young Mozart and exerted a strong musical influence over him

ORCHESTRAL SUITE AND HANDEL

ORCHESTRAL SUITE
BACKGROUND:
• In the Renaissance era dances were often paired to emphasize contrast as in the Pavane and Galliard combination
• In the Baroque era the grouping of contrasting dances pieces was taken a step further with the establishment of the formal dance suite
• The practice of grouping dances together began in the 17th in France where the term Ordre was used in reference to collections of dances in the same key
• In Germany a standard order for the dances was established by Johann Jacob Froberger in the 17th.
CHARACTERISTIC:
• Dances are generally in binary form
• Contrasting dances in the same key are grouped together in suites.

GEORGE FREDERIC HANDEL (1685-1759)
MUSICAL STYLE:
• A cosmopolitan figure, he absorbed the international styles of his time: German, French and Italian
• Use of very basic elements (chordal passages, scale figures) makes his style accessible and appealing
• Frequent alternation of homorhythmic passages (homophonic) with contrapuntal textures (polyphonic)
• Conveys a sense of pageantry and dramatic theatrical style through grandiose gestures such as full SATB choral sound, bold contrasts of dynamics.
• An important contributor to the development of Italian opera seria composed over 40 works in this genre
• His da capo arias were a showcase for vocal virtuosity
• Created the English oratorio emphasizing the role of the chorus
• Used both recitative secco and recitative accompagnato in operas and oratorios
• Used vivid word painting
• Virtuosic, idiomatic keyboard style, inverted the organ concerto
• Contributed to the development of orchestral and keyboard suites
GENRES AND TITLES:
• Operas: Rinaldo, Giulio Cesare, Serse, Orlando
• Oratorios : messiah, Judas Maccabeus, Israel in Egypt
• Sacred vocal work: Ode forSaint Cecilia’s Day, Te Deum
• Keyboard works for organ and harpsichord
• Orchestral works: suites-Water Music, Music for the Royal Fireworks; concerti grossi, organ concertos.

CONCERTO GROSSO, ORCHESTRAL SUITE

CONCERTO GROSSO
BACKGROUND
• “concerto” comes from the Latin concertare means to collaborate or to debate; in Italian concertare means to agree or get together
• The original use of the word concerto in music was in reference to mixed vocal and instrumental ensembles (to differentiate from a capella singing)
• Developed in 17th in Italy
• Originally a work for instruments and/ or voices based on the principal of contrast

CHARACTERISTICS
• Multi-movement work for soloist /soloists and orchestra
• Generally in 3 movements fast slow fast
• Outer movements usually used ritornellos form
• There were 2 types of concertos in the Baroques period – solo concerto (with a single soloist) and concerto grosso (group of soloists)
ORCHESTRAL SUITE
BACKGROUND:
• In the Renaissance era dances were often paired to emphasize contrast as in the Pavane and Galliard combination
• In the Baroque era the grouping of contrasting dances pieces was taken a step further with the establishment of the formal dance suite
• The practice of grouping dances together began in the 17th in France where the term Ordre was used in reference to collections of dances in the same key
• In Germany a standard order for the dances was established by Johann Jacob Froberger in the 17th.
CHARACTERISTIC:
• Dances are generally in binary form
• Contrasting dances in the same key are grouped together in suites.