Concert Report: Ithaca College Trombone Troupe 11/20 Ford Hall

Yesterday I went to my second concert at Ithaca College. This was a small concert performed by the Trombone Troupe of students at the music school here at IC. I have never seen a strictly trombone-based concert and I really had no clue what to expect. The concert took place in Ford Hall in the Whalen Center at 8:15 on Thursday, November 20.

The performance opened with all of the students in a half circle on stage. There was a conductor who seemed to be a professor. Although the concert had a very casual feel to it, all of the trombonists were dressed in formal attire and the music matched their professionalism. The two songs of the performance that stuck out to me most were "Sweetheart of the Sun" (the 2nd song) and "The Hex Files" (the 3rd song).  

After the first song, everyone got up and changed positions. The conductor swapped with a student conductor and the song opened, very slowly. It had a deep and ominous texture to it. It had a flowing to it where one set of trombonists would follow the set before them. It grew gradually and went from a dark, church-chorus sound, to a hopeful, almost heroic call to action sound. The trombones acted like they were imitating voices. Layering on top of each other a lot like ideals we studied from the 19th century. It was still somewhat predictable but had a very majestic and powerful tone color throughout the song. 

As the 2nd song closed, the trombonists repositioned again and a new conductor was put in place. This 3rd song began entirely opposite of how the 2nd song started. It started with the lower-pitched trombones blaring and cutting out quickly and then coming back in louder than they were before. As those trombones were repeating their pattern, a new set of higher pitched trombones joined in, but on what sounded like a different rhythm. Both sets kept up their own patterns, while others joined in on different layers. The song gradually built as new sets of trombones would enter doing their own thing and then mix together with the others to create a more fluid and synchronized sound. This song instantly reminded me of Stravinsky and all of his trickery with rhythm and tone color. It was very unpredictable and there were a few points in which everything would stop and a single trombone would come in with a very jazzy sound and then cut out for the other sets of trombones to continue. It was very climactic and it felt like the music that would be played if I were running frantically through a forest away from an axe murderer! The song cut off unexpectedly and I was struck with the very unfamiliar silence. It was a brilliant piece. 

I was thoroughly impressed with all the music I heard that evening. Never had I imagined that that kind of emotion and song variety could be made with just an abundance of the same instrument. Yet again, the music school has not let me down, and I will be sure to return expecting the same, if not better, work that was performed that evening. 

A Study in Time Signature

Song #1

Song #2

Igor Stravinsky - Le Sacre du Printemps (The Right of Spring), Part I

Outline of Analysis:

Introduction - brief description of Stravinsky and his connection to culture and music.  

Thesis - Stravinsky’s controversial ballet masterpiece, Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring), embodied the aesthetics and ideals of the twentieth century music and art through his innovative application of texture of sound, bitonality, and his alteration of standards in melody.

Body #1 - overview of texture found in the composition

Body #2 - analysis of tonal structure in the composition

Body #3 - Stravinsky's use of new standards in melody found in the composition

Conclusion - bring the paper to a closing point by summarizing Stravinsky's impact and restating the thesis.

Essay:

            Igor Stravinsky was one of the twentieth century’s most influential composers. Known as “the musical equivalent of Pablo Picasso,” (Understanding Music by Jeremy Yudkin, page 220) he was the icon of the style of Primitivism, and polyrhythmic and polytonal structure seen in compositions of his era. His career spanned over the early to mid 1900’s, a time of Modernistic innovation, musical experimentation, and a brand new period of artistic development. Stravinsky’s controversial ballet masterpiece, Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring), embodied the aesthetics and ideals of the twentieth century music and art through his innovative application of texture of sound, bitonality, and his alteration of standards in melody. To analyze Stravinsky’s design, we are going to focus on an excerpt of Part I of the Rite, 0:00-1:30.

            The piece opens with a very bizarre and supernatural sounding solo bassoon. Within the first twenty seconds we get a strong feeling that this piece is meant to put the listener in a fantastical state of mind. The piece develops with a flourish of horns and spiraling woodwinds. The Rite of Spring is commonly connected to Walt Disney’s Fantasia, for their similarity in imagination and color that is portrayed. The combination of the high register bassoon, the woodwinds, and the clarinet that is introduced around 1:14, dramatically complicates the sound, making everything cluster together in the listener’s ears and creates a sense of overwhelming atmosphere that evokes the Rite’s mystical presence. Stravinsky was a master at breaking the tradition of texture in sound and this is perfectly seen in the first minute and a half of his ballet.

            Related to his use of texture, Stravinsky used a key ideal of twentieth century musical aesthetic, bitonality, in his composition. Tonality is defined as “the use of scale, chords, and harmonies in music,” (Understanding Music by Jeremy Yudkin, page 215) explaining why bitonality is referred to as “two different keys sounding at the same time” (Understanding Music by Jeremy Yudkin, page 220). Stravinsky doesn’t hesitate to put this into play in his Rite, as it is seen in the first 15 seconds of the piece when the horns enter. The bassoon is playing at a piercingly high register, while the horns come in out of nowhere on a deeper, midrange tone. This was a hugely innovational ideal of this era because before then, instruments had rarely been pushed to those extremes in typical orchestras. This was truly a groundbreaking feat performed by Stravinsky.

            Stravinsky completely contorted all standards of melody found in classical music with his introduction The Rite of Spring. The clear line between these new ideals of melody in Primitivism and Modernism, and the melody seen in eighteenth and nineteenth century classical compositions is best seen in the dramatic unpredictability of melody in twentieth century classical. Before, the melody had been streamlined, balanced, consistent, and above all, predictable. With the installation of Modernism and Primitivism in classical music of the twentieth century, melody was wildly whimsical and abnormal. The leaps and jumps of rhythm and the contrasting tones, Le Sacre du Printemps paved the road for new standards in melody.

            Above all, Igor Stravinsky was a mastermind. He wanted to strike people with his music. He wanted to offend them and play with their ears. He wanted to put his listeners into a different realm, even without the theatre of ballet.  The Rite of Spring supremely exemplifies twentieth century aesthetics through the way Stravinsky shattered the standards of texture, tone, and melody in classical music.

Concert Report: Swan Lake by Joffrey Ballet Chicago

Over my Fall Break, I took a trip to Chicago to visit my family who came up from Nashville. The short break was spent catching up with each other and enjoying the huge city. On the second night, we decided to go see the Chicago Joffrey Ballet's performance of Swan Lake at the Auditorium Theatre there in Chicago. I didn't plan on using this performance as a concert report post, but after learning about Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, I felt like it would be very appropriate. 

This was the first time I had ever seen a main stage ballet performance, and I really did not know what to expect. I walked in and was struck by the enormity of the theatre space. The Auditorium Theatre is grand and very impressive, it set a great introduction for the show I was about to see. As the ballet began, it became apparent to me that this was going to be different than what I had imagined. I pictured the traditional Swan Lake enchanted, Grimm's fairytale environment, but the show was set in a 19th century ballet studio. It felt almost like a ballet inside a ballet. 

What really brought it together was the music and the choreography synchronized with the music. I didn't know it at the time, but I would learn about the exact composer who wrote Swan Lake, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Just focusing on the music alone, there was a haunted and mesmerizing emotion evoked from the full orchestra. I hadn't heard Swan Lake in its entirety, and experiencing that was magical and even sort of eerie. I had never realized how chilling of a story Swan Lake is!

It really struck me how brilliant the storytelling of this performance was executed. As a theatre major, I am so used to working on dramas and musicals where the stories are told and performed through words. This was something entirely different. The only words throughout the entire three hour performance were the preshow emergency warnings. The story was told through the perfect synchronization of masterful ballet from the dancers at Joffrey, and the full orchestra conducted by Scott Speck. 

This is the only way I can explain the emotion and story telling: as you are listening to the music, you feel the intensity and atmosphere that the music wants to put you in. You feel the movement of the music but, just through the music alone, you can't really visualize how the music would be depicted through motion, which is right where the choreography comes alive. From the solos to the large group synchronizations, Joffrey Ballet did an excellent job at translating the music's emotion into actions, telling the story just through motion and music alone. 

 At the time of the show, in class we had only gotten up to the conclusion of the 18th century Enlightenment Era of classical music. Throughout the entire show I kept listening carefully, trying to identify the different cadences and phrase structure that we had studied through our look into 18th century music, but I kept getting stumped because there were so many slight differences. The phrase structure wasn't like what we had learned. There were varying lengths and elaborate tricks throughout the music. Just recently, I learned that it was confusing to me because it was just how Tchaikovsky put his mark on his music. Romantic Era music has an entirely different taste than 18th century Enlightenment Era music, and I feel like through Joffrey Ballet's Swan Lake, I have come to this realization and the differences have become more recognizable. 

The 19th Century Romantic Era: Studying Artistic Ideals

As we move past The Enlightenment Era of the 18th century, we've been taking a look at the era of Romanticism. The Romantic Era spanned from 1790-1850, bringing about an entirely new standard of artistic ideals. Romanticism had a strong focus on the artist expressing his feelings, rather than reality. The imagination was a newfound tool, and creativity was only artistic if laws didn't stand in the way. Yudkin does a good job of explaining that: "Romantic artists attempted to capture their view of the exotic, the irrational, and the sublime." The biggest ideals in Romantic Era art are expression of imagination, the power of nature, and the reflection of human emotion.

 German artist, Casper David Friedrich, evokes the ideals of 19th century art in his painting, Wanderer above the Sea of Fog. The first representation of this era is seen immediately with the vast openness of the sea. Friedrich portrayed the sea and the fog violently, establishing the true power of nature. The sky and the mountains in the background are boundless and overpowering.

 Friedrich places the man in the overcoat in a perfect position. Our eyes are drawn toward him and his powerful stance, but at the same time we are drawn to what this man is looking at and the horizon. With further analysis of the "Wanderer," we can see that his head is pointed down and can assume that he is looking down into the foggy sea, not out into the horizon. If Friedrich had painted his head pointed up, it would have expressed more of a powerful stance, evoking hope, victory, or the call to conquest. With his head pointed down, we perceive him to be reflecting on something personal.

 Lastly, perspective and proportion have a huge impact on why this painting characterizes Romantic Era art so well. Our perspective is from the view of behind the Wanderer. This detail is monumental in the separation of this art form from that of The Enlightenment Era. If we were looking at the Wanderer from the front, we would be able to see his face and his expression. We might even be able to identify who he is. By seeing him from behind, we are left in an unknown. The unknown is an important theme Friedrich was trying to depict. The size of the man compared to the size of the sea, the sky, and the mountains gives us a better understanding of how small Friedrich wanted to portray his Wanderer as. In every detail he gave the Wanderer, Friedrich wanted us to realize how insignificant he is compared to the rest of the world; which is exactly what he wanted the viewers of his painting to reflect on. 

 

 

Studying the Structure of Sonatas in 18th Century Classical

As we continue our study on The Enlightenment Era, the real focus we've made is on the music phrase structure of the classical music of this time. Some forms are for entertainment and some are for dancing. The most popular form is the sonata form. This form is broken up into three themes within the sentence structure: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. The exposition starts with a tonic and ends with a clear open cadence, the development brings in the variety of the sentence, and the recapitulation brings back all of the music in the exposition. 

We have looked in depth into three composers who represent the excellence of the sonata form, Beethoven, Mozart, and Haydn. For this post, I have chosen a sonata by Joseph Haydn, the Keyboard Sonata No. 48 in C Major, Hob. XVI: 35: III, Finale. This sonata is relatively short, with an inviting texture to it. The song is kind of jumpy and giddy, it just puts a smile on your face. The sentences in the song are very clearly divided, and the phrases structure is that of a parallel interrupted period. After listening to the song tens of times, I think I've come up with a diagram that makes sense according to the structure of the song that my ear recognizes:

Understand that this diagram is just how I hear it. I am new to training my ear to recognize and dissect these songs, and I feel like I am slowly getting the hang of it, through trial and error at least. 

This sonata reflects The Enlightenment Era in a way that pronounces the elegance and stature of its performers and listeners. The song brings out an atmosphere of seriousness, but playfulness all at once. On top of that, it was composed by the great Joseph Haydn, an idol of The Enlightenment Era. Although this is a bit different from the string quartets and symphonies we have been listening to in class, I believe that this sonata still is a prime example of the classical music of the 18th century.  

The Enlightenment Era

As we move out of the focus of Folk music, we are beginning to move back to the creative roots of music and music forms. The Enlightenment Era, also known as The Classical Era, ranged from 1600-1800. Music, art, and different ways of thinking flourished in this time period. This philosophical movement brought a rise to the middle class, and as we learn in the Yudkin text, "The Enlightenment favored the human over the divine, the reason over religion, and clarity over complexity." 

To me, the most interesting aspect of The Enlightenment Period that we've focused on in class is the architecture. Many spectacular styles of architecture appeared in this era. Many cathedrals, castles, and homes glow with the Enlightenment era style of architecture called Revival Architecture. Revivalism was huge at this time, take the Panthéon in Paris for example. It was modeled after the original in Rome, using similar Greek ideas of architecture, seen in the giant columns and detailed pediment on the face of the building. It is revivalism because of the Greek aspect in the architecture, but also incorporates Enlightenment era themes with implementation of the massive dome and cross. 

 The Panthéon was originally built as a church but now its purpose is to function as a mausoleum. This style of architecture perfectly portrays what this era was about. Nothing like this was built for a long time before this structure, and it was a very coming-of-age style of it's time. The Enlightenment really focused on a new way of thinking, and when they incorporated that thinking into their music, it was also brought into their buildings and their art. In a way, the Panthéon is even different from a lot of Enlightenment Era architecture. It is large, evokes a powerful force, and seems like it is part of a higher order. The thinking of the time was to build a place for all, focusing on having an inviting style of architecture, structured around the middle class. This revivalism style was really only seen in churches and castles, and it remained popular throughout the entire time period. 

As we move through this segment of music in the Enlightenment Era, I think it is important to focus on all aspects of the time period. Music effects every way of thinking in history, and it was one of the most powerful forms of art in this era. All the art is connected, making it easy to see the hints of similar ideas in all forms of the art of this time.