Episode Summary
- Overview of the series. Music has been
a part of life in every age and place (Tribal Winds: Creator's Prayer
). Music can be approached in many different ways. Music is mathematical
and intellectual. (Mozart: Symphony 40 in G minor) The Greeks,
notably Pythagoras, were the first to understand the mathematical basis
of musical intervals. Music moves us emotionally. (Miracles of Santiago:
Benedicamus Trope; Responsory) Churchmen of the Middle Ages found
spiritual power in music. Early chants lack several qualities we're
accustomed to in music--they lack meter and have only one melodic line.
In a time of mysticism and ecclesiastical authority... music spoke directly
to the spirit. Music may be compared to visual art. (Canzoni e Danze:
Wind music from Renaissance Italy Piva) Balance was a central
part of Renaissance art and it was important in music as well. Rhythm
guides the eye... and it also guides the ear. A painter such as Raphael
uses harmony and Renaissance music had a new reliance on harmony as
well.
- Brandenburg Concerto #5 Allegro Another
way to listen is to get inside the head of the composer. Almost every
musician agrees that Bach is at the top of the list of greats. Short
segments
 on--
Bach and Baroque. Bach compared to El Greco. Bach's early life and family
background. (Suite #2 in B Minor) The workaholic aspect of Bach.
(Kyrie Eleison, Mass in B Minor) Bach's glorification of God
and celebration of numerology. The Canon. (Goldberg Variations)
Inventive aspects of Bach's music. (Toccata and Fugue in E Minor)
What's so great about Bach? (Air on the G String) Other composers
Bach inspired. Bach's influence on 20th century music and movie scores.
Montage. (more Air on G String) "It's not for voices moving
in retrograde motion but for moving hearts that Bach's music is so esteemed."
(Sweetbox: Everything's gonna be alright, based on Air on
a G String.)
Transcript: Bach 250
- We've considered music as mathematics, music as
food for the spirit. We've considered the correlation between music
and visual art and we've listened to music by traveling through the
psyche of the composer. Another way to consider music is to place it
in a historical framework. Intellectual classicism flourished in the
Age of Reason. (Mozart: 40th Symphony in G minor) The Romantics
revolted against neo-classical order and reason. (Beethoven: 6th
Symphony) (Best of Wagner: Ride of the Valkyries) (Beethoven:
9th Symphony Choral) In the 20th Century arts broke with the
past. Debussy reflected what the Impressionists were doing with words.
(Debussy: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun) Conventions of
structure were violated. Expressionism explored new realities. Expressionistic
music was marked by extreme dissonance, wide ranges, and disjunct melody.
(Miles Davis: Black Satin, One and One) Old music centers of
clear-cut keys, manor-minor tonality, and traditional instruments were
not necessarily workable. Traditional music is still around, but it
has been bent, borrowed, violated, and sometimes discarded altogether.
Today we live in an era when diversity is celebrated. There is no
 single
mindset in the arts. Traditions have been abandoned, technology changes
composition each day, and composers are forced to be experimental to
be original. Musically the 20th Century is a culmination of all the
styles and techniques that have come before. There is no single unified
style. Still it's generally agreed that music is the international language.
- Listen! Basic elements of music. The
first sounds we hear are primal. A heartbeat is basic to us. We quickly
learn voices by their timbre. Timbre also allows us to tell a violin
from a cello, and an acoustic guitar from an electric guitar. What is
the difference in making noise... and making music? (April MacDonald
classroom) Music is organized sound. When we organize pitches into different
melodic and rhythmic patterns, we make music. One of the main ways of
making music instead of noise is to make melody. Demonstration: melody
with Shelby County Orchestra. Let's stretch your listening skills in
another direction. Can we make melody with percussion instruments? (Demonstration
Ed White, Farnsley and River City Drummers.) After you understand melody,
the logical next step is harmony. Demonstration, orchestra, Minuet
by Purcell. Melody and harmony are important elements of music,
they help us organize sounds. Rhythm is the way music is ordered in
time... how long the notes last and the way silences work with the music.
How does a drummer learn a new rhythm? (Demonstration, drummers.) Tempo
is the basic pace of the music. You can pick up the tempo, or slow down
the tempo. (Demonstration, drummers.) Review: Melody, harmony, tempo,
rhythm. What other elements make music interesting? Dynamics is the
loudness or softness of a piece. (Demonstration, drummers. Demonstration,
orchestra.) Four basic terms will help you understand dynamics: forte,
piano, mezzo, issimo. (Demonstration orchestra.) Review: timbre, melody,
harmony, rhythm, tempo, dynamics.
- We return to April's classroom to add new ideas to what
we have already learned. What does a composer do when he or she creates
melody? Discussion of motif, cadence, and phrases. Musicians through
the ages have improvised with their melodies and harmonies. When a composer
improvises, he creates on the spot... but this must take place within
the existing framework of the music. Improvisation is associated with
jazz, but it's not a new invention. Drummers like to improvise. (Demonstration,
drummers.) How does Ed White teach his drummers to improvise? Review:
rhythm, tempo, improvisation, melody harmony dynamics... but it all
has to fit into some sort of form. (Demonstration, orchestra) A-B form;
A-B-A form. Canon. There can be all sorts of other patterns that make
music distinctive. One pattern that the drummers often use is Call and
Response. Call and Response is when one sound is answered by another.
Wrap-up: drummers. We hear melody and harmony through the timbre of
the drums. The rhythm and tempo is easy to identify. Notice the loudness
and softness, or dynamics of the piece. And when the drums are speaking
to each other... that's Call and Response.
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