M100: Music Appreciation Discussion Group Ben Tibbetts, T.A. Welcome! Please sign the attendance at the front of the room. Thursday February 14, 2013

Upcoming Events No class next Tuesday (Monday schedule)

Today’s Agenda Collect Baroque assignments Timbre revisited Pages

Collect Baroque assignments

Timbre (revisited for clarification) Timbre refers to Individual instrument Individual section Individual “voice”/“line”

Timbre can also be called “color” or, in the case of individual instruments, “tone quality”. Fairly specific words include: reedy, brassy, clear, focused, unfocused, breathy, rounded, piercing, strident, harsh, warm, mellow, resonant, dark, bright, heavy, light, flat (source: Really general (food-derived) words include: acidic, biting, bitter, bland, bold, bubbly, buttery, chilly, course, crisp, dry, dull, fiery, greasy, gritty, heavenly, icy, liquid, mild, nasty, rich, robust, sharp, sizzling, smooth, smothered, snappy, sour, strong, sweet, syrupy, thick, tough, warm, watery, wild, zesty (source: Feel free to use, but PLEASE USE SPARINGLY!!! Timbre is just one aspect of music.

(Moving too fast? These slides are online at

Timbre and Vibrato Vibrato is a specific aspect of timbre. Refers to the fluctuation of pitch in a held note Most often refers to voice, but can also refer to instruments Vibrato can be described: Narrow or wide Slow or fast Example: excerpt from Tallis’ Miserere nostri performed by Stile Antico (group of singers usually = more narrow vibrato) Example: excerpt from “Nessun Dorma” from Puccini’s Turandot performed by Paul Potts (solo singer usually = wider vibrato)

Movements Long pieces are often broken up into movements: smaller musical pieces which are self-contained. These movements are meant to be heard in a certain order (like tracks on an album) Between every movement, there’s usually a short period of silence Etiquette tip: don’t clap until all the movements of a piece have been played. Example: Clementi’s Sonatina in C major, op. 36 no. 1 (recording by pianist Cory Hall) This four-minute piece has three movements. Each movement has a different tempo marking (which serves as a title for each movement): 1.Spiritoso 2.Andante 3.Vivace

Form “The structure of a musical work; the way in which its individual units are put together.” (p. 516)

Form Common confusion: When applied to a multiple-movement piece, refers to each individual movement. When applied to a single-movement piece, refers to the entire piece.

Form Described using letters, like: “The form of that music is ‘AABA’.” Each letter refers to a different musical section. Historically, each section is separated by some kind of cadence (stopping point). Describing the form of a pop song, the verse would get a different letter than the chorus. Example: California Gurls by Katy Perry / Snoop Dogg The form of this song is roughly “ABABCB”.

Binary Form Some forms are so common historically, they’ve been nicknamed Binary form is “a musical structure consisting of two repeated halves (AABB)” (p. 515)

Binary Form Example (notice there’s repetition even within the sections)

George Frederic Handel German/British composer

Suites A suite is one type of multiple-movement piece. “A series of individual dance movements, typically in a variety of types such as minuets, gavottes, and gigues, and a variety of characters such as fast vs. slow, lively vs. stately, duple vs. triple.” (p. 518)

Binary Form The Hornpipe movement from Handel’s “Water Music” Suite No. 1 in F Major, HWV 348 In “binary form” Pattern happens 3 times: (AABB, AABB, AABB) Each repeat utilizes different instruments

Antonio Vivaldi (again) Italian composer

Concertos and the Ritornello Principle Concerto - “An instrumental genre for a soloist (or sometimes more than one soloist) and a larger ensemble” (p. 515) Ritornello – “Italian for ‘little return’; name for the statement and return of the full ensemble, in a work alternating between the orchestra and soloist(s)” (p. 518) Ritornello principle – “The formal design of alternating ritornello and solo sections” (p. 518)

Example of the Ritornello Principle in concertos: the first movement of Winter from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons Recording featuring violinist Daniel Phillips.

Johann Sebastian Bach (again) German composer/organist

Concerto Grosso concerto grosso – “Italian for ‘big concerto’; a concerto with multiple soloists.” Example: the first movement of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 (concerto for harpsichord, violin and flute) Recording by the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra

Final Reminders / Homework No class next Tuesday (Monday schedule) Reading for next Thursday: pp Questions?