The Thriller! Rag

• "The Thriller!" rag, May Frances Aufderheide (1888-1972)
• Instrumentation: piano
• Texture: This piece seems to be thin. There is one line of music, and by no means does this composition warrant the adjective "rich."
• Range: There is not a particularly wide range on this piece. While it is noticeable that it does move up and down the keyboard a bit, it does not stretch from the highs and lows that we heard in some of the previous pieces such as Amy Beach's Scherzo.
• Tempo: This is the most consistently upbeat piece we've heard yet. It is also the most consistent piece we've heard yet. The tempo remains fairly constant throughout the whole piece.
• Meter: Ragtimes are typically written in 2/4 or 4/4, so it is a duple beat. It has a very defined musical pulse, and is very rhythmic- the rhythm is syncopated and there is always a feeling that it is catching up, or ragged (hence "ragtime").
• Volume: There is definitely a variance in volume. However, what makes it different in this case is that the variance is over a much shorter period of time. Each meter, or small bit of the music, seems to start out quietly and then crescendo towards the end.
• Other: This is the first kind of music that does not make it seem as though one needs a higher education to appreciate the music. It is more lively and upbeat, and makes you want to dance. My piano teacher told me that ragtime music came from African beats. If she is correct, than Amy Beach was proven wrong, in her own lifetime, that outside music would never prevail in America.

Scherzo

• Scherzo, Amy Beach (1867-1944)
• Instrumentation: Piano, violin
• Texture: This piece is not extremely rich. While it does have violins and a piano, it maintains a lighter, bouncy feel throughout. It does not seem to resonate throughout the performance space. There are two distinct lines of music pretty much throughout the entire piece.
• Range: The violin explores a very wide range. It consistently moves up and down the octaves throughout the piece. The piano's range seems to be somewhat more constricted, although it undoubtedly moves up and down the keyboard. This may be attributed to the fact that while the piano is playing at lower octaves, the violin is the focus of the piece, and therefore it seems as if the piano plays within a higher range.
• Tempo: The majority of the piece is very upbeat and quick. Slightly after half way through the piece, it does slow down for a bit, but picks up again before the finish.
• Meter: There is definitely a rhythmic pulse to this song. I couldn't guess at it, but I would say that it is a duple beat.
• Volume: The volume is not extremely varied, but it does fluctuate slightly. I would say that the volume is not the primary tool used to make this piece dramatic, but rather the tempo and the range.
• Other: I really enjoyed this piece, although not quite as much as the Schumann one. It was enjoyable to listen to, although I would have liked it more if there had been more focus on the piano. This is just my personal taste, however.

Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann

• Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann (1819- 1896)
  
• Instrumentation: piano
• Texture: this piece is rich. The pianist makes it sound like there are multiple lines of music at one time. They are very connected though, as if they are playing off each other, and at times they come together.
• Range: The range of this piece is not spectacularly large. While the pianist does travel up and down the piano, the overall sound of the piece seems to be centered, as opposed to having very distinct high and low parts. It is interesting to analyze range on a piece that is strictly piano, because all pianos have the same range, whereas with vocalists, the range is much broader.
• Tempo: the tempo varies throughout the piece. The parts of it that are forte seem to be faster while the piano parts are played more slowly.
• Meter: I'm going to guess that this piece had a triple beat. I'd certainly be more likely to waltz to it than I would be to march.
• Volume: The volume varies with the tempo. As I said before, the faster parts seem to be louder and the slower parts seem to be softer.
• Other: This piece definitely brings a new style to our listening collection. It may just be my personal taste, but I found this piece to be by far the most listenable. I really enjoyed it and could see myself listening to a piece like this voluntarily. I would attribute this to the fact that there was no vocalist, and the instrumentation was simple. For me a voice that accompanies a piece can often be distracting, especially like the voice in Hor che Apollo. Also, with just a piano providing the music, the overall feel becomes soft; a harpsichord just can't seem to deliver the same relaxing effect.

You Tube

Hildegard

1. <3 style="mso-spacerun: yes">  One of her chants plays in the background.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGIkvmsIg7M

 

2. Hildegard von Bingen.mov, 1:29, This clip is a tribute made to Hildegard in which an antiphon of hers plays while a little biography of her life scrolls.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KH9a15EdqRM

 

3. Hildegard von Bingen by Catherine Braslavsky & Joseph Rowe, 6:47, This is a performance by Catherine and Joseph in which they put their own modern twist on Hildegard’s music.  They use some modern string instruments and drums.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4BGvlwyExI&feature=related

 

Clara

1. Song of Love- Part 1, 9:46, This is the first 10 minutes of the movie made about Clara Schumann.  It includes her performance for the King of Saxony.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP_iU-lcZ5Y&feature=PlayList&p=3B155D8EF06D276C&index=0

 

2. Geliebte Clara, 2:08, This is a trailer for a modern film portraying the life of Clara Schumann.  Although it is in German, it is clear that the major conflict of the movie is Robert’s jealousy of her relationship with Johannes Brahms.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjQ1oPM0MII

 

3.Song of Love- Part 13, 2:51, This is the concluding bit of the movie made about Clara.  Many years after her first performance for the King of Saxony, she plays for him again.  However this time her husband is dead, so she dedicates the song to him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V35e5MNjLJI&feature=PlayList&p=ED7C382F61FF1F8B&index=12

 

            As I looked at the search results after typing in the names Hildegard von Bingen and Clara Schumann, what immediately struck me was the sheer volume of responses.  I am certainly no music expert, but I am not foreign to the music world either, and before this class I had not heard of Hildegard, and had barely heard of Clara.  So it shocked me to see the mass amount of responses that appeared when I searched them.  What this showed me, before even watching any of the videos, was just how special and beloved both of these women were, and still are today.  It was immediately cleat just how treasured these women are.

            While it surprised me that both women’s names conjured so many search results, it undoubtedly surprised me more for Hildegard.  I’d gathered from reading Clara’s diary that she was quite well received throughout Europe.  And while I knew that Hildegard was also loved and praised as brilliant it was unclear to me whether this praise was something one would only hear in a class about women in music, or if it was widespread.  Clearly, it is widespread.  There were numerous videos that had titles that went something like “I LOVE HILDEGARD.”  One video clip I found, the title being “Hildegard von Bingen” surrounded by two hearts, did a very nice job in showing the world’s appreciation for Hildegard through numerous paintings, sculptures, and drawings that have been made over the years in her honor. 

The next video was a slideshow.  Each slide had some facts about Hildegard, and what struck me most from this piece was how Hildegard has been appreciated not only in the world of music, but also in the fields of religion and science. 

The final video clip that I watched about Hildegard was interesting because it was a modern twist on medieval music.  This couple had added in their own choice of musical instruments, including something that looked like a sitar and bongo drums.  Before this point, I had never thought of Hildegard’s music out of a medieval context.  It demonstrated the versatility of her music, which really struck me because the chants that we listened to never made me think of modern times.

After searching for Clara on youtube, it was clear that not only her music captivates people but her personal life as well.  The majority of the clips that surfaced were clips from movies that had been made about her life.  Two of the clips I found were from a movie Song of Love, made in 1947, portraying the life of Clara.  The first clip was the first ten minutes of the movie.  Here, Clara is performing for royalty in a large (and filled) concert hall.  While the music is beautiful and appreciated, what seems to be the focus of the clip is Clara’s overbearing father.  He is sitting no more than six inches behind her on stage while she performs, whispering orders in her ear the entire time. 

The focus of the last clip from the movie also seems not to be Clara’s music, but rather her grief for her dead husband.  She is performing for the same king she played for in the opening clip, and asks if she can play one of her husband’s pieces in his honor.  While the music may not have been the primary focus of either of these clips, it was still clear that Clara had numerous fans in her time.  Even the simple fact that Katherine Hepburn, one of the most famous actresses of all time, played Clara attests to her fame.  It means that in 1947, this movie was made to be mainstream, and not to be taken as obscure. 

The final clip that I watched about Clara was a trailer for modern German portrayal of her life.  This movie too seemed to focus on Clara’s personal life, although it took a different angle.  In the clip it is clear that the main conflict of the movie is going to be her husband Robert’s jealousy of her relationship with Johannes Brahms.  This movie wanted to portray Clara’s musical genius but also showed her as having a more tumultuous personal life.

Having completed this assignment, I am left craving a cinematic portrayal of the life of Hildegard.  While the movies depicting Clara’s life may not have been 100% accurate, they did an excellent job getting me excited about her music, because I was excited about her as a person as well.  

Hor che Apollo

• Hor che Apollo, Barbara Strozzi (1619-1664)
• Instrumentation: Solo voice (soprano), maybe a harpsichord(??), violins, and possibly a cello.  The fact that this piece is the first to have instrumentation makes it very memorable to me.  I personally enjoy music much more when there are instruments and vocals.  Just as the richness of O Rubor Sanguinis is what stood out for me, this piece expanded on that element even further.  The more instruments, the richer the sound.  The woman's voice wasn't particularly memorable for me.  I really just enjoyed the instruments, in particular the violins.  Sometimes it felt like the vocal part and the instruments weren't coordinated.  The piece was a bit too long for me, but I did like it better when it picked up at around min. 7:20.  
• Texture: for most of the piece, the texture was thin, until it came together around as I said around 7:20, and then it sounded thicker.  
• Range: The singer certainly covers a wide range, leading the instruments with her.  This is an aspect of the piece where the vocals and instruments are together.
• Tempo: For the majority of the piece, the tempo is slow, but it does occasionally pick up, which I really appreciated.  The variance made the piece more exciting and enjoyable.
• Meter: I think that the meter remains constant throughout the piece, perhaps changing at the point where it speeds up.  I can't be sure but I think the majority of it is a triple beat, because it does feel as if you could waltz to it.
• Volume: the volume in this piece remains fairly constant.  I think that more variance in the volume could have given the piece more texture.
• It seemed that the purpose of this piece was to showcase the woman's voice.  I imagine this being performed at a social engagement of some kind in the 1600s, when knowledge of music was a sign of education and class.  This just goes to show how women in music played such a role in shaping culture throughout time, whether they are remembered or not.

O Rubor Sanguinis

• O Rubor Sanguinis, Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179)
• Otto Muller Verlag, Salzburg 1969
• Instrumentation: Choir, no instrumentation.  This piece was much more enjoyable for me than Kyrie was, primarily because it was more exciting from the beginning.  It has a much richer sound to it.  Maybe the women are harmonizing (I can't tell), or maybe it's because they are singing in a venue with better acoustics that allow for an echo.  I thought that the length of the piece was perfect; any longer and the novelty of the echo, or whatever it was that strengthened the sound, would have worn off.  
• Texture: There was one line of music the whole time, yet I thought the piece did not lack texture because it had a large sound that seemed full.
• Range: The women in this piece cover a large range of notes.  I found the lower notes to be the highlights of the piece for me.  I didn't enjoy it as much when they sang in the higher octaves.  The lower notes seemed to resonate better and have a more mysterious feel to them.
• Tempo: The music felt slow and even.
• Meter: I was not able to pick up on a distinct meter, but again, the piece felt slow and steady to me.
• Volume: The variance in the volume kept me interested; I particularly liked the softer parts, which seemed to correlate to the lower notes.  
• The richness of this song really demonstrated how women can sing powerfully, and the (de)crescendos showed off their control.  Highlighting their power and control is definitely an effective way to show that women too can be masters of music and not just in a quiet way, but also with a strong presence.  

Kyrie

• Kyrie, Hildegard Von Bingen (1098-1179)
• Otto Muller Verlag, Salzburg 1969
• Chant, no instrumentation
• What made this piece most memorable for me was the success that the choir had in progressing from one note to the next in seemingly perfect unison. This just seemed impressive to me, because unity is especially hard to attain in a group. I was also impressed with the length that the girls held their notes for, and still managed to conceal any audible breathing. In my limited singing experience, I found it difficult to make my breathes after long notes quiet.
• This piece certainly showcases the ability that women have to be precise, accurate, and talented. With the absence of any instruments, their voices are very exposed, and they were pretty to listen to. While this piece undoubtedly showed how talented these singers were, I found myself thinking that if I had to sit and listen to a whole concert of songs of this manner, I would definitely lose interest.