Sunday, April 24, 2016

Mozart's Quartets

It is well regarded that Haydn grandfathered the now ubiquitous string quartet genre. Of course there have been great strides made in the genre by numerous other composers -including Mozart - but even Haydn’s fingerprints can be found on some of Mozart’s quartets: especially those dedicated to the great Joseph Haydn. We want to examine how these quartets differ from the ones Mozart wrote in his own style.

Though any of his 6 dedicated quartets do Haydn’s work great justice, we chose to focus on the first (Quartet No. 14 in G major, K. 387, “Spring”) and the third (Quartet No.17 in Bb Major). The second movement of the Spring quartet is what really pays direct homage to Haydn’s style. It can be compared to the third movement of Haydn’s String Quartet No. 64 in D major, as both are minuets (a dance in ¾). Haydn had something of a musical sense of humor; often his minuet movements would technically be in the correct meter, but the heavy beats would be off kilter to what a dancer would expect.
In Haydn’s quartet, after the introduction of the first minuet theme the parts begin to accent every 2 beats, though it remains in the ¾ time signature.


In Mozart’s Spring quartet, the accents happen on the unstable third beat as opposed to the first (which is usually accented to give the dance rhythmic flow).   

We also compared the fourth movements of Mozart’s quartet no.17 and Haydn’s No.64. The first thing we noticed was a similarity in how the first themes are introduced. Again, Haydn’s flamboyant, childlike, style takes center stage as the theme comes in with the instruments playing in unision. It is slightly unexpected sounding, and takes off with a sense of urgency. The same happens in the beginning of Mozart’s No.17.

Mozart Movement IV
Haydn movement IV


The differences between Mozart’s and Haydn’s compositions become very evident after Mozart composed multiple string quartets in dedication to Haydn. If you compare the previous string quartets to pieces Mozart composed without the Haydn dedication, you can hear more of Mozart’s distinct voice come through.  Take a listen at Mozart’s String Quartet No.20:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFA-7IfvBAg
String Quartet #20
Haydn composes with a theme in mind and it is very evident to the audience what that theme is and when it happens.  Mozart not only has multiple very contrasting themes, but will even flutter between keys, all within the first movement. Haydn’s quartet themes were definitely no less brilliant, but did not have the same contrasting nature. Mozart composed music for all sorts of different audiences and patrons.  This specific piece was written for a music publishing company in Vienna.  With a closer observation we can see the subtle differences and changes Mozart makes to his musical voice based on who he is writing the piece for.  In some cases it is far more evident than others, for example, the pieces he wrote in dedication to Hayden greatly differ from every other piece of music he composed.

In his novel, Peter Gay mentions how the Mozart family had a number of different patrons all of Europe.  It is evident that Wolfgang made changes to his music depending on where his patron was  from or what their specific tastes in music were.  The most dramatic changes that Mozart made to his music, however, was the six string quartets he wrote in dedication to Haydn.  Mozart was paid for a lot of his work, but these six compositions were written as a thanks and a declaration of how influenced and inspired he was by Hayden.  Although Mozart was a child prodigy and unarguable a musical genius, he would not have been the same musician and composer if it weren’t for Haydn and Mozart was very well aware of that.  Through Mozart’s dedicated string quartets were are let in on the relationship that Haydn and Mozart shared and just how much they influenced and respected one another.
Hannah: Writing and Media (Haydn string quartets)
Brian: Writing and media (String quartet 20).
Posted by at No comments:

Sunday, April 17, 2016

Devalue or Revalue?

The value, popularity, and overall context of classical music over the last few centuries has been far from static. As new genres emerged and became popular, Western art music has become arguably unimportant, at least to a vast percentage of music consumers. In regards to this topic, we found people who have very strong feelings about why this is and what can be done about it. Some have overwhelmingly negative projections about where we are headed while others seek out opportunities to reintegrate the great masterpieces of our past into the culture we currently live in.


First we want to take a look at this issue from a relatively pessimistic point of view. Craig Havighurst wrote an article regarding the “devaluation” of music (see it in full here: https://medium.com/cuepoint/the-devaluation-of-music-it-s-worse-than-you-think-f4cf5f26a888#.1fic5oowh) and raises some good points.


Havighurst rightfully gives credit to those who compose for the screen and video games, as the field is full of many young composers. However, he points out faults in the consumer of soundtrack music. Craig argues that the value of such instrumental music goes down when it is forced to be paired with a specific, (usually cliche), emotion. He claims that when it is suggested that the job of symphonic music is simply to evoke an emotion, we lose some of the integrity that Western art music used to have as a means of representing math, architecture, symbolism, and philosophy.




Shostakovich’s 5th symphony, for example, is not a piece of music that was written to simply evoke an emotion from the listener.  Shostakovich composed this piece as a cry of help and a plea for the end of the suffering the Soviet people went through under Stalin.  In the 5th movement you can blatantly hear the final cries of outrage that collapses in on its on aggression and is followed by a sorrowful, yet hopeful, melody that builds into a proud victory march.  Shostakovich used the ambiguity of music to pass this symphony on as a victory for Stalin, but the people knew exactly what ironic message he was portraying.  After its debut, the crowd was in tears and gave a 40 minute ovation. Stalin was none the wiser.  There is a Russian saying that is very appropriate for this situation that goes, “Pretend to be kissing someone, but then spit when they are not looking.”  
So, perhaps some of our attempts to re-cultivate instrumental music have fallen flat because of the context we hear the music in. Maybe the true key to its longevity is placing the emphasis on the performance as it was centuries ago, before recordings regurgitated our favorite music for us. A new organization, called Groupmuse, is trying to do just that. Groupmuse’s goal is to bring classical music to people right in their living rooms.  On their front page Groupmuse emphasizes the fact that they only perform classical music, do not take requests, and are not background music.  They intend on keeping the music's integrity and giving it the respect it deserves while bring it into a more modern and casual setting.  They even encourage that the seating is non traditional (i.e couches) and that beverages are provided along with the performance!  


Notice in the first minute of their promotional video they mention that their audiences applaud between movements and hoot and holler at exciting moments in the music.  Groupmuse would say this is what bringing classical music to the modern generation is, while Havighurst would complain that this is taking away from how the music should be received.  What’s interesting is both sides of the argument have a very genuine love for the art and wants to keep life in classical music for the new age.  They just have strong differing opinions on how it should be presented.

Posted by at No comments:

Sunday, April 10, 2016

Classical plus Calypso?

Throughout this unit we have seen the power that steel band, calypso, and other such things give to the people of Trinidad and Tobago. Often, there can be stereotypes made about exactly what steel bands are -- thoughts of Caribbean vibes and authentic calypso come to mind. In reality, the genres that steel bands cover can be just as diverse as any Western group, as we will soon see. The fact that emphasis can be put on more than one genre in steel pan shows the versatility of the instrument and the people that play them!


This is a steel band playing an arrangement of Rossini’s overture to “Semiramide". The performance won them the 2005 Orchestra Grand Finals of the World Steelband Music Festival in Trinidad and took them to the final round in New York, where they also won. The orchestra category of the event, which is where this recording took place, requires the band to play a European classical piece (or piece clearly of that nature) as well as a piece of their choice. This shows that just as much emphasis is put on the Classical performance as well as a performance of other music.

It’s interesting that these performances become a hybrid of stereotypical Western Art Music performances and stereotypical steel band performances. The music is very well arranged in a way that relates it closely to the original, but the setting and manner of performance remind me more of the Trinidadian performances I have seen. For one, the music is memorized and there is great emphasis on intrapersonal communication between members of the band. The Berlin Philharmonic might perform this in a different setting, with sheet music, and with a different purpose in mind. We don’t often think of these classical pieces as competition oriented.
Once steel pan ensembles began performing classical European music the role of the arranger became irreplaceable.  Turning a musical piece that is arranged for a traditional European orchestra into something that is not only playable by a steel band, but also has a Trinidadian flavor to it is not an easy task.  Trinidadian arrangers and composers began to meet and work with European musicians to help understand their culture.  Through the 1940’s and 50’s steel pan bands classical performances became so widespread that a competition known as the “Bomb” was born.  The “Bomb” got it’s name from the surprise and astonishment that was felt when steel pan ensembles firsts came to a concert with Bach and Tchaikovsky by their side.
This performance was in the Orchestra Grand Finals in Trinidad at the World Steelband Music Festival in 2004, however, we can imagine the awe and conflict this created when Trinidadian audience were used to only hearing pieces like the one below performed at the “Panorama” competition.  

When Trinidadian arrangers began creating this style of Classical music it opened the cultural gates that had previously divided the nations.  When Trinidad showed the world that they could reach up and use music from a countries that are far more powerful and influential than themselves allowed other smaller countries to do the same and expand their musical horizons.  Since then, society has embraced this new style of music and has changed the course music on an international level.
We thought this was similar to modern day performances of classical pieces with a modern twist. Often times, to make classical music more accessible, people will put it in a modern setting. Take this performance of Beethoven’s 5th on guitar:

Many people know the tune to Beethoven’s 5th, just as they know the theme to the 1812 overture. Putting it into context can make people otherwise unfamiliar with European music begin to get a taste of what it is about. Trinidadians putting European music into their national music style is the same idea!
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)