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The latter parts of the book might find you wondering about the distinctions among sound, noise, and music. Read the poem, Because You Asked about the Line Between Prose and Poetry, by Robert Nemerov. Do you find that this poem helps you with these distinctions?
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Chapter 15: Opera and Music Drama
Chapter 16: Contemporary Music (Remember that latest edition of the book is dated 1956.)
Chapter 17: Film Music
Chapter 18: From Composer to Interpreter to Listener (BE SURE TO READ THIS CHAPTER!)
Epilogue: Since Then
In spring of 2018, we listened to the following pieces in our last class. All will reward repeated listening.
• A. Webern, 5 pieces for orchestra Pick a movement and listen to it a few times. Then listen to it every few days for awhile. Does it ever become enjoyable, or even familiar?
• A. Hovnaness, Mysterious Mountain Listen for familiar forms, especially in the second movement.
• Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179): O Frondens Virga Very early church music from an interesting woman.
• L. Janáček, Sinfonietta A programmatic suite, all movements loosely based on the opening fanfare. Can you hear echoes of that fanfare in each movement? Here is what the composer said, about listening to a military band playing one summer evening in his home town of Brno:
• Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, "Knife Edge" A rock song based on Janáček's Sinfonietta.
Some other pieces I had at the ready:
• William Grant Still, “Afro-American Symphony” (this link leads to the first movement, and should automatically play the succeeding movements.) William Grant Still was a contemporary of Gershwin.
• Ellen Taafe Zwillich, Symphony #1 (1982) Zwillich's symphony won her the 1983 Pulitzer Prize in Music.
• Four Freshmen, “Angel Eyes” How many different lines of harmony can you discern in this song?
What Was Earlier Musical Notation Like?
Someone asked this question in our class of May 10, 2018, and the very next day, a related article appeared in my weekly email from BBC News. It tells about ancient written music, including lyrics and the earliest known musical notation. Where and when? Syria, 3400 years ago. See it and read about it HERE.
Last Assignment
In What to Listen For in Music, by Aaron Copland, read whatever interests you Chapters 15, 16, 17, and 18. In these concluding chapters, Copland does not introduce anything new about planes of listening, basic elements of music, or fundamental forms in music. Instead, he talks about how these basics apply to specific genres or music. In class, we will listen to and discuss a variety of musical pieces and think about our awareness of what to listen for in music.
• • • • • • • • • • • •
The heart of Copland's book, and the parts that will give you the most help in listening intelligently to music, are Chapters 4 through 14. In those chapters are all the tools you need to tackle any music that currently interests you, and any unfamiliar music that you want to explore.
• • • • • • • • • • • •
Other Kinds of Resources
A Note to the Classically Insecure (sent to you by email earlier)
This essay should be encouraging to anyone who loves classical music but is afraid they are missing something essential to their enjoyment of it. The take-home lesson: you know more than you think.
Oral History of American Music
Want to hear American composers talk about their work and their inspirations? Visit this division of the Yale University Library, which holds a collection of interviews with living composers. From the 1960s to the present, OHAM has interviewed composers and maintained an archive of the results. Among the composers are Eubie Blake, Les Paul, Aaron Copland, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Duke Ellington, Stephen Sondheim, Charles Ives, Joan La Barbara, Anthony Braxton, and Dave Brubeck. Click HERE for full list of interviewees.
The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century, by Alex Ross (2007)
The Author Reads from his Book, for NPR
If you are curious about all that strange music that developed throughout the 1900's and to the present, this book might help. Ross's writing about music is freer from jargon than most, and this is a highly respected take on increasingly free-form music that does not exactly make you want to pat your foot.
Listen !
Chapter 15
Suggested Listening
Copland's Musical Recommendations for Chapter 15 (opera, drama)
1) Monteverdi—L’Orfeo
2) Mozart—The Marriage of Figaro
3) Mozart—The Magic Flute
4) Verdi—La Traviata
5) Verdi—Otello
6) Wagner—Die Walküre
7) Mussorgsky—Boris Godunov
8) Debussy—Pelléas et Mélisande
9) Berg—Wozzeck
Additional, for Chapter 15 (drama)
• Berlioz, Symphonie Fantastique
• Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones, The Fantasticks A 1960 musical with music by Harvey Schmidt and lyrics by Tom Jones.
••••••
Chapter 16 (contemporary music)
Excerpts for Chapter 16
None
1) Stravinsky—Petrouchka
2) Stravinsky—Le Sacre du Printemps (“The Rite of Spring”)
3) Britten—Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings
4) Bartók—Quartets 1-6
5) Schoenberg—Quartet No. 4
6) Ives—Piano Sonata No. 2 (“Concord”)
Additional, for Chapter 16 (contemporary music)
If you want to learn lots about contemporary music, watch as much as you like of the Leonard Bernstein lecture series, "The Unanswered Question", the 1973-1974 Norton Lectures at Harvard University.
• List of Lectures
••••••
Chapter 17 (film music)
Excerpts for Chapter 17 (none)
Copland's Musical Recommendations for Chapter 17 (film music)
1) Copland—Music for Films
Leonard Slatkin, St. Louis Symphony (RCA)
2) Herrmann—Music for Films
I could find no large collections of this music. To look at a selection of them, go to YouTube and enter into the search box the following: Herrmann music for films
You will get a long listing of recordings, each with a movie title. You will see many familiar films. Try some.
Additional, for Chapter 17 (film music)
• Francis Lai, "A Man and a Woman", Soundtrack From a film that had no dialog.
• Maurice Jarré, "Dr. Zhivago", Soundtrack
• For an example of different ways that music is used in film, watch the 2017 movie, "The Phantom Thread", and pay particular attention to the sound track. The original music is by Johnny Greenwood (There Will Be Blood), and there are other pieces, including popular or jazz standards and classical music. In the light of Copland's Chapter 17, think about how music is used in this film. This exercise might enhance your sensitivity to music in films.
The Science of Music 8
Care and Maintenance of Ears, Testing Your Hearing.
