"Wanderer Above the Sea of Mist" by Caspar David Friedrich

Hello Bloggers!

            So we have gone from the Enlightenment to Romanticism! What a change. While the Enlightenment was about order, symmetry and structure Romanticism was about emotions, passion, and throwing order out the window and being spontaneous and expressive. Romanticism was all about imagination. Human knowledge was a “puny thing”, people didn’t care about philosophies so much anymore, they cared more about the creative aspect of the world. New forms and techniques emerged in drawing, and painting along with changing musical styles.  Nationalism was also a big aspect of the Romanticism era; Lady Liberty played a huge part in times of war or hard times, she was the made up figure that guided the people and led them into battle to fight for their freedom. Artists became the true philosopher of the Romanticism era. People became more in touch with nature and used it for inspiration in their art form.  The way the art was created was reinvented as well. Paint strokes became more expressive and loose. The images became more abstract and less structured like paintings in the Enlightenment where the pictures were as real and detailed as it could possibly get. There was much more going and many more metaphors to some paintings than those of the Enlightenment. The Symmetry of the paintings in Romanticism was off too, they did not go by the “rule of 3”most times while Enlightenment paintings did, there was always a center point that would draw your eyes to the center of the painting. The Picture above is a painting done by Casper David Friedrich called “Wanderer Above the Sea of Mist”(1818). This picture has many of the Romanticism aspects applied to it. The concept in general is very much an aspect of Romanticism.  The way the “wanderer” is looking out at the horizon daydreaming. He knows there is so much more to explore and experience; the possibilities are endless. Again the setting of the painting is in nature like many paintings were; it was an inspiration to artists, the uncharted land waiting to be explored where they could escape the industrialization of the city. The color palate of this painting is so broad. The sky consist of many shades of colors instead of just plain blue. The mist makes it impossible to see past the mountains making it ominous and makes me wonder what is beyond that. My eye is immediately drawn to the wanderer because of his dark outfit, which is then surrounded by a lighter array of colors. The strokes used to create the mist and sky is loose and textured, opposite from Enlightenment, which is structured and less spontaneous. This painting really does exhibit many Romanticism Ideals.

-Kelsey

2nd Concert Report: Jazz Concert

Hello Bloggers,

            So for my second concert report I went to the Jazz Ensemble: 4^th Annual Composition Contest Concert featuring Jack Gale. The Concert took place Friday, October 11^th at 8:15pm in Ford Hall in Whalen Center for Music. The members playing in the concert were all music students except for Jack Gale, Mike Titlebaum and Catherine Gale. Jack Gale is a trombonist who has been in a number of orchestras and over thirty Broadway shows. He has been apart of the faculty at the Manhattan School of Music since 1981. Michael Titlebaum is the Director of Jazz Studies here at Ithaca College in the Whalen Center for Music; he was the maestro for the Jazz Ensemble, instructing the students throughout each piece. There was also an appearance by Catherine Gale, who is a vocal teacher at Ithaca College and the daughter of Jack Gale.

There were 9 pieces that were performed, 2 of them being the winners of the composition contest; “Soft Glow, Sharp Edges” by David von Kampen and “Trixie’s Little Girl” by Pete McGuiness, Pete McGuiness was there in person and played along side Jack Gale during his piece’s performance.

There was a great diversity between pieces at this Concert. The concert started off with a bang! The first piece was designed to let each student introduce themselves with their instrument, each getting a small solo and after each solo the band would come together again and play all together. While other pieces were smooth jazz, being more structured and had a different jazz sound than other pieces, which were more loose and be bop jazz.  The talent in the room was insane! Each person played beautifully; they were so passionate about Jazz and it showed, during their solo the player would play their heart out.

Jazz is different from what we have been learning about in class, which is the Enlightenment and Classical music.  The form of classical music is structure; it is balanced and each note is planned, there is order involved. Jazz is completely different; Jazz music is when the player improvises most of their notes, they play around with playing techniques totally throwing away order and structure yet it still sounds amazing. Yes, there are times when the sheet music is needed like when the whole band comes back together to play the chorus together, they need to be in sync and on the same notes to sound good. For example one of my favorite pieces played at the concert was the very first piece, “Flaming Sword” it was so exciting and playful. The melody was fast and catchy and almost each performer played a solo. Along with the structure and format I found that the texture was also different compared to classical music like one of Haydn or Mozart’s pieces. The structure of Jazz is unpredictable with unwritten parts, some parts would explode with energy and melody but go back to the basic notes, there would still be improvising through out the piece, while classical is very structured, there are no improvised parts in classical music. I also loved in some of the pieces played there was a bit of beck and call going on which also happened in the opera we looked at, “Don Giovanni”. At the concert the trumpets would play notes then the trombones would and back and forth they would go like a conversation.

I found the complex and energetic melodies and texture of the pieces to be most memorable. Since taking Musical Phrases I’ve been able to hear each individual instrument and how it creates the texture. Listening to the melody and texture at the Jazz concert was incredible, I heard how each instrument built up on each other to create the jazz melody.

I absolutely loved this concert! I never really listen to Jazz but when I do I enjoy it! The execution and performance of the performers was incredible; you could tell they loved what they did and the instrument they played. Each piece played exemplified different types of jazz, which was interesting to experience; it kept the show going and showed diversity in jazz.

-Kelsey

18th Century Phrase

Hello Bloggers!

            So in class we have been learning about The Enlightenment and what a Parallel Interrupted Period and Parallel Sectional Period is. In my blog post today I had to pick a song either from Haydn or Mozart, two great and iconic composers of the Enlightenment and analyze a period within their composition. I also had to analyze the texture, and melody of the piece.

           The song I chose was from Haydn. It was  “String Quartet op. 1 (no. 1, no. 2, no. 3)”. Yes the Youtube video I picked is 49 minutes long, I did not listen to all of it! I listened to the first few minutes of the piece and analyzed the beginning of the piece.

The texture of the piece was structured just like the Enlightenment. The piece starts off strong with many string instruments playing the same melody together. The texture is also deep; there is a variety of string instruments playing together not just one instrument playing alone. The melody is soft, the pressure being applied to the bow is light, there are moments like at :21, where the tempo is sped up and a individual violin plays a fast melody but is soon joined again by the other string instruments and the original melody sets in again. With the string instruments the melody of the piece sounds light and cheerful. It’s graceful like the Enlightenment. With a string quartet there is equal share of playing time this equality was also a part of the Enlightenment. People began to break down the traditional caste system, anyone could invent something or present a theory; it was a time where literacy and knowledge skyrocketed. People weren’t restricted to their class status there was equality; there wasn’t a huge gap between the wealthy and poor anymore.

The phrase structure of this Haydn String Quartet is a Parallel Sectional Period. The part of the piece I took this from was the very beginning. Right when it starts I found out whether it was parallel or contrasting and interrupted or sectional.

The reason this is a Parallel period is because of how the second half of the phrase in the period is almost identical or “parallel” to the first half. As you listen to the piece from :00 to :05 is the first cadence, and from :05 to :11 the second cadence plays and the melody is almost the same except for the last few notes. This relates back to Enlightenment ideals because the style of the time was about repetition, symmetry, and structure. The repetition of notes relates to the repetition on pillars, windows and decorations of the buildings in the Enlightenment like the Palace of Versailles.

            Along with being a parallel period it is also a sectional period. The reason why it is sectional instead of interrupted period is because the first cadence in this string quartet ends on an Imperfect Authentic Cadence (IAC). An IAC is when the last note of the cadence ends on a tonic chord which is either Do (1), Mi (3), or Sol (5). The first cadence of the String Quartet by Hayden ending at :005 ends on Mi (3) making it a IAC causing it to be a parallel sectional period. The reason it is not interrupted is because the end of the cadence wasn’t a Half Cadence meaning it didn’t end on Sol (5), Ti (7), Re (2).

            Many of the compositions written during or after the Enlightenment embodies some of the aspects of the Enlightenment, this String Quartet piece is one of them; it exemplifying the repetition and organization of the Enlightenment. 
-Kelsey