Milton Babbitt, Semi-simple variations (1956)

Here is a recording of Milton Babbitt's Semi-simple variations for piano:


Questions:

1. Describe your general aural impression of the piece. Is it organized? Chaotic? Melodic?
   
2. What is being varied in this piece? How does Babbitt vary these elements?
   
3. How many variations do you hear?
   
4. What might Babbitt have meant by "semi-simple?"
   
5. Compare this with other sets of variations for piano that you might know (see, for example, Webern's piano variations, which had a big influence on Babbitt)
   
6. Could you determine whether or not this piece was improvised or strictly organized based solely on listening to it?
   

Additional resources:

• Those Who Dig take an approach not unlike mine (n.b. I found this site after putting this post together)
  
• A jazz arrangement (with choreography!) by The Bad Plus:
  
  

Gyorgy Ligeti, Poeme Symphonique (1962)

Some lighter (?) fare for your Friday:


(A translation of the narration can be found here.)

Questions:

1. What is/are the primary musical element(s) in this piece?
   
2. Who is performing this work?
   
3. What instruments are being used? Is the metronome a musical instrument?
   
4. Which elements will be the same from performance to performance? Which elements will differ?
   
5. What might the score for this piece look like?
   

Additional resources:

• A translation of the score of this piece.
  
• Another performance of the work:
  
  Part 2:
  
  

Judith Lang Zaimont, A Calendar Set: Twelve preludes for piano solo (1972-78)

Click here to listen to these pieces. (You may wish to open these in a new tab or window so that you can look at the questions while you listen.) The preludes are in calendar order in the recording; it may be difficult to tell just by looking.

This work is a good example of program music, which is typically defined as music based on some sort of extra-musical idea (a poem, a painting, etc.). In this case, each prelude corresponds to a month of the year.

Questions:

1. What characteristics of each month is Zaimont trying to evoke? By what musical means does she do this?
   
2. This work appears to be more accessible (i.e., listener-friendly) than many on this blog (see, for instance, Webern's variations for piano). What musical features make this piece a bit easier to listen to?
   
3. Zaimont draws on works and styles of other composers in this piece (if you need convincing, listen to "December"). What composers/compositions does she evoke? How does she do this?
   
4. In what ways is this piece conservative (i.e., looking to the past)? In what ways is this piece modern (i.e., forging new ground, looking toward the future)?
   
5. These are preludes, a generic title that seems to suggest that they "come before" something. What, if anything, do they precede?
   

Additional resources:

• An interview with Zaimont regarding the calendar pieces
  
• A link to samples of the score (in PDF) at Jabez Press
  

Bela Bartok, String quartet no. 4 (1928)

This video contains the first and second movements of Bela Bartok's fourth string quartet:



Questions (can apply to either or both movements):

1. Describe Bartok's approach to melody.
   
2. Describe Bartok's approach to harmony.
   
3. How would you describe the form of the movement?
   
4. Describe Bartok's use of extended instrumental techniques (i.e., the violins don't always sound like violins--why not?).
   
5. Bartok is known for incorporating folk music from his native Hungary into his compositions. What are some folk-like aspects of this quartet?
   
6. Symmetry is another aspect of Bartok's compositional technique that many scholars have discussed. Are there symmetrical aspects of this work that can be heard?
   
7. The string quartet genre is most closely associated with Classical-period music (roughly 1750-1825). How is Bartok innovating? How is Bartok looking backward?
   

Nirvana (and others), "Smells like teen spirit," (1991)

Today, we have three different versions of one song. Here's the original "Smells like teen spirit" by Nirvana (1991):


Here's a version by Tori Amos:


Here's a version by Paul Anka:


Questions:

1. Describe the instrumentation and voice types in each performance.
   
2. In what genre would you classify each version (rock, pop, jazz, country, etc.)?
   What aspects of the music led you to each characterization?
   
3. What do all of these versions have in common? In what ways do they differ?
   
4. How much more would you have to change in one of these songs in order for it to be no longer recognizable as "Smells like teen spirit?" Do you think that either of these versions strays so far from the original that we must consider it a new song?
   
5. Following up on the last question, what could be said to be the defining characteristics of a musical composition?
   
6. Is there any sense in which any of these versions are somehow ironic, inauthentic, or insincere? A parody, perhaps?
   

Additional resources:

• "Smells like Nirvana" by Weird Al Yankovich:
  
  
  

Igor Stravinsky, Greeting prelude (1955)

Today (June 17) is Igor Stravinsky's birthday. This seemed only appropriate: Greeting prelude (fortunately, the entire piece is short enough to be the whole sample).

Questions:

1. What instruments do you hear?
   
2. What is the form of this piece?
   
3. Try tapping your foot, clapping, or conducting along with the piece. Do you encounter any difficulties? Are the pulses organized in any kind of predictable way?
   
4. How does Stravinsky treat the preexisting material?
   
5. The work was composed for the 80th birthday of conductor Pierre Monteux. Why might Stravinsky have chosen the title Greeting prelude instead of "Happy birthday?
   

Additional resources: According to legend, one of Stravinsky's other arrangements landed him in jail. In Boston in 1944, he was charged with destruction of federal property for his arrangement of the "Star-spangled banner;" this has since been shown to be false. Still a good story, though...

(This picture, which appears to be a mugshot, is evidently from a visa application)

Charles Dodge, Any resemblance is purely coincidental (1980)

Click here to listen to a recording of this work. You can also read notes about the piece by Charles Dodge.

The work is based on a 1907 recording of Enrico Caruso singing "Vesti la Giubba" (Put on your costume) from Leoncavallo's opera I Pagliacci (The Clowns). The original recording can be heard here.

Questions:

1. What instruments do you hear? Is there a melody? An accompaniment?
   
2. What is the role of the computer in this work?
   
3. Consider the title of this composition, which Dodge says was taken from "the standard disclaimer from FBI television dramas of the 1950's." How does Dodge manipulate the preexisting material? How does his approach compare with other composers who use preexisting material (see Rochberg below, for example).
   
4. What are some difficulties a performer of this work might face?
   
5. What aspects of the work could be easily notated in written form? What aspects would be difficult to notate?
   
6. Could this piece be performed with a live singer? What would the effect be? Put another way, which elements of this piece will remain the same from performance to performance? Which will differ?
   
7. Could this piece be performed with a similarly manipulated recording of a singer other than Caruso? What, if any, is Caruso's significance to this composition?
   

Additional resources:

• Dodge's humble biography at Dartmouth
  
• Lochhead, Judy. 2006. "'How does it work?': Challenges to analytic explanation." Music theory spectrum 28/2 (Fall): 233-254. (n.b. I just came across this article while writing this blog post. Apparently my complete set of MTS is not so complete--I'm missing this issue!)
  

George Rochberg, Music for the Magic Theatre (1965-69)

First, acquaint yourself with this Mozart work, the fourth movement of the divertimento, K. 287:


Next, listen to the second movement of Rochberg's Music for the Magic Theatre: (The link is to Napster, which will allow 25 free plays without an account.)

Questions:

1. How are the two pieces the same? How are they different?
   
2. What changes did Rochberg make to the original?
   
3. Would you consider this a composition, an arrangement, or something else entirely? Alternatively, is this piece original?
   
4. Read Jorge Luis Borges's short story "Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote". How is Rochberg like Menard?
   
5. What does listening to Rochberg's piece reveal to you about listening to Mozart's piece? Put another way, is it still possible to listen to Mozart with eighteenth-century ears? What has changed?
   
6. Many people would reject this work because they would consider it not original. Why is originality valued in Western aesthetics?
   

Additional resources:

• Rochberg's biography at Presser Online
  
• Liner notes for the recording (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)
  

Olivier Messiaen, Quatuor pour la fin du temps (Quartet for the end of time; 1941)

Here is a recording of the seventh movement from Messiaen's quartet. The film was commissioned by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and was conceived and directed by Tristan Cook.



The seventh movement is subtitled "Fouillis d'arcs-en-ciel, pour l'Ange qui annonce la fin du temps" ("Cluster of rainbows for the angel who announces the end of time"). Messiaen writes about the movement:

Certain passages from the second movement return. The mighty Angel appears, and above all the rainbow which crowns him (the rainbow: a symbol of peace, wisdom and of all sounding and luminous vibrations). In my dreams, I hear recognised chords and melodies, I see known colours and forms; then, after this transitory stage, I pass beyond reality and submit in ecstasy to a dizziness, a gyratory interlocking of superhuman sounds and colours. These swords of fire, these flows of blue-orange lava, these sudden stars; this is the tumult of rainbows! (from the preface to the score; trans. Anthony Pople)

Questions:

1. What instruments do you hear? Why do you think Messiaen chose this unusual grouping?
   
2. How would you describe the overall form of this movement?
   
3. Perhaps more so than any other composer in the twentieth century, Messiaen has his own idiosyncratic musical language. How would you describe his melodies? Harmonies?
   
4. "The end of time" can be interpreted in a variety of ways. How might ideas of "the end of time" relate to this piece (think not only in terms of the biblical references but also in terms of musical time)?
   
5. Messiaen had a condition known as synaesthesia: he saw colors when he heard sounds. Are there relationships that you detect between the music and the colors? Consider the film as well as Messiaen's description.
   
6. This work was mostly composed while Messiaen was a prisoner in a concentration camp during WWII. Despite the fact that basic human needs were scarcely being met, art was still being created. What does this tell us about the role of art in our lives?
   

Additional resources:

• The second video (eighth movement):
  
  
  
  
• A neat website about the Quartet from Lawrence University
  
• A January 2011 article from the Wall Street Journal about the piece.
  
• An essay by Alex Ross from the New Yorker about the work.
  

Webern, piano variations, op. 27 (1936)

This work is in three movements:

1. Sehr Massig ("moderately")
   
2. Sehr Schnell ("very fast"; begins ca. 1:30)
   
3. Ruhig fliessend ("peaceful, flowing"; begins ca. 2:08)

Questions:

1. This work is titled "variations." What is it that is being varied in this piece? How is it being varied? Is there a perceptible "theme?"
2. This piece (and Webern's output in general) is very short. Why might Webern have written such brief, fleeting music?
3. Many would argue that this piece sounds chaotic and random. Are there any musical elements that create a sense of repose and/or familiarity? Put another way, are there any aspects of this piece that are predictable?
4. The second movement in particular has some interesting visual elements (note the camera's focus on Gould's hands throughout this movement). Why might Webern have written the movement to include so much hand crossing?
5. (A follow-up to question 4) The second movement could easily be transcribed so that all of the notes remained the same, but all of the hand crossing was removed. How would this change the composition, if at all?
6. Gould's gestures in general might be considered idiosyncratic to some. Do they enhance your understanding of the piece/performance or distract you from it?
7. How important is it to be able to see music being performed?

Additional resources:

• Another (earlier) performance of this piece by Gould:

Alvin Lucier, "I am sitting in a room" (1969)

Click here to listen to this piece (hosted at UBUWEB) I would encourage you to listen to the piece a few times. Only after you've listened a few times should you consult the score. The score for the work is available here.

1. What elements of music are most prominent in this composition?
2. What elements of music appear to be missing?
3. How does repetition structure this piece? What elements are repeated? How do they change?
4. Which elements of the composition are fixed? Which change from performance to performance?
5. This piece requires a tape recorder for its performance. Does the recorder function as a musical instrument, recording device, both, or neither?
6. What might a live performance of this work look like? (You may wish to consult the score as you think about this question.)
7. On the score, Lucier indicates that the performer does not have to use this text, but can use "any other text of any length." Is the text an integral part of the composition?
8. Discuss the relationship between the score, a performance, and a recording of this work. (To do this, you may wish to seek out other recorded performances of the piece.)

Additional resources:

• Liner notes (hosted at DRAM)
  
• Alvin Lucier's personal website at Wesleyan University
  

Introduction

In this space we will explore the variety of musics that have emerged during the twentieth and twenty-first century. The focus here will be on listening to these compositions and learning to understand them not only on their own terms, but in relation to other works as well. While there is much to be gained by studying the scores of these works, scores can only transmit so much information. In some cases, music became more and more complex, particularly in terms of rhythm. In other cases, composers sought to remove themselves from the compositional process and left many of the work's determining properties up to performers.

This project has several unique features. First, I have put it online so that others may benefit from it. An online source such as this also facilitates the inclusion of multimedia, non-linear sequencing, and links to ancillary materials. Second, rather than telling you what to listen for, I present a series of graded questions with each composition. This allows this site to be used by virtually anyone--from music enthusiast to graduate student in music. The depth of each individual's answers to these questions is the only thing that will differ from person to person: you need not be able to read music to use this site. The reader/listener is welcome to do as much or as little work as they see fit.

There are a few sets of questions that might be useful in general. The first set of questions stem from Jan LaRue's Guidelines for Style Analysis and they examine the notions of sound, harmony, melody, rhythm, and growth (or form). A useful outline can be found here. Students might consider each of these features of music as broadly or as specifically as possible. The second set of questions for study are adapted from the practice of Friendly Bible Study:

• What is the "main point" of this composition, or, what is this composition saying about music?
• How does this composition challenge your understanding of music?
• What problems do you have with this composition? (or, what problems does this piece attempt to solve? What problems does it create?)
• How does this piece of music relate to other compositions that I know?
• What are the implications of this piece for subsequent compositions and/or composers?

Now, without further ado, the first installment...

Feel free to leave comments below, or e-mail me at ttutheory at gmail.com.