Class #6 - Beethoven to Reich to... wait a minute...
In the last class we had a pleasant surprise of going way back in time. We went back to the early 19th century to visit our dear revolutionary friend Beethoven. Beethoven (some believe) marked the beginning of the push for the modern era. A line was drawn through the ideal of repetition. How Beethoven used repetition in the 2nd mm. of the 9th symphony in a way is the same usage of repetition in a Reich or Antheil work. I found this to be very fascinating epiphany that was brought onto the table by Jackson in his blog then to Steve, but the ideas and connections seemed to be flowing like a rushing river and sometimes when the flood hits it topples you over. I found myself skeptical to this claim wanting to challenge it. What is different with composers before this? What about repetition there? Well, I finally found it, Monteverdi, Eureka! (and I have no doubt there are many other composers before hand who also fit into this theory)! There is repetition everywhere and what I have formulated is that we have three compositional periods here, all revolutionary in their own right all times where the 'norm' was rebelled against. 20th, 19th and 16th century periods was where music was challenged and the parallel between all three can be found in repetition.
In Monteverdi's works from the first decade (and onwards) of the 16th century we find the way that he uses, repeats and imitates voices creates a strong effect of repetition. In Lauda Jerusalem from Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 we can see the antiphonal interchanging of parts between the two choirs. The second choir repeats the same phrase as sung by the first choir sometimes only repeated in two measure intervals, but enough to make the voices shift and create an emphasis on repetition. With Beethoven we see the repetition of phrases and certain melodies reoccurring throughout the movement. Each of the sections that repeats creates a return to familiarly and reminds the listener of the main intent of the piece and the emotional direction and connection Beethoven creates. Now, what we deal with in the 20th century with the primitivists, experimentalists, and especially the later minimalists is a complete domination of the idea of repetition with very little variation which differs from the original two examples greatly. To attack minimalism is like attacking a sleeping animal; its harmless to look at and think about but to jump ontop of it is an entire other barrel of monkeys. Repetition over and over in different parts at times phasing back and forth it is amazing how sound at times becomes almost mathematic. Minimalism seems incredibly simple, the same thing repeating, but its structure is so complex.
I find myself going back to my post from last class, contemplating repetition and its progression through time and music. It seems like there has always been repetition in music, from the very beginning of cave man hitting something over and over to a mashup, or a minimalist work, even the latest single on Pop radio. Repetition is everywhere and it always has been, but now more than ever it seems like as humans we want 1. Things in order 2. Familiar things 3. Things repeated. If we like it we want more of it; we like a song we listen to it over and over again, we hear new things each time even the meta-music idea begins to happen. This is exciting to humans, we like this we are hardwired to repeat things; it makes us happy and gets us through life. Of course now I am making my points black and white, and also repeating a few things I said in my last post, but it must be stressed. And now I have another idea, repetition for understanding. Its how we learn, its how we live. Why didn't I think of this before?! We as humans need to do things over and over to learn, if it is learned wrong it must be done the right way X-number of times to be unlearned and learned again. Repetition is intuitive to humans, a necessity to living.
We also watched the video for George Anheil's Ballet Machnique. Overall the video's images were extremely repetitious almost matching the intensity of the repetition created in the music. At times it was almost hard to watch it due to the quickly changing frames. The emphasis of the rhythm of machines was also quite important and stood out from the other images. I believe it was the intention of the filmmaker to create an uneasiness within the viewer, it matches the sound perfectly. I was also drawn in by the primitive effects that were used. In one of the images a girls face was used and she basically took a piece of dark paper or cardboard and waved it around in front of her face to create the effect as if the space was changing around her it was really interesting and captured my attention.
In Monteverdi's works from the first decade (and onwards) of the 16th century we find the way that he uses, repeats and imitates voices creates a strong effect of repetition. In Lauda Jerusalem from Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 we can see the antiphonal interchanging of parts between the two choirs. The second choir repeats the same phrase as sung by the first choir sometimes only repeated in two measure intervals, but enough to make the voices shift and create an emphasis on repetition. With Beethoven we see the repetition of phrases and certain melodies reoccurring throughout the movement. Each of the sections that repeats creates a return to familiarly and reminds the listener of the main intent of the piece and the emotional direction and connection Beethoven creates. Now, what we deal with in the 20th century with the primitivists, experimentalists, and especially the later minimalists is a complete domination of the idea of repetition with very little variation which differs from the original two examples greatly. To attack minimalism is like attacking a sleeping animal; its harmless to look at and think about but to jump ontop of it is an entire other barrel of monkeys. Repetition over and over in different parts at times phasing back and forth it is amazing how sound at times becomes almost mathematic. Minimalism seems incredibly simple, the same thing repeating, but its structure is so complex.
I find myself going back to my post from last class, contemplating repetition and its progression through time and music. It seems like there has always been repetition in music, from the very beginning of cave man hitting something over and over to a mashup, or a minimalist work, even the latest single on Pop radio. Repetition is everywhere and it always has been, but now more than ever it seems like as humans we want 1. Things in order 2. Familiar things 3. Things repeated. If we like it we want more of it; we like a song we listen to it over and over again, we hear new things each time even the meta-music idea begins to happen. This is exciting to humans, we like this we are hardwired to repeat things; it makes us happy and gets us through life. Of course now I am making my points black and white, and also repeating a few things I said in my last post, but it must be stressed. And now I have another idea, repetition for understanding. Its how we learn, its how we live. Why didn't I think of this before?! We as humans need to do things over and over to learn, if it is learned wrong it must be done the right way X-number of times to be unlearned and learned again. Repetition is intuitive to humans, a necessity to living.
We also watched the video for George Anheil's Ballet Machnique. Overall the video's images were extremely repetitious almost matching the intensity of the repetition created in the music. At times it was almost hard to watch it due to the quickly changing frames. The emphasis of the rhythm of machines was also quite important and stood out from the other images. I believe it was the intention of the filmmaker to create an uneasiness within the viewer, it matches the sound perfectly. I was also drawn in by the primitive effects that were used. In one of the images a girls face was used and she basically took a piece of dark paper or cardboard and waved it around in front of her face to create the effect as if the space was changing around her it was really interesting and captured my attention.
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