Class #8 - 2 5ub1imina1 Folk Tal3s
Throughout the canon of music there have been many composers who have used folk music in there compositions but none so prominent as Bela Bartok. The early ethnomusicologist was innovative in the study and usage of folk themes he discovered while researching the people in portions of Eastern Europe. He not only document but used the folk themes and songs in his own compositions. In class we listened to Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta. A fabulous soundscape of a work that integrates some of these folk themes as well as the majority of the piece being based on the Fibonacci Series: 11235.
Now, what makes me jump back in curiosity about the piece is the use of antiphony. Bartok divides a classical and a folk ensembles on either side of the stage letting the two have an interplay with each other. Antiphonal pieces are not new they have been around forever. A classic example is the good old Monteverdi Vespers, the two choirs play off of each other going back and forth and so on. There is something amazing about the antiphonal texture, that gives depth and range to a piece that cannot be achieved with an ensemble in one place. Now, this is getting into acoustics but when a sound comes from many sources more sounds are produced from echos and other sounds form by bouncing off the structure of the space it is being performed in. With two or more ensembles playing simultaneously as well as the lines imitating, repeating and bouncing off of each other there is bound to be even more sound experimentation/creation happening within the performance space.
Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta is overall a very haunting piece. In class we observed a Graphical Analysis of the first movement which was so complex and confusing but made so much sense. The first and second parts are a slow ethereal ascent to the climax of the piece that descends in the subsequent parts. Bartok intertwines folk themes throughout the work as well as having the aforementioned interplay with the folk and classical antiphonal ensembles. The second movement is jumpy and spotlights the percussion more than the first in the sonata form, and uses folk themes more. The third keeps on the same energetic pace with interplay between strings and celesta and is accented with percussive breaks. This movement also uses the Fibonacci Series throughout. The final movement in rondo form emphasizes even more quick percussion mixed with pizzicato strings.
Jump to modern day with the multi-ethnic composer Tania Leon. She hails from a background of folk music but was trained at the conservatory in Cuba. Leon mixes both classical compositional methods with the folk sounds she grew up with. Tania's one of the most exciting composers in the US today her works are really starting to pop up in the concert halls everywhere. In class we listened to Ritual off of her disk Indigena. This was a very interesting piece that was atonal yet the rhythm varied much like folk music.
Now, what makes me jump back in curiosity about the piece is the use of antiphony. Bartok divides a classical and a folk ensembles on either side of the stage letting the two have an interplay with each other. Antiphonal pieces are not new they have been around forever. A classic example is the good old Monteverdi Vespers, the two choirs play off of each other going back and forth and so on. There is something amazing about the antiphonal texture, that gives depth and range to a piece that cannot be achieved with an ensemble in one place. Now, this is getting into acoustics but when a sound comes from many sources more sounds are produced from echos and other sounds form by bouncing off the structure of the space it is being performed in. With two or more ensembles playing simultaneously as well as the lines imitating, repeating and bouncing off of each other there is bound to be even more sound experimentation/creation happening within the performance space.
Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta is overall a very haunting piece. In class we observed a Graphical Analysis of the first movement which was so complex and confusing but made so much sense. The first and second parts are a slow ethereal ascent to the climax of the piece that descends in the subsequent parts. Bartok intertwines folk themes throughout the work as well as having the aforementioned interplay with the folk and classical antiphonal ensembles. The second movement is jumpy and spotlights the percussion more than the first in the sonata form, and uses folk themes more. The third keeps on the same energetic pace with interplay between strings and celesta and is accented with percussive breaks. This movement also uses the Fibonacci Series throughout. The final movement in rondo form emphasizes even more quick percussion mixed with pizzicato strings.
Jump to modern day with the multi-ethnic composer Tania Leon. She hails from a background of folk music but was trained at the conservatory in Cuba. Leon mixes both classical compositional methods with the folk sounds she grew up with. Tania's one of the most exciting composers in the US today her works are really starting to pop up in the concert halls everywhere. In class we listened to Ritual off of her disk Indigena. This was a very interesting piece that was atonal yet the rhythm varied much like folk music.
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