It is a common known fact that musicians have been sampling and drawing inspiration from other artists’ songs for centuries. For many modern day musicians, art music can be manipulated into more contemporary styles of music in order to appeal to today’s generation. A survey by the Australian Bureau of Statistics recorded that only 7% of Australian teens aged 15-17 and 6% aged 18-24 attended Classical music concerts compared to 40% of youth aged 18-24 who attended popular music concerts (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2010). These statistics show how large the divide between classical and popular music is in Australia today. However, what Australian youths don’t realise is that they listen to Classical music everyday through popular songs that have remixed art music pieces into their work. One example of this is Eric Carmen’s hit single “All By Myself” which directly uses the second movement of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 as the melody of the verses. Through an analysis of musical elements such as instrumentation and timbre; tonality and form; …show more content…
2 and All By Myself directly reflect the composition’s style and genre, showcasing the connection between Contemporary and art music. The second movement of Piano Concerto no. 2 is composed in the rondo form (ternary form ABA) and includes a coda (Chung, 1988). Rondo form is stylistically Classical and is often used for the final movement of concertos, where the first and third sections correspond with the exposition and recapitulation and carry the main theme of the concerto’s second movement (Chung, 1988, Caplin, 2013). This movement is introduced by the orchestra in C minor and modulates to E major as a result of an enharmonic change. The act of modulating is extremely reflective of the Romantic era and was used to add interest and variety to a piece of music (Leach, 2014). A summary of Piano concerto no. 2’s form and modulation can be seen in the table
Volondat, Pierre-Alain, perf. Variations OP 20. By Clara Schumann. Rec. 15 May 2010. Saphir Productions, 2008. Florida College's Classical Music Library. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.
Ever since humans first learned how to make music with their voices and with instruments thousands of years ago, music has been changing. Some changes took place over hundreds or even thousands of years, stunted by human isolation or by guidelines set in place by religious institutions. The 20th century, in contrast, experienced several rapid, radical changes in the popular genres of music. This made the 20th century a very rich time period for musical culture. These remarkable genres--including, but not limited to jazz, rock and roll, and the music of the “British invasion”--all influenced one another, and all influenced the culture we still live in today.
The classical example of a concerto form is a sonata with an orchestral accompaniment for an instrumental soloist. The classical concerto form generally consists of three movements, with the first being fast, second slow, and the third fast. The exposition of the concerto would be, “a double exposition played first by the orchestra alone and then with the soloist. The orchestral exposition presents all of the thematic material,” This would continue throughout the piece. Cadenzas were also used to give the soloist an opportunity to show off. During this time period, “it was customary to improvise the cadenzas at the performance.”
The basic elements that make up a concerto include three movements with one movement usually dedicated for a solo instrument such as the piano or violin with orchestra accompaniment. Since the late 18th century, the first movement is most likely in the sonata form while the second movement is in the ternary form. The third movement is in the ronde form. In the first movement in particular, there are typically three major parts. These components are categorized based on the thematic and harmonic tonal materials that are defined in the exposition, elaborated on in the development, and harmonically resolved in the recapitulation. Each part of the first movement plays a significant role in the structure and progression of the piece. In the exposition stage, the dominant or secondary key is stated as well the principal theme. Following this stage, a transition occurs and then the development section begins. In this section, the themes stated in the exposition are altered and sometimes juxtaposed to include a new theme. Another transition occurs and the recapitulation ends the first movement. In this stage, the themes that were in the exposition are repeated in the tonic key of the movement.
Sonatas composed from 1773 to 1784 were intended as “public” works from the very beginning, with a clear conception of the taste, preferences, and instruments available to the musical public of Vienna. The Sonata in F Major, Hob. XVI: 23; L38 written in 1773 for solo harpsichord is the best known and most virtuosic of his set of six sonatas (Hob. XVI: 21-6). Haydn wrote the six sonatas for Prince Nicklaus Esterházy and they strictly follow the court-style. Sonata in F has three movements: Allegro moderato, Adagio (Larghetto) and Presto. The contrasting tempo and the fast motion between the fingers allow the player to give a virtuoso impression without acquiring over-demanding technique. In the opening movement, demanding 32nd-note passages create an improvisatory flavor. Haydn intentionally inserted a sequence of diminished 7th chords to make an unusual tonal appearance. The unique middle movement in F minor portrays a Baroque flavor. The finale is well-organized and filled with contrapuntal passages.
The fourth and final movement of a symphony is like the first movement in its form. The form conventionally followed is sonata form, with an exposition, development and recapitulation, but of course with less new material than the first movement, more a combination of the material already heard.
A sinfonia (Italian for symphony) broadly refers to a number of instrumental works from the Baroque period, including symphonies, sonatas, canzonas, concerti, and Italian opera overtures. Even J.S. Bach titles his “three-part” inventions for harpsichord “Sinfonia”. Torelli’s Sinfonia in D (G.8) is a four-movement “concerto” for trumpet, strings and harpsichord continuo. Unlike a concerto grosso, where a main theme is presented and then reappears in fragments, the main themes of Sinfonia in D are developed rather freely. The second movement (Adagio) is a very short, slow, interlude without trumpet that introduces the third movement (Allegro). Hence, the program shows these two movements as “adagio-allegro” joined together.
Steven, Kelly, N. (2002). A Sociological Basis For Music Education. International Journal of Music Education. 43. Pp. 40-49
For the Violin Concerto No 2, the key changed from D major to E minor. This key contributed to the lyrical music in this movement. And for the Violin Concerto No 5, the key changed to E major, which is one more sharp than Movement I. In the final movement of both works, the parallel minors of the major keys in Movement I are included.
The world is changing and so is the style of music. Often people who do not have any musical background might think that classical music is boring and only for more mature audiences. In fact, the sales of traditional Western classical music albums are decreasing and many symphony orchestras and operas are struggling to find endowments and audiences. It is considered that classical music today occupies a position similar to that of religion, as a form of art rather than entertainment or just a background noise (Johnson, 2002). Unlike popular music, classical music may be more sophisticated and complex in its form. Because of this, how can classical music be heard more easily in order for audiences who are more used to popular
Bach differentiates the hypothetical soloist and orchestra in this concerto using antiphony and contrasting dynamics (i.e. assigning forte to the soloist and piano to the accompaniment and vice versa). Both the vivid first movement and the perpetual-motioned third movement are in F major and in ritornello (theme and episode) form. The solemn second movement,
When I was seven years old, my father bought me an iPod Nano for my birthday. I loved music and it was the perfect gift. The odd thing about it was that the only music downloaded on the iPod was the “old people music” my dad liked. There were two-hundred songs by artists ranging from The Beatles to Billy Joel. One artist, above all others, had the most songs by far on my iPod – Frank Sinatra. In fact, my dad is quite obsessed with Frank Sinatra. He would always preach to me about the good old days of music when artists had beautiful voices and sang about meaningful things.
The evolution of music is widely understood as a reflection on the cultural and social change in time. Popular music ranging from traditional pop, blues, and rock n’ roll in the 50’s similarly is attributed to the social changes that occurred and its influence on the consumers of music. These changes can be observed through the ancestral music preferences from youth to maturity. Innovation in music consumption, social dance, and marketing display the effects that music had in the progressing generations. The popularization of televised music shows, clubs/dance halls, and records welcomed conducts of dance, companionship, and gatherings as opposed to the disconnect from the convenience of online music streaming today.
When the terms “pop music” and “serious music” come to mind, they are often associated hi my name is with their differences from each other. While it is understood that both types play large roles in society’s general musical, one has gained the reputation of being trashy, rebellious, and “non real” music. The other has an elitist, serious, complex, and perhaps boring demeanor. Popular music like rock and pop is widely assumed to be different from what we call serious music or “art music” like Beethoven’s symphony 9 for example, until very recently, this topic controlled discussion in nearly all philosophical discussions of music. Probing into the validity of these stereotypes has been the center of debates and criticism amongst scholars and music lovers alike, as shown in Theodor W. Adorno’s publication, “On popular Music.”
Oftentimes, when listening to the radio with my dad, he will exclaim, “What happened to all the talent? Where is the real music?” Now I can’t say I blame him for thinking this way, the electric pop music of today’s culture is much different from the hard rock music of his youth in the 1980’s. However, growing up, this caused countless petty fights about what is and what isn’t good music.