Shostakovich (12/25 September 1906 – 9 August 1975) was a Russian composer and pianist. He is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century. He learned piano and composition and entered the Petrograd Conservatory in 1919, at the age of 13. During the 1920s he developed a modernist style and studied the works of Schoenberg, Hindemith and Berg. A polystylist, Shostakovich developed a hybrid voice, combining a variety of different musical techniques into his works. His music is characterized by sharp contrasts, elements of the grotesque, and ambivalent tonality; the composer was also heavily influenced by the neo-classical style pioneered by Igor Stravinsky, and (especially in his symphonies) by the late Romanticism of Gustav Mahler. His 1934 Opera, Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, was at first greeted with much public acclaim and seen as a model example of Soviet Realism. In 1936, however, Stalin attended a performance, disapproved of the work and left before the end. Shortly afterwards, the work was criticized in Pravda ‘Sumbur vmesto muzïki’ (‘Chaos instead of Music’) for its explicitness and dissonance (Www-oxfordreference-com.ucreative.idm.oclc.org, 2011). It was dropped from the repertory and was not seen again in Russia until its revival—as Katerina Izmaylova—in 1963. Shostakovich, fearing for his physical safety, this was the time of the Soviet show trials after all, withdrew his 4^th symphony before its premier since it was in a similar style to Lady Macbeth, and started work on the 5^th symphony, which was premiered on 21^st November 1937. The work was an immediate success with the public and assisted with his political rehabilitation (Norris and Nice, 2011).

I listened a few versions of Shostakovich`s 5<sup>th</sup> Symphony. I compared these different recordings of the final movement in particularly the coda with its two tempo options. My favourite is the recording conducted by Rostropovich with the London Symphony Orchestra in 2005. (Spotify, 2005) This is the slowest in tempo, but the repeated unison is regal, heroic and grand. The Bernstein recording in 1959 was the fastest in tempo. (Spotify, 1959) I did not like it as I felt that the interpretation is way too hurried, especially the first part. He also does a grand ritardando at the end, which creates a dramatic mood, but it does not sound appealing. In my opinion if you are playing the coda in a faster tempo, than stay in it, like Previn did in his 1966 recording with the London Symphony Orchestra. (Spotify, 1966) The composer`s son, Maxim Shostakovich conducted the 2011 performance with the London Symphony Orchestra as well. (Spotify, 2011) His interpretation was also to choose the slower tempo.

Creating different versions (slow and fast) of the coda makes the piece interesting but it also means that not every type of interpretation fit into the music. They create a triumphant climax to the piece but the faster the tempo is it became one dimensional, clinical and technical. The slower tempo however not only attracts the listener more but highlights the triumph of the overcame difficulties.

References

Your Bibliography: Spotify. (2005). Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5. [online] Available at: https://open.spotify.com/album/59nwsMqS75TtQxTKiPiKD9 [Accessed 15 Aug. 2019].

Your Bibliography: Spotify. (1959). Bernstein’s 1959 Shostakovich 5th Symphony op.47. [online] Available at: https://open.spotify.com/album/4tXzmVVsmjA9R4uwOKxHmy?si=o-fVfqZqTQiyXwoe8hl-rg [Accessed 15 Aug. 2019].

Your Bibliography: Spotify. (1966). Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 in D Minor, Op. 47. [online] Available at: https://open.spotify.com/album/0k8rJnNUIKLzZy3hUKUfc5 [Accessed 15 Aug. 2019].

Your Bibliography: Spotify. (2011). Shostakovich: Symphony No.5 & Festive Overture. [online] Available at: https://open.spotify.com/album/1UoQjrpzW5NWg7q5YQONfC [Accessed 15 Aug. 2019].

Your Bibliography: Www-oxfordreference-com.ucreative.idm.oclc.org. (2011). OpenAthens / Sign in. [online] Available at: https://www-oxfordreference-com.ucreative.idm.oclc.org/view/10.1093/acref/9780199579037.001.0001/acref-9780199579037-e-6164 [Accessed 15 Aug. 2019].

Benjamin Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor and pianist. He was a central figure of the 20^th century British classical music, with a range of works including opera, other vocal music, orchestral and chamber pieces.

The Midsummer Night`s Dream written under a year. The Jubilee Hall in Aldeburgh was undergoing a complete refurbishment and to celebrate its opening which took place on the 1960 Aldeburgh Festival a new opera needed. Because of the short time Britten and Peter Pears choose Shakespeare`s play as a libretto. Although Britten was suffering of depression and several health issues, he completed his music in time. The opening was threatened by Alfred Deller, the first Oberon fearing he was not prepared properly for an acting in an opera as the director John Cranko was inexperienced with opera. Eventually everything came together and the opera`s first performance took place on 11^th of June 1960, in the now beautifully renewed Jubilee Hall in Aldeburg. The opera entered the general operatic repertory and has become one of the most frequently performed operas written since the second world war.

A Midsummer Night`s Dream is a flexible piece. In one way it is an evening of sheer enchantment, a traditional fairy tale with plenty of comedy. On another it is a psychological treasure trove, purity, madness and cruelty crashing against each other to riveting effect. The music is filled with musical homage and satire, from Baroque through Schoenberg, referencing many classic works particularly in the riotous play within a play of “Pyramus and Thisbe”. The diverse and lively range of characters divide into three groups, each with a largely separate plot as in Shakespeare`s play. The rustics being given folk-like “simple” music, the lovers a more romantic sound world and the fairies being represented in a very ethereal way.

The opera opens with a chorus, played by boy sopranos. The introduction of a chorus of boy fairies means that the opera becomes greatly concerned with the theme of purity. Britten also pays attention to the play`s central motif: the madness of love.

Oberon argues with Tytania over a young changeling boy, then he sends Puck to find a magical flower which makes anyone fall in love with the next person they see. Next we meet Lysander, Hermina, Demetrius and Helena. They are variously chasing into the woods and form something of a love chain. Now we meet our third and final group, the six “mechanicals” or “rustics “basically working-class men. They are preparing to perform a play for the wedding of Theseus (Duke of Athens) to Hippolyta (Queen of the Amazons). Lost and totally exhausted Hermia and Lysander fall asleep in the woods, when Puck appears and thinking he has found Demetrius, he sprinkles the juice on Lysander. Helena wakes up Lysander who instantly fell in love with her. Nearby, Tytania fell asleep and Oberon appears and places the juice on her eyes.

The mechanicals meet later that same day for a rehearsal. They begin but soon they are spotted by Puck who decides to work some mischief and he turns Bottom`s head into a donkey causing the other mechanicals to flee in fear. Left alone Bottom sings to himself awakening the nearby Tytania, who instantly fell in love with him. Oberon found out that Demetrius is chasing Hermia, so he drips the juice on Demetrius eyes after he fell asleep. Unfortunately, things get even worse when Helena wakes Demetrius up who promptly falls in love with her. Oberon now is angry with Puck and instructs him to sort the couples out. Puck then leads the four away through the woods, applying the juice and antidote to them as they fall asleep.

It is nearly dawn. Oberon rouses Tytania, freeing her from the flower`s spell. The four lovers awaken, finally happily paired off. Bottom`s head returned normal, so he thinks it was only a dream. The other mechanicals who have been searching for Bottom come across him as he announces that their play is to be performed at court.

We leave the woods and arrive to Theseus and Hippolyta`s wedding day. The mechanicals deliver their ludicrous (and hilarious) Pyramus and Thisbe for the three couples. As the three couples retire to bed, Puck and the fairies return to bless the palace and its people.

References

Your Bibliography: Encyclopedia Britannica. (2019). Benjamin Britten | British composer. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Benjamin-Britten [Accessed 14 Aug. 2019].

Your Bibliography: Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. (2019). A Midsummer Night’s Dream. [online] Available at: https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/shakespedia/shakespeares-plays/midsummer-nights-dream/ [Accessed 14 Aug. 2019].

Personally, I like this piece. The demonstration of orchestra color and his bravery to use the same melody for 15 minutes is inspiring. The piece has repeating bass line, one repeating rhythm and two melodies that alternate. One melody is relatively simple. The second melody is having an exotic feel. There is further exoticism from the use of repeated notes and syncopation. Each time either melody is heard it is given to a new combination of instruments and the accompaniment around it grows thicker and louder. At a crucial point towards the end the whole piece is transposed up a third briefly before collapsing back down to C for an enormously exciting close. Keeping the melody constant helps to listen the tone colors and blends between instruments instead of being distracted by a new counter-melody or complex harmony. The rhythmic ostinato gives the piece its distinctive ‘Spanish’ feel and it also repeats constantly.

The use of an oboe d`amore for the 5^th statement of the melody was very unusual as the instrument fell out of use after the Baroque era and it is still relatively uncommon today.

Another important section is the 9^th statement where French horn, 2 piccolos and celesta combined to create the most unique and interesting tone colours. It also has a difficult trombone solo.

The music has a vaguely hypnotic quality that is quite powerful.

References

Your Bibliography: Schwarm, B. (2019). Boléro | work by Ravel. [online] Encyclopedia Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Bolero-by-Ravel [Accessed 10 Aug. 2019].

Edgar Varése (1883-1965) was a French composer and he was one of the most innovative although he composed relatively few works. He moved to America in 1915. His first piece in America was Amériques (1918-23) which inspired by his first impressions of the noises of the city such as street noises, police cars, fire trucks, river sounds, foghorns, and skyscraper construction.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines music as a combination of vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) to produce beauty of form, harmony and expression of emotion.

This definition is needs to be developed as the innovative Ameriques brings it into a different level. Although the piece is a combination of instrumental sounds, but it is rejecting traditional concepts of melody, pulse and harmony. The combination based on movement from one sound to another. The piece has an effect to the listener as it clearly reflects the sound of the city. As I am listening to this music, I feel I am walking on the streets in Manhattan.

References

Your Bibliography: Dudamel, G. (2019). Amériques (Edgard Varèse).[online] LA Phil. Available at: https://www.laphil.com/musicdb/pieces/188/ameriques [Accessed 10 Aug. 2019].

Debussy, Stravinsky and Schoenberg are revolutionized classical music by bringing their pieces into a different level. They are all different from each other, and each has something different and new to offer.

Debussy`s Jeux was written to a Ballet. The theme of the performance is an unfolding romance between three performers during a tennis game. The Ballet performance was unsuccessful, but the music survived and become one of the revolutionary pieces in the 20^th Century music.

That title implies both the game of tennis and the game of love, and this is a very sensual score. Debussy called it a “poème dansé” and his “danced poem” moves from its eerie whole tone beginning to build up to the great waltz at the climax, then dissolves into an ending that seems to flicker out in front of us. (Dingle, 2016)

The composer uses a large orchestra with extreme subtlety. He incorporates exotic harmonies and unusual scales into his work. The score begins with a hesitate opening bars. It explores discontinuity with more than 60 changes of tempo and with its short thematic motifs. The music is predominantly scherzando mood.

Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring was premiered in the same year as Jeux and became more popular. This piece also written for a ballet. The premier was unsuccessful due to the ballet performance, but the music was well received. The composer uses a very large orchestra with some unusual instruments. “The orchestration is also heavy on brass and percussion and exotic instruments such as alto flute, bass clarinet, bass trumpet, antique cymbals”. (Mangan, 2013)

Stravinsky uses unusual harmonies, folk song quotations and vibrant rhythmic patterns. He frequently varying rhythms and unusual meters but different orchestral sections play contrary and contradictory rhythms which gives a sense of rhythmic cohesion between sections. He also accents unexpected places in measures, further destabilizing any consistent or expected ordinary rhythmic flow. The composer uses short, extremely simple melodic fragments that join with other fragments, creating more complex larger components.

Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire was written for three sets of seven poems by Albert Giraud and it scored for female voice and a small chamber ensemble. The vocal line is performed in a distinctive Sprechstimme style, which merges singing with speech. It is a style in which the vocalist uses the specified rhythms and pitches, but does not sustain the pitches, allowing them to drop or rise, in the manner of speech. (Winiarz, 2000)

Pierrot Lunaire uses a variety of classical forms and techniques, including canon, fugue, rondo, passacaglia and free counterpoint. The piece written to a small orchestra. The instrumental combinations (including doublings) vary between most movements. The entire ensemble plays together only in the 11th, 14th and final 4 settings. The composer uses seven note melodic motifs and different scoring of each movement which changes the overall sound of the ensemble.

The musical features in these works broke down the usual structure which resulted an innovative piece. There are differences between the three composers as each of them have their unique way to develop their music.

Debussy and Stravinsky both written to a large orchestra, except Stravinsky who using exotic instruments as well. Schoenberg is different as he uses a small orchestra with vocal.

All three composers are using unusual harmonies but the length of the motifs, the type of scales, changing tempo, varying rhythms and forms, and the unusual meters are different with each piece.

They also have different compositional styles which reflected by the use of the instruments and the musical elements. This create different atmosphere for each musical works.

References:

Dingle, C. (2016). The story of Debussy’s ‘Jeux’ | Classical-Music.com. [online] Classical-music.com. Available at: http://www.classical-music.com/article/story-debussy-s-jeux [Accessed 5 Jul. 2019]

Mangan, T. (2013). ‘Rite of Spring’: A rule-changing musical masterpiece – Orange County Register. [online] Ocregister.com. Available at: https://www.ocregister.com/2013/01/28/rite-of-spring-a-rule-changing-musical-masterpiece/ [Accessed 6 Jul. 2019]

Winiarz, J. (2000). Schoenberg – Pierrot Lunaire: an Atonal Landmark. [online] Scena.org. Available at: http://www.scena.org/lsm/sm5-7/schoenberg-en.htm [Accessed 6 Jul. 2019]

Rasmussen, K., 2008. Prefiguration: Gadamer, Matisse, and the Hermeneutic Circle. [image] Available at: <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339474540_Prefiguration_Gadamer_Matisse_and_the_Hermeneutic_Circle/citation/download&gt; [Accessed 31 August 2019]

Dutoit, C., 1989. Debussy – Jeux. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXSWFlwX9a4&gt; [Accessed 31 August 2019]

Picasso, P., 1954. Jacqueline with flowers, 1954 by Picasso. [image] Available at: <https://www.pablopicasso.org/jacqueline-with-flowers.jsp&gt; [Accessed 31 August 2019]

Rattle, S., 2017. Stravinsky The Rite of Spring // London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Simon Rattle. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkwqPJZe8ms&gt; [Accessed 31 August 2019]

Chagall, M., 1961. Paradise. [image] Available at: <https://www.wikiart.org/en/marc-chagall/paradise-1961-8&gt; [Accessed 31 August 2019]

Schönberg, A., 2012. Arnold Schönberg, Pierrot lunaire (Full). Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsIATAaR-X0&gt; [Accessed 31 August 2019]

The main theme from Cast Away is one of the most beautifully written music by Alan Silvestri.

The film does not have very much score which is an interesting choice by the director Zemecki. There is some music which can be heard at the beginning of the film but there were only nature or animal sounds during the character`s isolation on the island. That’s why it has a more dramatic effect to the escape scene as this is the first time when the main theme can be heard. The piece is sensitive and smooth, and it well reflects and amplifies what is going on with the character and his feelings. The composer uses string instruments with an oboe solo at the beginning. The long notes, the harmony and the slow tempo are very serene and beautiful.

The theme music represents the emotional journey of the character Chuck (Tom Hanks) throughout the movie. First, when he escapes from the island. The lots of negative feelings which built up during the five years (the time he spent on the island) turn into a big relief as now there is a hope for getting home. Then we hear it when Chuck loses Wilson in the Ocean. Although Wilson is a volleyball, it became the best friend for Chuck as there is no other human beings to interact with. The desperation in Tom Hanks voice is heart breaking which is strengthened by the music. The next two scenes where this piece can be heard is also packed with deep feelings and a hard decision as Chuck realised that he must let his love go and continue his fight to find his path. The music well represents these deep emotions. The last time the main theme appears is another crucial scene where Chuck arrives to a crossroads and he decides which path to choose.

Music of the indigenous people of the Western Hemisphere. It contains hundreds of native communities, each with its own distinctive history, language and musical culture.

Native Americans trace the ultimate origin of their traditional music to the time of creation, when specific songs or musical repertoires were given to the first people by the creator and by spirit beings in the mythic past. New music received in a variety of ways for example through dreams or visions or from their neighbors. In every case, the music is a gift that comes from beyond the individual or community.

Music has intrinsic value to individuals, ensembles and communities. The performance right are granted according to principles established by the group through long practices. Traditional music plays an important role in perpetuating Native American languages, some of which are no longer spoken in daily life. American Indian song texts constitute a genre of poetry in terms of structure, style and expression. Song texts usually refer to local flora and fauna, specific features of the landscape, natural resources such as water or aspects of the community.

Each Native American group has distinctive musical styles and genres. There are certain musical similarities that exist between those who are roughly neighbors. However, musical boundaries continually shift and change as people from different cultures exchange musical ideas, repertoires and instruments.

Each region uses characteristic musical instruments, which are made from materials readily available in the natural environment. Many musical instruments carry symbolic significance which appears in the ways instruments are used, decorated, named or handled before and after use. For example Anishnate water drums comes in two sizes, called “grandfather” and “little boy”. Decorations often have spiritual significance or refer to sacred narratives, so they require respectful treatment. There are five categories for the instruments which are based on how they produce sounds and their physical description.

Idiophones

This is the largest category of musical instruments in Native American music. They produce musical sound by vibrating when the body of the instrument itself is struck, stamped, shaken, scraped, rubbed or plucked. It appear in many shapes and sizes and are made of diverse materials.

Membranophones

They are instruments that have a skin or membrane stretched over a frame. Example single-headed drums, double-headed drums and kettledrums.

Aerophones

It requires an air stream to produce sound. They can be whirled through the air (bull-roarer) or blown into by a player (flutes, whistles, reed instruments and horns).

Chordophones

They have one or more stretchable strings attached to a frame or sound box. Sound is produced by plucking, rubbing, striking or bowing the string.

Electrophones

It is characterized as electric and electronic instruments.

Artists

Every composer is different and each have their own inspiration. These two pieces can be an inspiration with their beautiful and smooth melodies and their connection to the spiritual world.

Throughout my years I studied and listened to many type of songs. I also had an opportunity to work with different kind of musicians. This experience gave me an opportunity to gain knowledge and opinion about the genres but still stay open minded.

Pop and classical music are two different genres. The structure of the music and the lyrics is more simple for a pop song than classical. There are more instruments used in classical works which gives a richer and more complex content.

For me good music depends from its properties and how it effects on my current mood.