Applied Music 2010 – A2 MusicBaris Melampahan – Gong Keybar de SebatuPlanet of the Apes: The Hunt (opening) – Jerry GoldsmithThy Hand Belinda & When I am Laid in Earth from Dido and Aeneas – PurcellSonata pian’ e forte – GabrieliPulcinella Suite: Sinfonia, Gavotta and Vivo - Stravinsky

This pack will help you (hopefully) to revise for these set works for the Applied Music part of the paper.

In the exam you will have to answer two questions from a choice of three about the works above. You won’t know (obviously!) which ones will be chosen on the day. You can write in continuous prose or short note form. You will be allowed to use an unmarked copy of the anthology in the exam and you should give the precise location of each example you give. Aim to complete each question in 20 minutes. Each question is worth 13 marks.

Revise the musical elements of each piece and using a spidergram to see how much you can remember – then, go to the information booklet you were given about the set work (and the Rhinegold booklet you were given with information about all of the set works at the start of the year) and see if you can identify anything you missed and add it to the spidergram in a different colour so you know this is the stuff you need to revise more! There is an example, which I have started (but not finished!) overleaf for you to finish off.

Plan some sample essay questions using the writing frames given in this booklet. To start with, use your spidergrams and/or your information booklets to help you to gather the information. Then, gradually wean yourself off them.

Revise from the plans you have made for the sample questions as well as for your notes.

Set your own sample questions and try to answer them, breaking them down into plans first.

Test yourself on the terms and expressions for each extract using the look, cover, write, check method.

Look back at the score and mark on any points of interest, preferably while listening to the extract. Then look at an unmarked copy of the score and mark on these points from memory.

Create comparison sheets of each musical element – an example is in this pack for context.

Gabrieli - Sonata pian’e forte

Baris MelampahanHow does this piece differ in its musical characteristics in terms of melody, tonality, texture and timbre from Western classical music?

What is the melody based on?

How is it learned?

How is the melody used throughout the piece?

How does this differ from Western classical music?

What tonality is the piece based on?

What notes does it used?

How are the instruments tuned?

How does the tonality differ from Western classical music?

What is the basis for the texture of the piece?

What textures are used during the piece? Give examples.

How is the heterophonic texture created and where does this occur?

How does this use of texture differ from much Western classical music?

What is the collective name for the instrumental ensemble used here?

What are the four sections?

What does each consist of?

What is different about the way this ensemble works from Western Classical music?

Are there any aspects of the way this ensemble works which are similar?

Planet of the ApesJerry Goldsmith was famous for the modern style of his music for Planet of the Apes. Identify features of the piece that reveal a novel approach to tonality and orchestration.

TonalityWhat aspects of use of tonality seem ‘modern’ for an age when most film scores were pseudo-romantic?Consider:Use of semitone as a thematic motif – even to form vertical chordsUse of chromatic scale to form the basis of melodies and harmoniesUse of dissonance – sometimes extremeUse of serial-like techniques such as verticalisationUse of widespread chromaticismUse of tonal centres (and how they relate to each other e.g. C and G) which means that the music is not entirely atonal – explain how these are emphasisedUse of tertiary relationships - what effect do they have on the excitement of the pieceUse of harmonic devices such as pedal notes (how does this help to anchor the tonal centres?), false relations, tritones………….

OrchestrationWhat instruments are non-standard in an orchestra?

What instruments are used in unusual ways – such as amplified/played in unusual ways etc?

What orchestral textures (which still counts as orchestration as it concerns the way in which the instruments are put together) are used to portray extreme aggression?

How is the piano used which is unusual and modernist (consider how a piano was used in Romantic orchestral music – usually as a concerto soloist) and what does it help to portray?

What effect does the high note motif played on violins have? Why do you think he has chosen to use violins here?

What do you notice about the range of pitch used? Where is this most obvious and why?

What is a pointillist texture and where is it used? What modernist 20th art music does this sound like?

Why do you think so much percussion is used?

Why do you think Jerry Goldsmith has chosen such an unusual combination of instruments – what effect was he aiming to create?

‘Thy hand Belinda’ and ‘When I am Laid in Earth’ – PurcellWhat features of this work are characteristic of English Baroque MusicStructure/genreWhat type of work is it from?

Where is the subject matter taken from?

What is the purpose of each part of the extract?

What composition device is used in the Aria which was particularly popular with Purcell?

How long is this device in this piece and why do you think this was?

What section occurs at the end and where else was this sort of section used in Baroque works?

RhythmWhat is typical of the rhythm in the recitative?

What rhythm used in folk music, is used at the end of the recit?

What time signature, popular in English Baroque, is used in the aria?

What Baroque device is used near cadences?

How is rhythm used to illustrate the words? - give an example.

MelodyWhat do you notice about the shape of many of the phrases?

How are leaps used and why?

What can you say about the phrasing of the vocal in the aria as opposed to the ground bass?

What could you say about the length of the phrases and why this might be?

What device is often used in the melody just before the final note of a phrase?

What is the word setting for most of the time?

Where and why does this change? Give examples.

HarmonyWhat could you say about the harmony overall which is typical of the Baroque?

What could you say about the harmony/tonality of the recit?

What could you say about the harmony of the aria?

What evidence is there of the fact that there are traces of modes?

How would a lute player have known what chords to play – another Baroque Feature?

What typically Baroque cadence (imperfect) is often used and where?

What harmonic device is often used – give examples?

Why do you think this is?

What could you say about the harmony near the end and what Italian composer also used this device?

What could you say about the final chord and why?

Texture and forcesWhat is the dominant texture?

What texture is used in the string parts in the final section (ritornelle)?

What could you say about the texture of the recit?

What instruments provide the continuo? What does this tell you about when and where the music might have been written?

Why was the lute so popular in England?

What are the other instruments in the piece?

How do you know this was written in the Baroque from the instrumentation?

Sonata pian’e forte – GabrieliDescribe features of Gabrieli’s Sonata pian’e forte which are typical of Venetian Renaissance music.

Rhythm What could you say about the note lengths overall?

What could you say about the note lengths in the last part of the piece?

Melody What could you say about the range of the melody? Why do you think this is?

What could you say about the balance of leaps/stepwise movement? Why?

What scale is it based on?

Why are accidentals used?

Harmony What position are most of the chords?

What cadences can you identify?

What suspensions are used and where?

Why are accidentals added?

Where is a circle of 5ths used?

Analyse the harmony from bars 14-15 – what is evident from this progression?

What progression do the two chords from bars 16 beat 3 – 17 beat 1 form?

Tonality What scale and tonality is used?

What do you notice about the cadences in the piece?

Texture What is the overall name for this textural style?

What is the texture in bars 1-13 and 14-25?

How are the different ensembles used in bars 26-31?

What happens in 37-40?

What effects are used in bars 45-49?

What texture is mainly used within the ‘choirs’?

Complete the following statement, “the textures are never less than …….parts”.

In the last 10 bars there are examples of obvious ……………………………………….. .

The music has been written for two ……….part choirs of instruments.

Instrumentation What instruments are used which are typical of the Italian Renaissance?

What is it about writing for instruments that shows that this is earlier than Baroque?

Structure What is the structure and how does this link with sacred vocal works of the time?

Context Where was this piece designed for?

Where would the separate choirs of musicians be placed?

What effects did this enable?

What does the pian’ e forte stand for and why was this important in Gabrieli’s style?

What did the word sonata mean at this time?

When might this work have been performed?Pulcinella Suite: Sinfonia, Gavotta and Vivo – Stravinsky

Diaghilev asked Stravinsky for arrangements of various 18th Century works for the ballet score of Pulcinella. Focusing on the harmony and texture in Gavotta con due variazioni offer reasons for Diaghilev’s initial shocked reaction to the result.

Why might Diaghilev have been shocked? Was he expecting a more ‘conventional’ treatment of the original pieces? In your answer take care to notice that the key words are ‘harmony, texture, Gavotta con due variazioni, and shocked reaction’. Make sure you don’t talk about the Sinfonia or the Vivo and take care not to talk about other things which are not harmony or texture.

HarmonyWhat has Stravinsky taken harmonically from the original?

What harmonic device is used frequently to reiterate the chords (for example in bars 25-28)?

What ornament is often used in the horns, which is a dissonance?

What harmonic feature is notable in bars 43-44?

What do you notice about the oboe part in bar 51?

Why is the modulation to A major weakened in bar 69?

What do you notice about the flute in bar 76-77?

What does the oboe’s counter melody create in bar 79?

What very un-Baroque progression is created in bar 79

What do you notice about the cadences in 80 and 83?

TextureWhat is this piece scored for?

What period was Stravinsky seeking to imitate in deciding upon these timbres?

How is the original two-part texture expanded upon?

Who plays the original melody in the first 10 bars?

Who plays the walking bass in the first 10 bars?

What part enters distinctively in bar 11?

What unusual part enters in bar 15?

How is the texture thickened by bar 19?

What is unusual about the horn 1 part in the 1st variation?

What texture is used from bar 51 of the first variation?

What is unusual about the accompaniment of variation 2?

What unusual features are added to the texture in bars 73, 76, and 78?

Piece Composer Context Sonata pian’e forte1597

Giovanni Gabrieli

Written in 1597 for performance in St Mark’s Cathedral, Venice where Gabrieli was organist.Comes from collection of works for 15 instruments.Some of the earliest works to specify dynamics.May have been played during a service or a state procession on a special festival.‘Sonata’ refers to ‘sonare’ – which means to play, rather than sing.Written for two 4 –part choirs of instruments.Piano used when the choirs play separately, forte when they play together. Typical of the polychoral style dictated by the acoustics of St Mark’s which enabled stereo antiphonal effects by placing the groups in galleries around the building. Such impressive buildings were erected along the banks of the canals because Venice was a wealthy city as it was an important trade route. This and the music produced for these buildings impressed visitors.

Pulcinella Suite: Sinfonia, Gavotta and Vivo 1920-22

Stravinsky Ballet was extremely popular even outside France by the late 19th C with music by famous Russian composers such as Tchaikovsky. 1909 – famous ballet impresario Diaghilev formed Ballets Russes which was a Russian company of extremely high artistic standards with the best dancers, designers and composers.Stravinsky wrote large scale ballets for this company from 1910 – 1913 but work was interrupted by the Russian Revolution. Lacking the money to stage a big work Diaghilev asked Italian composer Tommasini to orchestrate some keyboard sonatas by Scarlatti (Baroque). The resulting Venetian masked ballet was very successful so he repeated the formula and handed the commission to his old friend Stravinsky, using pieces by the 18th C composers Pergolesi, Monza, Martini and others.Stravinsky adapted these pieces for 32 piece chamber orchestra of 18 th C proportions. He also included three singers and a trombone part which was often quite comedic. At first Diaghilev was shocked by the unconventional at times harmony, texture and orchestration but it was nevertheless premiered at the Paris Opera on 15th May 1920. However, it has not been terribly successful since mainly because of its complex plot, disguised characters, unlikely dramatic resolutions, a large cast and 21 short movements, most under 2 minutes in length. In the concert hall it has achieved more popularity through the suite of 8 of the movements. Stravinsky compiled these in 1922 and they are good examples of his NeoClassical style. NeoClassicism was a reaction, between the two world wars, against the emotionally charged romanticism of the previous century. Composers tried to create a more detached and purer form of music by revisiting the 18th C styles. Most composers actually found inspiration in Baroque, rather than Classical period composers. This is quite an unusual piece in that is actually borrows Baroque pieces, rather than just stylistic characteristics.Stravinsky re-composes the music by:

Creating unusual timbres with innovative use of timbre

Adding precise articulation and vivid contrasts of dynamics Highlighting notes with accents to mark out syncopations Writing out ornaments and adding more embellishments Thickening textures by using extra parts, pedals, ostinati etc Extending sections and inserting bars to produce unexpected

phrase lengths Weakening bass lines, weakening cadences by adding dissonances

which create harmonic vaguenessPlanet of the Apes: ‘The Hunt’1968

Jerry Goldsmith

Jerry Goldsmith (1929-2004) was a prolific American composer of scores for films and television series. He wrote the music for the popular 1960’s TV series Dr. Kildare and was also the composer of the music for the films Alien and Star Trek among many others. Three of his most successful collaborations were with the director Franklin J. Schaffner with whom he worked on Planet of the Apes (1968). Goldsmith was particularly noted for his experiments with instrumental sound, which echo some of the parallel developments in 20th C art music such as those of Stockhausen, Boulez (who both experimented with musique concrete) and Webern (noted for his pointillist expressionist serial music) and Cage (for the prepared piano – using a conventional instrument unconventionally). In his score for Alien he used a shofar (a ram’s horn used in Jewish services), as well as a steel drum and serpent (a large curved type of bass cornett). He also enthusiastically embraced the use of new electronic instruments, though he liked to use a full symphony orchestra where possible, often in conjunction with ethnic and electronic instruments. This can be seen in his score for Planet of the Apes, though electronics in music were not yet at a very advanced stage.

Planet of the Apes (1968) centres on a group of American astronauts who become stranded on a remote planet. When they eventually stumble on life supporting vegetation they also come face to face with a population of gorillas on horseback who succeed in capturing the humans. The harsh images and the alien landscapes of the film are reflected in the modernist style of the music, some parts of the which are very sparse. Goldsmith reserves the full forces of his large orchestra for only the most dramatic scenes of which ‘The Hunt’ is the most memorable.

In the hunt scene of the film, armed apes on horseback are chasing a group of stranded humans. Goldsmith uses a variety of devices to emphasize a sense of terror, including:• Unconventional instruments and techniques; prominent use of percussioninstruments (see performing instruments)• Dissonance (see harmony notes)• Avoidance of traditional tonality; suggestions of serialist chromatic music (see tonality)• Harsh driving, often syncopated rhythms (see rhythm and metre)All these features are frequently found in 20th Century music as a whole.Clearly, the structure of the piece is derived from the action on screen and

closely follows it, so it not in a conventional music structure. There are several sync points such as when the ram’s horn heralds the fearsome appearance of an ape on horseback in battle dress.

Baris Melamphan

Gong Keybar de Sebatu (Bali)

This is from the traditional gong keybar style from Bali, in eastern Indonesia. This is a country smaller than the size of Devon but it has become a famous tourist destination because of its tropical climate, coral reefs and rich cultural heritage in the visual and performing arts. A gong keybar ensemble gives this performance, from Sebatu, a village in the centre of Bali, famed for maintaining important local traditions in craftwork and music.

Baris is a traditional ritual dance performed by the young men of Bali to demonstrate their military skill. In its most ceremonial form it involves dressing in costumes that imitate armour, wearing distinctive conical hats and other adornments and carrying weapons such as lances or shields. The movement of the dance emphasises firmness of step and skill in handling weapons.

In Baris Melampahan the participants use the baris style to act a dramatic scene from an ancient epic poem. This usually leads up to the start of a stylised battle, which signals the end of the dance. Baris Melampahan is a long and complex dance and although NAM 59 is a short extract (the complete piece lasts over 12 minutes) it is long enough to convey the warlike quality and regular pulse of this dance. It became almost extinct in the 20th century. It is only due to recent investment in Bali’s heritage that traditional dances such as this are starting to be learned again and presented at arts festivals and similar cultural events. Keybar refers to the explosive unison attack, which starts such pieces. It is a relatively modern style, which is noted for its sudden outbursts, vivid contrasts, and brilliant sounds which all suit the context of the stylised aggressive war dance well.

‘Gamelan’ means – to hammer. Typically there are about 40 people in a gamelan. It is an ensemble consisting of mainly tuned gongs and metallophones. They are made, tuned and kept together as a set and are owned by the village as a whole, not by separate musicians – which is different to most Western music ensembles. Gamelan players regard themselves as musicians playing one common instrument.The notation used is called kepatihan and was developed around 1900 for study purposes. The music is not normally written down but passed on by aural tradition. All of the players learn all of the instruments, starting with the easiest. Gamelans are made, tuned and kept together as a set.

Thy Hand Belinda/When I am laid in earth

Henry Purcell

Opera is drama set to music, sung on stage in costume and with scenery. It is accompanied by instruments, and frequently included dance and spectacle. The very first operas started to appear in Italy at the end of the 16th C at the time when Shakespeare was becoming

1689 famous as a playwright in England. Operas spread from Italy to other European countries though it wasn’t

until the second half of the 17th century that English composers tackled the genre and even then only in a modest way.

Written in 1689. Part of the opera ‘Dido and Aeneas’ which was written for a girls’ school

in Chelsea, possibly to commemorate the joint coronation of William and Mary in April 1689.

The whole opera lasts around an hour. The plot centres on the mythical story of the love of Dido, Queen of

Carthage, and Aeneas, Prince of Troy. Evil forces plot their downfall and Aeneas is tricked into leaving Dido to fulfil and duty to free his homeland.

In this extract, Dido, the Queen of Carthage, has been deserted by her lover Aeneas and in total despair she prepares for death. She stabs herself in the final bars of the extract, after which the opera concludes with a final chorus as cupids scatter rosebuds on her tomb.

For such a context, Purcell wrote highly dramatic music, intended for public performance on stage.

There are two types of music in the extract – the first eight bars is a recitative accompanied by continuo instruments and the rest of the music is an aria, accompanied by strings and continuo.

The purpose of the recitative is to the move the story along clearly and rapidly with little or no repetition of the text, although it can be very expressive.

The purpose of an aria is really to be a song in which the character reflects on the situation, rather like a soliloquy in a Shakespeare play. It allows them to reveal their thoughts and emotions to the audience without the need to engage in dialogue with other characters.