Section 2 Notes
Music Appreciation Grade 7
Notes: Section 2 MELODY and HARMONY
Melody is as series of tones that we hear as a single musical thought. When we hear a melody we feel that the tones are not thrown together in a random way. On the contrary, we can tell that they have been put together in a specific order with a beginning, a middle, and an end.
1)The melody may move up or down
2) It may move forward with longer or shorter notes
3) The distance from the lowest to the highest tone of the melody (its range) may be narrow or wide.
4) The melody may move by step or skip
5) The skips may be narrow or wide
6) The melody may move slowly, moderately, or fast.
7) The melodic tones may be smooth and flowing (legato) or short and detached (staccato)
8) A melody may be loud or soft.
A melody like America moves within a narrow range, either by step or narrow skips at a slow pace. The Star Spangled Banner, on the other hand makes bold leaps, has a wide range, and is faster.
A melody is built in a similar way to how we write or speak. When we write or speak we think in short groups of words such as phrases. We don’t think in terms of sentences or paragraphs. A phrase is a small unit of meaning within a larger structure. IF we had to listen to a melody in one straight shot we might lose our bearings. Instead, music is broken into smaller phrases that we can hear much easier.
A phrase is rounded off by a cadence. This is a musical punctuation mark. This gives the musician a chance to breathe and prepare for the next phrase. There are also incomplete cadences which leave the listener with a sense that there is more music to come.
A very simple way to think about phrases and cadences is the popular children’s tune London Bridge.
London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down
(Incomplete Cadence) It wants to go some where
London Bridge is Falling Down, My Fair Lady!
(Complete Cadence) The piece feels done.
Harmony is two or more tones being played together simultaneously. A chord consists of several tones played at the same time.
Harmony is to melody what perspective is to painting. The melody is the main part of the picture, the harmony lends depth to the melody and makes it much more interesting
In music we have different sounds. We combine these sounds to create effects such as soft and restful, tense and agitated, happy or sad. Dissonant Chords create tension and anger. Consonant chords release that tension and generally make us feel happy.
LISTENING:
1) Turkish March from The Ruins of Athens by Ludwig Van Beethoven. This catchy march is one of a series of pieces that the great German composer wrote for a play describing how Athens was almost destroyed by the Turks. For his Turkish March Beethoven created a happy staccato melody in the high register. The higher register is brighter and the lower register is darker. The melody of the Turkish March has phrases of equal length and each is finished off by a cadence. It moves mostly by step or with narrow skips.
Turkish March From The Ruins of Athens
2) I Love You by Edvard Grieg. This famous song is a musical love letter written by the Norweigian composer when he was twenty-one, the year he became engaged Nina Hagerup. They had a happy marriage. In later years Grieg declared, “My best songs were composed for her.” The poem is by Hans Christian Andersen, the Danish writer who won international fame with his fairy tales.
You are my life, my soul, my very being;
You bring my heart its hope and blessedness.
I love you more than all things under heaven;
I love you, dear – I love you, dear,
I love you, dear, now and forevermore-
I love you, dear, now and forevermore!
I think of you with all my heart’s devotion;
To you alone I turn for happiness.
In time to come, wherever fate may lead me,
I love you, dear – I love you, dear,
I love you, dear, now and forevermore-
I love you, dear, now and forevermore!
A short introduction on the piano sets the mood. Each line of the poem is set to a phrase, with a cadence at the end of each line (except lines 4-5 which make up one phrase) The piano supplies the harmony. Notice how the song grows louder and moves higher on the last line. The high point of the melody comes on the word LOVE.
3) Galop from The Comedians by the modern Russian composer Dmitri Kabelevsky. A galop is a lively dance performed with light hopping movements. The melody of the piece is happy and vigorous. After a brief introduction we hear a hopping tune in a high register, very fast and very loud that moves downward over a wide range. The piece has dissonant harmonies. The middle part is introduced by the xylophone. Then the opening melody returns.
4) E lucevan le stele (And the stars shone brightly) from Tosca, by the Italian composer Giacomo Puccini. For an example of a sad mood we turn to the lament from the last act of Puccini’s opera Tosca. The action takes place in Rome in the year 1800, while the Italians are plotting a revolution against their Austrian masters. The painter Mario Cavaradossi has been sentenced to death. He bribes the jailer to allow him to write a last letter to his beloved Tosca. Remembering their happiness together, he bids farewell to love and life in a moving aria. (An aria is a solo song in a larger work such as an opera)
And the stars shone brightly,
And the air was mild and fragrant-
The garden gate was opened
And footsteps approached so lightly.
She stood before me, radiant;
In my arms I held her……
O fond embrace, o languorous caresses.
My heart was trembling,
Enraptured by the wonder of glorious beauty!
My dream of love is now destroyed forever……
My hour is fleeting,
And now I die, despairing!
And now I die, despairing!
How cruel is death!
Ah, life was never sweeter-
Never sweeter!
5) Polka from Schwanda the Bagpiper by the modern Czech composer Jaromir Weinberger. Like Smetana before him, Weinberger found inspiration in the songs and legends of his native land. His opera Schwanda the Bagpiper is based on the adventures of a jolly peasant who tries to cure the sad Queen Iceheart by playing his bagpipes. He succeeds so well that the queen joins him in a rollicking polka. The only one who is unhappy about this is Schwanda’s wife. The opening measures suggest the sound of Schwanda’s bagpipes. Then is heard the lively melody of the Polka. It is a strong tune that moves quickly with a great deal of staccato. The melody of the middle section is more legato and quieter. Then the first tune is heard again growing louder and happier as it brings the piece to a happy ending.
Polka from Schwanda The Bagpiper
6) American Salute by the American composer Morton Gould. “This,” wrote Gould, “is the famous song that came out of the Civil War. In it I hoped to capture the spirit of joy which our people would feel when men came home from war.”
When Johnny comes marching home again, Hurrah! Hurrah!
We’ll give him a hearty welcome then, Hurrah! Hurrah!
The men will cheer, the boys will shout, the ladies will all turn out,
And we’ll all feel great when Johnny comes marching home!
The old church bell will peal with joy, Hurrah! Hurrah!
To welcome home our darling boy, Hurrah! Hurrah!
The village lads and lassies great, with roses strewn they wait
And we’ll all feel great when Johnny comes marching home!
Get ready for the jubilee, Hurrah! Hurrah!
We’ll give the hero three times three, Hurrah! Hurrah!
The laurel wreath is ready now to place upon his loyal brow
And we’ll all feel great when Johnny comes marching home!
7) Bess You is My Woman Now from Porgy and Bess. George Gershwin’s “folk opera” has become a classic. The action revolves around the African American inhabitants of Catfish Row in Charleston, South Carolina. In this work Gershwin went far beyond the limits of the ordinary broadway musical. As a result New York was not ready to receive Porgy and Bess; it ran for only four months. Porgy and Bess came into its own only after Gershwin’s death. It was revived throughout the 1940’s with growing success. In 1952 the United States State Department sent the opera, with an all African American cast, on a tour of Europe and the Soviet Union. It played to enthusiastic audiences everywhere. Since then the work has been acclaimed all over the world as THE American opera. The duet “Bess You Is My Woman Now” is one of the highlights of the opera. We know that despite how noble Porgy is, his love is doomed to fail, since Bess cannot resist the temptations that surround her. This makes the moment where she responds to Porgy’s love even more moving. The melody, with its dramatic wide leaps, is typical of Gershwin. Notice how naturally he molds this melody to the sound of everyday American Speech.