Post date: Jul 02, 2018 2:39:10 AM
What do you expect to hear when a piece is called "Reverie"? What do
you think of when you know a piece is by Beethoven or by Debussy? On
Friday, April 27th, 2018, Alan Wasserman discussed
"Expectations in Music," and the ways composers can fulfill our
expectations or confound them, at his Music Hour, sponsored by the
Cecilian Music Club. Alan began by asking the audience what they anticipated hearing as he played "Reverie" by Debussy. Some expected flowing, dream-like music; others associated Debussy with lush harmonies. After performing the piece, Alan asked if our expectations had been met. The piece did sound flowing and dream-like, there were lush harmonies, but there were also unexpected chord changes in the music. Alan played it again, and we all agreed that a second performance allowed us to hear more in the music than we heard the first time. With performance of "Happy Birthday," Alan demonstrated how a certain chord can cause us to anticipate the chord that will follow – example in the key of C major, a G major chord, or the V chord, leads us to anticipate C major, the I chord. When an expected chord doesn't arrive, tension – and interest – is created. In Beethoven's last movement of the Moonlight Sonata, the composer confounds expectations by sudden changes of key and tempo. His music moves from melodic to rhythmic and back again. Chopin's Nocturne, Opus 72 No 1, surprises us in a different way by using polyrhythms - one hand playing 3 beats to a measure and the other hand playing 4 beats to a measure. The feeling is literally off-beat. Alan illustrated these surprises with beautiful performances of these lovely pieces.