Avant-Garde of Music - Essay Example

? Old Guard or Avant Garde, Task Old Guard or Avant Garde Music in the past generations composed of many genres and the 21st century artists used music in different ways to show and portray themes. Music has undergone several changes from the Avant-garde, which is music with new concepts and changes in composition. This new influence might have lasted for some time. In this perspective, music that builds on the new work of art and features for a given period gets regarded as the old guard. It is vital to note that this classification does not build on a historical period but the contents of the music. It builds on the concept whether certain music set a different pace or keeps on track with the previous songs. In addition, the analysis gets basis on the concept whether music followed a trend of a given period. In this scenario, it is indispensable to exploit examples of famous composers who experienced an influence in their times. In the analysis, it is essential to ensure that the music posses detectable and noticeable compositions. This paper takes into consideration of two kinds of music by different artists that posse the qualities examined. Minimalism, a song by John Adams is one of the most serious and contemporary composers of the 21st century (Johnson 2011). Adams work is quite different from his previous forebears like Terry Riley and La Monte Young. This is because the work is vibrant, exuberant, muscular and propulsive making his song one of the favorites of many people. Designed to work and come up with the best music, Adams uses repetition as one of the qualities of his song (Sanchez-Behar 2007). The repetition used in the song emphasizes different aspects of the message derived thereby reaching the message of the artist. The repetitive thyme present in the song, which does not only pass the intended message but portrays Adams as a post minimalist. At the age of ten, Adams showed interests in music and begun composing. His first music got notice at the age of 13 years, which got more attention because of the talent he possessed. Adams had a substantial interest in music after graduating at Harvard University where he studied composition earning two degrees BA 1971 and MA1972 (Johnson 2011). Some of the areas where he specified in the early times include shaker loops, which used string septet. This included three violins, two cellos, one bass and one viola not forgetting a group of string players. From this vantage point, Adams gets depicted as an old guard; considering the fact that the instruments used of mass production contrapuntal music (Sanchez-Behar 2007). For large pitch, chorus and Orchestra Adams used the Harmonium the piece of starts that required insistent repetitions of one syllable –no- and –D-. The harmonium made Adams prosper to the top of American music landscape judged as an established musician in a larger framework. In addition, Adams used Dueling Pianos, Valhalla brass, Cooing Sirens, Gospel Triads, Thwacking bass drums and Niagara of cascading Keys. In this instance, minimalism found its use in the whole music mixed with orchestral gestures. From the analysis, Adams piece of work gets considered an old guard (Adams 2012). This is argued because his dovetailing instrumentation and wordings in his piece of work. In addition, he encounters pattern completion in his music. Adam’s piece of art, minimalism, in addition, depicts various characters for instance, the dynamic shifts in the song. His works moreover, show stylistic differences from other composers in terms of pitch-class, while at the same time giving how diversity fits in the minimalist aesthetic (Adams 2012). A tonal variation is another characteristic of Adam’s songs a factor used to capture the attention of neo romantic listeners. This is a feature found in many songs of the previous ages raising a question as the legibility of Adam’s songs. When compared to Michael Buchler index of CSATSIM a similarity gets noticed signifying an old guard (Johnson 2011). Not forgetting is the dramatic developments, which kept listeners occupied and depicted pulse patterned music of the old times. His work is also full of creativity in the opening chords that leave listeners in suspense and breathless same as Beethoven Symphony. Adams rekindles the fire in most of his pieces of work segmenting them into various drone elements and ostinato as well as beat- class tonics (Adams 2012). The first movement gets characterized with rush and contrasted into convenient pieces of work not forgetting reiterating fragments, which initiate a pattern and rhythm. Second movement gets subdued with neo- romantic qualities, which motivates and intricate listeners (Johnson 2011). The movements in addition creates lush in the artistic work creating an impression of impressionistic work. In the other sections, third and final sections allow for more tonal intricate and syphony, which applies pervasive use that propels music (Adams 2012). The segmentations make the music continue with unshakable vigor. Use of polyrhythmic unison displacement used in Adams minimalism songs is more complex than unison. In addition, juxtaposed contrapuntal techniques his work depicts old guard system of music production. The overlapping nature of Adam’s music employs subtractive and addictive features characterized by the presence of polyphonic, orchestral and textual materials. John Adams, therefore, comes out as an artist who is in the present time and uses modern technology to produce music. His pattern of music completion gets calculated using his ostinati’s lowest common multiple arriving at the point of convergence (Adams 2012). However, his music has characteristics of an old guard considering the materials used in the work of art. Moreover, his work cannot be considered as an Avant Garde since as much he uses modern technology his work is entirely from the old generation (Johnson 2011). His development is directionalised to the previous generation artists like Steve Reich and Philip Glass. He is more of a minimalist and depicts Romanticism in his work as compared to other minimalist like Shaker Loops. Surrealism is one aspect, which drive Adams to music as depicted by artists like John cage, who inspired him into music. This is evidenced when he terms Cages book of silence as bombardment to him like a bomb and in addition, improved his style of creativity ambulating various genres of music in his work. John Rutter is another 21st century singer who majored in classical music emanating from a humble background. He got his education at Highgate School prospering his education Clare Collage in Cambridge. He majorly obtains his music from the father who was an extremely rounded musician. Through the reading of poems and other materials, he was able to metaphase melodies, rhythms and harmonies (Hoffer 2009). He got involved in choir groups where he made many recordings as a member of Cambridge singers. He later emerged as a staunch choir member and leader conducting many choir orchestras (Rutter 2012). At Clare Collage, he serves as a director and got recognition later for the effort he made in the church choir in the presence of archbishop of Canterbury conferred by Labeth Doctorate of music. This was in respect to the outstanding manifestation he depicted in 2008 temple festival. Due to the influence from choral songs Rutter’s compositions were mainly choruses; including anthems, Christmas carols, Requiem, Magnificat not forgetting the works of Gloria (Wine 2007). Many people, due to the stunning performances around the world recognized his glorious artistic work. For instance, the Golden Jubilee, which he performed, at the Queen’s thanks giving in St Paul’s Cathedral, London. He also commissioned an anthem at the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, making him one of the artists, which achieved a lot with the music career with a short time (Hoffer 2009). Whether his music is an old guard or an Avant Garde remains a challenging factor in the analysis of Rutter’s songs due to his way of recordings and production. He produced many songs with many choirs; however, there are songs, which he recorded solely at his Collegium Label. In a close analysis and scrutiny, Rutter’s to be an old guard due to the influences from the English and French choral traditions. His songs are quite captivating and electric, which leaves listeners amazed a sign of artistic work from the past artists like Dargwel Mark (Rutter 2012). He uses standard piano and other organ accompaniment to make the music attractive. Various kinds of instrumentation gets used in Rutter’s music such as Orchestral and strings signifying an assortment of Old tradition system. His music teleology and progression depicts music succession a genuine segment that mainstream music. It becomes a remarkable adventure to listen to Rutter’s sounds for a significant time (Hoffer 2009). In this viewpoint, one feels neither have a nap nor be awake. One feels absorbed in the centre while experiencing the passage of time. It compels an individual to be oneself for a substantial period. It accords a lasting impression of harmony and generousness. Similarly, it possesses a composition of sounds that do not hold any other sound besides the same (Wine 2007). This piece has notable music details. This makes Rutter’s songs gets classified as an old guard. Rutter’s brief introduction his song, for the beauty of the earth, is quite stunning, the music is irregular and highly unpredictable (Rutter 2012). The first 30 seconds of the song captivate listeners with constant tonal resurgence. In addition, the use of instruments like the piano and the guitar in the song matches the song producing a harmonious and soothing song. The composition is eminent in the use of dissonance to create sounds that strike a subtle harmony (Hoffer 2009). The sounds move towards a certain harmony until they break and set unusual mood to the same. In the same course, the sounds try to converge to a certain harmony and deviate to a different one. This qualifies Rutter’s songs to be an old guard due to his smooth introductory flow of the songs and uniformity of the choirs. Bibliography Adams, J. (2012). Minimalism, short ride in a Fast Machine. Retrieved from, http://www.rhapsody.com/artist/john-adams. Hoffer, C. (2009). Western Music Listening Today. New York, NY; Cengage Learning. Johnson, T. A. (2011). John Adams's Nixon in China: Musical Analysis, Historical and Political Perspectives. London, LDN: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. Rutter, J. (2012). Twenty First Century, for the beauty of the earth. Retrieved from, http://www.rhapsody.com/artist/john-rutter/tracks. Sanchez-Behar, A. (2007). Counterpoint and Polyphony in Recent Instrumental Works of John Adams. Michigan, MI: ProQuest. Wine, T. (2007). Composers on Composing for Choir. Chicago, IL: GIA Publications. Read More