Music assignments - Assignment Example

of institute Music Assignment Claude Debussy’s The Afternoon of a Fawn & American Popular Music: Dream Theatre [Pick the ContentsPart A 21.Literary basis for this work by Debussy 22.Summary of the Program for this work 23.Type of Program Music 34.Impressionistic traits heard in this work 35.Debussy’s slight variation of the return of the opening material 4Part B American Popular Music 41.Choice of Musical Piece 42.Determination of elements of the music – An aural analysis of the musical piece 43.

Meter of the musical piece 44.Determination of the Tempo of Musical Piece (fast, medium or slow) 55.Instruments or Voices Heard? Description of Timbre 56.Tuning in to the Melody of the piece (MELODY - CONJUNCTIVE,DISJUNCTIVE 57.TEXTURE: HOMOPHONIC, MONOPHONIC or POLYPHONIC 58.Harmony of the piece: happy major or sad minor 59.Description of the overall form of the piece 6 Composition Parameters 6References: 6Part A1. Literary basis for this work by Debussy Stéphane Mallarmé was a poet who had greatly influenced Debussy’s musical thinking that reflected in his composition.

He has considerable impact on Debussy’s perception and musical representation of themes involving events in life, human qualities, feelings etc. The Afternoon of a Faun was influenced by Mallarmé poem “Afternoon of a Faun”.2. Summary of the Program for this workThe musical piece has a very serene and gradual beginning creating a calm and relaxed environment. The pulsating amplitude created by the periodic variation of the intensity of bow strokes of violins, cellos and varying stress of playing of other instruments creates a mood of anticipation, quest but also that of tranquillity and recluse.

The introductory part of the prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun has prominent parts of the harp and wind instruments.A unique feeling is created by the chromatic note sequence of the wind instrument heard in the initial stages of the Prelude. Derived harmonies and derived chords of namely 7ths, 9ths, augmented and diminished are heard creating a spectacular feeling of peace and anticipation at the same time. The feeling of the time of the day i.e., Afternoon is uniquely and clearly brought out.

The song through unusual note sequence and mood changing notes introduced at the demarcation point of the stanzas of the musical piece creates a journey on its own. The undulating tone and progression and regression of notes introduce the feeling of being close to nature and natural cycles. The Afternoon of a Faun represents many feelings, peace, satisfaction, relief, fear, quest, confusion and relaxation.3. Type of Program MusicThis is a classic orchestral music and a type of clarinet concerto.

It is composition involving the narration of an event in life, and falls under the category of impressionistic composition.4. Impressionistic traits heard in this workQuite unique and characteristic to Claude Debussy, his work is in this piece is characterised by unconventional rise and fall of tempo, intensity and notes. It involves the waxing and waning of the overall mood that the composition tries to convey. A rhythmic variation is also noticed towards the middle for the composition where stringed instruments dominant for most of the part.

Claude Debussy’s unexpected harmony of strings and thought provoking combination of notes are seen in the background sequences that fill up the musical piece.The signature line of the musical piece shows Debussy’s ability to skilfully blend discordant notes into a mystical harmony and give it a life like affect. The signature line has the alternating major and minor chords playing.5. Debussy’s slight variation of the return of the opening materialDebussy’s sight variation of the opening material is revealed toward the end with sharp clarinet sequences, differing in tempo, rhythm, timbre and overall texture.

It is brought out through innovative mixture of different intensities and different instrument combinations. The subtle variation and times and more noticeable variation is brought out through differing chord sequences playing at the background as well.Part B American Popular Music1. Choice of Musical PieceThe musical piece for study and analysis will be the composition: “Die Another Day” by Massachusetts based 5 member progressive rock band Dream Theatre. Known for their technical mastery, meticulous efforts behind compositions and flawless stage performances this piece will help explore the various aspects and elements involved in a musical piece. 2. Determination of elements of the music – An aural analysis of the musical pieceThe musical piece is a structured one with well a defined prelude, song stanzas and intermediate interludes.

The piece contains chord progressions and complex calculations of beat fractions in the rhythm section. Beat precision exists till 1/8th count. Half and quarter count strokes are also emphasised making it a difficult piece to be played on the drums and in the rhythm section. It is a high pitched composition.3. Meter of the musical pieceThe composition is a DUPLE meter composition with a 1-2-3-4 beat count sequence representing one bar. However the high hats and cymbal stroke are at 1/16th counts i.e., every count can further be split into 4 sub counts making the elementary stroke 4.

Determination of the Tempo of Musical Piece (fast, medium or slow)It is s medium tempo composition with a steady rhythm and no variation of the meter or rhythm. Uncharacteristic of progressive rock and the band Dream Theatre this is falls in the category of the more structurally simple and well defined songs which are mathematically less complex in note and beat sequence.5. Instruments or Voices Heard? Description of TimbreThe instruments easily distinguishable are: lead guitar with tone effects, base guitar, two-storied keyboard, drums, and saxophone.

The voices include a frontline voice singing the main score of the song and backing vocals singing the first and second harmonics. (The harmony is a combination of 3rd s and 5th s in minor and major scale).6. Tuning in to the Melody of the piece (MELODY - CONJUNCTIVE,DISJUNCTIVEASCENDING, DESCENDING, WAVELIKE ).The composition is of ASCENDING type starting at a low pitch toward the beginning of the C octave. It starts at Cm and as the song proceeds the intensity of the instruments, the proportion of distortion tone effect in the guitar and vocal pitch increases.

The succession of notes are also done in smaller beat fragments making the solo lead portion of the guitar and the conclusion of the piece in multiple harmonic scales touch the climax of the composition.The frequency range or the pitch range of the vocal portion of the composition is WIDE.7. TEXTURE: HOMOPHONIC, MONOPHONIC or POLYPHONIC“Die Another Day” is polyphonic involving the simultaneous playing/ sound of multiple instruments in different frequency ranges of the musical spectrum. The lead guitar covering the mid and high frequency, the base guitar filling up the composition by covering the base frequency, the keyboard covering the mid and high frequency and the drums synchronising with the base guitar to provide a punch of impact and note together.8. Harmony of the piece: happy major or sad minorIt is a Sad, Melancholic piece, however not over expressed but left at a very subjective and subtle layer.

It is a minor scale composition based on the root note of C (Therefore Cm is the starting chord or base chord forming the scale of the song) It is consonant in nature. The composition creates a feeling of detachment, reflection and unexplained grief. The song was written by the lead guitarist John Petrucci after the death of his father, whom he was very close to. The slow and steady grip of death and the accompanying grief caused to the near and dear ones is beautifully brought out in this composition through the arpeggios, saxophones and aggressive drumming.9. Description of the overall form of the pieceIt is Strophic in nature, following neither Binary nor Ternary composition structures.

The composition cannot be broken down to structurally similar or similar sounding sub-compositions. It has a distinct prelude (or intro) and the same is repeated at the conclusion. It has a first stanza and a repetition of the signature tune. Then comes the inner stanzas which are not repeated. Composition ParametersArtist: Dream Theatre (James Labrie, John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy, John Myung and Jordan Rudess )Meter: Duple or triple meter;Tempo: Medium Timbre: vocals, guitars, base guitar, keyboards and drumsMelody: Ascending Range: High Texture: PolyphonicHarmony: Minor, consonant or dissonant; Form: Strophic.

References:1. Frenchhorn88. "Nicholas Alexander Brown conducts Debussys Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun in the Sachs/Schoenberg arrangement for small orchestra. The Irving Fine Society Singers & Ensemble". 1 May 2010. Web. 2 May 2012.Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvvSj992cbE