Miscellany for a Tuesday

1. ABSOLUTE deadline for concert reports to be turned in is the last class meeting - next Monday Dec. 5! Check music.mercer.edu for a calendar of events over there - GCSU also has one.

2. 23 foot high Theremin appears in Melbourne and freaks people out. - I would so like to see this!

3. Musician Uses Looping Pedal to Play with Time - Comes back to the "Is This Music?" question!

Wikipedia article  -  Website, with samples [pun intended!]

Comments from the Romantic / 20th Century Test

Comments from the Romantic / 20th Century Test. These are copy/pasted, complete with typos.

What 20th century piece surprised you the most? Why? [either pleasantly OR unpleasantly surprised!]

• Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" surprised me the most. I think the people that started a riot over it over reacted, but I still thought the music was bizarre, yet captivating with the odd, powerful sounds and chords.
• Poeme Electronique was extremely "interesting". It had a lot of new and crazy stuff going on that sounds weird even now.
• idk
• The percussion ones. I have only been to one percussion concert, and I must say that it was one of the most interesting performances I had ever seen before. The tones are so dark, which I really enjoy. I like how in the 20th century, there is use of harmonies and vocals as beats, instruments to contrast the melodies. I like how they developed a new sense of structure with the electronic beats. But what truly intrigued me the most was the avant-garde section, because I never expected you to cover that the way you did.
• Poeme Electronique suprised me the most because it was nothing but random sounds.
• I wasn't suprised by it.
• Rite of Spring. I just can't get over how weird all of it is. Both of the dances we watched in class to go along with it were somewhat jolting and disconcerting. It's just strange...
• The one with the random noises # 17 on the listening section because it seems like random sounds with no theme. {Varese Poeme Electronique]
• The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky surprised me the most.It was the most memorable of the ones I've heard. It was really different from the classical music we listened to before this.The drums and the beat gave it the power and is why this piece was primitivism and it produced a different emotion from me than the other songs.It pulled my concentration and made me focus and really think about what's coming next.I enjoyed the difference and contrast of these two eras compared to classical and baroque eras.
• Armstrong impressed me the most. I really enjoy jazz and blues. All the other works give our century a terrible name.
• simple variations. i really like the piece because it has a nice moving melody and it will keep you entertained through the whole piece.
• Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" surprised me the most because it was such a drastic change from the Romantic Era. It was harsh, primal, with a driving beat that was so dramatically different than what his audience was used to and it was the beginning of a new era.
• My favorite piece was probably Erlking. It surprised me on how emotional it was. The steady rhythm of the horse's hoof beats really MADE the song. Once I read the translation of the words on the listening guide, it just made the song even creepier. It really surprised me when I found out that one man performed all of it: the father, the son, Erlking, and death. The way the man portrayed the son was brilliant!
• Ahhh!!! This whole section was brutal. What surprised me was how difficult this section turned out to be!!
• The peice that surprised me the most is Symphonie Fastastique, because it was so long and diverse
• The piece "Shard" surprised me the most. I can tell that the music is organized, but I don't see how there is any substance to what he's composed. Even though it is composed, it still sounds like somebody just messing around on a guitar. Unpleasantly surprised. Difficult to appreciate.
• Cance music. Some was good but I still dont think it should be classified as music
• the Afo-American syphony because it was un comman for blacks to write and proform symphonies and the fact tat he put a banjo in his syphony.
• The Afro-American Symphony pleasantly suprised me the most because of their unusual use of a banjo in an orchestra piece.
• Stravinsky's the Rite of Spring surprised me the most because of the harsh tones and discord throughout the piece. Although it is clear the composer took time with the piece, I did NOT enjoy it. It was very difficult to listen to or enjoy; it is not a surprise that the piece caused a riot. I believe the piece should have been named the "Riot" of Spring.

What surprised ME about the comments was the number of times Rite of Spring was mentioned as a surprise, even after all of these years!

Test next Monday in the Library (11/14)

Hint: 

Who wrote what piece?

The last nudge about concert reports.....

Every Friday in the Macon Telegraph - available in the Library - is a section that lists upcoming concerts for the next 10 days. For example, the Macon Symphony is performing as I type this.

On Sunday, 11/13, there's a free Flute & Piano concert featuring Eugenia Zuckerman at Vineville Methodist @ 4pm.

The Metropolitan opera (New York) has several broadcasts in HD that you can see either at the Douglass Theatre in Macon, or at the Galleria Mall Cinema in Warner Robins. There's a list at metopera.org/hdlive. These WILL count for concerts.

There are also SEVERAL concerts coming up at Mercer - see http://www2.mercer.edu/Music/calendar.htm for the entire list.

Remember that ALL concert reports are due

at the last class meeting.

I will NOT accept any reports late - EXCEPT:

Dec 1 - Thursday, The Mercer Percussion Ensemble will be performing with Andy Harnsberger. If you have never been to a percussion ensemble concert, you really should go. Marcus Reddick, the director, is an incredible percussionist and teacher - we chatted the other day about what they will be playing, and it sounds VERY interesting.

It is free, and it will count as long as the concert report is turned in NO LATER THAN the final exam.


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Remember that the concert reports count for 10% of the final average - that's an entire letter grade.  Write a couple of pages about it - write well - and take a look at the syllabus and at the blog entry on concert reports for some ideas.

links for 11/3 class - 20th Century slides

Link to the slideshow

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Tom Rule Music Appreciation 20th c

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