Jones Coursework
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Jones Coursework
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  Scale Of Music From Different Genres Hector Berlioz - Grande Messe Des MortsHector Berlioz was born in 1803 to a doctor father and a staunch Catholic
mother. One of Berlioz's greatest works, the Grand Messe des Morts is written for Tenor Solo, SSTTBB Chorus and Orchestra.
The scale of this work should not be underestimated: it runs at an hour and a quarter and the original scoring included no
fewer than 16 timpani and four extra brass choirs! However, not all of its music is massive (the extra forces explode onto
the scene in the Tuba mirum portion of the Dies irae sequence in No. 2 and then disappear). Indeed much of it is quite intimate
-- for example the slender No. 3 Quid sum miser, which immediately follows the outburst in No. 2, or the opening of No. 9
Sanctus, which features the solo tenor. And the Requiem ends in absolute tenderness, the Lamb of God (No. 10 Agnus Dei) having
taken away the sins of the world and accepted the dead into a new world, of which we mortals can hear only vague echoes --
timpani strokes left over from the explosive Last Judgment held earlier in the mass, now distant and gentle. Berlioz left
posterity an admirable performance legacy. The scores and parts published under his supervision and, for the most part, to
his satisfaction are sources that typically offer unambiguous direction as to his intent. They often reflect years of perfecting
the manuscript materials in conjunction with live concerts under his own baton. His personal involvement with multiple performances
of the symphonic works, unusual for its time (far greater, for instance, than Beethoven's), was met with meticulous compositional
response; and with his orchestration and conducting treatises he left useful guides to the performing forces at his disposal
and his notions as to their most effective deployment. His sensitivity to the practical issues of live music-making, if not
always to the cost of music and musicians, makes his work feel somehow welcoming to those who undertake it. With the exception
of perhaps a half dozen passages of legendary difficulty, the music lies well beneath the fingers and is rewarding to discover
and recreate--that is, to perform. Berlioz the conductor left across Europe a generation of professional musicians schooled
in how his music was supposed to go--though, by the same token, too few conductors committed to his cause. By the end of his
life, most of the completed works had been well performed. A good proportion of these had been heard often and were familiar
to serious listeners both in Paris and elsewhere; a few--the Fantastique, Pilgrims March from Harold in Italy, Roman Carnival
overture, Hungarian March from Faust, and portions of L'Enfance du Christ--were even popular: hummed in the streets, known
to hundreds. After his death thinking musicians continued to promote the Berlioz legacy, at least so far as they could acquire
the performance materials, and those who knew his life's story did it both from enthusiasm for these "lovely pages" and out
of a sense of atonement for the difficulties the master had encountered in being understood. Venue Requirements - A Large Hall. This piece has been performed and recorded at Atlanta Symphony Hall
and the Cathedral of St. John the DivineNature Of Audience - late 19th century middle to upper classRequired
Practical resources - instruments: strings, brass http://hector.ucdavis.edu/Berlioz2003/Holoman/PerfBerlioz.htm Duke Ellington - Take the A Train He played piano effectively, even brilliantly, but his main instrument, as has often been said, was his band. He
was a masterful orchestrator. The sounds of his band were unique: full-bodied, sumptuous, mysterious, varied in texture and
effect. He broke all the rules–perhaps he was merely unconcerned with them–introducing dissonance to an unparalleled
degree in jazz. Take the A Train is one of the Duke Ellington Orchestra's best-known pieces. But how the work came into being
is less well reported. It is an intriguing tale of pure chance and circumstance. In the late 1930s, a budding young composer
called Billy Strayhorn met Duke Ellington and made a fine impression on the seasoned band leader. Duke told him he would be
in touch again in the near future. But weeks after their meeting in 1938, the young Strayhorn had heard nothing. He got in
touch with Ellington's office and found out the band was playing in Harlem. It was January 1939. Strayhorn travelled up from
his home in Pittsburgh to New York. He was making the journey to impress Duke Ellington but fearing that might not be enough
he had also written a composition using the travel instructions Ellington's office had given him to get to the band's venue.
It was called Take the A Train. The tune was duly played to Duke who must have liked it. There and then he decided to take
Strayhorn on to his payroll. But the band didn't record the song until nearly a year later. In December of 1940 a long-running
spat between American radio networks and the music publishing organisation known as the American Society of Composers, Authors
and Publishers (ASCAP) came to a head. The radio stations refused to increase their music broadcasting payments. To solve
the problem the radio networks set up their own publishing organisation, BMI, to rival ASCAP. They also announced they would
not play any ASCAP music. It was akin to banning all popular music of the time. It was bad news for Ellington. His repertoire
was virtually wiped out overnight. He needed a completely new set. While staying for a few nights at a hotel in Chicago, both
Strayhorn and Duke Ellington's son, Mercer, got to work. After only a couple of days the two men had written an impressive
array of numbers including a brushed up version of Take The A Train, which until then had remained firmly under wraps. Suitably
impressed, Ellington was to use it as his new theme tune on radio broadcasts. It became his greatest commercial success. Robbie
Williams - Let Me Entertain You Robert Peter Williams, 13 February 1974, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire, England. Williams was the cheeky chappy
in hugely successful UK boy band Take That, and at the time appeared to be the only one who could be badly behaved. When Take
That broke up the predictions were that Mark Owen and Gary Barlow (the voice and marketability) would succeed. Little hope
was given to Williams, who immediately set about stirring up the media with anti-Barlow tales. While Barlow was being groomed
as the UK's new George Michael, Williams caused mayhem. He partied, he overindulged (drink and drugs) and he seemed to pay
little attention to the music. Fittingly, August 1996's debut single was a cover version of Michael's "Freedom". Following
a spell in a clinic for detoxification, a seemingly wiser Williams stepped out into the glare of the sunshine, blinked, and
set about recording an album that eclipsed Barlow's debut both musically and critically. Life Thru A Lens was a joy throughout
and contained the symbolic "Old Before I Die", which followed "Freedom" to number 2 in the UK charts. The comparative failure
of follow-up singles "Lazy Days" and "South Of The Border' cast doubt on Williams" staying power, before the Christmas single
"Angels" almost single-handedly revived his ailing career. “Let me entertain you” was the last single release
off of this album. Finishing off his big impact of a first album with an upbeat, rock n’ roll song. In the music video,
Williams dresses in a cat suit with black make up in the form of legendary rockers: ’Kiss’. This song is always
a fan favourite, pulsating energy from the stage all through the crowd. Single Released 16.03.98 |
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