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Elvis Presley is another popular musician that took the stage in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century and the music he performed was called rock and roll. Rock and roll took inspiration from blues, country, jazz, and gospel music. Rock and roll really took center stage due to the dance craze of the time. Dennis J. Sporre said rock and roll "is loud, intense, coarse, and fast in tempo with an obvious sexuality in its sound and lyrics" (116). In the beginning rock and roll emphasized a piano or saxophone, but soon after the guitar became the lead instrument as many know today. Rock and roll is essentially based on a blues rhythm with an accented backbeat. Rock and roll came to influence many aspects of life, from fashion, to attitude, and language, just ask anyone from the age.
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Rap was another pop music form that arose in the 1990's. Rap had a deep connection with the fight for equality among African Americans, as seen by its lyrics full of "violence, anger, and aggression" as stated by Dennis J. Sporre (116). People turned militant and violent in those times and music was the way to express these thoughts and feelings. We still see rap today that focuses on and is created by troubled youth and life problems. Rap was quite different from the other forms of music in the way that it sounds basically like a person talking with their regular voice, just on the faster side. Rap featured "half-spoken lyrics and strong, complex rhythms" featuring percussion, bass, and synthesizers (Sporre 116). To create this sound these songs had to use turntablists or DJs in recording studios, using the technique of scratching (cutting in and out) or looping (repeating of short sound fragments). To this day rap is made with similar techniques and reflects very similar themes from the past, but continues to grow and change with the times.
Sporre, Dennis J. Reality Through the Arts. Pearson (2013)
In the 1920's a style of jazz called blues originated highlighting "improvisation, syncopation, a steady beat, unique tone colors, and specialized performance techniques" said Dennis J. Sporre (115). This piece you just heard is by W.C. Handy and it is called "St. Louis Blues". Blues is a jazz form I am quite familiar with because my dad was actually in a blues band. It is a form of music that is laid back, being not as structured as most other music forms I have listened to. Blues popularized in streets, bars, brothels, and dancehalls and was mostly played by African Americans. Blues actually refers to the blue devils which means melancholy and sadness, which most people associate blues with. Whether it was in a movie or book whenever someone is feeling down they sing or listen to the blues. Blues has a cyclic musical form with a repeating progression of chords that mirrors the call and response (a second phrase is a response to a first phrase), which is seen in many African and African American music forms. There was another type of blues that came about called vocal blues which was much more personal and had "references to sexuality, the pain of desertion, and unrequited love, with a very specific metrical and poetic form consisting of two rhythmic lines and a repeat of the first line" (Sporre 115).
Another jazz form is called New Orleans Style and this style similarly relies on improvisation. Improvisation takes great courage and skill and even more creativity because it requires a musician to make up music on the spot based on the background beat or melody. It is something I have and never will be able to do. Dennis J. Sporre states while a background rhythm section keeps a steady beat and chord progression the "front line or melodic instruments improvise several contrasting melodic lines at once" following a "march or church melody, ragtime piece, or popular song as its base" (115). Dixieland is one of the first New Orleans jazz forms and it became very popular. Its front line consisted of a trumpet, trombone, and clarinet and the rhythm section had a guitar, banjo, piano, string bass, tuba, or drums keeping the beat. Usually a melody is played by the lead instrument and all other instruments improvise around that set melody and beat. Again this is a much less structured form of music and one can see by watching such performances they are full of life and energy.
No doubt is this another song you have heard at least once in your life, this classic is called "Maple Leaf Rag" by Scott Joplin. This jazz form is called ragtime and was created in the 1980's. Ragtime actually took its roots from John Phillip Sousa's most popular march. With little splashes of African flare a new jazz form was created called ragtime. Ragtime was popularized in dancehalls and saloons and featured many Southern and Midwestern African American pianists, occasionally instrumentalists. Dennis J. Sporre explained "Ragging involved taking a classical or popular tune and playing it with syncopation" but it didn't stay that way for long (115). After awhile the "steady, regular" beat of ragtime was juxtaposed or " placed or dealt with close together for contrasting effect" with a "lively, syncopated" melody (Sporre 115). Ragtime took on a persona all it's own.
Free Jazz
Free jazz is another jazz form which originated in the 1960's and 1970's. People were bored and frustrated with traditional jazz and decided to take things into their own hands. They decided to take structured jazz into the realm of free thinking jazz, characterized by "creative improvisation and original compositions" said Dennis J. Sporre (115). This differed from earlier jazz because the irregular melodic lines and rhythms made it quite hard to follow and at times so much was going on at once it was hard to keep up or decipher, no longer was their fixed chord changes or tempos. This type of jazz form is not one of my favorites because I too believe there is too much happening at once and it sounds more like a jumble than a composed piece of music. You might recognize free jazz by the high notes, squawks, and squeals that are prominent throughout this jazz form. It is quite different from most other jazz forms because it has been described as "raucous and chaotic", which is loved by some and hated by others, but it made a playing experience for the instrumentalist and the listener that had never been experienced before. The complexity and lack of structure made a jazz form like no other!
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Fusion is another jazz form which took inspiration from past jazz forms such as funk and R&B, but threw rock into the mix. This jazz form is based on"simple chord progressions and repetitive rhythmic patterns" explains Dennis J. Sporre (115). Electronic instruments such as synthesizers, electric pianos, and electric bass guitar are heard in fusion, as well as, large percussion sections. Again this is another jazz for I do not find myself drawn to. With its synthetic music and emphasis on percussion I find it more clunky and loud. Compared to free jazz fusion is based on simplicity, but does have complex time signatures, lengthy group improvisations, and high instrumental technique.
The form of jazz which originated between the 1990's and the twenty-first century was groove. It is named after is ability to make you want to get up and dance. This unique jazz form took root from many past jazz forms, such as Dixieland and bebop. Jazz' s popularity began to spread internationally, from South America to Japan and continued to grow and change. With time jazz began to take on dance rhythms which transformed it into groove, highlighting "highly complex, repetitive, and rhythmic" qualities which made it the perfect dancing jazz form said Dennis J. Sporre (116). Before dancing was considerate quite provocative, but with changes in music came changes in dance. People's free spirit began to come out and it was the result of this new generation of music. It would continue to expand and grow in the following years, highlighting these rhythms that inevitably got people to get up and dance.
The song you just listened to is "Kyrie" from the Pope Marcellus Mass by Palestrina; this is called a mass and it is a type of classical form. Dennis J. Sporre states, "The mass is a sacred choral composition consisting of five sections: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Angus Dei" (113). These five sections also form the mass ordinary, which is the Roman Catholic church text. A mass entails religious text and music to be performed together, creating this unique form of classical music. Kyrie is about receiving mercy from the Lord, Gloria is about giving glory to the Lord, Credo is about the creed or belief in the Lord, Sanctus is about the confirmation of the Lord, and Angus Dei is about sin and the granting of peace by the Lord. Although I am not personally involved in this type of music one can just see from its length that people put forth great passion, time, and effort into performing this composition and it has much deeper meaning than many of us could understand. The biblical text aligned with the music creates an intimate experience where people grow spiritually and rekindle a relationship with the Lord.
In the above picture to the left one can see a choir and on the right an instrumental ensemble, these groups combine to make a cantata. Dennis J. Sporre says a cantata is "usually a choral work with one or more soloists and an instrumental ensemble" usually having several movements (113). A cantata originated in the seventeenth century, along with the opera and oratorio, which we will look at later. A cantata is written in several movements and took root from the church cantata of the Lutheran Church of the Baroque period. The cantata is similar to the mass because it originally meant sung piece and uses original, Bible based, or hymns from religious text. The cantata was used as a sermon, based on the Bible readings that were going to be discussed that day. A cantata can last up to twenty-five minutes and comprises various movements, such as choruses, recitatives, arias, and duets. The cantata is a beautiful way which again accents a religious experience. If one has ever sung religious hymns or songs at church they would agree the background music adds that extra essence which heightens the experience.
I'm sure you have heard this one before; this is George Frederick Handle's "Hallelujah Chorus". I have personally heard it in several different movies and shows. This is an oratorio, another classical form which began in the Baroque period and which can last up to two hours. "An oratorio is a large-scale composition using chorus, vocal soloists, and orchestra" says Dennis J. Sporre (113). In this classical form one experiences choruses, arias, duets, recitatives, and orchestral interludes. It is based on a narrative text, usually biblical, but does not use actors, costumes, or scenery; this is how it is different from an opera, both in theme and interaction of those involved. Again it uses biblical text, but is much larger in scale. The chorus in some instances plays a part in the exposition by commenting on or participating and the narrator plays a part in telling the story and connecting the various parts through the use of recitatives, which are "vocal lines imitating the rhythms and inflections of normal speech"(Sporre 113). This is what makes the oratorio so unique compared to all the recently talked about classical forms. Although the chorus does not specifically take on the role of actors they do play a similar role in communicating the story, which is quite unique and in my opinion makes the composition easier to follow. By adding human dialogue other than musical instruments and sung voice it adds a whole other dimension.
Now you are probably wondering why am I listening to a song in a different language, but remember it is the composition of the song that is most important. You have just listened to Franz Schunbert's "the Erlking". This is a classical from that was popularized in the nineteenth century under the Romantic style and it is called an art song. The art song uses a solo voice and piano and is based on a poem or text, using its mood and imagery to bring the poem or text to life in the form of music. This is one of the most beautiful classical forms in my opinion because it includes just a solo voice and instrument, creating much more intimacy and focus. It requires great collaboration between musician and soloist since there is no way they can hide behind a large chorus or instrumental group. Art songs focus on emotion and tend to follow themes such as love, nature, legend, and the far away and long ago. It is amazing the amount of emotion a single person and instrumentalist can portray, one can truly feel the sadness, happiness, or anger the musicians are depicting. In the art song the accompaniment, in this case a piano, plays just as an important of a role as the voice because important words are emphasized through stressed tones and melodic climaxes, both complimenting and playing off one another. An art song takes great skill and when pulled off it can have just as big of an impact as an orchestra of a hundred.
The piece of music you are looking at now is another classical form called a fugue. Dennis J. Sporre explains "The fugue is a polyphonic composition based on one main theme" (114). The focus of a fugue is its subject or theme and the composer presents this theme or subject in the beginning through imitation (repetition in different pitches) and then repeats it throughout the composition. This is very important for the listener, the theme must be heard and remembered. Since we listen to music almost every day it is quite easy to pick out melody's, for example remember that commercial you listened to earlier, I bet you still remember the jingle. Well it is this ability to remember and recognize reoccurring patterns and understand what they are trying to present that will make a musical experience.The composer explores this subject or theme by including different keys, melodic, and rhythmic ideas. Fugues are fairly flexible; they can be written for several instruments or voices or just a single instrument and have melodic lines or voices, usually three to five, which imitate the subject throughout. There are a range of melodic lines, the top being soprano and the bottom being bass, a fugue is quite different from an art song in this way. There is much more occurring, so as the listener it is up to us to follow and make sense of the piece of music.
Again here is another classic I'm sure all of you are familiar with; Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C Minor. Pretty surprising how familiar we are with classical forms, who would have thought! The symphony is probably the classical form we are most common with. If there was any musician you learned about in elementary school it would be Beethoven. The symphony arose in the Classical period of the late eighteenth century and is named after the Latin symphonia, which means a sounding together. Dennis J. Sporre says this is because in a sympathy the composer "explores the full dynamic and tonal range of the orchestral ensemble" invoking emotions through contrasting tempos and moods (114). In the opening movement a theme is introduced and throughout the rest of the composition it is alternated and repeated, providing unity throughout the movements, similar to a fugue. The composition "begins with an active fast movement, changes to a lyrical slow movement, moves to a dancelike movement, and close with a bold fast movement" (Sporre 114). It is set up like this because it wants to grab your attention in the beginning, show variation, and then again at the end jolt you again to grab your attention and leave you awed, very similar to how movies attempt to amaze and entertain us.
This final classical form is called a concerto. The composition you just listened to is Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2. The concerto was developed in the Classical period during the eighteenth century and contains three movements, each contrasting from one another. The first is fast, the second is slow, and the third is fast and it can last up to twenty to forty minutes. There is a solo concerto where a solo voice and orchestra combine to create a musical experience where the orchestra highlights the voice of the soloist. Dennis J. Sporre states it is during the first and possibly the third movement the soloist has a cadenza, which is an "unaccompanied showpiece" (114). This is where the soloist gets to show off technique and skill and create an intimate moment with the audience.
During the Baroque period in the seventeenth century the concerto grosso evolved, which is "a composition for several instrumental soloists and small orchestra" which emphasizes "contrasts between loud and soft sounds" (Sporre 114). There are usually two to four soloists and a larger group of up to eight to twenty players called a tutti. The concerto grosso is similar to the solo concerto in the way that the movements follow a similar guideline in pace of the movement, but the first movement is "usually bold, explores the contrasts between tutti and soloists" (Sporre 114). The second movement is more"lyrical, quiet, and intimate" and the third movement is "lively, lighthearted, and sometimes dancelike" (Sporre 114).
In some form or another we have all heard music, whether it was on a car stereo, our favorite movie, that Italian restaurant, blasting in our headphones, or even a tune we wake up to on our alarm clock. Can you think of any other times music is encountered in our every day lives?
Throughout history music has played a role in people's lives, for enjoyment, spirituality, etc., and to this day has continued to grow and expand taking its roots from the past. There are various forms of music, classical, jazz, and pop, each with their own unique characteristics that guide our perception,interaction, and relationship with each form. Once we understand what characterizes classical, jazz, and pop we can begin to listen to a piece of music and categorize it into its proper form, gaining a true understanding and appreciation for each musical form; although many of us will develop a favorite based on these unique characteristics. After reading through this blog you will be able to understand these various forms of music, specifically how they arose and what specific characteristics each has.
