Musical Phrases

The Ithaca College Gamer Symphony Orchestra I attended a concert performed by the Ithaca College Gamer Symphony Orchestra. It took place at Presser Rehearsal Hall on Tuesday, November 19, 2013 at 8:30 p.m. The symphony orchestra performed music from the scores of video games. It was a unique experience for these songs were engaging and as varied as the different stories that surround the video games. By showcasing this different genre of music, the orchestra opened my eyes to the importance of music in video games and showed that video games are multi-dimensional. It seems the consideration of music is as equally as important in the video game as the actual graphics. The artists performing were very talented Ithaca College students. The video game songs played were “Don’t Be Afraid”, “Pikmin Medley”, “Selections from Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the Witch King”, “Gusty Garden Galaxy,” “Beats by Bytes”, “Space Pirate’s Theme”, and “Golden Sun”.  “Pikmin Medley” is a ...

                                                                                                       African Drumming Concert Report I attended a concert performed by the African Drumming and Dance Ensemble by Baruch Whitehead. It took place on October 24, 2013 at 8:15 pm in Ford Hall. It was a really unique, culturally enriching experience that showcased a different style of music to Ithaca College. Drumming was the basis of this music, but it also encompassed chanting and dance. The artists performing were students who are learning the art of African drumming. The songs played were “Calabash”, “Gyil”, “Kundun”,“Sinta”, “Gahu”, “Jare”, and “Adjogbo”, all originating from different regions and people of Af...

                                                                 Romanticism in Art  Romanticism was a time period at the end of the 19 th Century that accepted reason but valued emotions as well. Although it came about in a time when industrialization was a powerhouse, Romanticism embraced the awe of nature and the achievements of the individual. Unlike Enlightenment, which focused on the collective society as a whole, Romanticism focused on the dreamer and the individual. Romanticism valued exploration of dreams, imagination, and the ideas of the dreamer. Individuals, especially artists, were highly valued at this period in time for they were considered geniuses. Artists were unique, had endless potential, and had self-realizations through art. An extremely unique artist in...

When I listened to a YouTube video of Mozart’s Sonata in A major, K.331, I was immediately able to recognize musical phrases. In this blog, I focus only on the first 8 measures of this sonata, which make up two phrases. The first phrase encompasses measures 1 through 4 and the second phrase encompasses measures 5 through 8. The goal of this blog is to analyze the sonata’s texture, rhythm, melody, and phrase structure. The texture of the sonata is uncomplicated and homophonic. It has a simple dominate melody that is accompanied by chords. The chords move with the same rhythm as the melody.  The rhythm is 6 beats per measure and the tempo of the song is andante grazioso. It is moderately slow, but has a graceful quality. The melody is simple and gentle, but is flowing. The first 8 measures reminded me of a lullaby, but it seemed more elegant.   The phrase structure in this sonata is parallel interrupted period.  In order to deduce this I listened to the...

Enlightenment was a period in the 17 th and 18 th centuries when new ideals were formed about human nature and how human nature affects the individual as well as society.  It was a period centered on reasoning and independent thought. Enlightenment thinkers concluded that rulers do not gain divine rights by God, but that the people should govern the people to protect their natural rights. This thought is the basis of the formation of a republic government. Most enlightenment thinkers studied human nature and debated whether or not humans were essentially benevolent, evil, selfish, peaceful, etc. Enlightenment not only relates to human nature and politics, but also to art, music, theatre, and architecture.  Reflecting the logical objectivity of Enlightenment, there was a reoccurring pattern to music that consisted of balance, repetition, and order. One piece of music that entraps Enlightenment beliefs is the opera Don Giovanni composed in 1787 by Mozart. T...

When I think of folk music, I think of traditional songs learned in childhood, such as “Oh Susanna,” and also of more recent songs that have been referred to as folk music, such as Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin.”    After reading Bruno Nettl’s article on defining folk music, I was surprised that the recent songs I considered to be folk songs do not fall under the definition of traditional folk music.   In my opinion, I do not believe music today has to fulfill all of the traditional defining characteristics of folk music to be considered authentic folk music. I believe the traditional definition of folk music is limiting and must evolve to encompass the new folk music that is being created today. My definition of folk music is very broad and basic, upholding a few characteristics of the traditional folk song definitions. I believe folk music is simple in form, emphasizes storytelling, is created by common people, and survives because it resonates wit...

                                                  Concert Report I attended the Founder’s Day Concert in the Park on Sunday, September 15 th at 2:00 pm in Dewitt Park. The concert was titled “From Stage and Screen: Toe Tappers and Tearjerkers”. The Ithaca College Wind Ensemble performed it and the conductor was Stephen Peterson. The wind ensemble was made up of about 40 players including woodwinds, brass, percussion, and cellos. The wind ensemble played a selection of music from Broadway and Hollywood. The songs played were “The March of 1941”, “Symphonic Dances from West Side Story” , “Selections from My Fair Lady ,” “Colonel Bogey March”, “Broadway Showstoppers Overture”, “Selections from Les Miserables” , and the “Overture to The Cowboys”. There were many striking melodies, harmonies, and textures since the band played not only marches, but al...

Ithaca's Porchfest What a fun afternoon I had attending Porchfest in Ithaca! I enjoyed many of the songs performed by the musicians on their porches, but one song quickly drew me in and by the end I found myself singing along with the chorus. I had never heard the song before, but after a few Google searches using the lyrics I remembered I found out something interesting. The song I heard was “Runaway Train”, originally recorded by the Burns Sisters Band; an American folk music band from Ithaca! I felt this song had a folk music quality; it was a slower paced song with emphasis on the melody and the storytelling lyrics. The acoustic guitars also lent a folksy feel to the music. The texture of this song was homophonic; for the most part there was a main melody accompanied by chords. The song began with the guitar playing the main melody and throughout the rest of the song the lead female vocalist sang the melody. The melody was simple, but radiated emotions of lov...

“The Music of the Night” from The Phantom of the Opera Cadence Analysis      The Phantom of the Opera is my favorite musical and to honor the musical I decided to choose the song “The Music of the Night” by Andrew Lloyd Webber. “The Music of the Night” has HC-PAC cadence. Half cadence (I – V) is a musical progression from tonic (I- the first note in the scale) to dominant (V – the fifth note in the scale). Tonic to dominant progression creates a sense of tension; the half cadence creates a pause, but the listener expects the music to continue to a resolution. Perfect authentic cadence is a musical progression from dominant to tonic and provides the ending or resolution to the musical section “The Music of the Night” alternates between two contrasting musical sections. The first, second, fourth, and sixth verses are musically similar. In the first verse half cadences ending on the dominant fifth note are found at the words sensation, im...

An Analysis of Radioactive by Imagine Dragons     Greetings everyone. Today I will be discussing the meter and texture in one song of my choice. I spent a few mind numbing minutes in attempt to find what the perfect song would be. After this difficult decision I came to the conclusion that, Radioactive by Imagine Dragons , was the top contender for the job because the song contains such strong, powerful emotions.      My first task at hand was to listen to the song and attempt to determine how many beats it was made up of. In order to not distract my roommate from her exciting read of the Trail and Death of Socrates, I put my headphones on and started counting the beat. I started off just listening to the normal pop version of Radioactive by Imagine Dragons. At first, I had a hard time nailing what the beat exactly was because all the different drumming threw me off. I then continued on listening and I believed it was out of 4 beats. In order t...