Musical Phrases

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...