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AQA Music a Level Area of Study 4: Music for Theatre

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AQA Music a Level Area of Study 4: Music for Theatre AQA Music A Level Area of Study 4: Music for Theatre NAME: TEACHER: 1 Contents Page Contents Page number What we are studying 3 Timeline 4 Kurt Weill 5 The Threepenny Opera 6 Rise and Fall of Mahagonny 9 Richard Rodgers 10 Oklahoma! 11 Carousel 15 Stephen Sondheim 16 Sweeney Todd 17 Into The Woods 21 Claude-Michel Schonberg 22 Miss Saigon 23 Les Miserables 26 Jason Robert Brown 27 The Last Five Years 28 Parade 31 Essay Questions and unfamiliar listening tests 32 Vocabulary specific to this unit 33 2 One essay question will be set on this topic. You will choose between answering an essay on Music for Theatre or on Jazz. You will need to answer listening questions and shorter essay questions on both topics, so you must study both. You will be studying these named artists and these suggested pieces from the board: Artists Pieces (Suggested listening) Kurt Weill Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny: - ‘Alabama Song’ - ‘Havana Song’ The Threepenny Opera: - ‘Ballad of Mack the Knife’ - ‘Jealousy Duet’ - ‘Pirate Jenny’ Richard Rogers Oklahoma!: - ‘Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’’ - ‘Lonely Room’ - ‘Oklahoma’ Carousel: - ‘Louise’s Ballet: Pas de deux’ - ‘What’s the Use of Wond’rin?’ Stephen Sondheim Sweeney Todd: - ‘Prelude’ - ‘Green Finch and Linnet Bird’ - ‘A Little Priest’ - ‘My Friends’ Into The Woods: - ‘On the Steps of the Palace’ - ‘Agony’ - ‘Giants in the Sky’ - ‘Last Midnight’ Claude-Michel Miss Saigon: Schönberg - ‘I’d Give My Life for You’ - ‘Bui Doi’ - ‘I Still Believe’ Les Miserables: - ‘One Day More’ - ‘Bring Him Home’ Jason Robert Brown The Last Five Years: - ‘Still Hurting’ - ‘Moving Too Fast’ Parade: - ‘This is Not Over Yet - ‘All the Wasted Time’ What you need to know: Context about the artist and the era(s) in which they were influential and the effect of audience, time and place on how the set works were created, developed and performed Typical musical features of that artist and their era – their purpose, how they developed over time and why each era is different Musical analysis of the pieces listed for use in your exam How to analyse unfamiliar pieces from these genres Relevant musical vocabulary and terminology for the set works (see back of pack) 3 Timeline 1920s Kurt Weill (1900-1950, German: worked early in Germany, later in USA) 1930s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (1930) The Threepenny Opera (1928) 1940s Richard Rogers (1902-1979, American) Oklahoma! (1943) Carousel (1945) 1950s 1960s Stephen Sondheim (1930- present, American) 1970s Sweeney Todd (1979) 1980s Into The Woods (1986) Claude-Michel Schönberg (1944- present, French) Miss Saigon (1989) Les Miserables (1980) 1990s Jason Robert Brown (1970-present, American) The Last Five Years (2001) 2000s Parade (1998) 4 Kurt Weill (1900-1950, German: worked early in Germany, later in USA) Context Born in Germany in 1900, Weill was one of the most popular composers for stage, especially when collaborating with Bertolt Brecht. He became an American citizen in the 1940s. He was active between 1920-1950. He started composing at the piano at the age of 13. He pursued a Classical career until he composed a children’s pantomime (The Magic Night) in 1922. The Threepenny Opera (Die Dreigroschenoper) is one of Weill’s most famous contributions to the genre. It is a ‘play with music’ that was first presented in 1928 Berlin and investigates the issues of love, rivalry and revenge in Victorian London. The plot is very similar to John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera, which was premiered some 200 years before. A film version was released in 1931 offering another way of engaging with the music. Home learning: Find out the plot of Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny and The Threepenny Opera and where the chosen extracts fit. Look more deeply into Weill as a composer and a man. What were his beliefs, his musical style? 5 The Threepenny Opera (1928) 1) The ballad of Mack the Knife: https://youtu.be/TcJkrTaZYS8 2) Pirate Jenny: https://youtu.be/3eENWTA0bs4 3) Jealousy Duet: https://youtu.be/Vewp-7ewEWQ Task 1: Listen to the pieces and create an analysis sheet for each Think about: 1. What is the purpose of the song? 2. What musical features can we hear? How do they facilitate the purpose? 3. Is it typical of its era? 4. How do the composers’ pieces compare? How has the style of the artists’ music varied over time? 5. How is this typical of the composers’ style and use of musical devices? 6. How do these pieces reflect the style of the genre and their purpose/ intentions for the work? Analysis – ‘The ballad of Mack The Knife’: Possibly the most famous song from Threepenny Opera, ‘Mack the Knife’ is the opening musical number and is sung by a street musician, often complete with barrel organ. The piece evokes the moritat tradition by the use of dark lyrics, which show the central protagonist Macheath in an unfavourable light. Indeed, links can be made between this character and the case of Jack the Ripper, a serial killer – he was never caught – who was active in the East End of London in the late 1880s. Opening song in the ‘play with music’. Moritat – (‘deadly deed’) a song sung by a Cantasoria telling a dark or sad story with a moralistic quality. Cantastoria – ‘story-singer’ who performs using actions and a set of images to enliven the performance. Over years, translations from German to other languages and performances by different artists and composers has meant that the lyrics are slightly altered, though the overall message is the same. Louis Armstrong recorded a version in the 50’s and so contributed to its place in the Jazz canon as a Standard. Bobby Darin also recorded a version which went to number 1 in 1959. The 1989 film adaptation uses Weill’s music with some subtle changes - raises each verse by a semitone to increase the tension and excitement. 6 Structure: strophic (each verse is set to the same music), only small changes made to the accompaniment pattern to provide contrast between the different verses. The opposite to this is through-composed (each verse is set to contrasting music) Harmony: The piece is based around a repeating chord sequence using C6, Dm7, G9 and Am 4-3 suspension chords – essentially I, ii, V and vi in C major: The harmonic rhythm is steady at one chord for every two bars of 2/2 time. The only change to this is where the suspension on the A minor chord occurs, which resolves after one minim beat in the vocal part. The use of extended chords helps to set the scene by evoking jazz, typical of Weill’s style. The harmonic progression is supported by a bass outlining tonic and dominant on each minim beat. While this might appear simple, it is important to remember the context of the piece and who is performing it – a barrel organ played by a street vendor. The melodic lines make much use of similar rhythmic values: the dotted crotchet +quaver +minim starting on the second minim beat of the bar are particularly prevalent: Also important is the use of a descending interval of a minor 7th, which features towards the end of the verse. Consider the reliance on the note A in the verse – each 2-bar phrase heads there, and when the melody eventually goes above the A to a D, it is accompanied by an A minor chord, creating an unprepared 4-3 suspension. In some versions of the piece, the penultimate verse is the most elaborate with chromatic harmony complementing the repeating melodic line as a new countermelody. This chromatic descent is essentially a minor chord in first inversion falling through A minor, G#minor, G minor, F#minor, F minor and E minor. The bass here also changes to repeat the main melody a bar later, imitating the opening idea and subjecting it to musical development. Why do you think this song has been so popular – both within the Threepenny Opera and when performed by artists covering the song so many years after? 7 Analysis – ‘Pirate Jenny’: This song was originally placed in the first act of the three-act show, but it is often moved to the second act. This allows for the song to have increased gravitas owing to the development plot. If placed in the second act, the song is sung by Jenny, a prostitute, who has given refuge to Mackie, her lover. Jealousy soon takes over, and Jenny gives away Mackie’s hiding position to the authorities, leading to his arrest and eventual execution. The song is filled with vicious venom: Jenny seems to enjoy the power of her position, imagined in an out-of- character pirate scene. The piece uses an ostinato accompaniment pattern, initially based in C minor with an added D (the 9th) added on the weak beats. Once the voice has entered, the bass becomes more active, moving from a tonic pedal to quaver movement outlining both tonic and dominant. Notice how the vocal melody complements this accompaniment – initially its rhythm is reversed so that the semiquaver movement of the accompaniment does not coincide with the vocal movement. The most interesting aspect of this verse section is the use of unrelated harmonic progressions. Notice the move to A major with added flattened 6th and 7th on the word gawkin’, followed by a chromatic descent to an Ab9 chord three bars later. This chord is then chromatically altered two bars later by adding a minor 3rd and 6th to the chord, forming an Abm6 chord.
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