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The Form of the Preludes to Bach's Unaccompanied Cello Suites
University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014 2011 The orF m of the Preludes to Bach's Unaccompanied Cello Suites Daniel E. Prindle University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/theses Part of the Composition Commons, Musicology Commons, Music Practice Commons, and the Music Theory Commons Prindle, Daniel E., "The orF m of the Preludes to Bach's Unaccompanied Cello Suites" (2011). Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014. 636. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.umass.edu/theses/636 This thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE FORM OF THE PRELUDES TO BACH’S UNACCOMPANIED CELLO SUITES A Thesis Presented by DANIEL E. PRINDLE Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF MUSIC May 2011 Master of Music in Music Theory © Copyright by Daniel E. Prindle 2011 All Rights Reserved ii THE FORM OF THE PRELUDES TO BACH’S UNACCOMPANIED CELLO SUITES A Thesis Presented by DANIEL E. PRINDLE Approved as to style and content by: _____________________________________ Gary Karpinski, Chair _____________________________________ Miriam Whaples, Member _____________________________________ Brent Auerbach, Member ___________________________________ Jeffrey Cox, Department Head Department of Music and Dance iii DEDICATION To Michelle and Rhys. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge the generous sacrifice made by my family. -
Timeline: Music Evolved the Universe in 500 Songs
Timeline: Music Evolved the universe in 500 songs Year Name Artist Composer Album Genre 13.8 bya The Big Bang The Universe feat. John The Sound of the Big Unclassifiable Gleason Cramer Bang (WMAP) ~40,000 Nyangumarta Singing Male Nyangumarta Songs of Aboriginal World BC Singers Australia and Torres Strait ~40,000 Spontaneous Combustion Mark Atkins Dreamtime - Masters of World BC` the Didgeridoo ~5000 Thunder Drum Improvisation Drums of the World Traditional World Drums: African, World BC Samba, Taiko, Chinese and Middle Eastern Music ~5000 Pearls Dropping Onto The Jade Plate Anna Guo Chinese Traditional World BC Yang-Qin Music ~2800 HAt-a m rw nw tA sxmxt-ib aAt Peter Pringle World BC ~1400 Hurrian Hymn to Nikkal Tim Rayborn Qadim World BC ~128 BC First Delphic Hymn to Apollo Petros Tabouris The Hellenic Art of Music: World Music of Greek Antiquity ~0 AD Epitaph of Seikilos Petros Tabouris The Hellenic Art of Music: World Music of Greek Antiquity ~0 AD Magna Mater Synaulia Music from Ancient Classical Rome - Vol. 1 Wind Instruments ~ 30 AD Chahargan: Daramad-e Avval Arshad Tahmasbi Radif of Mirza Abdollah World ~??? Music for the Buma Dance Baka Pygmies Cameroon: Baka Pygmy World Music 100 The Overseer Solomon Siboni Ballads, Wedding Songs, World and Piyyutim of the Sephardic Jews of Tetuan and Tangier, Morocco Timeline: Music Evolved 2 500 AD Deep Singing Monk With Singing Bowl, Buddhist Monks of Maitri Spiritual Music of Tibet World Cymbals and Ganta Vihar Monastery ~500 AD Marilli (Yeji) Ghanian Traditional Ghana Ancient World Singers -
Jennifer Higdon Composer
COMPOSER BIOGRAPHY JENNIFER HIGDON COMPOSER Pulitzer Prize and three-time Grammy-winner Jennifer Higdon (b. Brooklyn, NY, December 31, 1962) taught herself to play flute at the age of 15 and began formal musical studies at 18, with an even later start in composition at the age of 21. Despite these obstacles, Jennifer has become a major figure in contemporary classical music. Her works represent a wide range of genres, from orchestral to chamber, to wind ensemble, as well as vocal, choral and opera. Her music has been hailed by Fanfare Magazine as having “the distinction of being at once complex, sophisticated but readily accessible emotionally”, with the Times of London citing it as “…traditionally rooted, yet imbued with integrity and freshness.” Her first opera, Cold Mountain, won the prestigious International Scott J.D. Photo: Opera Award for Best World Premiere in 2016; the first American opera to do so in the award’s history. Upcoming commissions include a chamber opera for Opera Philadelphia, a string quartet for the Apollo Chamber Players, a double percussion concerto for the Houston Symphony, an orchestral suite for the Made In America project, and a flute concerto for the National Flute Associations’ 50th anniversary. Higdon received the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Music for her Violin Concerto, with the committee citing the work as “a deeply engaging piece that combines flowing lyricism with dazzling virtuosity.” She has also received awards from the Guggenheim Foundation, the American Academy of Arts & Letters, the Koussevitzky Foundation, the Pew Fellowship in the Arts, The Independence Foundation, the NEA, and ASCAP. -
Press Release 2020-2021 Season Announcement
CONTACT Amanda J. Ely FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Director of Audience Development [email protected] 757-627-9545 ext. 3322 Virginia Opera Announces 2020-2021 Main Stage Productions VO performances from October 2, 2020, through March 28, 2021 include: Rigoletto, The Pirates of Penzance, Cold Mountain, and The Marriage of Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro) Hampton Roads, Richmond, Fairfax, VA (April 23, 2020)—Virginia Opera, The Official Opera Company of the Commonwealth of Virginia, is pleased to announce its four main stage opera productions of the 2020- 2021, “Love is a Battlefield” season. Two stalwart operatic works of classical repertory bookend the sea- son, beginning with Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto—debuting October 2, 2020—and concluding with Wolf- gang Amadeus Mozart’s, The Marriage of Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro) in March 2021. In between, the company will present the Gilbert and Sullivan crowd-pleaser, The Pirates of Penzance, in November 2020, as well as Jennifer Higdon and Gene Scheer’s contemporary operatic rumination on American Civil War- era longing and loss, Cold Mountain, which makes its VO debut in winter 2021. Performances will again be held at the Edythe C. and Stanley L. Harrison Opera House (Norfolk); and the Carpenter Theatre at Dominion Energy Center (Richmond); and George Mason University’s Center for the Arts (Fairfax). The full schedule, dates, descriptors, and variations for each Virginia 2020-2021 season opera production may be found below. 2020-2021 sees Virginia Opera Artistic Director Adam Turner return to the podium for his third season. As one of the nation’s most acclaimed young conductors, Maestro Turner will once again preside over the musical direction of each of the 2020-2021 VO productions and the symphony orchestras of both the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and The Richmond Symphony Orchestra. -
Violin Concerto in D Major Composed in 1931 Igor
VIOLIN CONCERTO IN D MAJOR COMPOSED IN 1931 IGOR STRAVINSKY BORN IN LOMONOSOV, RUSSIA, JUNE 17, 1882 DIED IN NEW YORK CITY, APRIL 6, 1971 Some of the most famous violin concertos, such as those by Mozart, were written by composers who played the instrument and who possessed first-hand knowledge of its potential. Concertos by a virtuoso violinist like Paganini show even greater evidence of knowing the best ways to exploit the fiddle to full effect, even if the profundity of the compositions themselves do not match the brilliance of the technical virtuosity they exhibit. And then there are those composers who rely on the kindness of others, sometimes strangers, calling upon them to help mold their musical ideas into idiomatic string writing. Joseph Joachim provided just such wise counsel for Brahms, Dvořák, Bruch, and other 19th-century masters, so much so that at times he approached becoming co-composer. One of the most fruitful partnerships to emerge in the 20th century was between Igor Stravinsky and the Polish-American violinist Samuel Dushkin (1891-1976). The result of their first collaboration in 1931 was the celebrated Concerto we hear performed tonight, a work that initiated a 40-year friendship, lasting until the composer’s death, and that resulted in other compositions, transcriptions, and numerous performances together. “A CLOSE FRIENDSHIP” By 1930 Stravinsky had already written a number of concertos, all of them keyboard works intended for his own use in concert. When the music publisher Willy Strecker approached him with a commission for Dushkin, Stravinsky was initially skeptical. He had never met Dushkin, nor heard him play. -
PROGRAM NOTES Johann Sebastian Bach Orchestral Suite No. 1 in C
PROGRAM NOTES by Phillip Huscher Johann Sebastian Bach Born March 21, 1685, Eisenach, Thuringia, Germany. Died July 28, 1750, Leipzig, Germany. Orchestral Suite No. 1 in C Major, BWV 1066 The dating of Bach’s four orche stral suites is uncertain. The first and fourth are the earliest, both composed around 1725. Suite no. 1 calls for two oboes and bassoon, with strings and continuo . Performance time is approximately twenty -one minutes. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s fir st subscription concert performances of Bach’s First Orchestral Suite were given at Orchestra Hall on February 22 and 23, 1951, with Rafael Kubelík conducting. Our most recent subscription concert performances were given on May 15, 16, and 17, 2003, with D aniel Barenboim conducting. Today it’s hard to imagine a time when Bach’s name meant little to music lovers, and when his four orchestral suites weren’t considered landmarks. But in the years immediately following Bach’s death in 1750, public knowledge o f his music was nil, even though other, more cosmopolitan composers, such as Handel, who died only nine years later, remained popular. It’s Mendelssohn who gets the credit for the rediscovery of Bach’s music, launched in 1829 by his revival of the Saint Ma tthew Passion in Berlin. A great deal of Bach’s music survives, but incredibly, there’s much more that didn’t. Christoph Wolff, today’s finest Bach biographer, speculates that over two hundred compositions from the Weimar years are lost, and that just 15 to 20 percent of Bach’s output from his subsequent time in Cöthen has survived. -
Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, 3Rd Movement
BRANDENBURG CONCERTO No. 3 rd (3 movement: “Allegro”) 2 J. S. Bach (1718) BRANDENBURG CONCERTO NO. 3 3rd movement, “Allegro” By Johann Sebastian Bach (Germany) Baroque (ca. 1718) LESSON INTRODUCTION Important Terms and Concepts ∗ Concerto grosso: a type of piece in which multiple soloists perform with an orchestra ∗ Major scale: A scale is an ordered succession of pitches, arranged in a specific pattern of whole (W) or half (H) steps. A major scale follows the pattern WWHWWWH and is often sung as “Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do” ∗ Tempo: the speed of music o Adagio: slow, stately, leisurely o Allegro: quickly BEHIND THE MUSIC Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1782) is widely considered to be one of the most important composers in the history of Western music. His father was a The Discovery concerts on respected violinist and January 26 - 27, 2017, will violist, but both his feature J. S. Bach’s “Air “ from mother and father died Symphonic Suite No. 3. when he was around 10 Register your class for this free concert today!! years old. Bach moved in with his brother, who was a professional church organist, and in the Amplify Curriculum: copyright 2016 Shreveport Symphony Orchestra www.shreveportsymphony.com 3 following years, he studied organ, clavichord, violin, and composition of music. Bach later served for the courts, where he was obligated to compose a great deal of instrumental music: hundreds of pieces for solo keyboard, concertos, orchestral dance suites, and more! In a tribute to the Duke of Brandenburg in 1721, Bach created the "Brandenburg Concertos.” These concertos represent a popular music style of the Baroque era, the concerto grosso, in which a group of soloists play with a small orchestra. -
'Modern Baroque'
‘Modern Baroque’ ‘Approaches and Attitudes to Baroque Music Performance on the Saxophone’ Jonathan Byrnes 4080160 Masters of Music Projecto Cientifico IV ESMAE 2010 1 Contents Page ‘Introduction’ (Prelude) 4 ‘Education’ (Allemande) 7 ‘Performance’ (Courante) 12 ‘Morality – Responsibility and Reasons.’ (Sarabande) 18 ‘Transcription or adaptation’ – note for note transcription (Minuet I) 36 ‘Transcription or adaptation’ – adaptation (Minuet II) 58 Conclusion (Gigue) 70 ‘Bibliography’ 73 ‘Discography’ 77 ‘Internet Resourses’ 78 2 Thank you. This Masters Thesis would not have been possible without the help and assistance from the people below. I would like to thank them sincerely for all their guidence and support. Sofia Lourenço, Henk Van Twillert, Fernando Ramos, Gilberto Bernardes, Madelena Soveral, Dr. Cecília, Filipe Fonseca, Luís Lima, Nicholas Russoniello, Cláudio Dioguardi, Cármen Nieves, Alexander Brito, Donny McKenzie, Andy Harper, Thom Chapman, Alana Blackburn, Paul Leenhouts, Harry White, And of course my family. Without these people, I am sure I would not have achieved this work. 3 1. Introduction (Prelude) Baroque music has been part of the saxophone repertoire in one form or another since the instruments creation, as it so happened to coincide with the Baroque revival. ‘It was Mendelssohn's promotion of the St Matthew Passion in 1829 which marked the first public "revival" of Bach and his music’ 1, either through studies or repertoire the music of the baroque period has had an important role in the development of the majority of all saxophonists today. However the question remains. What function does this music have for a modern instrumentalist and how should this music be used or performed by a saxophonist? Many accolades have been given of saxophone performances of Baroque music. -
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH — Brandenburg Concertos No
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH — Brandenburg Concertos No. 3 and 5 When asked about what message we might send to an extraterrestrial civilization, physician and former dean of the Yale and NYU medical schools Lewis Thomas remarked, “I would vote for Bach, all of Bach, streamed out into space, over and over again. We would be bragging of course.” Even after more than two-and-a-half centuries since his death in 1750, the music of Johann Sebastian Bach continues to serve as a high-water mark for many musicians, composers, conductors, and music fans. Mozart, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn regarded J.S. Bach as the giant on whose shoulders they stood, and it was his spectacular vision and intricate craftsmanship that inspired them to create masterpieces of their own. And in 1977, the first movement of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 was chosen as the first musical piece to be played on the Voyager Golden Record, a phonograph record containing a broad sample of Earth's common sounds, languages, and music sent into outer space with the two Voyager probes. Perhaps someday, an alien civilization will acknowledge our “bragging” by sending along some music by a Bach of their own. Together, the Brandenburg Concertos comprise a set of six orchestral compositions dedicated by Bach to Prince Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg in the spring of 1721. These works are not “concertos” in the sense we think of them today, with a single soloist accompanied by the orchestra. Instead, they represent an older tradition of “concerted music,” in which a small group of featured players (the concertino) converse against a background texture of strings and harpsichord (the ripieno). -
Download Program Notes
Notes on the Program By James M. Keller, Program Annotator, The Leni and Peter May Chair blue cathedral Jennifer Higdon orn in Brooklyn, Jennifer Higdon grew my for her Percussion Concerto; and, in 2018, Bup in Atlanta and in rural Tennessee in the Nemmers Prize of Northwestern University. a counterculture family — both parents were Although she has written a number of visual artists — for whom art happenings choral and solo vocal pieces, not to mention and experimental film festivals were the the 2015 opera Cold Mountain, Higdon is norm. She thought she might become a writ- principally an instrumental composer, hav- er and didn’t have any involvement with mu- ing produced an impressive body of works sic until she started teaching herself to play for orchestra and for various chamber for- the flute at the age of 15. In the course of her mulations. Her teacher George Crumb has education at Bowling Green State University acknowledged specific qualities that go to (Ohio), the Curtis Institute of Music, and the the heart of her music: its “rhythmic vitality, University of Pennsylvania she developed interesting coloration, and sensitivity to nu- her exceptional talent as a composer. ance and timbre.” These are indeed her musi- Today her dance card for commissions is very cal fingerprints, but beyond what are essen- full, and at least one of her orchestral works, blue tially technical matters one also hears in her cathedral, seems destined to become a classic, scores an immediacy of contact, a genial and having already been performed more than 600 sincere desire to connect with the listener. -
The Social and Religious Designs of J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concertos
Swarthmore College Works Music Faculty Works Music 1995 The Social And Religious Designs Of J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concertos Michael Marissen Swarthmore College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://works.swarthmore.edu/fac-music Part of the Music Commons Recommended Citation Michael Marissen. (1995). "The Social And Religious Designs Of J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concertos". The Social And Religious Designs Of J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concertos. https://works.swarthmore.edu/fac-music/10 This work is brought to you for free by Swarthmore College Libraries' Works. It has been accepted for inclusion in Music Faculty Works by an authorized administrator of Works. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ✜ INTRODUCTION ✜ Bach’s Musical Contexts Tubby the Tuba, at a rehearsal, sitting forlornly in the back row of the orchestra: “Oh, what lovely music.” (Sighs.) Peepo the Piccolo, rushing to Tubby’s side: “Here, what’s the matter?” Tubby: “Oh, every time we do a new piece, you all get such pretty melodies to play. And I? Never, never a pretty melody.” Peepo, arms stretched out: “But people don’t write pretty melodies for tubas. It just isn’t done.” Paul Tripp, Tubby the Tuba ubby the Tuba captures powerfully the enculturated notion Tof the orchestral hierarchy. As Tubby’s story goes on to show, there is, of course, no inherent technical reason why tubas should not be highlighted with pretty melodies in orchestral music; it just “isn’t done.” Further explanation is hardly needed. J. S. Bach would apparently not have been moved by an appeal to tradition. -
JS Bach Classical Music: Be an Instant Expert
CLASSICAL MUSIC: BE AN J.S. BACH INSTANT EXPERT About the Instant Expert Series Many people think that learning about classical music and the people that create it would require so much time and energy that the prospect of diving in overwhelms them. Naxos, the world’s leading classical label, has mined its vast catalog of recordings (and the brains of its global staff of classical music connoisseurs) to design a new series called “Instant Expert” which is available by J.S. Bach download only. Each “Instant Expert” volume focuses on the music of one composer, featuring a Classical Music: Be An curated collection of that composer’s greatest hits as well as some unique or historically significant Instant Expert compositions. In addition, each download is accompanied by a podcast hosted by Raymond Bisha, Naxos of America Director of Media Relations, and a booklet containing track information and an abridged biography of the composer. – Kelly M. Rach, National Publicist, Naxos of America –2– Johann Sebastian Bach (3/21/1685-7/28/1750) Johann Sebastian Bach belonged to a dynasty of musicians. Inevitably following family J.S. Bach tradition, he excelled his forebears as well as his contemporaries, although he did not always Classical Music: Be An receive in his own lifetime the respect he Instant Expert deserved. He spent his earlier career principally as an organist, latterly at the court of one of the two ruling Grand Dukes of Weimar. In 1717 he moved to Cöthen as Court Kapellmeister to the young Prince Leopold and in 1723 made his final move to Leipzig, where he was employed as Cantor at the Choir School of St Thomas, responsible for the music in the five principal city churches.