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Listening Journal: Ashley Black Cannova
Listening Journal: Ashley Black Cannova
December 6, 2018
Dr. Price
MU448-2B Orchestration
Johannes Brahms
1885
This Baroque-inspired symphony has four movements. The fourth (chaconne) is composed of
I really like this piece. Its fortissimo moments are grandiose and expressive. I absolutely love the
horn part around the 4:30 mark as it builds and then brings the strings in and then the
woodwinds. I really liked that particular moment. And then the beginning is reinstated with a
This piece draws a lot from baroque composes, using elements such as rising scalar motion
Brahms uses chromatic passing tones to draw out his phrase to 8 bars. This finale has 31
Brahms ends the piece with a series of variations and a quickly moving coda-similar to
Beethoven’s Eroica. The last bars consist of a fast and syncopated version of the Theme, then a
series of five cadence gestures beginning with three-note upbeats, all confirming E minor. The
last of these is extended, winding downward. The final two chords strongly punctuate the arrival
Kindertotenlieder, No. 1
1901
This movement is titled “Nun will die Sonn’ so hell aufgeh’n,” Means, “Now would the sun so
brightly rise.”
Based on poems by Friedrich Rückert, this orchestral song cycle is about children that have died
and grieving parents. The text here is supposed to be bitterly ironic, as it talks about the sunrise
that a child will never see. The haunting, melancholy musical ideas portray this sadness and
irony well.
The solo horn and oboe in the beginning measures create a melancholy tone. When the solo male
voice enters and then the string section parallels his voice it reminds me of a sigh of sadness.
This texture happens again when the soloist sings “Heil! Heil” There is an almost immediate
shift in the first 15 measures from D minor to D major, never staying predominately in one
center but returning to D minor. At the end of the first movement, the vocal part repeats the last
few words of the poem, and, instead of providing the same cadence as in m. 77, the vocal line
AABA Song form keeps the song simple but allows for a changing relationship between the text
and the melody. The final chord is D minor (tonic) which in my opinion brings sad resolution to
the text.
Claude Debussy
The title of this, “Nuages”, means “clouds” or “sunless”. The blurb in the anthology speculates
that this could be an allusion to a cloudy day or to the text of a “passionate dream” of springtime
The opening image is a pattern of alternating fifths and thirds, giving the melody a weak sense of
direction. This paints a musical image of clouds drifting kind of aimlessly. The figure has a lot of
ambiguity, whether it the direction of the melody or the rhythms. The 6 beats per measure can
Threnody
I remember the first time I heard this piece. My Music Appreciation professor at a community
college had everyone in the classroom sit quietly and not make a sound as he set up the horrific
It was gut wrenching to hear the instruments mimicking sounds of B-52’s, missiles being
dropped, and screams and cries of agony of those below about to meet their merciless fate.
Observing the actual orchestral score is an interesting fete as well. It is as chaotic as the music
itself.
I was watching the newest Twin Peaks and in one of the latter episodes, this entire piece was set
art played out with this piece that captures such intense emotion. The graphic score is very
interesting to follow along with. I definitely think that Penderecki captured the sounds of planes
and screams of the Japanese that awaited their death, with dramatic perfection.
Michael Daugherty
The echo of the muted horn in the beginning is a nice effect. I really enjoyed listening to
this piece. The build up with the horn in the beginning to the strings was interesting with the
sliding sound of the strings mimicking the title of the piece. The use of castanets emphasized
that tango feel as well. I liked when the timpani took over the rhythm in the middle section.
I did not realize until after hearing this piece that it was inspired by Superman. “This movement
in particular deals with the death of the super hero […], most notably in the Latin Sequence of
(https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3079/#description-content-main)
Composed: 1896
Also sprach Zarathustra, once among the less frequently performed Strauss works (Stanley
Kubrick’s 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey film did give it an immense boost), now firmly
ensconced in the standard repertoire, is a tone poem, i.e., a free-form symphonic piece that either
tells a story or, as is the case here, suggests the moods of a literary text.
As having performed one of his Four Last Songs, I hear moments in this piece that sound are
reminiscent of the song cycle. It is very “Straussian”, if you will. Around the nie and a half
minute mark, he takes the violins to the very top of their register. While researching Strauss and
his orchestral works, I remember reaeding that when he would sit at the piano to compose he
would use the entire keyboard not staying in one area but rather floating all over the instrument.
This piece reminds me of many of his pieces in that it sounds like waves gaining momentum and
becoming almost a great big rush of extasy before crashing down to regain it’s greatness once
more.
Aaron Copland
Appalachian Spring
1944-1945
This piece always makes me think of just a classic American sound. Therefore, the title is
appropriate for sure. I really enjoy listening to this piece. There is inevitably a smile that comes
This piece starts with a slow and soft introduction, creating an atmosphere of peace and beauty.
The horn section brings about this bright quality to the piece. The first allegro section is a sudden
burst of unison strings and is a quick and vibrant contrast with the slow and steady introduction.
Toward the end of the piece, the borrowed tune of “Simple Gifts” is heard. The way Copland
captures this section really creates a feeling of simplicity- of simpler times. I love how he ends
the piece in a similar manner that he started it- gently and quietly.
Igor Stravinksy
I wrote a paper about his orchestration set to a ballet. This caused a riot because it was unlike any
ballet that had been performed. The mixture of primitive sounds with tribal or chant-like dancing
was out of the ordinary to say the least. At rehearsal 13 when the string section is tutti, it repeats
that tribal and primitive and barbaric sound. For his time, this piece was very significant in
The ranges of the instruments are not expansive within this piece (limited).
The build up to rehearsal 35 and 36 right before “The Abduction” in rehearsal 38 is unnerving. It
stays this way for 8 or so measure before fading to a few woodwinds trilling at 48 (Spring
Rounds).
One of my favorite parts of the entire piece begins at rehearsal 49 and continues to 53. The deep
penetrating contrabass and cello with the solo bassoon and brass is beautiful. Then the violin
section bringing a legato overarching line solidifies the beautiful sound of the string section
Irregular meters
impending doom with the harsh sound of timpani. The bass and cello hold a drone note that
When the repetitive rhythm is reintroduced in the ritual of the ancestors, the tambourine is also
brought in.
Then there is another section of primeval rhythms as the build up leads to the final measure of
1796-1797
This string quartet theme and variations (AABBCC) is homophonic in texture. The first
variation the lower variation carries the theme with the upper violin playing quicker moving
notes. In the second variation the cello carries the theme. In variation three the viola plays the
theme while the other instruments interplay. Finally, in the fourth variation, the higher violin
plays the theme in polyphonic texture. I like that Haydn gives each instrument the main theme as
almost a solo. It is like each instrument has its own voice for a brief moment. I like when the
high violin has the main theme. It has a lullaby quality to it.
The sudden textural and dynamic changes are reflective of the German concept during this time
When I was reading a bit about this piece, I discovered that his symphonies influenced Haydn
I like the constant tremelo of the strings in the allegro section. This piece constantly moves. I
don’t really know what else to say. It is pretty repetitive yet not long enough to get bored…
Claude Debussy
Six Sonates
1915
I researched a bit behind the piece and read that Debussy composed this toward the end of his
life. He originally wrote this piece for flute, oboe, and harp but ultimately chose violin because
I really enjoyed listening to this piece with its many swells and shifts in a central pitch. I have
sung a couple of pieces by Debussy and one of my favorite things is his seamless and fluid shift
in tempo. Yet he retains this dreamy state with each scale and arpeggiation. He definitely
captures moments of this dream-like atmosphere using the harp in this piece. This piece
definitely shifts tempo and meter rather frequently. Another aspect of this piece is its unclear
tonal center at times. This is pretty typical of Modernism. The score is also loaded with different
expressive markings.
I like how the violin is introduced on the same note the flute is playing (E) in m.3. The tempo
picks up creating this dance like feeling with all of the instruments. I love the way the harp
begins this pick up of speed for a brief moment while the flute and viola sustain E, F, (viola) and
A (flute). Then it regains this fortissimo section briefly before returning to yet another rhythm
The ending is beautiful and creates this sense of “how did we end up at this tonal center?”
Malcolm Arnold
I really enjoyed listening to these pieces. The instrumentation was interesting me so that is why I
chose to journal this particular piece. I am glad I did because it was a fun piece to break up some
The first movement employing “What Shall We Do With a Drunken Sailor?” It turns dark for a
moment before regaining its high spirits with an almost tango-like sound for a brief moment.
He plays the complete them and then interjects random moments without completing the them
which provides a layer of humor. I heard a quite a few downward arpeggios which seems to be a
motif within the first part. The first was in the clarinet while the horn is playing accented notes.
The up and down motion between the flute, clarinet, and bassoon are reminiscent of the upward
Then the second piece I had to look up because I was not familiar with it, uses the tune “Boney
Was a Warrior”. I liked the triple meter feel of this one. It begins with a muted horn solo with
only sustained notes along in the other instruments. Right after the horn’s line, you hear the flute
playing the melody in its lower register which was interesting to me because it was intentionally
composed in its lower range. After a grand pause the piece ends with the muted solo horn.
The last movement, based on another one I had to look up, called “Johnny Come Down to Hilo,”
is funny and full of quick tempo changes! Sometimes hard to keep up, I had to listen to it twice. I
really like this movement because it’s a whirlwind of all instruments yet not chaotic in sound.
This piece was overall fun to listen to because of its humor and playfulness.