Transcript HUM 4002 Music and Western Civilization Fall 2012 (Sept – Dec)

* Wai Chung LI 李慧中
* College Email: [email protected]
* Personal Email: [email protected]
* Contact: by email
* Office Hour: by appointment
*
* B.A., M.Phil., CUHK
* Doctoral Candidate, UT Austin
* Research Interest: Asian popular music, music
of China and India, religion and identity, and
subaltern studies
* My master’s thesis and publication
* Doctoral research – music of Sikhism
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* About Me
* Course and Syllabus
* Upcoming Concerts
* College Choir
* Basic Listening Skills
* Meaning and Classification of Art in Western
Civilization
* Aesthetics and Ethos of Music: Plato and Aristotle
* The Oriental Concept Vs Western Concept in Music
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* WISE
* Learning Resources Center (1/F Floor)
* HKU Music Library (11/F, Centennial Campus,
West Gate of HKU)
* Textbooks & other references
* Lectures: covers different historical moments,
styles, cultural aspects of music in the western
world
* Tutorials: in-class assignments, class discussion
* What is unique about this course?
*
* Lecture and tutorial dates – listed in the syllabus
* Attendance will be taken at the tutorial sessions
* Temporarily change of tutorial date & time: email me
one week before with a formal reason
* Guest Lecture by Professor Chan Wing Wah (12 Nov
2012) – attendance will be taken
* Comments on drafted assignments – 1 week before
the assignment deadline
* Policy of Electronic Devices
* No talking when there’s music!!
*
* Assignment at an university level
* Guideline will be distributed and discussed later
* Tips: online research, make photocopies from
reference books
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* Official Organization of the College
* A small group
* Performing at inauguration ceremony, graduation
ceremony, and other official events of the College
* Regular rehearsal
* Goal: A cappella group (group or solo singing without
instrumental accompaniment; originally as a kind of
religious music performed at European churches in
Renaissance period (c1450 – 1600)
* Audio-visual example:
http://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=oFywph1f3Tw&list=U
UUP2XzzKVOVUSOqk-2GdVYg&index=8&feature=plcp
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* Description of a piece of music – any standard,
serious, or intellectual way of describing
music?
* 7 basic elements: melody, harmony, rhythm,
sound quality / timbre, texture, form, musical
style / genre
*
* Every piece of music is comprised of different notes /
pitches
* In the system of western classical music, we may either name
these notes as d-r-m-f-s-l-t-d, or A-B-C-D-E-F-G
* Melody is a series of notes of different pitches, organized
and given shape to make musical sense to the listener
* E.g. the melody of “twinkle twinkle little star” is: d –d – s – s
– l – l – s (Sol-fa names); or C – C – G – G – A – A – G (letter
names)
* How does this melody sound like? In bright or dark sounding?
Is it in an upward motion or downward motion?
* “Twinkle twinkle little star” - the melody has a bright
sounding and it is in upward motion”
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* Chord: When 2 or more notes are sounded
simultaneously, we call it a chord
* Notes in a chord can sound in harmony
(concord) or sound clashing each other
(discord)
* For listening to a chord, we may either identify
it as a block / solid chord, or a broken chord
(breaking 3 notes)
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* Beat: feel the beat (the basic beats are: 2, 3,
or 4 beats)
* Tempo: speed of the music: fast, slow, or
moderate tempo?
* Any change of the speed? If yes, where is it at
the beginning, in the middle section, or at the
end of the music?
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* “Waltz of the Flower” by Tchaikovsky, a Russian composer in the
19th century: http://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=kHYwVfN3wY4
* At the beginning: block / solid chords played by many
instruments; the notes are in harmony with one anotherconcords
* Then: broken chords played by an instrument - harp;
* After the introduction: solid chords in the bass part, whereas the
upper part is the main melody in an upward motion (s – d – m – f
– m – m) and bright sounding; the section is in 3 beats, which is a
dance rhythm - fits in with the title “waltz”
* From “Cowboy Bebop” (1998 Japanese animation) http://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=_97M0tV94CM
* Differences between 2 clips?
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* Voice & Instrumentation
* What voices or what instruments are playing in the previous
excerpt?
* No voice, but sounds of violins and cellos / strings
instruments (harp)
* Articulation (Playing Techniques)
* What are the playing techniques used by the performer or
the singer
* Some musicians bow the strings of the instruments, while the
harpist produces by plucking the strings
* In some musics, special playing techniques are employed to
produce unique sound quality and add colors to the music
*
* Dynamics
* Loudness and softness of the music
* Loud section - happy and busy feeling, and it is
usually associated with the musical climax
* Soft section: sad, or relaxed feeling, and
sometimes it is associated with mystery
* Exceptions: composers or performs would like
to give a surprise to the audience
* “Waltz of the Flower” - starts softly
*
* Relationship between different melodic lines:
Monophonic and homophonic texture
* Monophonic: a single melody line
* Homophonic: a melody line with an accompaniment
(no matter what instruments or how many
instruments are involved in these 2 parts)
* The texture of “Waltz of the Flower” is
homophonic: one melodic line (played by
woodwinds) + strings accompaniment (at the back /
in the bass – as a support to the main melody)
*
* Form is the basic plan or design of a piece of
music, or a section of music
* It describes how a piece of music is divided
into different parts, and how these parts are
related to each other
* 2 sections in a piece of music contrasting in
style - binary form / AB form.
*
* If we summarize and combine the above musical
characteristics, i.e. melody, harmony, rhythm,
articulation, texture, or form, we can come out
with a musical style, or genre associated with a
piece of music
* The musical style or genre can be a symphony, an
orchestral piece (just like “Waltz of the Flowers”),
jazz, Peking opera, gospel, rock ‘n’ roll, or even
rap music
*
*Historical and social background may be related to
people who contributed to the music performance
(i.e. composers, performers, or officers of the record
companies), or people engaging in the transmission
process (i.e. audience members)
*Nationality, educational background, ethnicity, and
life experience
*Lyrics
*
*
Western music / classical music - European classical music - originated from the West,
dominated by European countries, and known as “western classical music”
*
The term “music” and its concept are derived from the western world, with the origin from
Greece
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Ancient Greece: where the western civilization began with the music and culture
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Greek music theory was later passed in voluminous amounts, sometimes by Roman interpreters,
to the Middle Ages (c.476-1450) and the Renaissance (c.1450-1600)
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Monasteries provided centers of learning in the West during the Middle Ages (c.476-1450) –
majority is religious music
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They also preserved the great body of Western religious music, namely monophonic Gregorian
chant, or plainsong, intended for use with the Mass and Canonical hours
The western music history begins at the age of antiquity (800 B.C.E. – 476 C.E.) in ancient
Greece, where the democratic institutions, modes of critical thought, athletic contests, arts,
and music – find their roots
*
* 2500 years ago: center of the civilized world in the West, political power
concentrated in the area around the city state of Athens
* Music - a complete combination of poetry, melody, and dance in one
unity
* Music - strongly associated with ritual, educational and recreational
practices, pervading every aspect of private and social life
* E.g. the close relationship between music and sports – basic to Greek life
- The First Olympic Game with songs and hymns was organized in 776
B.C.E
* The Greek belief: music was not only a peasant amusement, improving
the quality of life, but it could also affect human behavior
* 2 philosophers of Athens: Plato (c429-347 B.C.E.) and Aristotle (384-
322 B.C.E.) - both declared music to be the most powerful among all art
forms
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* Plato’s views on music:
* Republic and Laws: publications by Plato on social ethics and
educational matters; provide important information on the role of
music in education and social life
* Major thoughts:
* Education in music, meaning the unity of melody, poetry, dance, is
important, because rhythm and harmony penetrate deeply into the
inmost soul and exercise strong influence upon it (Laws);
* The disciplines of sports and music must be kept in proper balance,
believing that too much music made the body weak and too much sport
made the spirit insensitive (Republic);
* The teaching of appropriate songs is crucial to prevent child’s soul from
becoming habituated to feeling delight and pain in a way opposed to
the law, and to make the child’s soul follow and feel the same jogs and
pains as an old man;
* One must distinguish between the types of songs suitable for men and
those suitable for women;
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* Different instruments are considered to have different effects
on emotions and character of the individuals (e.g. plucked
stringed instruments of lyre and kithara to inspire the soul of
man as favorites of gods; wind instruments criticized for its
violation of the unity of speech or song – as they prevent the
performer from singing or speaking while playing)
* Education in music should start from infancy, with mothers
singing for and dancing with their children, vocal music
education should be the central part in children’s education
* Does not agree for technical excellence as a goal of music
education; students should learn music in order to be capable
of enjoying noble tunes and rhythms
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* Since 367, he studied with Plato for 20 years
* Politics: major work by Aristotle
* Major ideas:
* The proper curriculum of education should include music,
gymnastics, letters, and drawing (gymnastics: physical training;
letters: writing and reading)
* Education as a developmental process that should begin with
training of body and proceed to the training of appetite, desire,
and reason
* The function of music as a means of relaxation after work, an
enjoyment of lecture, an agent of moral instruction, a means for
the purification of excessive feelings like strong feelings to pity
or fear, and exalted excitement
* Moral characters (“ethos”) of different modes – different
harmonies may affect the human soul in different ways (similar
effects from the rhythms as well)
*
* 2 separate words: Yin Yue 音樂
* Yin 音: sound
* Yue 樂 / le: song, dance, and instrumental music / happy or happiness
* In ancient China, music theory is closely related to cosmology, mathematics,
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history, calendar, climatology, geography, supernatural associations, divination,
law, and order.
The purpose of music:
Glorify the son of heaven (i.e. the Emperor)
Educate the people
Regulate one’s behavior
Reflect the political situation
Express one’s feelings
Li yue 禮樂: Music and rituals are always mentioned together and in Chinese
classics.
Close relationship between music and politics:
The ultimate goal of promoting or using music is to achieve an ideal state of
governance
From music, one can see the political situation of a country
*
* A cappella society: http://www.cashk.org/p06a.php
* Full link of Nutcracker:
http://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=atUsFzvDDF0&feature
=related
* HKU Music Library: http://www.lib.hku.hk/muslib/
* The Enjoyment of Music – online listening lab:
http://www.wwnorton.com/college/music/enjoymentof-music/
*