Medieval Instrument Listening Journal: Hammered Dulcimer

The medieval instrument that I decided to listen to and analyze is the hammered dulcimer. This instrument can be classified as a chordophone because it produces sound through a striking of the strings with two small hammers A recording of a hammered dulcimer is provided below:

The dulcimer has a unique sound for string instruments; it has a tinny, almost thin timbre, as each string is extremely taut and physically hit with a mallet instead of plucked like a mandolin or lute. The strings vibrate significantly less long than a modern viol, possibly due to the musician's tendency to hit the same strings frequently (cutting off the sound). Furthermore, the hammered dulcimer is unique from other, more modern versions of the dulcimer which are plucked and have a twangier sound similar to that of a mandolin. 

Along with being classified as a chordophone, the dulcimer is considered to be a Bas instrument, or quite literally, a low instrument (in reference to its soft volume). This made it particularly useful in accompanying singers and chamber groups. Due to their volume and transportable nature, dulcimers were popular among many traveling musicians, including waits, minstrels, and troubadours (Alchin).

Comparing Eras Listening Journal

The task for this assignment was to find two pieces of Western Classical Art Music from two different musical eras. We could choose from the medieval, Renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic, and modernist eras. I decided to focus on the Handel/Casadesus Viola Concerto in B Minor (composed in 1924, representing the Modernist era) and the third movement (Courante) of Bach's First Cello Suite (composed sometime between 1717 and 1723, representing the Baroque era).
A recording of the Handel/Casadesus Viola Concerto in B Minor is provided below:

Instrumentation:

• Full orchestra (accompaniment) 
• String section
• Wind section
• Brass section
• Viola (solo) 

Meter/tempo:

• Simple duple or simple quadruple. Most likely 4/4.
• On the lower side of moderato (~108)

Tonality:

• This piece definitely has an overall minor tonality even though the melody moves quickly and the timbre of the viola is bright. I know this because of the minor thirds present throughout the majority of the piece. 
• Although the piece has a minor tonality overall, I believe that it has several major progressions mixed throughout. The most prominent modulation is at the start of Section B (2:15). This transition is a bit odd since there doesn't seem to be a pivot chord. The orchestra finishes their bit of the melody in the original minor key and the solo enters in a totally different major key. Furthermore, the melody seems to be restated once again at 4:05, this time in another minor key instead of a major one.

Texture:

• The texture of this piece is a bit hard to place, since throughout there is only one central melody. However, the piece is far from monophonic because the orchestra is present playing all sorts of harmony. Despite the presence of the orchestra, a clear, contrasting counter-melody never really appears, so the piece cannot be classified as polyphonic. Because the orchestra creates harmony that supports the main melody throughout, this piece can be classified as homophonic. 

Melody:

• The melody belongs largely to the solo viola, although the orchestra does take over when the viola rests. 
• The melody seems to have an equal amount of disjunct and conjunct sections. The main theme moves stepwise during the runs, but it also makes jumps. Larger jumps between notes are more common within the solo part, which has a very wide range; the lowest note being an open C (C3) and the highest being an E harmonic (E5).

Structure:

• This piece is a type of strophic form, following an ABACA format. 
• Section A starts right at the beginning of the piece and goes until about 2:15. There begins Section B, which lasts until 2:57, where Section A returns. At around 4:05, the melody switches to a different minor key, yet follows the same rhythmic pattern. This third section does not last long, however, as the melody returns to the original key at 4:30 and lasts until the end of the piece.

In contrast to the Viola Concerto in B Minor, Bach's Courante, the third movement of his first cello suite, is provided below:

Instrumentation:

• One unaccompanied cello

Meter/Tempo:

• The meter is slightly hard to distinguish because the melody tends to travel over the bar lines. However, I believe that it is simple triple, or 3/4 time.
• The tempo that it is taken at in this recording seems to be allegro (~120).

Tonality:

• Much like the famed first movement of the Cello Suite, this movement also has a major tonality. This tonality is constant almost throughout the entire piece, with the exception of a few chords. 

Texture:

• The texture is clearly monophonic, as there is one, solo cello throughout the piece, without harmony and/or counterpoint. 

Melody: 

• The melody is held (obviously) by the solo cello throughout the movement. There are two contrasting parts of the melody, the bold, staccato eighth notes and the smooth, progressing sixteenth notes, that move in different ways. The eighth notes tend to be more disjunct, moving in arpeggiations. The sixteenth notes, however, move entirely stepwise, creating a more conjunct style. 
• The range of the melody is fairly wide, ranging from low C2 to a much higher D4.

Structure:

• The structure of this piece is binary strophic form, as it follows an AAB format. The first section begins at the start of the piece, and repeats at 1:04. Section B begins at 1:49 and continues to the end of the piece. 

The huge gap in time between when these two pieces were composed is reflected withing the contrasting musical elements of the two movements. The most obvious difference between the two is the addition of orchestral accompaniment in the Handel/Casadesus work. During the Baroque period in which the Cello Suite was composed, string instruments were newer, and were used primarily as solo instruments, not yet as full orchestras. Despite this difference, the two pieces are similar in the fact that neither include counterpoint. Although counterpoint was well-developed and fairly common when the Viola Concerto was composed, Handel/Casadesus decided not to include it. Counterpoint was not yet formulated when the Cello Suite was composed. Both are stylistically similar because of the solo component. 

Adagio for Strings - Samuel Barber (Extended Analysis Project Step 5)

By thoroughly analyzing the opening section of Adagio for Strings, I've come to realize that the piece itself is extremely unique and unlike anything we have discussed or analyzed in class up to this point. It's unique for a number of reasons, all concerning the structure and progression of the chords throughout the piece.

• The piece opens with a slightly unusual chord: a lone B flat. Traditionally, a strong, complete triad establishes the start of the music instead of this one-note chord, which begins almost every single cadence throughout the piece. This aspect emphasizes the uniqueness of the piece because most pieces from the 17th century began with a bang, the opposite of what occurs in Adagio.
• On the topic of 17th century trends, Adagio is unique, as mentioned in a previous blog post, because of the lack of movement within the harmony parts. The melody belongs to a single voice throughout the piece; in the section that I analyzed, this voice was the first violin. In terms of a melodic line, the theme moves step-wise throughout each phrase and has a relatively small range, consisting of notes from C4 to G5. As for the rest of the parts, violin two, viola, cello, and bass, whole notes and half notes are used religiously to emphasize the single melody as well as the chord changes. 
• Unlike a lot of traditional music, Barber utilizes frequent seventh chords to create tension and dissonance between the parts. 
• The first and most commonly used seventh chord is the iv7 consisting of notes E flat, G flat, B flat, and D flat. This chord appears in the first, third, sixth, seventh, eighth, and tenth measures, and is used with a suspension in 4 out of those 6 times. In the first/second and eighth/ninth measures, the B flat in the first violin part is held one beat over the next chord, V, and resolves down to an A natural on the second beat of the second measure. The seventh chord that appears in measures three and ten is also a suspension, with the E flat from the plain iv chord resolving down to a D flat to create the iv7. This chord could be interpreted in a different way as well; it could be treated as a VI chord with the D flat added for dissonance. This second interpretation is likely how it would be heard without the use of the score. 
• The other three seventh chords that are used in this section of Adagio are ii^o7, III7, and VII7, and I believe that they are present simply to create tension and dissonance between the parts. These chords appear in measures four, seven, and eleven. 
• These many unique aspects make the piece extremely 20th century, and continue to make it popular amongst musicians and classical music lovers to this day. Personally, I love this piece because of the massive amounts of tension that Barber so cleverly and smoothly resolves. It's easy to experience the intense depression that Barber embodied in this piece because of the dissonance and minor resolutions. 

Adagio for Strings - Samuel Barber (Extended Analysis Project Step 4)

For my in-depth harmonic/cadence/part-writing analysis, I chose measures 1-11 of Adagio for Strings. Although this is a small section of the movement, the chord progression is surprisingly complex.

• Cadences
• The first phrase ends in the fourth measure with an irregular cadence. The progression for this cadence is iv7, VII, which does not fit the mold of a half cadence, perfect authentic cadence, imperfect authentic cadence, plagal cadence, or deceptive cadence. This may be a type of cadence that we have not discussed yet, but of the ones that we have, it ends on neither a V nor a I, and does not have a V chord leading to the second chord like a deceptive cadence would. 
• Unlike the first cadence, the second phrase ends in the eighth measure with a cadence that we have discussed: a half cadence. The progression for this cadence is iv7, ii^o7, V, meaning that the phrase ends on a dominant perfect V chord. It is likely that the phrase after this one will be an authentic cadence to follow and balance this half cadence.
• Chord Progression
• 
• In the above image of my chordal analysis, suspensions are highlighted in green, and seventh chords are notated with a pink pen instead of the regular pencil lead. 
• Because this piece was written by Barber during the 20th century, many of the traditional elements of 17th century part writing were disregarded, including avoiding the crossing of voices, and having both contrary and similar motion to maintain voice independence. 
• Voice crossing was present in the second and third measures between the lower violin two part and the viola part, with violin two on A and viola on C. Voice crossing occurred once more during the eighth and ninth measures once again between the lower violin two part and the viola part, with violin two on B flat (and then A) and viola on D flat (and then C). 
• Contrary motion was largely not present in the section that I analyzed because the only line that contained melody was violin one. This eliminated any form of counter-melody. However, similar motion was extremely present within the section because the harmony parts, violin two (high and low), viola, cello (high and low), and bass, moved almost simultaneously and with the same rhythm throughout.

Deciphering the Adagio for Strings Score (Extended Analysis Project Step 3)

There are many musical terms describing the tempos, stylistic instructions, titles and forms, intended techniques, and articulations present within the score. It is important to identify what these markings mean to understand the deeper meaning of the music.

Markings:

• Adagio for Strings - adagio is an indication to play slowly and calmly; at ease. Adagio is anywhere from 66 to 76 beats per minute, falling between lento and andante.
• Op. 11 - an opus is a collection of works by a specific composer, often organized by year. 
• Molto adagio - very slowly
• Espr. cantando - expressive singing
• < - crescendo, meaning gradually getting louder
• > - decrescendo, meaning gradually getting softer 
• ' - classified as a lift, instructing the musician to replace the bow at the frog
• unis. - unison, meaning two or more parts play the same pitch or octave intervals
• div. - divisi, directing the musicians on one part to split into top and bottom
• piu forte, sempre cantando - louder, always singing
• non div. - not divided
• sul G - on the G String
• cresc. sempre - crescendo always
• sord. ad lib. - sordino ad libitum, meaning to mute at one's pleasure
• senza sord. - without the mute
• piu - more
• molto espr. - very expressive
• morendo - dying away

The majority of these definitions were found on:

http://www.musictheory.org.uk/res-musical-terms/italian-musical-terms.php

Aural Analysis (Extended Analysis Step 2) of Adagio for Strings - Samuel Barber

After choosing which piece to work on, the second step of the Extended Analysis Project is to conduct an aural analysis of the piece, meaning that I will listen to the piece several times and make note of the musical elements present in the piece, including instrumentation, melody, range, tempo, meter, texture, and tonality. I will also record the context and structure of the piece. A recording of Adagio for Strings is attached below:

Musical Elements:

1. Context
1. Adagio for Strings was written by Samuel Barber in 1936 as the second movement of his String Quartet, Op. 11. In contrast to Adagio, the first movement of the piece was much livelier and more violent than the second movement, yet it did not gain as much popularity or recognition. Barber composed Adagio while in Europe with a fellow student and composer, Gian Carlo Menotti, but the quartet was not performed until 1938. Due to the time period that the piece was written, the rising political tensions in Europe that Barber would have experienced most likely influenced his writing, but they are not the main contributor to the sadness found in all of his music. Throughout his life, Barber suffered from intense depression and expressed his feelings in every piece that he composed. It is likely that he was experiencing an extreme low when he wrote Adagio, as evidenced by the emotional tension and intense sorrow present in the piece.
2. Instrumentation
1. Violin (most likely split into firsts and seconds)
2. Viola
3. Cello
4. String Bass (although not present throughout piece)
3. Melody
1. Most often present in upper voices (violin, viola)
2. Melody is mostly conjunct, moving mainly stepwise throughout the entire piece. Sometimes the line playing the counter-melody (either violin one, viola, or cello) jumps back and forth from high notes to low.
3. Because of the frequent jumps within the counter-melody and the extremely high portion of the climax (5:00-5:53), the range of the melody is very large, exceeding several octaves.
4. Meter and Tempo
1. The meter is a bit hard to establish, my guess is that it is simple quadruple but not exactly 4/4, as there aren't four solid beats in each measure. It also seems as if there is an extra beat at the end of some phrases, the first phrase in the piece, for example. This may be a switch into a complex meter, or it may be artistic interpretation where the whole note is held for a closing effect.
2. The tempo is most likely adagio, as the song is titled "Adagio for Strings". To further back this claim, the piece moves slowly and somberly, but it still progresses at a moderate pace, especially during the climax of the piece.
5. Texture
1. I would classify this piece as polyphonic because of the counter-melody that is almost always present accompanying the main theme. However, there are portions of the piece that are almost homorhythmic, where more than one voice has the exact same melody at the same time, and the rest of the voices have a different yet common harmony. 
6. Tonality
1. The tonality of this piece is indefinitely minor. In fact, the entire piece may be composed of minor chords, save for a few major chords that exist only for, at most, a single beat. I can tell that this piece is minor especially within the melody; the slow, often repeating stepwise motion symbolizes a reluctance to move forward, which is a feeling that accompanies grief. Based on the movement of the melody alone, it would not make sense for this piece to have a major tonality. 
7. Structure
1. I would say that this piece is through-composed, mainly because there is never a clear shift in theme that would normally signal a new section of the piece. The same melody is constant throughout the piece, but different counter-melodies and harmonies are added each time it is played, and the theme is never returned to exactly as it was at the start of the piece.

Adagio For Strings - Samuel Barber (Extended Analysis Project Step 1)

After considering a large number of pieces to choose for this project, ranging from church hymns to viola solos to orchestral works, I decided upon Adagio For Strings for a number of reasons. First of all, the piece that I wanted to do initially was First Essay by Samuel Barber. I was interested in this piece because I am currently playing it in Symphony with Oakland Youth Orchestras. I figured that I could easily obtain a copy of the score from my conductor, and I was already familiar with important aspects of the piece such as key changes, melodic lines, and important tonal moments throughout. However, I had not considered how difficult it would be to analyze a piece written for full orchestra - that is, one with over 10 different parts. To make my life a bit easier, I decided to switch to a different, more common song of Barber's, Adagio For Strings. Personally, I have never played this piece, but I have listened to it countless times so that I am familiar with the melody. As the piece is only for strings, at most there will be five parts (violin one, violin two, viola, cello, bass) to analyze, which is much simpler to manage. As for getting the complete score for Adagio For Strings, I had planned on finding it on IMSLP, yet it seems to be unavailable. However, I was able to find a score that looks mostly correct:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/54707261/Samuel-Barber-Adagio-For-Strings-Op-11-Full-Score#scribd

I am excited to start working with this piece!