=Causeway Performing Arts= GCSE Music AoS 2: Shared Music (Vol.1) ROMANTIC SONG. in conjunction with

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1 =Causeway Performing Arts= GCSE Music AoS 2: Shared Music (Vol.1) ROMANTIC SONG in conjunction with

2 This Chapter: Outlines the content and assessment of Area of Study 2 Looks in detail at the first part of Area of Study 2, by focusing on how an accompaniment supports a soloist Examines this through four different genres: Romantic Song, Pop Ballad, Classical Concerto and Jazz Discusses specific works for each genre, including those suggested by our examiner AREA OF STUDY 2 In area of Study 2 you will learn how musicians relate to each other when they perform together in groups, through studying: How a soloist is supported by an accompaniment How musicians work together in ensembles How voices combine in choral singing This area of study is assessed in Unit 2, which is a practical portfolio and Unit 4 which is the Listening Exam. Your group performance for Unit 2 will give you an opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of how performers work together. For this performance you will partly be assessed on your awareness of of how to perform with others. For Unit 2 you also have the option of creating a group composition. The two set tasks that relate to this area of study are: A composition for a group of two or more players An arrangement of a piece for two or more players If you choose one of these tasks then your composition will be assessed to an extent on how effectively the different parts combine together and support each other. In the listening test there will be questions that ask you to identify how the performers are working together in the extracts that you hear. For this you will need to listen carefully to the different parts in the extract and describe what they are doing in relation to ech other. SOLO AND ACCOMPANIMENT The rest of this chapter looks at the first part of Area of Study 2 (how a soloist is supported by an accompaniment). The next chapter explores the second part of Area of Study 2 (how musicians work together in ensembles and how voices combine in choral singing. To examine how an accompaniment supports a soloist, we will focus on Romantic Songs, Pop Ballads, The Classical Concerto and Jazz. In analysing music from these specific genres you will begin to gain a general understanding of how musicians work together, and you will then be able to apply this understanding to your own work.

3 ROMANTIC SONG The romantic period in music lasted from the early 19th century to the start of the 20th century. The Romantic period wasnʼt simply about love (as the name might imply), although a lot of composers did use this theme in their music. In fact Romantic composers strove to add a wide range emotions and expression into their music, aside form love and desire: feelings of despair, hope, anger, anxiety and much much more. Romantic composers also aimed to tell stories with their instrumental music, by portraying different people, places and events within it (we shall learn more about this in the Area of Study 4:Descriptive Music chapter later in the course). At the same time, song writing allowed composers to reflect and indulge in the huge range of emotions found in poetry. Two types of song emerged in the Romantic period: The strophic song - similar to a hymn, as each verse of poetry is set to the same melody The through-composed song, in which each verse is set to different music. Songs written by Romantic composers such as Brahms and Schubert are known as lieder. They are usually set to German poetry. Lieder aim to bring to life the events, emotions, people and places in the poetry. Many of them tell a story and some can be quite dramatic, while others are calmer and more reflective. Originally lieder were performed in an intimate setting - commonly in the drawing rooms of the middle class, who could afford to have pianos in their homes. Today lieder are usually hear in the concert hall. For the first-time listeners the large, bare stage with only a couple of musicians on it and formality of the performance can make lieder seem quite remote and inaccessible. It may be surprising to learn the lieder were intended to be performed at home in more informal circumstances. SCHUBERT: ERLKÖNIG Schubert composed over 600 lieder, most of them written for piano and voice. We will begin here looking at the lied Erlkönig (The Elf King), composed in In the poem by Goethe, a father and his son are riding through the forest late at night. The boy hears the elf king trying to lure him into his kingdom and repeatedly tells his father - but the father replies that it is just his imagination, caused by the fog and the breeze rustling the leaves. After failing to tempt the boy, the elf king warns that if he will not come willingly, he will take him by force and he then hurts the boy, who cries out. Only now does the father realise that something is wrong and races home, but it is too late: his son is already dead. Erlkönig is an example of a through-composed lied, so each verse of the poem has a different melody. Whilst the piano accompaniment also changes throughout the song, it retains elements of the introduction up until the ending (such as the constant triplet rhythm), helping to maintain the songʼs coherence. Here are the first three bars of the piece:

4 The repeated triplet quavers in the right hand of the piano introduction give it a frantic nature. From the very start, they create a sensation of father and son riding swiftly through the forrest and they emphasise the unnerving tone of the poem. The left hand motif in the introduction stongly outlines a g minor chord reinforcing the key of the piece (which, as a minor key is suited to the songʼs dark nature). In these ways the piano introduction sets the mood of the piece in just a few bars, helping both the soloist and the listener to get in the right frame of mind before the story starts. The rhythmic drive in the accompaniment contrasts with the largely crotchet and minim movement in the singers melody, which allows the words of the poem to be clearly heard. The accompaniment maintains its rhythmic independence throughout which is a feature found in many of Schubertʼs lieder. However, at the same time the accompaniment continues to support the soloist by setting an appropriate mood as fleshing out the harmony of the piece. The piano has occasional moments of melodic interest but only when the voice is silent or sustained on one note. For example, the left hand motif from the introduction is heard again between the different verses of the poem. Something to do Read the following paragraph and think about what you might expect to hear in a lied based on these words: I can see a trout swimming in a brook. There is a fisherman waiting eagerly for the trout to bite. I hope the fish will swim the other way, but as feared it bites at the fishermanʼs line and gets caught. What might you expect to hear in the piano accompaniment? Would you use a female or male voice? Why? How would you compose a melody line to complement your accompaniment? Now listen to Schubertʼs interpretation of this story in his song Die Forelle (The Trout), for piano and voice. How does Schubertʼs version compare with what you were thinking? There are three verses to Die Forelle. Schubert uses a strophic structure for the first two and a different melody for the last verse which enables him to create a change of mood to go with sad news that the trout has been caught. Notice how the piano accompaniment has a fast, rippling motif that ascends on the first beat of each bar. Schubert used this to represent the bubbling brook and the trout swimming through it. In contrast, the melody line is only ever rhythmically busy on the

5 second beat of the bar usually with semiquavers that have a descending pattern. Here is an example from the first verse of the song (bars 9 to 12): The rising motif in the piano comes on the first beat of each bar. This is then echoed by descending semiquavers in the vocal part (on the second beat of bars 9 and 11). The pianist and singer are never busy at the same time, but the close interplay between them helps to convey the feel of a fast flowing river. Composing ideas This is a composing exercise to complete in pairs Decide whether you are in two, three or four beats in a bar, and pick a key (scale) Compose one-bar ascending phrases while your partner composes one-bar descending phrases, based on the same chord(s) Try playing them at the same time and then one after the other Now try the same idea but with contrasting rhythms: compose one-bar ascending phrases that have quavers in the first half of the bar and semiquavers in the second half of the bar, while your partner composes one-bar descending phrases that have semiquavers in the first half of the bar and quavers in the second half Again try playing these at the same time and then one after the other As you perform together you should realise that you need to listen carefully to each other, to make sure the tempo remains constant and the phrases fit together well. If you like the effect created by this type of rhythmic interaction, try using it in one of your own compositions. You donʼt have to confine yourself to a song or a solo piece with accompaniment: you could create rhythmic interplay like this between two parts in any composition.

6 SCHUBERT: DIE SCHONE MULLERIN Schubert didnʼt just compose single songs he also created song cycles. A song cycle is a series of songs based on one main theme. Die Schone Mullerin (The Fair Miller Maid) is an example of this. The 20-song cycle tells the story of a young miller who falls in love with a mill ownerʼs daughter. However, the daughter ignores the millerʼs affections and instead becomes infatuated with a hunter. In despair and longing for peace, the miller ends up drowning himself in the brook. The first song in the cycle is called Das Wandernʼ (wandering). This song introduces the young miller, who likes wandering through the countryside. The song tells of the water that runs through the mill, the wheels that turn as a result and the heavy stones that grind the flour. The structure of this song is strophic - each of the five verses are set to the same melody and accompaniment. The accompaniment is rhythmically independent in a similar way to erlkönig - the melody line is largely made up of quaver movement, while the accompaniment have lively semiquavers that create the impression of wandering. The cheerful busy nature of the accompaniment supports the mood and content of the poem. Whenever the singer rests (in between phrases or verses), the melodic interest moves to the piano, which always has the same short three note motif in the right hand part. In any accompanied music, is is always important that the soloist is never swamped or outshone by the accompaniment. However, if the soloist does rest and the melodic interest moves to the accompanying part then it is always good to hear it! An accompanist should always decide what dynamics to use by carefully listening to what the soloist is doing. Schubert has given the accompanist a helping hand by adding in appropriate dynamics to the score. You can see in the extract that the pianist only rises above piano when the singer is silent. Listen to some more of the songs in this cycle, and think in particular about how the accompaniment supports the soloist.

7 BRAHMS: THERESE There were many other composers in the Romantic period that composed lieder. Brahms ( ) wrote over 200 songs many of which use a strophic or sometimes ternary (ABA) structure. Therese (Theresa) is similar in structure to Die Forelle. The first two verses use a strophic structure, while the third verse is set to a different melody. In contrast, the piano accompaniment is much less independent in this song; The right hand part largely follows the shape of the melody, particularly in the first two verses. The accompaniment is simplest in the first verse, where in moves in crotchets with the melody to create a hymn like feel. In the second verse the accompaniment becomes fuller as quaver movement is introduced in to the right hand part. This variation gives some new interest to the repeated music. The additional rhythmic activity also really helps to drive the song forward and keep it flowing. In the third verst Brahms continues with the quaver movement in the accompaniment, but varies it this time by dividing it between the hands; One hand plays chords on the beat while the other plays chords off the beat. This variation in the accompaniment between each of the three verses helps to sustain the listenerʼs interest throughout the song. As the interest is supplied by the developing accompaniment, this takes the pressure off the vocal part - allowing the singer to easily communicate the words, with a simple but effective melody. Test yourself 1. What is the German word for ʻsongʼ? 2. Name two famous composers of Romantic song. 3. What are the two structures that were commonly used by Romantic song composers? 4. Give an example of how a piano accompaniment can support the mood and subject of a songʼs lyrics. 5. Describe an example of rhythmic interplay between a soloist and accompaniment in a Romantic song.

GCSE Music CPD Resource Booklet

GCSE Music CPD Resource Booklet Suggested teaching points:- Suggested brief:- Compose a piece of music in binary form to be performed as the opening item at a school concert. Several composers have borrowed