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197
CHAPTERfi51 A Good Beat: American Vernacular
Music at the Close of an Era
7. strove to elevate ragtime to serious art form
8. Treemonisha (1911): 1976, awarded Pulitzer
Prize posthumously
9. output: two operas, piano rags, other piano
music, songs
B. Ragtime, late 1800s
1. vital precursor of jazz
2. African American piano style
3. Scott Joplin “rags”:
a. preoccupation with classical forms; balanced
phrases and key structures
b. clear- cut sections, patterns reminiscent of
Sousa marches
c. merged styles, elevated ragtime to serious art
d. worldwide recognition
4. Scott Joplin recordings: piano rolls
a. punched paper rolls, 1910 Steinway player
piano
C. LG 43: Joplin: Maple Leaf Rag (published 1899)
1. sectional form, 4 strains (A- A- B- B- A- C- C- D- D)
2. moderate duple meter
3. syncopated rhythm in RH, steady accompani-
ment in LH
4. A strain: ascending melody, steady bass
5. B strain: higher register, descends
6. C strain (the trio): new key area, new rhythmic
pattern, static melody
7. D strain: return to home key, contrasting theme
OVERVIEW
This chapter pairs the marches of John Philip Sousa with the
ragtime compositions of Scott Joplin. Together their music is
noted for its emergence in late nineteenth- century American
OUTLINE
I. John Philip Sousa and the Band Tradition
A. Vernacular tradition: music for brass bands
1. outgrowth of British military band
2. wind bands: first as Revolutionary War regimen-
tal bands
3. U.S. Marine Band, most famous eighteenth-
century band
4. Civil War regiments marched to brass bands
5. postwar: bands reor ga nized as concert, dance
ensembles
B. John Philip Sousa (1854–1932)
1. most famous American bandmaster, “March King”
2. conducted U.S. Marine Band (1880–92)
3. toured North Amer i ca and Eu rope with his own
band
a. wrote over 130 marches
i. Semper Fidelis (1888)
ii. Washington Post (1889)
iii. Stars and Stripes Forever (1897)
b. arrangements of ragtime
4. created national music for Amer i ca
a. hundreds of thousands of sheet music copies
b. mass- marketing of recordings
II. Scott Joplin and Ragtime
A. Scott Joplin (1868–1917)
1. Texas- born composer, pianist; “King of Ragtime”
2. son of a former slave
3. age 14, traveled Mississippi Valley: honky- tonks,
piano bars
4. 1893 World Exposition in Chicago: gained
recognition
5. studied composition at GeorgeR. Smith College
6. 1899, Maple Leaf Rag: sold one million copies
198 | Chapterfi51
2. As the textbook mentions, Sousa expressed concern
about the emerging technology of recorded music and its
negative impact on the livelihood of performing musi-
cians in the future (see p.306). Fast- forward to the pres ent
day and reflect on Sousa’s prediction.
TEACHING CHALLENGES
Recorded- music playback inventions such as the wax cylin-
der and the 78- RPM disc might be unfamiliar to some of your
students. Taking time to introduce these early recording tech-
nologies might help to ground your classroom instruction on
the early history of recorded music.
SUPPLEMENTAL REPERTORY
SUPPLEMENTAL BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bierley, PaulE. The Incredible Band of John Philip Sousa. Urbana
and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2006. A scholarly
account of Sousa’s band from 1892 to 1932. Chapters5 and 6
YOUR TURN TO EXPLORE
Seek out examples of phonograph recordings online. Try
to find a couple of dif fer ent examples—78- RPM discs, 45-
RPM, 33 1/3- RPM (or even older cylinder technologies).
How are these playback technologies similar and dif fer-
ent? What do you think of the sound quality—is the noise
vernacular entertainment, its reliance on formal models, and
its success in the world of sheet- music publishing.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. To understand the American military band tradition and
John Philip Sousa’s role in it, as well as his success in
commercial touring and music publishing
2. To recognize the formal components of Sousa’s famous
marches and the similar structures found in Joplin’s rag-
time works
3. To recognize the influence of Scott Joplin and his Maple
Leaf Rag on the popu lar success of ragtime in the early
twentieth century
sa’s Washington Post, and have your students focus on
the forms of these two pieces. Afterward, ask students
to comment on the stylistic differences between the two,
making sure to prompt the mention of Joplin’s synco-
pated rhythms (largely absent in Washington Post).
ASSIGNMENT SUGGESTIONS
1. “What is scurrilously called ragtime is an invention that
is here to stay. Syncopations are no indication of light or
trashy music, and to shy bricks at ‘hateful ragtime’ no
longer passes for musical culture.”— Scott Joplin, School
A Good Beat: American Vernacular Music at the Close of an Era | 199
rec ords) became common formats for recordings of classical
music and musical theater since they allowed more music to
be recorded on each side of the disc. I personally do not find
MODEL RESPONSE
Phonograph examples:
200 | Part 5
PART 5: MUSIC IN WORDS
Tchaikovsky: Final Waltz from The Nutcracker
1. Create a simple listening outline.
What to Listen For
MELODY: sweeping and lyrical with even phrases in A section, many scalar melodies, wide range, more conjunct move-
ment and narrow range in trio section (C)
RHYTHM/METER: triple meter
HARMONY: major key harmonies, consonant
0:40 (b) repeated, cymbals heard before return to (a)
0:55 (a) + (a") with cymbals
B (TRIO)
1:22 (c) texture is reduced, winds are prominent, with pizzicato in the strings, (c) repeats
1:48 sparkly and polyphonic (d) section featuring celesta, flute
RUBRIC
• Student’s descriptions should reflect terminology for the ele ments of music learned in Part I, and should address dif fer ent
parts of the piece as they change.
• Student should provide a brief description of in ter est ing or impor tant features using timings (as shown above) and at least
a rudimentary outline of the form.
2. Consider how you might describe this waltz to a friend . . .
This lovely waltz finale is from the ballet The Nutcracker by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. It has two major sections: an A section
RUBRIC
• Student is free to use subjective language (“lovely,” “magical, sparkly”). Note that Chapter13 urges the student to
“respond objectively and subjectively.”
3. Short paragraph describing the work as you might for a concert report . . .
The Waltz finale from Peter Ilyich Tchaikovksy’s famous ballet The Nutcracker demonstrates the composer’s imaginative use
of instrumentation to create a fantasy soundscape while still subscribing to formal conventions. This is one of the reasons
Tchaikovsky’s ballets are considered exemplars of the genre. The waltz is in an A- B- A form that follows closely minuet-
RUBRIC
• Student should synthesize responses to questions 1 and 2, using some terminology (in bold) and writing expressively.
PART 5: CLASSROOM- READY ACTIVITY 1
Activity Description
This activity explores the competing concepts of program music and absolute music in the nineteenth century. Drawing on
debates surrounding the “ Music of the Future” controversy, students will come to a closer understanding of the aesthetic cat-
egories and bound aries that were placed on music during the Romantic nineteenth century.
Instructions
202 | Part 5
Student Worksheet | 203
STUDENT WORKSHEET
Name: _______________________________________________
Position: _________________________________________________________________________________________
Summary: ________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Support/oppose, and why?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Position: _________________________________________________________________________________________
Summary: ________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Support/oppose, and why?
Position: _________________________________________________________________________________________
Summary: ________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Support/oppose, and why?
4. “Thus the program. All Germany is happy to let him keep it: such signposts always have something unworthy and
charlatan- like about them! . . . In a word, the German, with his delicacy of feeling, and his aversion to personal revela-
tion, dislikes having his thoughts so rudely directed.”— Robert Schumann, 1835, from Hector Berlioz, Fantastic Sym-
phony, ed. EdwardT. Cone (New York: Norton, 1971), pp.246–47
Position: _________________________________________________________________________________________
Summary: ________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Support/oppose, and why?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Classroom- Ready Activity 2 | 205
PART 5: CLASSROOM- READY ACTIVITY 2
Activity Description
This activity requires students to apply their experience with and knowledge of nineteenth- century music to national con-
texts. Although nationalism was discussed in Chapter42, this activity extends the idea of national identity in music to several
of the pieces discussed in Part 5.
Instructions
STUDENT WORKSHEET
Name: _______________________________________________________________
Schubert: Elfking
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique
Chopin: Polonaise in A Major
Above is a list of several pieces covered in Part 5 of the textbook. In the space below, order these pieces according to the
composer’s country of birth and/or residence. Then identify the shared characteristics of these pieces, for example: genre,
Germany
Works:
Shared characteristics?
France
Works:
Shared characteristics?
206 | Part 5
Student Worksheet | 207
Italy
Works:
Shared characteristics?
Rus sia
Works:
Shared characteristics?
United States
Works:
Shared characteristics?
Norway
Works:
Shared characteristics?
Poland
Works:
Shared characteristics?
208 | Part 5
Listening Quiz | 209
PART 5: LISTENING QUIZ
Name: _______________________________________________________________
1. Foster: Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair (0:00–1:28)
What makes this piece appropriate for amateurs at home?
2. Schubert: Elfking (0:00 –1:51)
What marks this piece as appropriate for professional performers at a private recital?
3. Chopin: Polonaise in A Major (0:00–1:09)
This piece was inspired by ____________________________.
4. Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, IV (0:24–1:31)
This piece is an example of a/an ____________________________.
5. Verdi: Rigoletto, Act III, “Bella figlia dell’amore” (6:01–6:52)
What is notable about this par tic u lar moment of this excerpt?
6. Brahms: Symphony No.3in F Major, III (0:00–3:27)
How does the composer delineate form in this excerpt?
7. Wagner: The Valkyrie, Act III, “Magic Fire Music” (1:03–2:03)
What technique does the composer employ in this excerpt to add layers of meaning and symbolism to the music?
8. Grieg: Peer Gynt, Suite No.1, In the Hall of the Mountain King
In this excerpt, we hear an expression of ____________________________.
9. Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel: September: At the River, from The Year (0:00 –1:23)
This excerpt illustrates the Romantic era’s fascination with ____________________________.
10 . F auré: Requiem, Libera me
This piece illustrates which of the following aspects of nineteenth- century music?
11. Joplin: Maple Leaf Rag
The style of this syncopated music that follows a sectional form is ____________________________.
12. Puccini: Madame Buttery, “Un bel dì”
The dramatic genre of this excerpt is called ____________________________.
13. Tchaikov sky : The Nutcracker, Two Dances
From what great nineteenth- century tradition do these excerpts originate?
14. Debussy: Prelude to “The After noon of a Faun”
The style of this music has been closely linked to that of ____________________________.
a. Schumann’s Lieder
b. Impressionist paint ers
c. Neo- Classical architects
d. Brahms’s symphonies
210 | Part 5
Part 6: Twentieth- Century Modernism
