978-0393639032 Chapter 61

245

b. rhythmic innovator: pounding rhythms, syn-

copation, changing meters, ostinatos

c. complex, modern dissonant counterpoint,

polytonality

d. adherence to Classical forms

5. works include: orchestral, five concertos, string

quartets, piano music, vocal music

B. Concerto for Orchestra

1. entire orchestra is the virtuoso

2. five movements; mvt. 4 Interrupted Intermezzo

3. nostalgic, sentimental, programmatic

4. composed when he was terminally ill

C. LG 55: Bartók: Interrupted Intermezzo, from Con-

certo for Orchestra (1943)

1. Allegretto; rondo- like form (A- B- A′- C- B′- A″)

2. polytonal and atonal harmonies, dissonant

3. nonsymmetrical rhythms, shifting meters

4. A section: flute and oboe, folklike pentatonic

melody

5. B section: broad and lyrical string melody

6. C section, interruption: harsh clarinet melody

a. quotes Shostakovich Symphony No.7

b. musical portrayal of 1942 Nazi invasion of

Rus sia

7. flute cadenza leads to gentle closing

OVERVIEW

This chapter portrays Bartók’s music as embodying thenew

twentieth- century spirit of nationalism within the stylistic

context of neo- Classicism. This chapter also introduces stu-

dents to Bartók’s ethnomusicological interest in Eastern

Eu ro pean folk music and his incorporation of these folk ele-

ments in his Concerto for Orchestra.

OUTLINE

I. Neo- Classicism

A. Emulation of eighteenth- century composers: Bach,

Handel, Vivaldi

1. Classical virtues: craftsmanship, balance, objec-

tivity, control

2. twentieth- century ideals: pro gress through

science

3. preferred absolute to programmatic music

4. traditional forms retained: symphony, sonata,

concerto

5. older forms revived: toccata, fugue, concerto

grosso, suite

II. Modernist Nationalism

A. Scientific spirit

1. more au then tic folk and traditional ele ments

2. ethnomusicologists recorded folk songs

B. Romantic- era national schools continue

1. En glish: Benjamin Britten (1913–1976)

2. Rus sian: Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953), Dmitri

Shostakovich (1906–1975)

III. Bartók and the Eastern Eu ro pean Tradition

A. Béla Bartók (1881–1945)

1. Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, vir-

tuoso pianist

2. toured remote villages with Zoltán Kodály

(1882–1967)

a. collected over 2,000 folk songs and dances

3. WWII, emigrated to U.S.

4. style: neo- Classic approach

a. traditional Hungarian songs with main cur-

rents of Eu ro pean music

Classic Rethinking: Bartók and the

Neo- Classical Turn

CHAPTERfi61

246 | Chapterfi61

ductor Serge Koussevitsky while the war was at its

height.) The quote from Shostakovich’s Seventh Sym-

phony in par tic u lar recalls the devastating siege of Len-

ingrad by the Nazis from 1941 to 1944. With Bartók’s

sources and the narrative structure of the movement in

mind, how do you interpret this piece as war time musi-

cal commentary?

TEACHING CHALLENGES

Review with your students ele ments of the Classical style

to avoid confusion about the stylistic conventions of

neo- Classicism.

SUPPLEMENTAL REPERTORY

SUPPLEMENTAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bayley, Amanda. The Cambridge Companion to Bartók. Cam-

bridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. Chapter2 addresses

YOUR TURN TO EXPLORE

Find recordings of Western musicians who have incorpo-

rated folk or world music instruments and/or melodies into

their compositions and per for mances; compare them with

recordings of those instruments or melodies by ensembles

from the original culture. What musical ele ments have

the Western musicians adopted from the other culture,

MODEL RESPONSE

Yo- Yo Ma is known as an enormously successful recording

artist and performer of some of the most significant works in

the standard repertoire for the cello. In addition to recordings

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. To understand the twentieth- century style of neo-

Classicism as a turn away from Romantic era ideals

2. To understand twentieth- century nationalism as a move-

ment that incorporated more of the au then tic and tradi-

tional ele ments of folk music

3. To understand Bartók’s incorporation of folk ele ments

into a neo- Classical idiom, as illustrated in his Concerto

for Orchestra

LECTURE SUGGESTIONS

1. Use Grieg’s Peer Gynt, Suite No.1 from Chapter42 and

the Interrupted Intermezzo from Bartók’s Concerto for

Romantic idiom with Bartók’s neo- Classical approach.

2. Play for your students the sources that Bartók incorpo-

rates in the Interrupted Intermezzo. Audio transfers of

Bartók’s own wax cylinder recordings are widely avail-

szony (The Bride of Hamburg). The “interrupting” C

theme is a quote from the first movement of Shostakov-

ich’s Symphony No.7, Leningrad (1939). Address with

your students Bartók’s incorporation of these sources,

emphasizing the significance this practice holds for the

composer’s modernist approach to nationalism.

ASSIGNMENT SUGGESTIONS

explored earlier in the textbook?

2. As the textbook mentions, Bartók may have composed

the Interrupted Intermezzo programmatically, with the

events of World War II in mind. (Composed in 1943, the

Concerto for Orchestra was commissioned by the con-

248 | Part 6

PART 6: MUSIC IN WORDS

Copland, Hoedown from Rodeo

1. Create a simple listening outline.

What to Listen For

MELODY: jaunty and energetic melodies, shorter motives

RHYTHM/METER: galloping duple meter, syncopation

HARMONY: major key, consonant

0:58 phrase b heard four times: first in strings, then in winds, and then in the full orchestra for the last two times

1:13 phrase a heard twice in full orchestra, followed by phrase a′ to close out the section

B SECTION— New theme

1:27 galloping transition

1:30 trumpet solo

A SECTION returns

RUBRIC

Student may wish to refer LG 53 Copland, Excerpts from Appalachian Spring (pp.364–65), LG 55 Bartók, Interrupted

Intermezzo from Concerto for Orchestra (p.377), and/or LG 54 Revueltas, “Noche de Jaranas” from La noche de los Mayas

(p.371) in order to contextualize the work within modernism and nationalistic styles (for questions 1–3).

• 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.

Music in Words | 249

• Student should provide a brief description of in ter est ing or impor tant features using timings (as shown above) that demon-

strates the form and use of dif fer ent melodies.

2. Consider how you might describe this piece to a friend . . .

This fun piece has a real feeling of the American West, primarily because of the galloping rhythms. The galloping feel

remains throughout most of this high- energy piece, which seems even more celebratory because the trumpets play fanfares

RUBRIC

• Student is free to use subjective language (“fun,” “celebratory,” “invigorating”). Note that Chapter13 urges the student

3. Short paragraph describing the work as you might for a concert report . . .

Hoedown from Aaron Copland’s Rodeo is an excellent example of why Copland’s music is described as “quintessentially

RUBRIC

• Student should synthesize responses to questions 1 and 2, using some terminology (in bold) and writing expressively.

**Student may not be familiar with woodblocks, but should make some attempt to describe the sound as it is pervasive

in the texture.

PART 6: CLASSROOM- READY ACTIVITY 1

Activity Description

In this activity, students are asked to reflect on a se lection of quotes from composers featured in Part 6. This exercise allows

students to consider why twentieth- century composers are driven to compose, and why they are motivated to compose the

kind of music they write.

Instructions

Have the class form small groups and pass out the worksheet associated with this assignment. On the worksheet are six

composer quotes from Part 6. Students are asked to adopt a short slogan that encapsulates the quote; they should be prepared

to discuss how the slogan illustrates the composer’s worldview, motivations, and artistic convictions. Students are also asked

250 | Part 6

Student Worksheet | 251

STUDENT WORKSHEET

Name: _______________________________________________

Slogan: _____________________________________________________________________________________________

Worldview/motivation/artistic convictions: _________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Listening guide excerpt:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Listening guide excerpt:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Somehow I suspect that if Shakespeare were alive today, he might be a jazz fan himself.”— Duke Ellington (p.343)

Slogan: _____________________________________________________________________________________________

Worldview/motivation/artistic convictions: _________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Listening guide excerpt:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Slogan: _____________________________________________________________________________________________

Worldview/motivation/artistic convictions: _________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Listening guide excerpt:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

252 | Part 6

Student Worksheet | 253

Slogan: _____________________________________________________________________________________________

Worldview/motivation/artistic convictions: _________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Listening guide excerpt:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Slogan: _____________________________________________________________________________________________

Worldview/motivation/artistic convictions: _________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Listening guide excerpt:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

PART 6: CLASSROOM- READY ACTIVITY 2

Activity Description

Instructions

Have students, in groups, take fifteen to twenty minutes to draw up a timeline of major events in the United States’ involve-

ment in World War II between the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and the Japa nese surrender to Allied forces in 1945. Then

254 | Part 6

Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra

Date: _______________

War time events:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Compositional genesis/impetus:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

General musical characteristics:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

As a war time composition:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Copland: Appalachian Spring

Date: _______________

War time events:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Compositional genesis/impetus:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

General musical characteristics:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

As a war time composition:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

256 | Part 6

Listening Quiz | 257

PART 6: LISTENING QUIZ

Name: _______________________________________________

1. Revueltas: La noche de los Mayas, II, “Noche de Jaranas” (0:00–0:28)

In what way does this excerpt incorporate music of vernacular traditions?

2. Still: Suite for Violin and Piano, III (0:05–1:26)

This excerpt takes part of its musical inspiration from ______________________________.

3. Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring, Dance of the Youths and Maidens (0:30–1:10)

How does the rhythm of this excerpt display a modernist aesthetic?

4. Copland: Appalachian Spring, Section7 (0:00–2:10)

What kind of traditional form is employed in this excerpt?

5. Billie Holiday: Billie’s Blues (0:56 –2:11)

What are the jazz components featured in this excerpt?

6. Schoenberg: Pierrot lunaire, The Mooneck

What technique is explored in this excerpt?

7. Ives: Country Band March

What technique is explored in this excerpt?

8. Berg: Wozzeck, Act III, scene 4 (beginning–2:03)

Based on what you hear, what is the style and genre of this excerpt?

9. Strayhorn: Take the A Train

This piece is an example of _______________________________.

10. Boulanger: Psalm 24

This excerpt represents the composer’s interest in ____________________________.

a. Primitivism

b. Twelve- tone serialism and Sprechstimme

c. Sacred music in nonliturgical contexts

d. Folk music and polyrhythms

258 | Part 6

Part 7: Postmodernism: The Mid- Twentieth

Century and Beyond

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978-0393639032 Chapter 61

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