Bartlett - Established 1884 in New York City

Composition 4

20th Century Classical Music Composition

Due: May 17th - Turn in Composition, mp3, upload it to YoSoy, complete online evaluation

Background

The 20th Centory is also known as the Age of Technology. 20th Century Music took full advantage of new technologies as they became available. Not constricted by rules of the classical period, composers had the stylistic freedom to write however they pleased. 20th century classical music was extremely varied and thus there was no dominant style. However, a salient feature in classical music during this period was the increased use of dissonance. 

The purpose of this composition is to stretch your musicality and technical skills.  This is meant to be an electronic music composition that incorporates live instruments.  When using electronic instruments, use them for what they are worth: Looping, sound distortion, unusual sound effects.  There are only a few requirements for this composition:

  1. You must use speech - You can read, sing, chant, use distorted sound, etc...  You may use original lyrics or lyrics from a poem or story.
  2. You must use the ipods in some capacity.  They can be used as a real instrument with garageband and then as a live instrument for the final performance. Why the ipod? - Click Here for youtube or Dropio
  3. You music have at least one live instrument.  It can be the ipod or an acoustic instrument.
  4. Ideal ensemble for this piece: Computer background music, 1+ ipod, 1+ live instrument, spoken text. 
The rest is up to you.  You can work alone or in a group.  You can do the whole composition on the ipods or use the computer as a mixer.  THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX, BE CREATIVE, and TAKE MUSICAL RISKS!!  Ask yourself: How is my composition different. 

Example #1 - Einstein on the Beach - Philip Glass

  • An Opera in four acts for ensemble, chorus, and soloists
  • Music & Lyrics: Philip Glass
  • Design & Direction: Robert Wilson.
  • Performed by The Philip Glass Ensemble
  • Michael Riesman: musical director, keyboards

Philip Glass - Story of Einstein on the Beach

Recording of the piece- Einstein on the Beach

Philip Glass Website - Click Here

Video of Einstein on the Beach - Click Here

Philip Glass Ensemble - "Train/Spaceship" Part 2 or Video on Dropio

 

Example #2 - Steve Reich - It's Gonna Rain

  • Steve Reich Website - Click Here for biography and composition list
  • "It's Gonna Rain" is a musical composition for magnetic tape written by Steve Reich in 1965; the work is approximately 17 minutes and 50 seconds in length. It was Reich's first major work and a landmark in musical minimalism and process music.
  • The source material of "It's Gonna Rain" consists entirely of a tape recording made in 1964 at San Francisco's Union Square. In the recording, an African American Pentecostal preacher, Brother Walter, rails about the end of the world, while accompanying background noises, including the sound of a pigeon taking flight, are heard. The piece opens with the story of Noah, and the phrase "it's gonna rain" is repeated and eventually looped throughout the piece.

 

Background of the piece - Click here - start at 2:15

Listen to It's Gonna Rain

 

Example #3 - John Adams - Christian Zeal and Activity

 

  • John Adams is a contemporary American composer, best known for his fusion of minimalism and neoclassicism. His use of driving rhythms and colorful use of the orchestral timbres have earned him a place as one of the most admired and performed composers of the last twenty years. One of his most recent pieces, On The Transmigration of Souls, commissioned by the New York Philharmonic to comemmorate the victims of the 9/11 tragedy, won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize.
  • Christian Zeal and Activity is from Adams's early period of composition, from the mid 1970's. It is constructed of a simple chorale-like chordal structure played by strings and a sparse woodwind section. A series of suspensions delays resolution of the harmonies until the very end of the piece, with only a few authentic cadences throughout the piece. The unique aleatoric element of Zeal is what really makes the piece special. The conductor is directed to place "sonic found objects" into the composition. Edo De Waart, conductor of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra  spliced and looped a recording of a 1971 sermon into the piece, using an archaic DJ effect to draw even more emotion from the pastor's words and from the music itself. At just over 10 mintues in length, listening to the piece takes patience, but I promise it is worth your time and concentration.

 

Listen to Christian Zeal -

John Adams on Pop Culture - Click Here

 

Electronic Ensembles

  1. University of Michigan iphone concert - YouTube Video or Dropio
  2. Guitar Ensemble - Youtube Video
  3. Stairway to Heaven on the ipods using Ocarina - YouTube Video or Dropio

 

Copyright 2005 Project Seven Development