A Comparative Study of Polyphony and Monophony in Religious Chant Traditions

Listening Journal #1 Artists: Lionheart Track: Gaude Maria Virgo Composer: Traditional Date: Early 13th century This song is an organum that does not use any instruments as it is an a capella song. The beginning of this piece is polyphonic with three parts and then it changes to a monophonic chant. Two upper voices sing melismatically in different melodies and the lower one sings a constant slow pitch. Throughout this song, the two upper voices sing notes in a long-short rhythmic pattern. Polyphony was very controversial at this time because people thought it was distracting when comparing it to simple monophonic songs. Polyphony made the song unpredictable. Its complexity was later seen as an enhancement to worship songs which is when polyphone became the foundation of Western European songs. The lyrics in this chant are praising Virgin Mary and with polyphonic texture, the prayer is brought on much stronger. Artist: Adhane, Prayer Call Track: Beautiful Islamic- Call to Prayer- Azan Composer: Fmpi The call to prayer is part of the Islamic culture in which it is sounded by the prayer leader(Muezzin) five times a day; morning, noon, afternoon, sunset and evening. The lyrics translate to “there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of God” (Chapter 14). This sound is monophonic and is very repetitive as it is a prayer with only 8 lines. As each line repeats, the repeated line is slightly varied by either getting louder or getting longer, almost like the person is making it a point. Artists: Antony Pitts, Tonus Peregrinus Track: Viderunt Omnes… (2-part organum) Composer: Léonin Date: 1163-1190 This classical piece is a Gregorian chant is organum. The lower part holds the chant for a long time, creating a drone. The upper voice has a rhythmic pattern which creates a melisma. Towards the end of the song, the lower voices start taking a more active role as they get louder. This style adds harmony to the song and makes it sound almost eerie. Gregorian chants were a big part of music history as it created things such as neumes that we still use today. The lyrics are in Latin and the message is about God and his salvation. Artists: Brett Weymark, Cantillation Track: Ave Maria Virgo Serena Composer: Josquin des Prez Date: 1480s This piece is a Latin motet made in the Renaissance Era with a soul purpose of honoring the Virgin Mary. Ave Maria Virgo Serena is an a capella piece sung by a 4 voice choir. It is a polyphonic motet with some homophonic lines. The polyphonic lines imitate one another in high and low paired voices. The beginning of the song starts in duple meter where there are 2 beats in the measure. Duple meter then turns into a triple after the fourth subject is done imitating “Ave Maria.” The creator of this strophic poem was Josquin des Prez who became a master of sacred music due to the combination of different textures that make each piece unique. The pairing of the two upper voices and two lower voices allowed the listener to really feel the emotions. Artists: Anthony Rooley, The King’s Singers Track: Farmer: Fair Phyllis I Saw Sitting All Alone Composer: John Farmer Date: 1599 This lyrical poem falls into the genre of an English Madrigal. It is a capella and has multiple textures including one monophonic line at the beginning, following with 4 imitating voices and ending with a homorhythmic line. The melodies of this poem are very simple and upbeat and is meant to be heard as a happy/playful poem. This poem is about Phyllis being chased by Amyntas (her lover). The ending of this song is meant to portray their happy ending. John Farmer used word painting to shape the madrigal into a native art form. Farmer used word painting in this song using an ascending scale to show that the song was supposed to be upbeat and happy. Artists: Gentle Giant Track: On Reflection Composer: Derek Shulman, Kerry Minnear, Ray Shulman Date: 1975 This song is considered as progressive rock. It starts off with a 4 part fugue with no instruments and then intensifies using all different types of music. This piece is very complex when it comes to instruments, the ones I picked up included the electric guitar, bass, drums, violin and some woodwind instruments. The piano was the first instrument to be heard and it was accompanied by one voice. I believe this piece is a form of multi movement as it goes fast slow fast slow. It is clear that the main focus of this song are the instruments. Instruments became a huge part of the Baroque period as they added to celebrations and were wanted by all the wealthy patrons. Artists: Jakob Lindberg Track: Lute Suite in E Minor: BWV 996: V. Bourree Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach Date: 1708-1717 This classical piece is performed by a lute soloist. It can be played by either a guitar or a lute. It has a steady rhythm throughout the entire piece. There are no lyrics and there is no intended meaning to this song. It is very upbeat and has quick duple meter. A bourree is a lively dance that originated in France. However, because this piece is played in E minor, it is not meant for dancing. Artists: The English Concert, Andrew Manze Track: Serenade in G Major: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, K. 525: I. Allegro Composer: Wolfgang Amadues Mozart Date: 1787 This serenade was written for a string quartet with an added double bass. This movement contains a bright allegro in sonata form. This piece was extremely organized and precise and is still popular to this day. An interesting fact about the publishing of this song is that he died and his wife published it for him as he had everything written down in a log. Artists: The Angeles String Quartet Track: String Quartet in E Flat Major, Hob. lll:38 (Op.33 No.2):4. Finale: presto Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn Date: 1781 This dancelike classical is played by a string quartet. It has a very fast tempo to sound upbeat. It’s a simple rondo with a rounded binary theme. This piece in particular was dedicated to Grand Duke Paul of Russia. Haydn was a huge contribution in the classical period. Artists: Paul Lewis Track: Sonata No. 14 “Moonlight” in C-Sharp Minor”, Op.27 No. 2: I. Adagio Sostenuto Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven Date: 1801 This piece moves quite slowly with a duple melody. It’s a homophonic piece played by a solo pianist. It has a soft dynamic to keep the song delicate. It was created by Beethoven to express his love for Countess Giulietta Guicciardi. The piece was not named by Beethoven himself because he died, instead it was given its title by a German poet, Ludwig Rellstab. This is a classical piece but it expresses emotion as a part of the Romantic era. It is classical because this sonata is played by a piano alone. Artists: Ian Bostridge, Julius Drake Track: Schubert: Erlkönig, D. 328 Composer: Franz Schubert, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Date: 1815 This song cycle is quite unique as it has four characters in it to tell a story, however there’s one person playing all four characters in this piece accompanied by a piano. Each character has a different vocal range to allow the reader to decipher between the four characters. The four characters makes this song a through-composed song. This story is about a son who keeps trying to tell his father that there is a creature chasing them through the woods, the father doesn't believe him and the son dies. Schubert was known for telling stories with a solo voice and piano, more specifically this became the most popular song in the 19th century. Artists: Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner Track: Peer Gynt-Suite Nr. 1, Op. 46: I. Morning Composer: Edvard Grieg Date: 1888 This Romantic program piece is meant to literally sound like a peaceful morning. In order to achieve this, grace notes are added along with pastoral instruments including the flute, oboe and horn. This peace is homophonic with three part A-B-A plus coda. When the song reaches a climax, the song builds to a crescendo and then a decrescendo. This music is in a Norwegian folk tale by Henrik Ibsen. Edvard Grieg made folklore and dance accessible to his country through the music he created. Artists: Emmanuelle Haim Track: Purcess: Dido and Aeneas, Z. 626, Act 3 Scene 2: “When I am laid in earth” (Dido) Composer: Henry Purcell Date: 1689 This is an emotional English opera where Dido is planning on killing herself because she misses her lover, Aeneas. The instruments present in this opera are all Baroque period instruments including cello, guitar, violin and much more. The most important part of this piece is the solo voice. It is a slow tempo in triple meter. There is chromatic foreshadowing of Lament and strophic form. Artists: Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle Track: The Nutcracker- Ballet, Op.71, Act II: No.10 - The Kingdom of Sweets Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Date: 1892 This ballet is very magical sounding as the setting of the act is in the land of the sweets where they are ruled by the Sugar Plum Fairy. The melody is somewhat chromatic and staccato. The songs boncy sound is from the bouncy duple meter. The instruments included in this piece are bell-like timbre of celesta along with bass clarinet and string instruments playing in pizzicato. The dance form Ballet began in the Renaissance and in the 18th century, it was seen as an independent art form. Russian ballet was then seen as its own form and that is when Pyotr created the Nutcracker. Artists: Edgard Vareèse Track: Poeème Electronique Composer: Edgard Varèse Date: 1958 This is mostly just putting sounds and noises together without the intention of it being musically. Some of the sounds in this piece include sirens, bells, squawks, “oh-ah” voice, and many more weird sounds. There are no lyrics present in this piece.This piece was meant to be a part of multimedia work as it was used for the Brussels’s World’s Fair of 1958 where the lights were showcased with it. Artists: Daniele Gatti, Orchestre National De France Track: Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune Composer: Claude Debussy Date: 1894 This is a symphonic poem including a chromatic solo played on a flute, occasional harp, more wind instruments and even an orchestra. This piece is played very slowly and soft and it ascends into louder dynamics and then descends back down. There is no structure to this poem and sounds almost like a rough draft. It is said that this poem began the popularity of modern music. Artists: Boris Berman Track: Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano: Sonata No. 5 Composer: John Cage Date: 1946-48 This song is formed in a binary structure with repetition in each section (A-A-B-B). It includes a bunch of silent but quick pauses with no music at all, which keeps the listener on their toes. This song does not follow a rhythmic flow or a regular melody. It is played by a specially modified prepared piano that sounds similar to the Javanese gamelan. The Javanese gamelan is supposed to give the effect like it's sort of floating over time. The expansion of music is mostly from John Cage as he was always trying to add more to music and make it different than the others. Whether it was making new sounds or concepts, his music was always different. Artists: Michael Riesman Track: Einstein on the Beach: Act I, Scene 1- Train Composer: Carol Knowles, Lucinda Childs, Philip Glass, Samuel Johnson Date: 1975 This avant-garde opera includes synthesisers, woodwinds and voices. This song is never ending and is hard to comprehend. Act one includes the train scene which is the ensemble with a solo voice and chorus joining at the end. This piece is very long and complex with 4 acts, 9 scenes, and 5 connecting “knee plays.” Artists: Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein Track: Rhapsody in Blue Composer: George Gershwin Date: 1924 This concerto is performed by a piano, jazz band and an orchestra. It incorporates a blues scale. It was specifically made for Whiteman Orchestra and it took Gershwin around three weeks to write this. There’s a lot of debate over whether this piece is jazz or not due to the fact that it has classical music integrated into it. Gershwin made Jazz a cultivated type of music. Artists: Jim Bryant, Johnny Green, Marni Nixon, West Side Story Orchestra Track: West Side Story: Act I: Tonight Composer: Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim Date: 1957 This piece holds both polyphonic texture and random lines of fast rhythmic dialogue between two lovers. Some parts of this contain the two lovers singing in unison. The dialogue is accompanied by an orchestra, making this act very dramatic. West Side Story was the most successful musical theatre not only for its music, but its artistic ability in representing violence, even though there is some controversy over it. Favorite track: At first I thought “On Reflection” by Gentle Giant was so weird but after listening to many songs without lyrics, I really grew to appreciate how complex this song is. There's so many different sounding voices that really add to the piece. Something weird I noticed was when the line “all around all around” was playing, the instruments kind of sound like christmas music. This piece was added to my weird music playlist on spotify.