WEBVTT 00:02.200 --> 00:05.010 Prof: Okay. Good morning. 00:05.010 --> 00:08.380 Over the weekend, you were assigned material from 00:08.376 --> 00:12.576 chapter one of the text and it dealt really with three famous 00:12.584 --> 00:15.674 beginnings of pieces of classical music. 00:15.670 --> 00:19.960 Somebody tell me at the outset: what were those three famous 00:19.956 --> 00:20.606 pieces? 00:20.610 --> 00:23.570 Young lady down here. 00:23.570 --> 00:25.720 Student: The first was Beethoven's. 00:25.720 --> 00:27.580 Prof: Okay, Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. 00:27.580 --> 00:29.540 What was the second one? 00:29.540 --> 00:32.240 Student: I believe it was Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto 00:32.244 --> 00:32.834 Number One. 00:32.830 --> 00:35.180 Prof: Yeah, Piano Concerto Number One of 00:35.182 --> 00:36.872 Tchaikovsky, and the third one? 00:36.870 --> 00:38.920 Student: > 00:38.920 --> 00:40.560 Prof: Yeah, this piece by Richard Strauss 00:40.559 --> 00:41.919 with this funny sounding German name. 00:41.920 --> 00:44.070 We'll just call it Zarathustra, this 00:44.065 --> 00:45.235 prophet, Zarathustra. 00:45.240 --> 00:48.550 So those are the three pieces and the issues there had to do 00:48.551 --> 00:51.921 with musical genre that we're going to talk a little bit more 00:51.919 --> 00:56.209 about in a moment, and the instruments. 00:56.210 --> 00:59.990 And you went ahead and worked with the Listening Exercises 00:59.994 --> 01:04.054 nine through eleven to engage the musical instruments a bit in 01:04.045 --> 01:07.305 those particular exercises, and we have performers here 01:07.311 --> 01:09.591 today that are going to, as you can see, 01:09.594 --> 01:13.234 demonstrate some of these instruments for us. 01:13.230 --> 01:18.010 Let's make one point very clear at the outset. 01:18.010 --> 01:21.600 Oftentimes I get student papers that refer to "Beethoven's 01:21.598 --> 01:24.138 fifth song" or "Tchaikovsky's first 01:24.144 --> 01:25.364 piano song." 01:25.360 --> 01:26.570 Is that right? 01:26.569 --> 01:28.929 No, that's not good at all. 01:28.930 --> 01:30.840 Are these songs? 01:30.840 --> 01:37.000 What do you have to have to make something a song? 01:37.000 --> 01:37.960 Student: Lyrics. 01:37.959 --> 01:39.099 Prof: Lyrics. 01:39.102 --> 01:42.302 You've got to have a text and so we don't have--in eighty 01:42.300 --> 01:45.270 percent of classical music--we don't have lyrics; 01:45.269 --> 01:46.609 we don't have a text. 01:46.610 --> 01:50.270 Well, yes, with opera of course, but the other eighty 01:50.266 --> 01:53.006 percent is purely instrumental music. 01:53.010 --> 01:55.080 It works its magic, again, through purely 01:55.077 --> 01:57.557 instrumental means, so we can't really call those 01:57.557 --> 01:59.157 songs, and this puzzled me. 01:59.160 --> 02:03.620 One day I was sitting there at iTunes and I wanted to buy an 02:03.619 --> 02:07.929 interior movement of a Mozart serenade so I was all set to 02:07.927 --> 02:13.157 purchase this and it said, "Buy song." 02:13.159 --> 02:14.109 Boom. 02:14.110 --> 02:15.670 That told me the answer. 02:15.669 --> 02:19.129 That's where this terminology comes in to play because on 02:19.129 --> 02:20.489 iTunes we buy songs. 02:20.490 --> 02:24.160 It could be purely instrumental but it's called "buy a 02:24.155 --> 02:28.005 song," but we don't want to use that sort of parlance. 02:28.008 --> 02:31.028 We want to be more--a bit more sophisticated than that, 02:31.030 --> 02:32.890 if you will, and use other terms, 02:32.888 --> 02:36.078 so we'll talk generally about Beethoven's composition or 02:36.081 --> 02:39.451 Beethoven's piece or Beethoven's work or his master work or 02:39.449 --> 02:43.399 chef d'oeuvre or however fancy you want to get with it. 02:43.400 --> 02:48.190 We could also go on and be a little more precise and say it 02:48.193 --> 02:50.843 belongs to a particular genre. 02:50.840 --> 02:53.910 We could use the name of a genre, and I'll be talking a lot 02:53.913 --> 02:55.453 about genre in this course. 02:55.449 --> 02:58.359 "Genre" is simply a fancy word for 02:58.360 --> 03:00.730 "type" or "kind" 03:00.729 --> 03:03.979 so what genre of piece is this by Beethoven? 03:03.979 --> 03:04.989 Well, it's a symphony. 03:04.990 --> 03:10.980 Symphonies generally have four movements. 03:10.979 --> 03:12.479 What's a movement? 03:12.479 --> 03:16.109 Well, a movement is simply an independent piece that works 03:16.108 --> 03:18.598 oftentimes-- if there are multiple movements 03:18.597 --> 03:21.577 in a symphony or concerto-- works with other movements. 03:21.580 --> 03:24.570 They are independent yet they are complementary. 03:24.568 --> 03:27.198 Think of, for example, a sculpture garden. 03:27.199 --> 03:29.909 You might have four independent sculptures in there, 03:29.913 --> 03:34.793 but they relate one to another; they make some sort of special 03:34.785 --> 03:37.065 sense one to another. 03:37.068 --> 03:40.758 So symphonies have these four movements and they usually 03:40.756 --> 03:44.506 operate in the following way: A fast opening movement; 03:44.508 --> 03:47.278 a slower, more lyrical second movement; 03:47.280 --> 03:50.320 then a third movement that's derived from dance; 03:50.318 --> 03:54.418 and then a fourth movement that's sort of again "up 03:54.422 --> 03:57.482 tempo," fast, emphatic conclusion. 03:57.479 --> 04:01.569 Let's see how these play out by means of a quick review of 04:01.570 --> 04:05.730 Beethoven's Fifth Symphony so all we're going to do here is 04:05.733 --> 04:09.753 going to go from the beginning of the track for the first 04:09.752 --> 04:13.272 movement to the second movement and so on, 04:13.270 --> 04:15.670 and well, let's just start here. 04:15.669 --> 04:18.829 Let's just, by way of refreshing our memory, 04:18.829 --> 04:22.209 the beginning of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. 04:22.209 --> 04:40.719 > 04:40.720 --> 04:44.510 Let's pause it there, and as we said last time, 04:44.507 --> 04:48.047 it operates <> 04:48.050 --> 04:50.720 in that fashion, and that beginning gives us a 04:50.718 --> 04:54.158 good opportunity to make a distinction between two types of 04:54.158 --> 04:57.658 melody, between this idea of a motive 04:57.658 --> 04:58.908 and a theme. 04:58.910 --> 05:03.740 Both are sort of subsets of melody, if you will. 05:03.740 --> 05:07.190 As I say in the textbook there, the beginning of the Beethoven 05:07.194 --> 05:10.084 Fifth is something like a musical punch in the nose. 05:10.084 --> 05:10.424 Right? 05:10.423 --> 05:11.843 > 05:11.838 --> 05:13.958 Sort of grabbing you here, hitting you in the face, 05:13.963 --> 05:14.903 whatever, musically. 05:14.899 --> 05:17.039 It's not a very long idea. 05:17.040 --> 05:19.740 How many notes is in this opening gambit here? 05:19.740 --> 05:21.520 How many pitches? 05:21.519 --> 05:23.059 Four, > 05:23.060 --> 05:24.190 short, short, short, long. 05:24.189 --> 05:24.609 Okay. 05:24.605 --> 05:28.005 So that's a classic example of a motive. 05:28.009 --> 05:30.519 A motive is just a little cell, a germ, out of which the 05:30.523 --> 05:32.583 composer will build other musical material. 05:32.579 --> 05:36.259 Now let's contrast that with what happens in the second 05:36.262 --> 05:39.882 movement of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony where we have a 05:39.877 --> 05:42.127 lyrical, long, flowing theme. 05:42.129 --> 05:43.949 Okay? 05:43.949 --> 06:00.849 > 06:00.850 --> 06:02.240 Okay. We'll stop there. 06:02.240 --> 06:03.070 All right? 06:03.069 --> 06:06.229 So that went on--If we heard the whole thing, 06:06.225 --> 06:10.385 it actually goes on for 32 notes as opposed to just four so 06:10.386 --> 06:12.606 motive versus longer theme. 06:12.610 --> 06:15.320 Themes tend maybe a little bit more lyrical. 06:15.319 --> 06:17.589 Now let's go on to the third movement. 06:17.589 --> 06:20.499 We said the third movement was dance derived, 06:20.502 --> 06:24.612 but in this case with Beethoven it's a very strange dance if it 06:24.608 --> 06:25.998 is dance derived. 06:26.000 --> 06:27.260 It's just a little bit different than most of these 06:27.259 --> 06:29.389 third movements, but let's listen to it anyway 06:29.389 --> 06:32.319 because I'd like you to-- when the brasses come in--think 06:32.319 --> 06:34.419 about what you're hearing and think about that 06:36.620 --> 06:38.630 so let's hear the third movement now. 06:38.629 --> 07:15.809 > 07:15.810 --> 07:16.000 Okay. 07:16.000 --> 07:17.880 So what happened there when the brasses came in? 07:17.879 --> 07:20.169 How did that relate to the first movement? 07:20.170 --> 07:22.920 Yes? Student: Four notes? 07:22.920 --> 07:25.190 Prof: Four notes, something as simple as that, 07:25.189 --> 07:26.059 > 07:26.062 --> 07:28.242 , same rhythmic idea, so that's the use of a motive 07:28.244 --> 07:30.644 there and that's how these movements are tied together a 07:30.644 --> 07:31.434 little bit. 07:31.430 --> 07:34.250 Let's go on to the finale now, and as we listen to the finale 07:34.254 --> 07:37.224 let's think about what we heard at the very beginning and talked 07:37.221 --> 07:40.981 about last time, > 07:40.980 --> 07:43.180 about the mood that the beginning of the Fifth Symphony 07:43.178 --> 07:43.868 created for it. 07:43.870 --> 07:46.040 We have these adjectives up here, "negative," 07:46.040 --> 07:47.850 "anxious," "unsettled." 07:47.850 --> 07:52.050 Well, how do we feel now about the finale and why? 07:52.050 --> 08:27.760 > 08:27.759 --> 08:30.249 So why do we feel differently about that? 08:30.250 --> 08:31.630 I think we do. 08:31.629 --> 08:32.639 What do we feel there? 08:32.639 --> 08:34.609 Well, sort of upbeat, positive. 08:34.610 --> 08:38.620 What's turned all of this around, what specifically? 08:38.620 --> 08:41.770 Well, with the first movement we said he's generally going 08:41.767 --> 08:43.477 > 08:43.480 --> 08:46.370 and that kind of idea, but now it's < 08:47.386 playing>> 08:47.389 --> 08:49.459 and we'll explore this when we get to harmony, 08:49.460 --> 08:52.030 this idea of major and minor so we're going < 08:52.914 playing>> 08:52.908 --> 08:55.028 and now <> 08:55.029 --> 08:57.459 and that's a change from the dark minor to the brighter 08:57.460 --> 08:57.820 major. 08:57.820 --> 09:00.290 We were going down in the first movement. 09:00.288 --> 09:03.708 Now we're going-- <> 09:03.710 --> 09:08.470 It's going up and instead of having just the violins playing 09:08.465 --> 09:11.765 we have the trumpets, the heroic trumpets, 09:11.769 --> 09:14.429 so it sounds very triumphant. 09:14.428 --> 09:17.808 So in this 40-minute interval we've gone sort of through an 09:17.809 --> 09:20.549 emotional musical journey here from despair, 09:20.548 --> 09:21.888 despondency, uncertainty, 09:21.889 --> 09:23.899 to whatever- to personal triumph, 09:23.899 --> 09:27.949 and in a way that mirrors some of the things that were going on 09:27.952 --> 09:29.392 in Beethoven's life. 09:29.389 --> 09:29.959 Okay. 09:29.962 --> 09:35.012 Let's go on to talk about the second piece. 09:35.009 --> 09:36.429 We finished with this idea of the genre, of the four 09:36.431 --> 09:37.911 movements, so then let's go on to talk about the piano 09:37.907 --> 09:38.267 concerto. 09:38.269 --> 09:40.279 Concertos are generally in three movements. 09:40.279 --> 09:43.359 The concerto is another genre. 09:43.360 --> 09:47.800 It's a genre in which a soloist will confront the orchestra and 09:47.798 --> 09:51.738 there'll be a kind of give and take--a spirited give and 09:51.738 --> 09:53.598 take--between the two. 09:53.600 --> 09:57.020 So now we are going to listen to the beginning of the first 09:57.022 --> 09:59.562 movement of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto. 09:59.558 --> 10:02.498 You've worked with this already so you're a little bit familiar 10:02.495 --> 10:05.475 with it, and at the outset here I have two questions for you. 10:05.480 --> 10:12.850 Is the beginning here played by the brasses or the strings? 10:12.850 --> 10:14.970 In other words, what--or the woodwinds-- 10:14.970 --> 10:18.950 what family of instruments is playing here and is Tchaikovsky 10:18.953 --> 10:23.003 using a motive or is he using a theme at the very beginning of 10:23.004 --> 10:24.204 this concerto? 10:24.200 --> 10:58.610 > 10:58.610 --> 10:59.900 So what about that? 10:59.899 --> 11:02.209 Theme or motive at the beginning? 11:02.210 --> 11:02.950 Student: Motive. 11:02.950 --> 11:03.500 Prof: Motive. All right. 11:03.500 --> 11:04.920 So here it was I think. 11:04.919 --> 11:06.569 > 11:06.570 --> 11:08.400 How many notes in our motive? 11:08.398 --> 11:10.288 > 11:10.289 --> 11:11.429 Same as in the Beethoven. 11:11.429 --> 11:13.089 Why isn't it the same? 11:13.090 --> 11:16.000 Well, we've got a skippy Beethoven < 11:17.048 playing>> 11:17.048 --> 11:20.558 but here with Tchaikovsky he's coming down, just straight down, 11:20.556 --> 11:22.306 > 11:22.308 --> 11:25.558 down consecutive intervals there for the most part. 11:25.558 --> 11:28.178 And both of them are, however, minor. 11:28.176 --> 11:30.426 > 11:30.428 --> 11:33.848 With the Tchaikovsky they--all the intervals are the--the 11:33.850 --> 11:36.660 durations are the same, > 11:36.658 --> 11:39.958 but with the Beethoven, > 11:39.960 --> 11:41.390 short, short, short, long. 11:41.389 --> 11:45.369 So Tchaikovsky is a little bit more neutral in terms of the 11:45.371 --> 11:45.991 rhythm. 11:45.990 --> 11:46.350 Okay. 11:46.350 --> 11:49.160 So then we go on and the piano enters. 11:49.159 --> 11:50.909 What is the piano doing? 11:50.908 --> 11:53.778 So let's hear the piano come in just a bit. 11:53.779 --> 11:59.589 > 11:59.590 --> 12:01.670 So what's the piano up to? 12:01.668 --> 12:07.638 Well, the piano is just playing chords, < 12:09.588 playing>> 12:09.590 --> 12:12.910 playing them in octave successions, and we'll talk 12:12.908 --> 12:15.278 about that a little bit more too. 12:15.278 --> 12:20.008 So what do we have here in this next section? 12:20.009 --> 12:22.759 Do we have a theme or do we have a motive and which do 12:22.759 --> 12:24.419 this--are the violins playing? 12:24.418 --> 12:27.658 Are they--Do they have the theme or the motive or does the 12:27.658 --> 12:29.758 piano have the theme or the motive? 12:29.759 --> 12:40.939 Let's listen. 12:40.936 --> 13:06.726 > 13:06.730 --> 13:11.770 So was--what the--what were the violins playing? 13:11.769 --> 13:13.109 Theme or motive? 13:13.110 --> 13:15.070 Theme. What was the piano doing? 13:15.070 --> 13:20.610 Student: *. 13:20.613 --> 13:26.463 Prof: Yeah, just the same chords 13:26.462 --> 13:30.932 > 13:30.928 --> 13:34.008 > 13:34.008 --> 13:37.548 in that fashion. 13:37.549 --> 13:38.559 I'm singing the melody. 13:38.558 --> 13:41.508 They're playing a chordal accompaniment against it. 13:41.509 --> 13:42.339 All right. 13:42.336 --> 13:46.466 Let's listen to the next iteration of this theme. 13:46.470 --> 13:47.710 We've identified this as a theme. 13:47.710 --> 13:49.190 Who's got the theme now? 13:49.190 --> 13:50.390 Is it exactly the same? 13:50.389 --> 13:53.859 And what are the strings up to in terms of string technique 13:53.860 --> 13:54.280 here? 13:54.279 --> 14:25.599 > 14:25.600 --> 14:26.820 So who had the theme? 14:26.820 --> 14:30.120 The piano now, but was it exactly the same? 14:30.120 --> 14:31.770 Not really. 14:31.769 --> 14:33.759 It was kind of noodling around with it, varying it a little 14:33.763 --> 14:33.973 bit. 14:33.970 --> 14:37.000 What were the strings doing? 14:37.000 --> 14:38.180 They were playing the accompaniment, 14:38.178 --> 14:39.658 and what string technique were they using? 14:39.658 --> 14:42.288 I think we mentioned that in the first chapter of the book 14:42.289 --> 14:42.659 there. 14:42.659 --> 14:43.589 Yeah, you've got it. 14:43.590 --> 14:44.660 Nice and loud please? 14:44.658 --> 14:45.108 Student: Pizzicato.. 14:45.105 --> 14:45.485 Prof: Pizzicato. 14:45.486 --> 14:45.616 Good. 14:45.620 --> 14:46.720 Okay, pizzicato. 14:46.720 --> 14:48.890 We could write that--Did we write that as a term up--Yeah. 14:48.889 --> 14:49.099 Okay. 14:49.097 --> 14:50.517 We've got it up there, pizzicato. 14:50.519 --> 14:51.509 That's a help. 14:51.509 --> 15:00.509 So in that particular case we've switched the roles around. 15:00.509 --> 15:03.619 We're going to move this along just a little bit here. 15:03.620 --> 15:07.000 As we come back in to this, I think we've got a situation 15:06.995 --> 15:10.005 where the piano keeps playing the four-note motive, 15:10.009 --> 15:11.999 > 15:12.000 --> 15:13.670 the part like he was building it up for tension. 15:13.668 --> 15:16.068 Then there's a cascade and then the theme comes back. 15:16.070 --> 15:20.700 Let's see what happens here, > 15:20.700 --> 15:22.520 just the motif, one, two, three, 15:22.518 --> 15:24.798 four, three four, one two, < 15:25.924 playing>> 15:25.918 --> 15:33.298 and then the theme. 15:33.298 --> 15:44.948 > 15:44.950 --> 15:48.860 The piano is playing > 15:48.860 --> 15:51.750 , ornamenting. 15:51.750 --> 15:52.480 All right. 15:52.484 --> 15:57.044 So that's an introduction to a three-movement piano concerto. 15:57.038 --> 15:59.458 It happens to be the first of these three movements and it's 15:59.461 --> 16:00.571 pretty spectacular music. 16:00.570 --> 16:03.050 I hope you like that music. 16:03.048 --> 16:04.658 It's one of the great melodies of all time. 16:04.658 --> 16:08.898 It's a wonderful example of a theme. 16:08.899 --> 16:12.099 Having talked just a little bit about genres, 16:12.102 --> 16:16.332 we could conclude by saying there are other kinds of genres 16:16.325 --> 16:17.995 in music of course. 16:18.000 --> 16:20.550 We've been introduced to this idea of the tone poem. 16:20.548 --> 16:25.018 The Strauss Zarathustra is a tone poem. 16:25.019 --> 16:29.269 That's a one-movement work in which the composer tries to tell 16:29.272 --> 16:32.342 a story or play out an historic event or, 16:32.340 --> 16:35.730 in the case of the Strauss, to give us the beginning of the 16:35.727 --> 16:38.647 contents of a philosophical novel through music. 16:38.649 --> 16:41.119 So tone poems are one in movement, and we have got other 16:41.118 --> 16:42.328 kinds of genres in music. 16:42.330 --> 16:43.380 We've got opera. 16:43.379 --> 16:45.579 We've got cantatas, sonatas, ballets, 16:45.576 --> 16:48.626 things such as this, and we'll get to each of those 16:48.626 --> 16:49.356 in turn. 16:49.360 --> 16:54.010 So that's the end of the discussion of genre. 16:54.009 --> 16:56.659 Let's go on now to talk about instruments and how instruments 16:56.662 --> 16:57.372 produce sound. 16:57.370 --> 16:58.900 Eva Heater, come on up. 16:58.899 --> 17:02.009 This is my friend, long-time colleague, 17:02.009 --> 17:04.039 music librarian extraordinaire and professional French horn 17:04.038 --> 17:05.778 player, Eva Heater, who will 17:05.784 --> 17:08.594 demonstrate here-- Come on over here right in the 17:08.586 --> 17:08.976 center. 17:08.980 --> 17:12.260 Gene Kimball is in the basement somewhere recording all of this. 17:12.259 --> 17:12.829 Eva Heater: Oh, my.. 17:12.834 --> 17:13.304 Prof: Oh, yeah. 17:13.298 --> 17:13.938 It's very exciting here. 17:13.940 --> 17:16.280 What a time to be alive, huh? 17:16.279 --> 17:17.599 Eva Heater: Yeah. 17:17.598 --> 17:21.258 Prof: So Eva is going to just demonstrate the physical 17:21.260 --> 17:23.520 process of playing the French horn. 17:23.519 --> 17:25.679 Eva Heater: The horn obviously is a 17:25.676 --> 17:28.936 brass instrument and what makes the sound is a vibrating column 17:28.941 --> 17:29.521 of air. 17:29.519 --> 17:31.929 In this case, the basic column of air is 17:31.930 --> 17:35.450 twelve and a half feet long and there are something called 17:35.453 --> 17:37.993 "partials" or the "harmonic 17:37.988 --> 17:40.768 series" that happens in anything, 17:40.769 --> 17:44.039 on a string instrument or whatever, 17:44.038 --> 17:45.628 but on the horn it's very distinct and that's what makes 17:45.625 --> 17:46.255 the different notes. 17:46.259 --> 17:50.159 Let me demonstrate to you the harmonic series. 17:50.160 --> 18:07.040 > 18:07.038 --> 18:10.648 Now I didn't use--no hands--that was just the notes 18:10.654 --> 18:14.784 that are naturally on the twelve and a half-foot length of 18:14.778 --> 18:16.078 vibrating air. 18:16.078 --> 18:19.728 That's the harmonic series that's on that, 18:19.730 --> 18:23.620 and what the valves do is they shorten and lengthen that 18:23.621 --> 18:27.651 vibrating column of air very much like the cello string on 18:27.653 --> 18:29.073 the fingerboard. 18:29.068 --> 18:33.778 A cellist is always shortening and lengthening the strings. 18:33.779 --> 18:35.309 I'm doing the same thing. 18:35.308 --> 18:38.558 I'm just doing it with a series of switches instead of a 18:38.556 --> 18:41.326 fingerboard, which we obviously don't have-- 18:41.328 --> 18:43.248 Prof: Okay. 18:43.246 --> 18:44.516 That's fine. 18:44.522 --> 18:46.122 That's great. 18:46.118 --> 18:47.578 That's the principle, and when she said she was 18:47.578 --> 18:49.038 "overblowing" what that means is, 18:49.038 --> 18:52.398 and we'll keep emphasizing this point today-- 18:52.400 --> 18:56.100 these partials--that when a sound is made you have not just 18:56.097 --> 18:59.667 one sound but that tube is dividing up into sections, 18:59.670 --> 19:04.850 and all kinds of little sections of that one tube are 19:04.853 --> 19:06.913 sounding, not just the big sound but the 19:06.907 --> 19:10.077 partials or the overtones, the intervals in the harmonic 19:10.084 --> 19:10.744 series. 19:10.740 --> 19:14.910 So it's a whole series--when we listen to a single tone it's a 19:14.913 --> 19:17.343 whole series, and what Eva was doing there is 19:17.338 --> 19:19.568 playing out the notes in that series successively, 19:19.569 --> 19:21.179 and we'll keep banging on that. 19:21.180 --> 19:24.500 Now if you would, Eva, play just the beginning of 19:24.498 --> 19:27.608 the Zarathustra or the trumpet part. 19:27.609 --> 19:30.289 Can you do that? 19:30.289 --> 19:52.319 > 19:52.319 --> 19:54.089 Go, Eva. Go. 19:54.089 --> 20:07.429 > 20:07.430 --> 20:08.510 One more time. 20:08.509 --> 20:19.939 > 20:19.940 --> 20:21.630 Okay, and that's another note. 20:21.630 --> 20:22.740 Thank you very much. 20:22.740 --> 20:26.340 Thank you. Thank you. 20:26.339 --> 20:27.069 Okay. 20:27.068 --> 20:30.358 Now Eva has another gig out in Gilford this morning so she's 20:30.363 --> 20:32.883 going to run off, and I'm going to show you, 20:32.878 --> 20:34.868 maybe, if we can get our slides up, 20:34.869 --> 20:36.579 this overtone series stuff. 20:36.579 --> 20:37.599 Okay? 20:37.598 --> 20:50.978 Eva Heater: Okay. 20:50.979 --> 21:08.429 It's a mathematical thing too. 21:08.430 --> 21:18.320 It's all math. 21:18.318 --> 21:19.458 Prof: What we've got here is the following, 21:19.460 --> 21:23.100 this idea of partials that Eva was talking about with ratios, 21:23.098 --> 21:26.038 two to one, three to two, four to three, 21:26.038 --> 21:29.088 five to four, six to five and so on, 21:29.088 --> 21:34.188 and the point here is that the way we differentiate between 21:34.189 --> 21:35.419 instruments. 21:35.420 --> 21:37.720 Can anybody tell me this, why--You tell me this. 21:37.720 --> 21:39.580 It's always better when students answer. 21:39.578 --> 21:43.318 Why does a trumpet--If I asked a trumpet to play this pitch, 21:43.324 --> 21:46.124 a trumpet played, and then I asked an oboe to 21:46.116 --> 21:49.096 play it, the sound would be very different. 21:49.099 --> 21:51.469 Why is that the case? 21:51.470 --> 21:53.890 Gentleman here? 21:53.890 --> 21:54.970 Student: Different overtones? 21:54.970 --> 21:56.370 Prof: Different overtones. 21:56.368 --> 21:59.538 Well, actually they all have the same overtones in a way, 21:59.539 --> 22:02.139 the same frequencies will sound, but you've got 22:02.144 --> 22:04.074 it--ninety-nine percent of it. 22:04.068 --> 22:07.588 It's which partials are particularly prominent, 22:07.588 --> 22:10.878 have extra punch or extra volume to them. 22:10.880 --> 22:14.770 The oboe may have the seventh partial very strong and the 22:14.772 --> 22:18.182 third partial very strong whereas the trumpet-- 22:18.180 --> 22:19.950 I'm just making all of this up of course-- 22:19.950 --> 22:22.870 the trumpet may have the second partial and the fourth partial 22:22.869 --> 22:24.019 and the sixth partial. 22:24.019 --> 22:27.129 So it's which of these partials are sounding within each of 22:27.127 --> 22:29.697 these instruments, and the physical properties of 22:29.701 --> 22:32.061 each of these instruments are different. 22:32.059 --> 22:33.989 It's the particular blend. 22:33.990 --> 22:35.980 Here's a really dumb analogy. 22:35.980 --> 22:37.350 Any Scotch drinkers in here? 22:37.349 --> 22:38.319 No, of course not. 22:38.318 --> 22:41.008 You're way too young to do that, but think about a blended 22:41.005 --> 22:41.425 Scotch. 22:41.430 --> 22:42.790 You've got a little of this, a little of this, 22:42.788 --> 22:45.238 a little of this, and it makes up whatever it is 22:45.239 --> 22:48.349 that you end up with, the particular recipe for that 22:48.345 --> 22:48.835 liquid. 22:48.838 --> 22:53.328 Well, we have a particular recipe for instrumental timbre 22:53.333 --> 22:58.153 or instrumental color and it's the intensity of the overtones 22:58.146 --> 23:00.406 with-- or partials--within each 23:00.412 --> 23:02.912 particular instrument that creates that. 23:02.910 --> 23:03.150 Okay. 23:03.148 --> 23:06.028 Now we're going to go on and talk about a woodwind instrument 23:06.028 --> 23:07.418 here so Lynda, come on up. 23:07.420 --> 23:09.540 Lynda is a bassoonist. 23:09.538 --> 23:14.898 This is Lynda Paul who will be one of our principal TAs here. 23:14.900 --> 23:17.710 She is a PhD candidate in the department of music, 23:17.710 --> 23:20.730 just passed her qualifying exam with flying colors, 23:20.730 --> 23:24.610 so here she is to demonstrate the bassoon for us, 23:24.608 --> 23:27.198 lowest member of the woodwind family. 23:27.200 --> 23:28.540 Lynda Paul: All right. 23:28.542 --> 23:31.092 So you probably read in the book that the bassoon is a 23:31.086 --> 23:33.306 double reed instrument, and so just to show you what 23:33.311 --> 23:35.641 that looks like-- You've probably seen it but if 23:35.644 --> 23:37.974 you haven't, two pieces of wood vibrate 23:37.965 --> 23:39.975 together when I blow through them. 23:39.980 --> 23:43.640 > 23:43.640 --> 23:47.590 I always check it out before I play any notes. 23:47.588 --> 23:52.798 And, as you will probably suspect, by the length of the 23:52.799 --> 23:57.339 bassoon it can play very low notes < 23:59.166 playing>> 23:59.170 --> 24:01.630 and if I put a little rag in the top I can get it even a 24:01.627 --> 24:04.597 little bit lower than that-- I didn't bring one--but 24:04.599 --> 24:07.209 actually, amazingly, it's a very versatile 24:07.212 --> 24:09.522 instrument and can also play very high notes. 24:09.519 --> 24:12.489 As you can see, there are a lot of keys in it. 24:12.490 --> 24:16.260 There are nine keys for my left thumb alone so I'm kind of 24:16.255 --> 24:20.215 switching between these on the back here and many others, 24:20.220 --> 24:22.710 and because of that I can go very high and I'll just 24:22.711 --> 24:23.641 demonstrate that. 24:23.640 --> 24:41.840 > 24:41.838 --> 24:44.578 So that's just to give you a sense of the range. 24:44.578 --> 24:47.458 Because of the sort of particular character of the 24:47.460 --> 24:50.110 bassoon sound, it's often used to play sort of 24:50.105 --> 24:53.335 funny, little low-note characters in the orchestra. 24:53.338 --> 24:54.658 For example, if you're familiar with 24:54.661 --> 24:56.781 Peter and the Wolf, the different instruments play 24:56.776 --> 24:57.716 different characters. 24:57.720 --> 25:01.830 The bassoon is the grandfather. 25:01.829 --> 25:25.269 > 25:25.269 --> 25:25.779 Prof: Cool. Okay. Great. 25:25.778 --> 25:26.528 Thanks so much. 25:26.528 --> 25:27.778 That--That's really fun. 25:27.778 --> 25:32.428 Now Jacob Adams is a professional violist here in New 25:32.432 --> 25:33.152 Haven. 25:33.150 --> 25:34.890 What's the name of your quartet, Jacob? 25:34.890 --> 25:35.860 Jacob Adams: I'm a member of the 25:35.863 --> 25:36.763 "Vinca String Quartet." 25:36.759 --> 25:37.929 Prof: The "Vinca String Quartet" 25:37.934 --> 25:38.674 so keep an eye out for them. 25:38.670 --> 25:39.510 They're based here in New Haven. 25:39.509 --> 25:41.389 So come on out, Jacob. 25:41.390 --> 25:43.500 And he is a violist, not a violinist, 25:43.502 --> 25:46.202 but the principle here is pretty much the same, 25:46.202 --> 25:49.492 so tell us about the construction of the instrument. 25:49.490 --> 25:50.400 Jacob Adams: Okay. 25:50.397 --> 25:52.627 So obviously we've now seen a little bit of the brass family 25:52.632 --> 25:55.532 and the woodwind family, and the other principal section 25:55.531 --> 25:58.731 of the orchestra would obviously be the string family. 25:58.730 --> 26:01.780 The viola is very similar to the violin so anything I say 26:01.779 --> 26:04.449 about the viola applies to the violin as well, 26:04.450 --> 26:06.840 and of course you all are probably familiar with violins 26:06.837 --> 26:07.487 and the size. 26:07.490 --> 26:11.010 The violas are a little bit bigger. 26:11.009 --> 26:15.679 This particular one is about 16 inches long. 26:15.680 --> 26:19.020 Violins are--maybe--go up about to twelve inches. 26:19.019 --> 26:22.419 They have a slightly smaller body to them but violins and 26:22.419 --> 26:25.089 violas have the same general construction. 26:25.088 --> 26:29.468 All of the sounds are produced by the strings on the instrument 26:29.473 --> 26:33.013 and how the bow is pulled across the instrument. 26:33.009 --> 26:36.339 The bow is made out of, typically, horse hair from the 26:36.338 --> 26:37.468 tails of horses. 26:37.470 --> 26:40.280 The strings are now metallic but sixteenth, 26:40.281 --> 26:43.831 seventeenth to eighteenth century they would have been 26:43.829 --> 26:46.039 made out of cat or sheep gut. 26:46.038 --> 26:47.678 That was much more common, and still some people-- 26:47.680 --> 26:50.220 Prof: Okay. So I'm sorry. 26:50.220 --> 26:54.710 We've got lots of things going on here this morning so just 26:54.710 --> 26:59.280 play a scale quickly and then vibrato, pizzicato and tremolo 26:59.278 --> 27:00.128 for us. 27:00.130 --> 27:01.770 Jacob Adams: So again this is on a viola 27:01.766 --> 27:03.536 so it has a deeper, darker timbre than a violin but 27:03.544 --> 27:04.224 here's a scale. 27:04.220 --> 27:11.220 > 27:11.220 --> 27:11.780 Prof: Wow. 27:11.778 --> 27:12.958 You did something there at the end. 27:12.960 --> 27:14.550 Did you have too much coffee this morning? 27:14.548 --> 27:15.608 You started shaking over there. 27:15.614 --> 27:15.824 Yeah. 27:15.818 --> 27:18.148 So tell us about what you were doing there at the end. 27:18.150 --> 27:19.940 Jacob Adams: So there are all sorts of 27:19.942 --> 27:22.102 different little technique things you can do to create 27:22.104 --> 27:24.514 different colors and sounds on all string instruments, 27:24.509 --> 27:25.939 so this applies to any of them. 27:25.940 --> 27:28.950 One of them is the technique you saw me do with my left hand 27:28.946 --> 27:30.676 where I wiggled it a little bit. 27:30.680 --> 27:31.790 It's called vibrato. 27:31.788 --> 27:35.008 You hear it in human voices as well. 27:35.009 --> 27:37.399 You can do it on other instruments but on a string 27:37.400 --> 27:39.010 instrument it's the difference. 27:39.009 --> 27:40.979 I'll play a melody without vibrato and with vibrato so you 27:40.983 --> 27:41.853 can see the difference. 27:41.849 --> 27:53.599 > 27:53.598 --> 27:56.748 So that's without vibrato, not that interesting in my 27:56.751 --> 27:58.391 opinion, so with vibrato. 27:58.390 --> 28:11.610 > 28:11.608 --> 28:14.048 And you can vary the width and the speed and the length. 28:14.048 --> 28:16.058 There's a lot of varieties which-- 28:16.058 --> 28:16.858 Prof: Okay. 28:16.859 --> 28:18.949 And then just quickly play a pizzicato for us? 28:18.950 --> 28:22.180 Jacob Adams: Sure. 28:22.179 --> 28:26.349 > 28:26.348 --> 28:29.168 Prof: Okay, and then finally tremolo. 28:29.170 --> 28:30.980 Jacob Adams: Tremolo, 28:30.981 --> 28:31.251 yes. 28:31.250 --> 28:33.400 > 28:33.400 --> 28:35.910 Prof: So adds a little excitement or a little filler to 28:35.912 --> 28:36.732 the music sometimes. 28:36.734 --> 28:37.854 Jacob Adams: Uh huh.. 28:37.846 --> 28:38.786 Prof: All right. 28:38.794 --> 28:39.334 Great. 28:39.329 --> 28:46.739 Thank you, Jacob, very much. 28:46.740 --> 29:14.680 29:14.680 --> 29:19.780 What I wanted to show you was a clip that actually my daughter 29:19.780 --> 29:23.880 brought to my attention just this past weekend. 29:23.880 --> 29:26.570 She was watching television, "America Has Talent." 29:26.568 --> 29:29.758 Does anybody watch this, "America Has Talent"? 29:29.759 --> 29:31.379 And she said, "Dad, you've got to watch 29:31.375 --> 29:31.635 this. 29:31.640 --> 29:33.050 This is the most amazing thing. 29:33.048 --> 29:35.748 They've got these two guys on here called Nuttin' But 29:35.748 --> 29:36.728 Strings." 29:36.730 --> 29:37.920 So I did. 29:37.920 --> 29:45.580 I--And I went to--She sent me the link to YouTube here. 29:45.579 --> 30:35.599 > 30:35.599 --> 30:37.849 All right. 30:37.848 --> 30:40.628 So obviously the violin is not just this stodgy old thing from 30:40.628 --> 30:41.448 the Renaissance. 30:41.450 --> 30:44.570 It has some legs today, used in folk music. 30:44.568 --> 30:47.488 Sometimes you see it in Nashville playing with country 30:47.488 --> 30:49.028 music, that kind of thing. 30:49.029 --> 30:52.879 Is this a travesty to use a violin with hip-hop here? 30:52.880 --> 30:53.820 I guess this is hip-hop. 30:53.819 --> 30:54.689 Of course not. 30:54.690 --> 30:57.010 This is wonderful. 30:57.009 --> 30:58.829 This is the best thing that has happened to the violin in the 30:58.832 --> 30:59.472 last hundred years. 30:59.470 --> 31:01.570 There will be millions of kids out there now that say 31:01.567 --> 31:03.987 "Gee, I'd like to learn to play the violin too." 31:03.990 --> 31:07.690 So this is wonderful, this sort of cross-semination 31:07.694 --> 31:10.004 of genres here, bringing this particular 31:10.001 --> 31:12.221 instrument, the traditional classical 31:12.218 --> 31:14.378 violin, into the popular realm. 31:14.380 --> 31:14.900 All right. 31:14.902 --> 31:16.212 So let's put that aside. 31:16.210 --> 31:20.040 We've talked a little bit about sound production here. 31:20.038 --> 31:22.938 I've got two pieces I'm going to work with here for the end of 31:22.942 --> 31:23.612 our session. 31:23.608 --> 31:29.008 We have 15 minutes left and here are these two pieces. 31:29.009 --> 31:31.789 The first, you can see on the board up there, 31:31.788 --> 31:35.008 is by another Russian composer, Modest Musorgsky. 31:35.009 --> 31:37.449 It's called "Polish Oxcart" from his work 31:37.451 --> 31:39.161 Pictures at an Exhibition. 31:39.160 --> 31:40.730 What happened was he had a friend. 31:40.730 --> 31:41.690 The friend died. 31:41.690 --> 31:42.570 The friend was an artist. 31:42.568 --> 31:47.178 The friend left these pictures as an homage to the 31:47.184 --> 31:48.014 painter. 31:48.009 --> 31:50.689 Mussorgsky sat down and tried to come up with, 31:50.694 --> 31:54.044 create a musical response to each of these paintings that 31:54.036 --> 31:55.226 were on display. 31:55.230 --> 31:59.700 Now this is a piece that's always interested me because the 31:59.698 --> 32:02.008 painting is very pedestrian. 32:02.009 --> 32:05.809 It's of an old Polish oxcart sitting on some godforsaken road 32:05.807 --> 32:07.577 in rural Russia somewhere. 32:07.578 --> 32:10.728 So how do you make that work as music? 32:10.730 --> 32:13.880 How do you turn that visual image into music? 32:13.880 --> 32:19.780 How do you turn that into a sort of live sonic-scape? 32:19.778 --> 32:21.838 And I should say at the outset--I'm going to prejudice 32:21.843 --> 32:23.403 your listening here just a little bit. 32:23.400 --> 32:26.990 I hear this as me being in the center and this oxcart 32:26.990 --> 32:29.890 starting--It could start at either side. 32:29.890 --> 32:30.730 It doesn't matter. 32:30.730 --> 32:32.680 Every written thing usually moves left to right so I'm going 32:32.680 --> 32:33.870 to hear this moving left to right. 32:33.868 --> 32:37.888 It comes in front of me, almost rolls over top of me, 32:37.890 --> 32:41.810 runs me down, and then disappears to my 32:41.810 --> 32:45.040 right, so as we listen to this, 32:45.038 --> 32:50.498 you think about what are the techniques by which Musorgsky 32:50.496 --> 32:54.036 creates this musical action scene. 32:54.038 --> 32:55.988 You should be able to come up with two pretty good ideas here, 32:55.989 --> 32:56.819 two pretty good answers. 32:56.819 --> 32:58.479 All right. Here we go. 32:58.480 --> 33:18.370 > 33:18.368 --> 33:25.628 Now the instrument is--that is--playing is a low tuba, 33:25.633 --> 33:29.063 a low brass instrument. 33:29.058 --> 33:31.658 It doesn't sound much like a tuba because it's actually 33:31.663 --> 33:33.983 playing in the higher register of the instrument, 33:33.977 --> 33:34.987 but it is a tuba. 33:34.990 --> 33:55.400 > 33:55.400 --> 33:56.600 Okay. Now the strings. 33:56.598 --> 33:59.018 The strings come in with a counter-idea, 33:59.020 --> 34:00.450 a complementary idea. 34:00.450 --> 35:58.200 > 35:58.199 --> 35:58.609 Okay. 35:58.605 --> 36:02.005 Give me one pretty straightforward way this 36:02.007 --> 36:02.977 happened. 36:02.980 --> 36:08.380 What did he do there? 36:08.380 --> 36:10.210 Yes, young lady out here please. 36:10.210 --> 36:11.080 Student: Crescendo? 36:11.079 --> 36:12.439 Prof: Okay, crescendo. 36:12.436 --> 36:13.596 From beginning to end? 36:13.599 --> 36:15.919 Student: Got louder, then softer. 36:15.920 --> 36:18.220 Prof: Yeah, so like a giant wedge, 36:18.224 --> 36:21.284 that's why the cart seems to move in front of you, 36:21.280 --> 36:26.010 so we're talking about musical volume here. 36:26.010 --> 36:28.700 It started very quietly, it built up to this huge center 36:28.695 --> 36:31.425 in which we had the bass drum pounding away there and the 36:31.429 --> 36:34.509 snare drum coming in to give the effect that the entire earth is 36:34.507 --> 36:36.507 rattling at that particular point, 36:36.510 --> 36:41.800 and then as it passed by you--the thunder passed by you-- 36:41.800 --> 36:44.450 and off it went into the distance, quietly into the 36:44.447 --> 36:45.027 distance. 36:45.030 --> 36:51.820 We'll come back to that, but how did that happen? 36:51.820 --> 36:53.640 We'll listen to the end of that in just one moment. 36:53.639 --> 37:00.949 It's kind of a disintegration of the sound at the end. 37:00.949 --> 37:04.899 So that's one big way this happened. 37:04.900 --> 37:07.110 That's probably the big-ticket item here. 37:07.110 --> 37:09.680 There's another way, a more subtle way. 37:09.679 --> 37:13.969 Any thoughts about that? 37:13.969 --> 37:14.799 Yes? 37:14.800 --> 37:17.640 Student: The instrumentation? 37:17.639 --> 37:19.779 Prof: Yes, the instrumentation. 37:19.780 --> 37:21.400 Can you elaborate on that? 37:21.400 --> 37:22.760 Student: Yeah. 37:22.757 --> 37:26.637 It starts with low instruments and then moves to higher ones, 37:26.635 --> 37:28.505 and then back to low ones. 37:28.510 --> 37:31.880 Prof: Great. Right. 37:31.880 --> 37:35.670 So there's a kind of wedge shape with regard to the 37:35.673 --> 37:37.043 instruments too. 37:37.039 --> 37:40.889 He started with the lowest instruments and then goes to the 37:40.893 --> 37:45.083 high instruments and then back to low instruments at the end. 37:45.079 --> 37:48.609 Let's just review--Well, no, we won't review this. 37:48.610 --> 37:50.580 Let's not review that. Okay? 37:50.579 --> 37:55.039 We don't have time to review that, but let's go on to say the 37:55.043 --> 37:57.873 following, that what Musorgsky knew there 37:57.871 --> 38:00.481 was a very basic principle of acoustics, 38:00.480 --> 38:02.240 and what is that principle? 38:02.239 --> 38:03.829 Yeah? 38:03.829 --> 38:04.399 Student: Doppler principle.. 38:04.400 --> 38:04.900 Prof: I beg your pardon? 38:04.903 --> 38:05.563 Student: Doppler principle. 38:05.559 --> 38:06.799 Prof: Well, to some extent. 38:06.800 --> 38:09.200 I'm going to give an example or--example of that--of the 38:09.201 --> 38:11.601 train kind of going by you, and the sound heading off in 38:11.601 --> 38:12.651 the other direction. 38:12.650 --> 38:14.560 Yes, to some extent it is that, yes, 38:14.559 --> 38:20.819 but what I was thinking about here is this idea that the 38:20.822 --> 38:26.292 lowest sounds create the longest sound waves, 38:26.289 --> 38:28.389 and they last the longest. 38:28.389 --> 38:31.829 The lowest sounds create the largest sound waves and they 38:31.831 --> 38:33.001 last the longest. 38:33.000 --> 38:35.650 The lowest sounds last the longest. 38:35.650 --> 38:37.600 Why might this be the case? 38:37.599 --> 38:41.369 If we're not having too much luck with our slides this 38:41.369 --> 38:45.779 morning, I went ahead and put this one up on the board here. 38:45.780 --> 38:49.010 Here is one pitch. 38:49.010 --> 38:50.810 Here is the pitch in--of--a string an octave higher so you 38:50.813 --> 38:51.513 can see it this way. 38:51.510 --> 38:54.660 As you probably know, if you take a long string and 38:54.655 --> 38:57.275 pluck it, it's going to take that long 38:57.280 --> 39:00.490 string a long time to pass that sort of cycle, 39:00.489 --> 39:02.249 if you will, just one pass through that 39:02.248 --> 39:02.618 cycle. 39:02.619 --> 39:07.029 The string half a length will pass through that cycle two 39:07.034 --> 39:12.164 times so that you can kind of graph these up here as one long, 39:12.159 --> 39:16.889 low sound or one faster vibrating sound an octave 39:16.885 --> 39:20.985 higher, so again low sounds or low 39:20.994 --> 39:24.364 frequencies travel farther. 39:24.360 --> 39:26.620 Now you've experienced this in your own life. 39:26.619 --> 39:28.699 You're standing on a street corner here in New Haven. 39:28.699 --> 39:30.509 In the distance what do you hear? 39:30.510 --> 39:34.960 An automobile approaching with a souped-up audio system in it, 39:34.960 --> 39:38.390 and what sound do you hear at the very first? 39:38.389 --> 39:42.579 > 39:42.579 --> 39:43.519 That kind of thing. 39:43.518 --> 39:48.168 Then maybe <> 39:48.170 --> 39:50.700 and then maybe some kind of melody will come in and then 39:50.699 --> 39:53.549 it'll all come together right in front of you and it'll kind of 39:53.550 --> 39:54.930 disappear in the distance. 39:54.929 --> 39:55.829 You're at a football game. 39:55.829 --> 39:57.359 You've probably experienced this too. 39:57.360 --> 40:01.040 The band is marching on the field. 40:01.039 --> 40:03.949 Suddenly they do the Doppler effect where they turn their 40:03.949 --> 40:06.179 backs to you, in a way, and they're marching 40:06.182 --> 40:08.732 away from you and you hear very little sound. 40:08.730 --> 40:11.410 What instrumental sound do you hear? 40:11.409 --> 40:14.979 > 40:14.980 --> 40:18.590 The bass drum and the tuba or in the marching band it would be 40:18.592 --> 40:22.032 a sousaphone they would call it, the bass drum and tuba. 40:22.030 --> 40:24.950 So Musorgsky knew this law of acoustics because he was a 40:24.949 --> 40:28.189 professional musician and was playing off of it to create this 40:28.186 --> 40:31.316 rather unusual and remarkable musical sound-scape here. 40:31.320 --> 40:33.160 Okay. I have five minutes left. 40:33.159 --> 40:34.569 I'd like to do one last piece. 40:34.570 --> 40:37.500 It's another piece by Richard Strauss. 40:37.500 --> 40:39.750 It kind of brings us to the end of Richard Strauss, 40:39.750 --> 40:41.370 our discussion of Richard Strauss. 40:41.369 --> 40:43.869 We'll say good-bye to him here in our course. 40:43.869 --> 40:48.039 It's called Death and Transfiguration, 40:48.043 --> 40:53.833 and I hear this as a companion piece, a kind of pendant to the 40:53.827 --> 40:56.007 Zarathustra. 40:56.010 --> 41:00.890 One sort of opens up the beginning of life here and the 41:00.893 --> 41:05.783 other closes it down through a referencing of death. 41:05.780 --> 41:09.300 There's an interesting anecdote about Strauss, 41:09.300 --> 41:11.790 and that is that on his deathbed he said to his 41:11.789 --> 41:14.889 daughter, Alice--He said, "Alice, 41:14.889 --> 41:17.099 it's the funniest thing. 41:17.099 --> 41:21.049 Dying is exactly as I composed it in Death and 41:21.047 --> 41:23.347 Transfiguration." 41:23.349 --> 41:25.869 What an odd thing to say, but in any event 41:25.871 --> 41:27.471 > 41:27.469 --> 41:29.889 here is how this works. 41:29.889 --> 41:31.759 We've been talking about this overtone series with 41:31.759 --> 41:32.559 Zarathustra. 41:32.559 --> 41:34.209 Eva played this overtone series. 41:34.210 --> 41:36.990 He's basically working up to the upper partials. 41:36.989 --> 41:40.669 Now he's going to work down the partials. 41:40.670 --> 41:44.050 He's going to close it back down here with death and he's 41:44.052 --> 41:47.072 going to close it back down using a process that we 41:47.074 --> 41:51.044 frequently encounter in music, and that is this idea of 41:51.041 --> 41:53.821 dissonance resolving to consonance. 41:53.820 --> 41:55.460 Here is a dissonance. 41:55.460 --> 41:57.650 > 41:57.650 --> 41:59.090 Here is a consonance. 41:59.094 --> 42:01.094 > 42:01.090 --> 42:05.200 There are precise technical reasons why these are the way 42:05.195 --> 42:09.005 they are, but let me try to cut to the chase here. 42:09.010 --> 42:11.660 With dissonant intervals they tend to be frequencies that are 42:11.657 --> 42:13.727 sounding right next to each other, very close-by 42:13.733 --> 42:14.443 frequencies. 42:14.440 --> 42:15.740 They sound dissonant. 42:15.739 --> 42:18.159 If you allow a little bit of spacing, 42:18.159 --> 42:20.819 a little more space between your frequencies, 42:20.820 --> 42:22.460 they're a little bit farther apart, 42:22.460 --> 42:24.240 then you can move from closeness < 42:24.762 chord>> 42:24.757 --> 42:25.947 to > 42:25.945 --> 42:27.485 spacing and you get the consonance. 42:27.489 --> 42:30.439 Generally speaking, dissonant intervals have ratios 42:30.438 --> 42:33.678 such as nine to eight for the whole step or seventeen to 42:33.681 --> 42:35.451 sixteen for the half step. 42:35.449 --> 42:39.919 They're irrational numbers and these irrational numbers like to 42:39.922 --> 42:43.772 move to rational numbers; they like to move to 42:43.773 --> 42:46.013 consonances; they like to move to intervals 42:46.009 --> 42:48.069 that are based on things such as two to one and three to two or 42:48.074 --> 42:48.844 maybe four to three. 42:48.840 --> 42:54.790 So that's the principle of this idea of dissonance resolving to 42:54.791 --> 42:56.041 consonance. 42:56.039 --> 42:58.609 So we're going to listen now to the end of Strauss's Death 42:58.605 --> 43:03.515 and Transfiguration, and again we've got the idea of 43:03.521 --> 43:07.031 the octave, then the fifth, then the fourth. 43:07.030 --> 43:10.540 We're working up farther and farther in these partials and 43:10.541 --> 43:14.051 we've got some of these notes right next to each other and 43:14.052 --> 43:17.562 they want to move to the stable notes so we're going to be 43:17.563 --> 43:21.263 hearing a lot of a note right above the tonic wanting to pull 43:21.257 --> 43:23.227 down to that tonic note. 43:23.230 --> 43:26.580 We're going to hear a lot of the note right above the 43:26.577 --> 43:29.667 dominant wanting to pull down to the dominant. 43:29.670 --> 43:30.850 So let's listen to this. 43:30.849 --> 43:32.359 We have about three minutes I think. 43:32.360 --> 43:35.740 We'll hear it and I'll comment a bit as we go. 43:35.739 --> 43:39.619 > 43:39.619 --> 43:40.239 Okay. 43:40.242 --> 43:45.852 First question: What string technique is being 43:45.849 --> 43:47.469 used here? 43:47.469 --> 43:49.269 Tremolo. 43:49.269 --> 43:50.959 Just sawing away there. 43:50.960 --> 44:44.550 > 44:44.550 --> 44:49.400 Now just working with the four-note motive here-- 44:49.404 --> 44:52.544 > 44:52.539 --> 44:52.949 Whoah. 44:52.951 --> 44:56.381 A strange little dissonant chord there resolving to 44:56.380 --> 44:57.340 consonance. 44:57.340 --> 45:31.850 > 45:31.849 --> 45:56.839 > 45:56.840 --> 46:05.270 And here it's all just tonic, just the basic primordial note 46:05.269 --> 46:11.699 upon which all these other tones are built. 46:11.699 --> 46:26.579 > 46:26.579 --> 46:26.859 Okay. 46:26.864 --> 46:29.614 So that's Richard Strauss's approach to death, 46:29.610 --> 46:32.640 not particularly relevant to you young people but for older 46:32.644 --> 46:35.634 gentlemen such as Professor Kagan and myself we're getting 46:35.628 --> 46:36.568 close to that. 46:36.570 --> 46:37.280 Right, Don? 46:37.275 --> 46:38.745 > 46:38.750 --> 46:42.000 So thank you all for staying with this this morning. 46:42.000 --> 46:43.290 I hope you enjoyed that music. 46:43.289 --> 46:46.459 We'll see you in section starting this Thursday. 46:46.460 --> 46:49.230 If you have any questions, come up and see me or send me 46:49.233 --> 46:49.843 an e-mail. 46:49.840 --> 46:56.000