Indian musician and composer Ravi Shankar wrote this piece in 1980. The work is subtitled Raga Mala (“A Garland of Ragas”), presenting 29 ragas in four big movements. A raga forms the melody in Indian classical music. Ragas are patterns of notes but are different to a scale or melody in Western music. They are really a combination of both. Each rag:
has a particular ascending and descending pattern
is associated with a different time of the day, season, mood or special occasion
Each raga will have some notes that are more important than others. Ragas also contain short musical phrases. The raga is traditionally played on a sitar.
The sitar
Is a long-necked plucked string instrument with movable frets and a gourd resonator.
Is played by plucking the strings with a metal plectrum.
Has six or seven main strings and twelve or more sympathetic strings running underneath them, which resonate in sympathy.
Has a characteristic shimmering sound.
Listen out for the sitar player improvising using the notes of the raga in many different ways:
playing pitch bends (done by physically bending the string as it is played)
playing fast scales or runs
playing glissandos (slides)
ornamentation (fast notes that are added to a melody to embellish them)
Anoushka Shankar (Ravi’s daughter) playing the sitar
This piece was written with the following instrumentation:
Claude Debussy was a French composer (1862-1918). He was among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Suite bergamasque is one of Debussy’s most famous piano suites. It was first composed by Debussy around 1890, at the age of 28, but was significantly revised just before its publication in 1905. The third and most famous movement of Suite bergamasque is “Clair de lune”, written in the key of D♭ major. Its time signature is 98 and the music is marked andante très expressif meaning at a walking speed; very expressive. Listen out for the homophonic texture. This literally means ”sounding together”. The texture of a piece can be described as homophonic when several parts move together (e.g. in the same rhythm). A good example of this can be heard around 1 min 36.
Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996) was an American jazz singer. She was sometimes referred to as the First Lady of Song, Queen of Jazz, and Lady Ella. She is considered by many to be one of the greatest scatsingers in jazz history. Scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless or nonsense syllables or without words at all. In scat singing, the singer improvises melodies and rhythms using the voice as an instrument. Notice the fast tempo, typical of jazz styles such as such as swing and bebop.
Scat emerged in jazz in the early 1900s when singers in New Orleans began to imitate the first jazz instrumentalists. Legend has it that Louis Armstrong, the great trumpeter, vocalist and pioneer of improvisation in jazz, became the first to record scat in the 1926 track “Heebie Jeebies”, when he forgot the words during a recording session. Louis Armstrong has already featured on the music blog back in April: https://wordpress.com/block-editor/post/hayesmusic.blog/977
El Tanbura is an Egyptian band, formed in the 1980s. El Tanbura are one of Egypt’s leading folk bands, and they show pride in their country’s history of resistance through their protest songs. El Tanbura is a collective of veteran Egyptian master musicians, singers, fishermen and philosophers based in Port Said. For almost two decades they have been the custodians of some of Egypt’s oldest folk melodies. Their performances are based on traditional Egyptian music, featuring the simsimiyya instrument.
The simsimiyya is a traditional plucked lyre used in Egypt, Jordan and Yemen. In Egypt it is traditionally used to accompany a dance called bambutiyya.
A simsimiyya being played
At the heart of the group’s music is the spirit of celebration, of magic, of dance, and reverie – and the simsimiyya.
This song was from her second and final studio album, Back to Black (2006)
Amy Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer and songwriter. She was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues and jazz. Contralto is a lower female voice. You may remember learning about the different voice types in the first home-learning task you completed for music.
Amy composed the lyrics and melody for this song and combined these with chord progressions and melodies from Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s 1967 hit song Ain’t No Mountain High Enough. Recreating musical ideas from an existing song in this way is called interpolation. Listen to the 1967 song here and see if you can hear the musical similarities.
Bob Marley and The Wailers performing ‘Stir it up’ live in 1973. The song was written by Bob Marley in 1967 and it was Marley’s first successful song outside Jamaica.
Bob Marley (1945-1981) was an Jamaican singer, songwriter and musician. He was one of the pioneers of reggae and his contributions to music increased the visibility of Jamaican music worldwide, and made him a global figure in popular culture for over a decade. Reggae is a music genre that developed from a mixture of calypso, jazz and rhythm ‘n’ blues (R’n’B) in Jamaica in the late 1960s. It is characterised by:
electric guitars and drums line-up
amplified bass guitar riffs – short repeated patterns
an association with Rastafarianism – a religious movement worshipping Haile Selassie
a rhythm in 4/4 with emphasis on the missing beat
use of repeated offbeat quavers
use of dub remixing techniques where effects such as delay are added
simple chord sequences
verse-chorus form
political themes in the lyrics
Reggae lyrics are often about struggle, but the music has a laid-back feel. The drums and bass guitar create the rhythm. Listen out for the strong accents on the second and fourth beats of the bar.
Fanfare for the Common Man is a musical work composed in 1942 by the American composer Aaron Copland.
A fanfare is a piece of music usually introducing an event or another piece of music. They are most often short, rhythmic, exciting and often loud. Fanfares can be scored for any instruments, but instruments which excel at loud and percussive sounds, such as organ, brass and percussion are most effective.
This fanfare was originally written for the following instruments:
four horns
three trumpets
three trombones
tuba
timpani
tam-tam (similar to a gong)
bass drum
The recording above was conducted by Marin Alsop. Marin is an American conductor and violinist. On the 7th September 2013, she became the first female conductor of the Last Night of the Proms concert at Royal Albert Hall.
Marin Alsop is an acclaimed conductor. She has conducted most of the leading U.S. orchestras and many of the most distinguished European orchestras.
Today is the 75th anniversary of VE Day. Victory in Europe (VE) Day on 8 May 1945 saw Britain and its Allies formally accept Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender after almost six years of war. At 15:00, Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced on the radio that the war in Europe had come to an end, following Germany’s surrender the day before.
One song that you may hear being sung during the celebrations today is We’ll Meet Again. It is a 1939 British song made famous by singer Vera Lynn with music and lyrics composed and written by English songwriters Ross Parker and Hughie Charles. The song is one of the most famous of the Second World War era, and resonated with soldiers going off to fight as well as their families and sweethearts. Dame Vera Lynn is widely known as “the Forces Sweetheart” for giving outdoor concerts for the troops in Egypt, India and Burma during the war as part of Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA). Other songs most associated with her are “The White Cliffs of Dover”, “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square” and “There’ll Always Be an England”.
We’ll Meet Again by Vera Lynn
We’ll meet again Don’t know where Don’t know when But I know we’ll meet again some sunny day Keep smiling through Just like you always do ‘Till the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away
So will you please say hello To the folks that I know Tell them I won’t be long They’ll be happy to know That as you saw me go I was singing this song
We’ll meet again Don’t know where Don’t know when But I know we’ll meet again some sunny day
Here is the beautiful Aerith’s Theme from the video game series Final Fantasy. Aerith Gainsborough is a young flower seller who joins the mercenary hero Cloud Strife and his anti-government group in the pursuit of the evil Sephiroth. Her theme is played several times throughout the game, serving as a leitmotif during flashback scenes and also at her sad demise at the hands of Sephiroth. A leitmotif is a recurring musical idea (a melody, chord sequence, rhythm or a combination of these) which is associated with a particular idea, character or place. They are often used by film music composers to help build a sense of continuity (think of the famous example from the film Jaws).
Follow the first part of the theme A from 43 seconds and notice when the melody moves in leaps or steps.
Nobuo Uematsu served as the series’ sole composer from its inception in 1986 until Final Fantasy X in 2001, when he was joined by two others.
Today, the genre of video game music has broken out of the console and computer, and become an international obsession. Major orchestras frequently hold concerts of the best-loved game music that sell out the world’s biggest concert halls, and there are now Grammy and BAFTA awards for video game music. In the UK, classical radio stations like BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM regularly broadcast video game music.
American Pie is a chart-topping song by American singer and songwriter Don McLean. He recorded and released this song on the American Pie album in 1971. The style of the music is described as “folk rock”. The song is over eight minutes long and the meaning of the mysterious lyrics have been the subject of much discussion and speculation ever since its release.
When people ask Don McLean what does American Pie really mean, he apparently likes to reply with: “It means I never have to work again!” However, most people agree that the main theme of this hit song is about the loss of innocence of the early rock and roll generation. The repeatedly mentioned phrase “the day the music died” refers to the plane crash in 1959 that killed early rock and roll performers Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens.
Here are the full lyrics:
A long long time ago I can still remember how That music used to make me smile And I knew if I had my chance That I could make those people dance And maybe they’d be happy for a while
But February made me shiver With every paper I’d deliver Bad news on the doorstep I couldn’t take one more step
I can’t remember if I cried When I read about his widowed bride Something touched me deep inside The day the music died
So Bye, bye Miss American Pie Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye Singin’ this’ll be the day that I die This’ll be the day that I die
Did you write the book of love And do you have faith in God above If the Bible tells you so? Do you believe in rock and roll? Can music save your mortal soul? And can you teach me how to dance real slow?
Well, I know that you’re in love with him ‘Cause I saw you dancin’ in the gym You both kicked off your shoes Man, I dig those rhythm and blues
I was a lonely teenage broncin’ buck With a pink carnation and a pickup truck But I knew I was out of luck The day the music died I started singin’
Bye, bye Miss American Pie Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye Singin’ this’ll be the day that I die This’ll be the day that I die
Now, for ten years we’ve been on our own And moss grows fat on a rolling stone But, that’s not how it used to be
When the jester sang for the king and queen In a coat he borrowed from James Dean And a voice that came from you and me
Oh and while the king was looking down The jester stole his thorny crown The courtroom was adjourned No verdict was returned
And while Lennon read a book on Marx The quartet practiced in the park And we sang dirges in the dark The day the music died We were singin’
Bye, bye Miss American Pie Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye And singin’ this’ll be the day that I die This’ll be the day that I die
Helter skelter in a summer swelter The birds flew off with a fallout shelter Eight miles high and falling fast
It landed foul on the grass The players tried for a forward pass With the jester on the sidelines in a cast
Now the half-time air was sweet perfume While sergeants played a marching tune We all got up to dance Oh, but we never got the chance’
Cause the players tried to take the field The marching band refused to yield Do you recall what was revealed The day the music died? We started singin’
Bye, bye Miss American Pie Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye And singin’ this’ll be the day that I die This’ll be the day that I die
Oh, and there we were all in one place A generation lost in space With no time left to start again
So come on Jack be nimble, Jack be quick Jack Flash sat on a candlestick ‘Cause fire is the devil’s only friend
Oh and as I watched him on the stage My hands were clenched in fists of rage No angel born in Hell Could break that Satan’s spell
And as the flames climbed high into the night To light the sacrificial rite I saw Satan laughing with delight The day the music died He was singin’
Bye, bye Miss American Pie Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye Singin’ this’ll be the day that I die This’ll be the day that I die
I met a girl who sang the blues And I asked her for some happy news But she just smiled and turned away
I went down to the sacred store Where I’d heard the music years before But the man there said the music wouldn’t play
And in the streets the children screamed The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed But not a word was spoken The church bells all were broken
And the three men I admire most The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost They caught the last train for the coast The day the music died And they were singing
Bye, bye Miss American Pie Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye Singin’ this’ll be the day that I die This’ll be the day that I die
They were singing Bye, bye Miss American Pie Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye Singin’ this’ll be the day that I die
Songs tend to be much shorter than eight minutes nowadays. Many attribute this to streaming services as these incentivise listening to an entire song, because that is how they calculate payments. Releasing a song that fans will listen to in full will also increase the likelihood of it being placed on a playlist.
The Star Wars fans among you may enjoy this parody of American Pie by the American musical comedian Alfred Matthew (known as “Wierd Al” Yankovic).
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