This program offers convincing proof that folk songs and folk dances are the heart of all music, even great symphonic works. As you'll learn, folk music starts with the speech rhythms and accents of a particular people. Marni Nixon, soprano. The Impressionistic concert pieces of Debussy and Ravel are the musical counterpart to the dreamy paintings of Monet, Degas, and Renoir. Like the paintings, this music draws on the French notion that suggestion can be more powerful than realism.
Impressionistic music uses special scales and unique chords to achieve a misty, ethereal sound.
This program, celebrating Igor Stravinsky's birthday, shows how the Russian composer kept switching styles. At age 80, Stravinsky was still handing out the biggest surprises in the world of music. A tune is a simple piece of music you can hum or sing. Symphonic music often starts not with a tune, but with several shorter fragments, which are then woven into melody. An orchestra may also play two different melodies at the same time, yielding a fascinating tapestry of sound known as counterpoint.