recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Ted Hearne

## **Introduction**

Ted Hearne is an American composer, singer, and conductor born May 2nd, 1982 in Chicago Illinois. He attended the Manhattan School of Music and Yale School of Music when he moved to New York in 2000. His music is known for being politically influenced and emotionally engaging. Hearne has earned a multitude of awards including the Charles Ives Prize (2009, 2013). Music Alive Residency Award (2013), and the New Voices Residency for Composers (2014). He is currently a member of the composition faculty at the University of Southern Calfornia and currently lives in Los Angelas, California.

## **Work Analysis**

The work that I will be analyzing is Ted Hearne's "Ripple". "Ripple" is an SATB choir piece that was premiered in 2012 and was commissioned by the Peninsula Women's Choir. Hearne's program notes say that the piece uses text from one sentence of one of the 400,000 internal military cables known as the Iraq War Logs. This part of the cable describes an event on July 22nd, 2005 where an American military officer opened fire on an unidentified vehicle that was driving towards a checkpoint. The occupants turned out to be Iraqi civilians. A mother was killed while her husband and two children were left badly injured. The text reads "The marine that engaged from Post 7 was unable to determine the occupants of the vehicle due to the reflection of the sun coming off the windshield." This piece has an eerie feeling to it by not having the sentence sang all at once instead, having awkward pauses in between certain words. After that, the piece opens up and has a church choir feeling to it before entering into this stuttering sound that sounds as though it is mimicking the sound of a broken record or radio. This piece ranges in dynamics from *pp* to *FF* suddenly. The phrase is repeated throughout the ten minutes of the piece but never in a round.

## **Comparisons**

Ted Hearne has many rock and roll influences that are shown in his use of the electric guitar and drums in some of his other works like *Sound from the Bench*. He has a long time love for Baroque music and Bach and most of his earlier works show signs of baroque influences. In most of his contemporary pieces have social and political influences.

## **Observations**

I have read numerous interviews with Ted Hearne and can say that his words are fascinating. He has a great standpoint on the idea that the greatest music is timeless. He feels that the idea of timeless music isolates a composer and it gives off the idea that music will resonate with people forever. This was one of the ideas we discussed in class, the idea that the music we are listening to in class may or may not be relevant in the future. After reading this interview I'm convinced that music might only be relevant if the social or political views are still active.

## **Works Cited**

http://www.tedhearne.com/about-bio/

http://www.tedhearne.com/works/ripple

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted\_Hearne

http://thelistenersclub.com/2017/06/21/interview-composer-ted-hearne-on-his-newest-album-sound-from-the-bench/
Morton Feldman (1926-1987)

## **Introduction**

Feldman, born in Queens, NY, was a pioneer of intermediate music. He was heavily influenced by John Cage. He died of pancreatic cancer in 1987.

## **Work Analysis**

I chose to analyze Snow Falls by Feldman. The piece is written for three voices and it sounds extremely experimental and electronic. It almost sounds as if he is creating square waves through a computer program with a specific midi sound, but he isn’t. It creates this really cool haunting effect that sticks throughout the piece and there is no real resolution. Like snow falling, the piece just happens.

## **Comparisons**

This reminded me of a piece that I would hear from Stockhausen because of how creepy and

   ambient it sounded. Stockhausen created music from a numerical perspective and not a creative, free perspective. I found that Feldman was more focused on creating music in this way than most other composers of his time.

## **Observations**

I was a fan of this piece at points, and wasn’t at others. I know it wasn’t electronic, but it sounded like it. The three voices in the piece really showed me how music can be very creative and simplistic at the sam​​​​​​​e time. The harmonies between the three voices really stood out to me and made me feel a bit tense. Other than that, it was a piece that asked questions, but necessarily didn’t have answers for me.

## **Works Cited**

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morton\_Feldman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BsEX4quAJE
Tina Tallon (1990-Present)

## Introduction

Tina Tallon is a self proclaimed American composer, computer musician, soprano, and improviser from San Diego, California. She was born in 1990 in Pasadena, Maryland and is currently pursuing her doctorate form the University of California: San Diego. She is a very passionate not only about composition, but also about singing and vocal work. She holds degrees in Biological Engineering and Music from MIT, and an M.F.A in Composition and Music Theory from Brandeis University. She is very interested in the relationship of technology to music and vice versa. After graduation she helped develop a curriculum for computational musicology at MIT.

## Work Analysis

The piece of Tallon's that I wanted to look at is "Song for Insomniacs". This is a piece for soprano and piano. The vocals are performed in a operatic fashion, but there is a specific lyrical content that tells the story of a person and a male figure. This song is very eerie is style and has a very ambient feel to the piano line. The piano goes back in fort between sections of ornamentation and repeating chords while the soprano line soars above. The lyrics do not seem to have any rhyme scheme, it seem like it is a through-composed pieces where each line is given its own melody, not really trying to make any themes throughout. The piece seems to be archiving the thoughts of the narrator as they stay up throughout the night. The end of the piece kind of sounds like a representation of the sun coming up.

## Comparisons

I would directly compare this piece to Ewartung, the soaring soprano voice along with the dramatic backing music and lyrics that seem just like thoughts being sung just as fast fast as they are thought of give both of these pieces the some sort of feel. The influence from Ewartung is very apparent, even if it was intended or not. The legacy of this piece is the concept of utilizing a feeling or state fo mind in order to compose a story out of, and in terms of this piece, the concept of insomnia and a forever running mind.

## Observations

I really enjoyed this piece, the added lyrics that were able to be followed allowed for a story that was easy to go along with and understand. The meaning of the piece was much more literal. I appreciate this from a piece because with other pieces with just instrumentation a lot of the meaning can be left up to the imagination, but this specific piece can be given a certain point of view because of the lyrics. From this piece I learned that I really appreciate lyrics and vocals in the song because of the emotion that can be given to them and the ability to directly get across a specific idea to your listener.
Toru Takemitsu (1930-1996)

## **Introduction**

Toru Takemitsu was born in Tokyo in 1930 and was largely self taught in music from a young age. At just 14 years old, he served in the military of his Japanese Nationalist government and it was during this time that he was first exposed to Western classical music. He dedicated the rest of his life after the war to the pursuit of musical creativity and innovation. Takemitsu wrote hundreds of independent works of music, scored for over 90 films, and published 20 books on aesthetics and music theory.

## **Work Analysis**

Orion (1983-1984) - This piece was written for piano and cello and it explores some interesting musical territory. The first thing to notice when looking at the score is the mixing of odd meters. This makes for a very engaging creation and release of tension at unexpected times throughout the piece. The mixture of piano and cello allows for a distinct timbre and sound, especially with the various techniques that are used such as pizzicato and glissando in the cello. Harmonically, Takemitsu makes great use of sustained spread voicings to create an open sound and includes a mix of quartal and quintal harmonies in the piano. Dense harmonies are dispersed throughout the upper and lower registers and mictronal movement in the cello is another distinct characteristic of this work.

## **Comparisons**

The combination of cello and piano are reminiscent of Ives' work with piano and solo vocals. The ominous and elongated tones from the cello reminded me of the vocal lines from *The Indians*by Ives. From an aesthetic perspective as well as an analytical perspective, Takemitsu's influence from Cage, Webern, Messiaen, and Debussy were also apparent in his music in several ways.

## **Observations**

I was fascinated with how Takemitsu was able manipulate timbre in such expressive ways. As well as calculated and precise, I could describe his music as sensitive and tasteful. I certainly came to admire the ways in which he sought originality and freedom in sound.

## **Works Cited**

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C5%8Dru\_Takemitsu

https://www.earsense.org/chamberbase/works/detail/?pkey=2694
Bernard Rands (1934-Present)

## **Introduction**

Rands, a British-American composer of contemporary classical music, was born in Sheffield, England. He has written everything from operas to solo instrumental works.

## **Work Analysis**

I chose to analyze Rands Quartet #2. There are plenty of points of imitation as well as each instrument doing their own thing while finding common points to meet back together in the piece to create a deceiving resolution. It’s almost as if the instruments drift apart so far and then immediately come back together again. It keeps the musical flow of the piece going as well as making it interesting for the listener.

## **Comparisons**

This piece reminds me of something that Bartok would have done. The way the different parts are written, they almost don’t seem like they fit, until they come together again to meet for a quick moment. It reminds me of Bartok because I know that Bartok really experimented with polytonality (not the same thing as what is presented here, but similar enough to mention).

## **Observations**

I was a fan of this piece. I have written a string quintet before and I wish I had a better idea of this piece before writing mine. I can take away some aspects from this piece to use in my future endeavors as a composer. Overall, this piece is something I can listen to and draw ideas from as a musician with the way it is written and improve on my own writing and playing as well.

## **Works Cited**

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard\_Rands

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4E6WteiJKw
Samuel Barber (1910 - 1981)

## **Introduction**

Samuel Barber was born on March 9th, 1910, in West Chester, Pennsylvania. With the influence of being raised in a musical environment, Samuel would enter the Curtis Institute of Music in 1924 where he would study piano, composition, singing, and conducting. After graduating in 1934, Barber would focus solely on composition, leading to him to emassing a line of work that saw him be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music twice and become known as arguably the most celebrated composer of the 20th century.

## **Work Analysis**

Samuel Barber has been associated the most with the second movement of his String Quartet, Op. 11; Adagio for Strings (1936). Barber’s Adagio for Strings premiered in a performance by the NBC Symphony Orchestra on November 5th, 1938, and was conducted by Arturo Toscanini. The piece is written for a string quartet, using 2 violins, a viola, 2 cellos, and a double bass. The work is written in the key of b flat minor and is an example of an arch form that builds onto an ascending melody. This has been described to having a melodic gesture that reaches a high point, and like a big sigh, exhales and fades off.  Afterwards, the melody will then descend stepwise. Barber changes the time signature to subtly change the pulse of the piece; Barber uses 4/2, 5/2, 6/2, and even 3/2 time throughout the music. Barber gives each stringed section a moment to where they are the focus, by switching off the main melody throughout the piece. To give more weight to the piece as it progresses, Barber makes each phrase longer than the last while moving into the higher ranges of the instruments.

## **Observations / Comparisons**

Samuel Barber was known from breaking from the mold of composers for his time but wasn't categorized as an experimentalist or modernist; most see him as a Neo-Romantic. Comparisons could be made with the late Romantic era composer Franz Schubert who was praised for his melodies and harmonies. Personally, I can hear similarities between Barber's Adagio for Strings and Schubert’s String quartet D.887, second movement.

## **Works Cited**

http://www.musicsalesclassical.com/composer/long-bio/Samuel-Barber https://www.npr.org/2010/03/09/124459453/barbers-adagio-naked-expression-of-emotion

https://www.npr.org/2006/11/04/6427815/the-impact-of-barbers-adagio-for-strings

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Samuel-Barber

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Adagio-for-Strings

https://www.cmuse.org/interesting-facts-about-samuel-barber/

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Franz-Schubert#ref6503

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izQsgE0L450
Tristan Murail (1947 - Present)

## **Introduction**

    Tristan Murail, born in 1947, is a French composer known primarily for his work using the "spectral" technique of composition, where computer analysis is used to synthesize the quality of acoustic or artificial musical timbres. He attended the Paris Conservatory where he studied with Messiaen from 1967 to 1972.

## **Works Cited**

http://www.tristanmurail.com/en/biographie.html
William Bolcom

## **Introduction**

William Bolcom is an American composer and pianist born May 26th, 1938 in Seattle, Washington. Bolcom entered the University of Washington at the age of 11 to study composition and piano under George McKay, John Verrall, and Madame Berthe Jacobson. Bolcom's works from the early 1960s included an edited version of the serial technique. In later years he experimented more freely with different musical styles.

## **Work Analysis**

The piece I will be analyzing is Black Host written in 1967. Black Host is written for a large pipe organ, chimes, cymbals, bass drum and electronic tape. This piece was premiered a year later at the University of Michigan by organist William Albright. Because this was a later piece Bolcom did not use serial techniques however still has a tonal themes mixing with tonal elements. Black Host also includes elements of ragtime which fit smoothly with the tonal and a tonal relationships. There are sections dedicated to two different hymns the *Dies Irae* and *Donne Secours.* The piece as a whole is made up of a passacaglia, a musical form from the early 17th century, a rag, and a chorale. The piece opens up with very intense repeated chords on the organ every couple seconds until we start to hear the electronic tape sounds. The opening is dissonant and has an evil feeling to it. We hear the percussions start to come in almost at the 5-minute mark and they sound like heavy footsteps in the background of the organ. The drums increase in speed before we hear a crash from the cymbals at 6 minutes. We then start to hear what sounds like church bells in the background. The rag theme enters around 10 minutes and features a recording being played on the electronic tape. This part sounds very disturbing and circus-like. Towards the end of the piece, we only hear drums and the organ before ending completely with a long sustained chord on the organ.

## **Comparisons**

Because of his use of a tonal techniques, William Bolcom was influenced by a tonal composers such as Bartók and Roy Harris. His early compositions were influenced by composers such as Boulez, Stockhausen, and Berio, Berio, and Stockhausen both were pioneers with electronic music and Boulez was a composer of post-war times.

## **Observations**

I really don't like the organ I think its unsettling and sounds evil so from a subjective point, I did not enjoy the piece. From an objective standpoint, the incorporation of ragtime and the use of the electronic tape made great contributions to the feeling and emotion of the piece. The different sections of the piece were easily identified and the a tonal and tonal relationships were heard clearly.

## **Works Cited**

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William\_Bolcom

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFzz7ONEUSY

https://scholarship.rice.edu/bitstream/handle/1911/61848/3362233.PDF?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Mario Davidovsky (1934 - Present)

## **Introduction**

Mario Davidovsky was born on March 4th, 1934, in Médanos, a province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Even at a very young age, Davidovsky was engulfed into the world of music. As a child, he would study how to play violin and would began composing pieces at 13. Davidovsky would also learn about harmony, theory, and composition with Guillermo Graetzer.  In 1958, Davidovsky would travel to the United States to study with Milton Babbitt at the Berkshire music; he would also meet Aaron Copland who pushed him to set his career there inside of in Argentia.

https://goo.gl/images/cVehxn - Photo

## **Work Analysis**

In 1970, davidovsky would release Synchronisms no 6, for piano and tape, that would experiment with electronic sounds accompanying live instruments. The texture between these two mediums are distinctive from one another as they go back forth in counterpoint.. The interplay of these two instruments expresses almost a transferration over the music as either the piano or the sounds will incrementally phase out as the other part takes over.  These electronic sounds range from high pitch sound waves to synth-like beeps. These sounds are also dynamically used in the mix of the piece as the sound waves move from one ear to the other and stop suddenly where the live piano consistently stays in both.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1asXsfEmE0

## Observation / Comparison

Even though Davidovsky was not exactly a Electronic music composer he still extended a different way to look at used non conventional means of creating sound in music. He also toyed with the idea of where electronic sounds could have with live instruments; a technique that we seen in a majority of popular music today.

## **Works Cited**

https://neilquillen.wordpress.com/2012/04/17/mario-davidovsky-synchronisms-no-6-and-james-mobberley-caution-to-the-winds/

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mario-davidovsky-mn0001851173
Vincent Persichetti (1915-1987)

## **Introduction**

Persichetti was an American composer, teacher, and pianist born in Philadelphia in 1915. At the age of five, Persichetti began studying piano, organ, and double bass at the Combs College of Music. He wrote nine sympho

   nies and four string quartets.

## **Work Analysis**

I chose to analyze Symphony for Band by Persichetti. This was Persichetti’s sixth symphony and it is written in four movements (Adagio-Allegro, Adagio Sostenuto, Allegretto, and Vivace). The movements contrast each other heavily while revolving around similar themes to keep the identity of the piece intact. It premiered in 1956, post-war time.

## **Comparisons**

This work is one of the more similar ones to pieces by Beethoven and/or Mozart in the sen

   ​​​​​​​se that is sounds more classical than modern. The drums in the beginning sound like something that would have been used for the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. It’s repetitive phrases remind me of something classical as well.

## ​​​​​​​**Observations**

I actually enjoyed this piece because it was more comfortable to listen to. I understand that not all music is supposed to be comfortable, but this piece is what I am used to listening to when I think of classical music, even though this is not written during that time period.

## **Works Cited**

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent\_Persichetti

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjocQ4SQuVQ
Mason Bates

## **Introduction**

Mason Bates is an American Grammy-nominated composer of symphonic music and DJ of electronic dance music born January 23rd, 1977 in Richmond, Virginia. He received his Ph.D from the University of California, Berkeley in composition. While he was there he was a DJ who performed in clubs and lounges. His work led to the founding of Mercury Soul which combines the use of classical music with DJing to create music for clubs and orchestras.

## **Work Analysis**

The work I will be analyzing is Mason Bates' Violin Concerto. The concerto is scored for violin and orchestra and was commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and violinist Anne Akiko Meyers. It premiered December 7, 2012. The Violin Concerto is composed in three continuous movements Archaeopteryx, Lakebed Memories, and The Rise of the Birds. Bates describes the style of the piece in his program notes as acoustic to fully showcase the solo violin. The piece is composed for solo violin and an orchestra consisting of two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets in B-flat, two bassoons, four French horns, four trumpets, two trombones, bass trombone, tuba, three percussionists, timpani, piano, harp, and strings. The solo violinist is described as a hybrid part rhythmic and part elegant. This hybrid is compared to the Upper Jurassic Archaeopteryx which is half dinosaur half bird. The beginning of the piece features a lot of percussion even including the orchestra hitting on their stringed instruments to create different rhythmic patterns. When the solo violinist is not playing the orchestra creates a grand arch of sound that resonates into the different solo violinist themes. The orchestra mainly keeps time for the soloist and creates substance behind her. Throughout the piece, there are many instances of call and response patterns between the orchestra and solo violinist.

## **Comparisons**

Bates' most famous influences are John Corigliano, David Del Tredici and Samual Adler who he studied with while receiving his BA and MM at Columbia University-Julliard School. His music is tonal so he can be compared to a number of composers who also wrote tonal music along with using exotic electronic sounds to add uniqueness. He was inspired by Corigliano's idea that "orchestral work should concern themselves with big ideas." Some of his non-musical inspirations come from studying magical realism, metafiction, and postmodern fiction.

## **Observations**

I loved reading about a composer who also doubled as a DJ I thought that was really cool. Because he is so modern and is still young I wonder what his opinion would be on some of the modern-day rappers who are starting to use classical instruments in their songs and over samples. It would be cool to compare some of his DJing techniques with those of artists I listen to today.

## **Works Cited**

http://www.masonbates.com/work/work-violin.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mason\_Bates

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violin\_Concerto\_(Bates)

https://www.mercurynews.com/2013/12/30/composer-mason-bates-energizes-symphonies-with-electronica/

http://www.masonbates.com/music/
Abbie Betinis

## **Introduction**

Abbie Betinis is an American composer born on January 21st, 1980 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. She has composed a number of different works but is most known for her choral music. Betinis emerged as one of the strongest individuals in choral composition. Abbie is a third generation of the Burt family famous for the Christmas Carol composer Alfred Burt. Betinis is the third generation to compose and send original carols to family and friends. She currently lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota and is a Composer-in-Residence at The Schubert Club, and an adjunct professor of composition at Concordia University.

## **Work Analysis**

The piece I will be analyzing is Abbie Betinis' Be Like the Bird. This 5 part canon was composed for the Christmas of 2009 in part of her Burts Family Christmas carol tradition. This carol was dedicated to High Rocks for Girls a comprehensive school that was founded by Susan Burt in West Virginia. This canon is written in Db major and because it is a canon the lyrics are repeated in a round depending on how many voices are singing. The canon has no instrumental background and the second voice starts 3 measures into the first.

## **Comparisons**

Abbie Betinis studied harmony and counterpoint in Paris, France in the tradition of Nadia Boulanger gaining influence from Boulanger's style. She also studied with Mary Childs, Philip Lasser, and Judith Zaimont.

## **Observations**

Being in a choir and directing an acapella group I think that canons are extremely useful for ear training and vocal warmups. This canon is beautifully written and the fact that this is in Db major makes it unique to other canons I have done because it is in a more complex key.

## **Works Cited**

http://www.abbiebetinis.com/works/be\_like\_the\_bird.html

http://www.abbiebetinis.com/biography.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbie\_Betinis
John Cage

## **Introduction**

John Cage was an American composer born in Los Angeles, California on September 5th, 1912. He is most known for pioneering electroacoustic music and being a leading figure of the post-war avant-garde. Cage was also credited with connections to the development of modern dance and indeterminacy in music.

## **Work Analysis**

The piece I will be analyzing is "101" an orchestral work composed in 1988 and premiered April 6th, 1989 in Boston, Massachusetts. Cage looked deeper into the contradiction between standard compositional practices like time signatures and dynamic markings and chance operations and the Yijing an ancient Chinese text. These methods helped Cage to further his need to produce random musical results. "101" is written just as Cage wanted with only one specifically marked area is the duration of the piece. Three orchestral groups are to produce three different types of sounds sustained tones (strings, clarinets, flutes), percussion, and a loud brassy area (brass, double reed). Each group has its own score with no master score or composer.

## **Comparisons**

It is difficult to compare Cage to many other composers considering after he adopted the idea of chance operation most composers stopped having contact with him and he lost a lot of credibility. Composers who experimented with and used serialism dismissed the use of indeterminate music. He was easily influenced by composers such as Schoenberg, Marshall McLuhan, Mark Tobey and Erik Satie. Cage studied with Arnold Schoenberg and most of his work from 1931 to 1936 featured the use of the 25 tone row which was similar to Schoenberg's 12 tone row.

## **Observations**

John Cage is one of the most rebellious and interesting composers I have ever studied. I enjoyed the constant unstructuredness of "101" and thought that the idea of having a looser style of composing was so refreshing. I admired that Cage had so much classical knowledge past down to him from amazing composers like Schoenberg and the 12 tone row but then used his knowledge to think outside of the box.

## **Works Cited**

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John\_Cage

https://www.britannica.com/topic/1O1

https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Cage
Aaron Jay Kernis

## **Introduction**

Aaron Jay Kernis is an American composer born January 15th, 1960 in Bensalem Township, Pennsylvania. Kernic currently is a member of the Yale School of Music faculty and spent 10 years serving as the music advisor of the Minnesota Orchestra. His musical career began at the age of 13 and throughout his time as a student, he received three BMI Foundation Student Composer Awards. Throughout his life, he studied composition with John Adams, Charles Wuorinen, Morton Subotnick, Bernard Rands, and Jacob Druckman.

## **Work Analysis**

The piece I will be analyzing is Air. Air was composed in 1995, completed in 1996, and is a piece written for violin and piano. Kernis himself describes this piece as "a love letter to the violin." The piece has two main themes and is dedicated to Kernis' wife Evelyne Luest and was composed for violinist Joshua Bell. Since it's premiere there have been many different versions created some featuring orchestra and others chamber ensemble. The violin is apart of a call and response technique with the piano in the first section and then both instruments change from a light and graceful sound to a more aggressive and suspenseful one. The violin plays extremely high notes throughout the second half of the piece in contrast with the piano which stays in a moderate register for most of the piece.

## **Comparisons**

Aaron Kernis has been described as a neo-romantic composer and with his orchestral pieces, he has been compared to composers such as Leonard Bernstein, Gustav Mahler, and Stravinsky. His style influences come from composers like Debussy and Kernis has described his works being influenced by minimalism, impressionism and 19th-century romantic music. Although Stravinsky and Bernstein wrote many of their pieces as a tonal works Kernis has discussed that he was never comfortable writing atonal music and preferred tonal over everything.

## **Observations**

I chose to analyze a non-orchestra piece to be able to look at the composer in a more subjective way. Air is dedicated to his wife and I loved listening to this piece and thinking about love and dedication. Atonal music is extremely difficult to listen to objectively and I agreed with Kernis when he said it made him uncomfortable. However, my uncomfortable feelings when it comes to atonal music is simply because of the constant dissonance. Instead of following Stravinsky through musical style he followed him through musical techniques which I was much more fond of.

## **Works Cited**

https://issuu.com/scoresondemand/docs/air\_25529

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron\_Jay\_Kernis
Thomas Köner

## **Introduction**

Thomas Köner is a multimedia artist born in Bochum, Germany in 1965. His main focus is in combining visual and auditory experiences and he is noted for using low frequencies. He is famous in the contemporary music, techno, and multimedia fields and has been internationally recognized in all of his areas. Köner's knowledge of visual and sonic art has helped him land commissions to create music for many silent films and art installations. Köner's performances and art are described as audiovisual meditations that dive deep into the notions of time, memory, and location.

## **Work Analysis**

The work I will be analyzing is Thomas Köner's *Permafrost*. *Permafrost* is the 4th song off Köner's 3rd solo album Permafrost. Permafrost (the album) is considered by many to be Köner's greatest work. In this album, he further develops the icy feel he had been working on in previous works. The title track is the climax of this icy picture. The album was released in 1993 and got its name from the word Permafrost which is soil at or below the freezing point of water for two or more years (wiki). It was difficult to analyze this piece at first because really it sounds like wind going through a tunnel or vent. However after listening to Permafrost a couple of times I realized that the real skill behind it is using different frequency waves to create different pitches. The beginning of the piece uses a very low frequency creating a lower sound and then progressively the wavelengths become longer making the frequency and the pitch louder.

## **Comparisons**

In an interview with 15questions.net, Thomas Köner explains that he gained most of his inspiration and influence from faculty at the Conservatory of Music where he studied piano and composition before studying in the electronic studio. His earliest noted influence is Asmus Tietchens a German avant-garde composer who was Köner's teacher in the 1980s. Tietchen was known for experimenting with experimental music and began recording sounds in 1965 with electronic instruments, tape loops, and synthesizers.

## **Observations**

I'm not the biggest fan of Thomas Köner's music simply because subjectively to me it is not appealing. However, using my background knowledge in physics and wavelengths I found it easier to comprehend the pitch usage and frequencies.

## **Works Cited**

http://thomaskoner.com/category/portrait/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas\_Köner

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asmus\_Tietchens

http://bitchslapmag.com/blog/2015/03/09/an-interview-with-veteran-multimedia-and-music-artist-thomas-koner-or-tools-are-useless-if-there-is-no-purity-of-vision/

https://www.15questions.net/interview/fifteen-questions-thomas-koner/page-1/
Thea Musgrave (1928-Present)

## Introduction

Thea Musgrave is regarded as "one of the most respected and excited contemporary composers in the Western world" Her pieces have been performed all over the world. She was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1928. She tends to focus on exploring the means of creating drama and dramatics through her music. Some of the pieces she creates are more programmatic than others. One of the less programmatic examples, the Horn Concerto, creates drama throughout the acoustic in the room by having the soloist moving around the orchestra. Because of the fact of being such a highly regarded composer she often gets asked about being a woman composer. She once replied by saying "Yes, I am a woman; and I am a composers. But rarely at the same time"

## Work Analysis

With such an expansive repertoire, it is difficult to chose one specific piece to represent Thea. The one I will look into is "Song of the Enchanter" (1990), a commissioned piece by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. This piece is filled with drama, from the ornamentation of the woodwinds to the dynamics of the strings. The theatrical nature of this piece gives it a feeling of coming straight out of a film score. It has it's moments of escaping the realms of tonality, but for the most part gives an illusion of a single tonality by utilizing more pleasant to the ear consonance, only using dissonance sparingly to create even more drama. Although it is only 5 minutes long, it does a fantastic job of showing the dramatic nature of Musgrave's music. It is an enchanting piece that draws you in very early on and then leaves you wanting more after it is over.

http://www.musicsalesclassical.com/composer/work/8416

## Comparisons

I would compare parts of this piece to Symphony No. 4 by Shostacovich. It is so brilliantly enticing and dramatic that you cannot help but just be fully invested in what yo are listening to. Musgrave is a great example of a 20th century composer that does not separate herself from the realm of tonality completely, she uses her concepts of tonality to her benefit and to accentuate when she wants to diverge into more post-tonal ideas.

## Observations

I enjoyed Song of the Enchanter. It was a nice change of pace after listening to strictly atonal music for a few weeks. It seemed like a piece that would be in a fantasy/scifi movie and definitely brought a large amount of drama, too. It is also rare to hear a completely work that is under 10 minutes longs, so this piece was very easy to digest and contemplate.

## Works Cited

http://www.theamusgrave.com/biography/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHjlAeRAKIo

https://classicalexburns.com/2016/10/30/thea-musgrave-song-of-the-enchanter-a-magical-whirlwind/
Dominick Argento (1927-Present)

## **Introduction** Edit

Argento is an American composer known for his operatic and choral music. He has written numerous operas and has won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1975. He has written fourteen operas along with other orchestral and choral pieces.

## **Work Analysis** Edit

I chose to analyze *I Hate and I Love* by Argento. This is one of his many pieces for a chamber choir and it is primarily atonal. The piece is written in many different sections that contrast rhythmically and melodically with each other. The voices are the primary instrument in this piece while the percussive instruments act as a supporting cast for the choir. The voices create a really cool effect throughout the piece where they constantly crescendo and decrescendo to almost create a swell effect.

## **Comparisons** Edit

It almost sounds very American sounding while also adding in some choral elements that I could picture in medieval times at a church. It reminded me a bit of Stravinsky’s choral works with swift dynamic changes and quick crescendos and resolutions.

## **Observations** Edit

I really enjoyed the piece. It reminded me of a church with the vocals and the percussive instruments added a flair to it. As a composer, I would look to maybe try to incorporate this into my own style.

## **Works Cited** Edit

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominick\_Argento#Early\_life\_and\_education

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrzMfbriMMM
Wonder Woman

**WOO! WONDER WOMAN IS CHARACTER OF THE DAY!**

Febuary 24 2018

**Wonder Woman** is a Master Builder in The Lego Movie. She is a DC Comics Character and a member of the Justice League.

## History

### Attack On Cloud Cuckoo Land

Wonder Woman is among the Master Builders at Cloud Cuckoo Land, when Bad Cop and the Super Secret Police Force Robots attack Cloud Cuckoo Land. Her Invisible Jet is destroyed during the attack. At the end of the attack, she is arrested and placed in the Think Tank.

### The LEGO Batman Movie

Wonder Woman is one of the Justice League Members at the 57th Annual Justice League Anniversary Party.

## Appearances

### Movies

* The LEGO Movie
* The LEGO Batman Movie
Meredith Monk (1942-Present)

## Introduction

Meredith Monk is an American composer from New York City, New York who's born in 1942. The art she creates spans multiple artistic forms including music, theater, dance, and many others. She mostly is known for her work with vocals and vocal technique, specifically. She is known as a "magician of the voice" and "one of America's coolest composers" from her own website. Her music findings are very interesting, with most of her pieces being very experimental and unnerving.

## Work Analysis

The composition i decided to look at was Turtle Dreams from 1983. This a very eccentric piece where the vocals, video, choreography, and background music are all working together to create a specific mood. The background music is playing a very tonal sounding background part, and the video is showing various random seeming images then long shots of the vocalists doing odd choreography along with singing interesting vocal lines that usually do not go along with the music under them. The vocal techniques used sometimes do not even sound like voices, they can sound like sirens and electronic instruments based on how they are altering the voice. The only instance and reference to turtles is the scenes in between the choreography and dancing, these scenes are when the electronic instruments start to experiment with melodic structure. The piece seems to have a form where theres an a section where the keyboard takes the main focus and then the b sections where the vocalist take center stage. In the video the vocalists stares are expressionless, and the vocal melodies seem to have certain themes that repeat over and over many times.

## Comparisons

This piece seem just like Stockhausen's piece Oktophonie. These pieces both have a very experimental conceptual nature to them, where they are fleshing out a common concept. It also seems like this piece takes influence from George Crumb's experimental work with vocals. The legacy of Monk's wok is definitely the experimenting with what the human voice can do. The timbre of the human voice is so malleable and can do so much with so little. Without Monk's experimentation we possibly wouldn't know the extent of what the human voice can do.

## Observations

I enjoyed this composition a lot, the vocal aspect was very interesting to someone like me who focuses mainly on vocals. Also, the visual aspect of this piece was similar to The Soldiers Tale, where the visual aspect gave the piece life beyond the sheet of music, giving the music a physical form in the visuals and choreography.I makes me want to try using voices in different way, especially in A Cappella music where different timbre that mimic real instruments are always a huge benefit.

## Works Cited

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meredith\_Monk

http://www.meredithmonk.org
Instructions to Fit In, Have Everybody Like You, and Always Be Happy!

These are the instuctions that Emmet and every other Bricksburg citizen follow.

Step 1) Breathe

Step 2) Do exercises

Step 3) Brush your teeth, comb your hair, and take a shower

Step 4) Wear clothes

Step 5) Greet the day, smile, and say "Good Morning City!"

Step 6) Obey all traffic signs, rules, and regulations

Step 7) Park between the lines

Step 8) Drop off dry cleaning before noon

Step 9) Root for the local sports team

Step 10) Buy overpriced coffee

Step 11) Listen to popular music
Christopher Rouse

## **Introduction**

Christopher Rouse is an American composer born February 15th, 1949 in Baltimore, Maryland. He studied with Richard Hoffmann at Oberlin Conservatory of Music and completed his graduate at Cornell University, during this time he was also studying privately with George Crumb. Rouse is categorized as a neoromantic composer and there are a number of his works that are atonal and others that are tonal.

## **Work Analysis**

The work I will be analyzing is Rouse's Symphony No. 3. This orchestral composition was commissioned by the St. Louis Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. It was completed on February 3rd, 2011 and was premiered on May 5th, 2011 at Powell Hall in St. Louis, Missouri. ROuse has commented that the Symphony is a reworking of Prokofiev's Symphony No. 2 in D minor which was a homage to Beethoven's final Piano Sonata. The work is scored for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, four trombones, tuba, two harps, timpani, percussion, violins I and II, violas, violoncellos, and double basses. The symphony is divided into two different movements one described as aggressive and the other a theme with five variations. The beginning of the piece starts off very loud and fast in tempo with a strong horn section and a fast pace flute melody. The percussion is extremely prominent in this piece instead of being used to establish a time signature. The second theme starts slow and melancholy and remains this way with a strong clarinet solo/theme.

## **Comparisons**

Rouse is classified as a neoromantic so his music is similar to composers like Tredici, and Rochberg. Leonard Bernstein had a large impact on Rouse to a point where Bernstein's death in 1990 and a series of other deaths inspired what Rouse would call a "Death Cycle" which is a group of pieces that serve as reactions to deaths.

## **Observations**

As someone who has been trained in playing the flute, I enjoyed the prominent flute melodies not only at the beginning but just throughout the piece as a whole. I loved the idea of Rouse composing a death cycle I think it's extremely emotional and touching in so many ways. Most of the composers from this time that I have researched never poured actual emotion into there work so it was refreshing and warm.

## **Works Cited**

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher\_Rouse\_(composer)

http://www.christopherrouse.com/sym3press.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony\_No.\_3\_(Rouse)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoromanticism\_(music)
Unikitty!

## Unikitty!

### Main Cast

* Tara Strong
* Grey DeLisle
* Roger Craig Smith
* Kate Micucci
* Eric Bauza
* Michael Croner

## External Links

### Fandom Wiki

Unikitty Wiki

Unikitty! is a TV Show in the LCU.

## Cast

* Tara Strong as Unikitty

* Grey DeLisle as Puppycorn

* Roger Craig Smith as Hawkodile and Richard

* Kate Micucci as Dr. Fox

* Eric Bauza as Master Frown

* Michael Croner as Brock

## Episodes

### Season 1

1 Spoooooky Game

2 Sparkle Matter Matters

3 No Day Like Snow Day

4 Action Forest

5 Kaiju Kitty

6 Fire and Nice

7 Rock Friend

8 Kitchen Chaos

9 Crushing Defeat

10 Wishing Well

11 Hide N Seek

12 Stuck Together

13 Little Prince Puppycorn

14 Pet Pet

15 Kitty Court

16/0(SDCC 2017) Birthday Blowout

17 Lab Cat

18 The Zone

19 Too Many Unikittys

20 Film Fest

21 Unikitty News!

22 Dinner Apart-y

23

24

25

??/23(As seen on a UK Promotional Poster)Spooky Tales

### Other

* Bumpers

* Unikitty One Hour of Relaxing Yule Log
Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998)

## **Introduction**

Schnittke was born in Frankfurt in 1934. He is a Soviet and German composer. His work is heavily influence

   d by Dmitri Shostakovich and he developed a polystylistic technique in his works.==**Work Analysis**==

I chose to analyze Concerto Grosso No. 1 by Schnittke. The piece is written for chamber orchestra and soloists. It is divided into six movements. The piece opens with a single piano that creates a mood using minor thirds. The piece then grows to be more chromatic and atonal by the later movements.

## **Comparisons**

   The opening reminded me of Pierrot Lunaire by Schönberg in the sense of how one theme created the mood. Schönberg used voices while Schnittke used the piano to set the tone for the entirety of the piece.

## **Observations**

I was not the biggest fan of this piece when it came to subjective thinking. Objectively, I think this is a well crafted piece of music. I just did not seem to find any real pleasure in listening to it. It reminded me too much of music I would expect while waiting for something bad to happen.

## **Works Cited**

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred\_Schnittke

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaaRk0c-780
Witold Lutosławski (1913-1994)

## **Introduction**

Lutosławski was a Polish composer and orchestral conductor. He is arguably one of the greatest European composers of the 20th century. He studied piano and composition in Warsaw. He died of cancer in 1994.

## **Work Analysis**

I chose to analyze Lutosławski’s Third Symphony. The swift, meticulous, changes in dynamics really give this piece an emotion that not many pieces can evoke. The opening line grabs the attention of the listener and puts them in Lutosławski’s mind. It is an extremely well crafted symphony where every instrument and line seems to have something important to say throughout. He utilizes rests to create a suspense in the piece. He is also known for utilizing groups of intervals and basing his pieces around them.

## **Comparisons**

This is Stravinsky-esque. I see plenty of comparisons of Eastern-European elements in here with the atonality and non-classical way of looking at the musical world. Lutosławski was known for using fo

   lk influences in his music and his Third Symphony represents and embodies his Polish culture while mixing it with a western style of writing.

## **Observations**

This is probably one of my favorite pieces that I have looked at all semester. Lutosławski does what no other composer has done for me in this piece. There is so much going on in this piece while there is something being played, as well as so much going on when nothing is being played.

## **Works Cited**

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witold\_Lutosławski

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0aJHZ7LBMc