(Use this section with
Listener Worksheet #1 and
Listener Worksheet #2)
Baroque:
Baroque Guitar: Gaspar Sanz: "Canarios" (Diogo Rodrigues, baroque guitar) Baroque composers wrote melodies with a lot of decoration. In some baroque pieces, more than one melody plays at the same time! They also wrote dance music, like this piece. In the past, we learned about baroque instruments like the harpsichord, the organ, and the violin. The guitar was also an important instrument during the baroque era. Like the baroque violin, baroque guitars use gut strings and look a little different than modern ones. Click
here to listen to a short radio show about baroque music, composers, and instruments.
Classical:
String Quartet: Joseph Haydn "String Quartet in E-flat Major, 'The Joke' " (Ariel Quartet) Classical era music focuses on clear, beautiful melodies and harmonies. This Haydn quartet, like most classical music, has more than one
movement or part. The performers stop between the movements, but no one claps until the end. This is because all of the little parts (movements) work together to make one complete idea. Can you count how many movements there are in this piece?*(see answer below) Haydn is playing a joke on his audience at the end, seeing if he can fool them into clapping too early. Did he fool you too?
Romantic:
Voice: Clara Schumann: "Geheimes Flustern hier und dort" (Amaia Azcona, voice and Matthieu Esnult, piano) Romantic music is not always about love, but this type of music does express a lot of emotions!
Romantic music sometimes tells a story. In this piece, the singer is singing a German poem about walking in the woods and thinking about life. The fast-moving notes in the piano are supposed to sound like rustling leaves.
20th Century:
Prepared Piano: John Cage: "Sonata V from Sonatas and Interludes" (Inara Ferreira, prepared piano) In the 20th century, composers started experimenting with all sorts of ways to create new sounds for their music. In this piece, John Cage wrote very specific instructions on how to prepare a piano with everyday objects to create new sounds. Watch this video to find out more about the
prepared piano.
*IMPORTANT* Please remember that musical instruments are very precious and fragile, and you should never try to alter your instrument yourself. This could break your instrument and be very expensive to fix. Please leave it to the professionals!
*ANSWER: There are 4 movements in the Haydn piece.
