Music 101

3/13 (Sun.), 4:45 P.M. -Group Performance Class Hear faculty member Brian Church perform original songs and covers while accompanying himself on guitar. Then play a piece of your own! Only two classes left this spring. Don't miss your chance to learn and make some friends!

Listen Online!

(Use this section with Listener Worksheet #1  and Listener Worksheet #2 )

 

Archlute

J.S. Bach "Prelude in C Minor for Lute" (David Tayler, archlute) Bach lived and wrote his music hundreds of years ago during the Baroque era (1600-1750).  At that time, the instruments were a little different than they are today. Modern guitars had not been invented yet, but Bach wrote music for the lute, which was similar.  Just like baroque violins, lutes at the time used strings made out of animal intestines!  This might seem disgusting, but as you can hear, these types of strings make beautiful mellow sounds. 

Violin

J.S. Bach "Andante from Sonata No. 2" (Angelo Xiang Yu, violin) Here is some of Bach's music played on a modern violin.  You might notice that it sounds like there is more than one violin playing.  That's because Bach wanted it to sound that way!  This piece is from a special collection of Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin that use double stops. This means more than one note is played at the same time. Here we have a melody with accompaniment all on one violin.

Piano  

J.S. Bach "Partita in C Minor" (Martha Argerich, piano) Unlike violinists, pianists often play melodies and accompaniments at the same time.  However, here the pianists plays multiple melodies at the same time, yet they somehow work together.  This kind of music is called counterpoint, and Bach was a master at writing it.  Listen carefully to see if you can hear more than one melody as she plays. 

Choir (with orchestra)

J.S. Bach "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" from Contata BWV 147 (Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir) You might have heard this very famous piece before.  It is part of a Cantata, a longer work for singers with instrumental accompaniment.  Like many of Bach's cantatas, this was written for a church service.  Bach spent many years as the director of music at St. Thomas Church and School in Leipzig, Germany.  This was a huge job and he often wrote brand new music for church services every Sunday! To learn more about Bach's life and different jobs, click here.