Big Day

Set off for SCH in the morning to attend rehearsal for tonight's PPC..

Met old and new yq frens and had a great time catching up on each other's life as well as exchanging ideas on yq matters.. haha fun, fun!

The prize winners' concert was ok, I particularly liked qing lun's dizi and also dedric's suona performance, marvellous expressions and techniques mann.. got a great deal to learn

Had a chat with liu lao shi after the whole thing, encouraged me and told me to pick a few pieces that i really like and feel it inside out.. so that it would become my 'signature piece'.. haha hmm sounds logical.. shall start some indepth analysis to certain pieces soon

us with qu lao shi and liu lao shi in the middle

Inspiration

Attended yangqin masterclass today at SCH by Prof Liu Han Li from Shenyang Conservatory of Music. Learnt a great deal about music analysis and how to go about performing it.. It was quite brain stimulating and really opens up my dimension about music performance. Oh ya and he gave each of us a book which contained his yq compositions plus some of his thoughts about yq performing, techniques of playing and it's history.. Flipped through and some of those are really chim man.. haha guess i would understand these big theories overtime

Gotta start practicing new pieces for Diploma exam next year.. still contemplating whether to take nafa or nus one.. Oh and Qu lao shi said she hopes to hold a concert next year (if she can find sponsors) featuring all her students.. Wow great! another performance platform gained

2006 National Chinese Music Competition

Just finished my finals in the yangqin open category yesterday... Came in 2nd!

Phew... Finally can enjoy my vacation!!! It has really been a busy semester for me

YEAH

Woke up at 6am today to have breakfast and do some warm up prep runs for my preliminary round.. felt really excited and to a certain extent.. anxious

(yea, i'm the only female competitior)

Left home early following the advice of my teacher.. and guess wad.. i reached esplanade @ 8.00am. Not a soul in sight at the reporting place.. had another 30 mins b4 the actual reporting time, so i just get changed and waited for qu lao shi...

At backstage, i did more warm-ups and settled down to wait for my turn.. (i'm competitor no. 2)

During my performance, i felt i did quite ok (although not my best), except for a few missed notes during the fast section of my set piece.. but teacher was quite happy with my performance

Ahh was so nervous when the results were annouced, especially when jj said that only 2 competitors got into the finals.. wouldnt forget that moment when my no. was announced, i felt euphoric!

Outside, my payco supporters were wild.. fortunately i didn't disappoint them..

and thanks jean for coming down so early in the morning to support me

In Dreams - Harmonic, melodic analysis

Continuity and unity achieve through harmonic, melodic and phrase treatment

An interesting point I observed is that most cadences in this piece occur from the strong to weak beat instead of the usual weak to strong beat, such as seen in bar 10 (plagal cadence), bar 12 (imperfect cadence) etc. This actually reduced the effect of cadential punctuation, injecting in the music a sense of continuous flow.

I also observed how the composer juxtaposes contrasting feelings in the same phrase.
In the main theme (see bars 9-12), the melodic idea felt calm and lyrical. Judging by the balanced and symmetrical melodic contour, a sense of closure is somehow felt. But the subtle usage of imperfect cadence (bar 12) injects a sense of incompleteness to this closure, spurring the music on as the tension for resolution is heightened.

Sometimes the embedded harmonic progressions also underline a certain melodic idea. For example in bar 17, the harmonic progression vi(6)–V(6/4)–vi(6/4) of D major [where its base notes are also D – E – F sharp] actually underlines or echoes the motif D – E – F sharp from the theme with rhythmic augmentation.

Another interesting aspect in bar 18-19, as seen in the bass progression, D–E–F sharp–E, underlying vi6-V(6/4)-vi(6/4)-V progression, the note ‘E’ has the tendency to resolve onto ‘D’ (chord I), but the composer proceed to a ‘G’ (chord IV) instead. Probably by prolonging this resolution to tonic, the music is equipped with some harmonic tension to portray the mood - that of restlessness above tranquility in the piece. It is also rare for chord V to precede chord IV, well at least not in the usual Classical music that we hear.

Fluidity in texture also contributed in giving the music a sense of continuous flow. This fluidity is in some way achieved by how one phrase relates to another. For instance in bar 25, phase overlapping occurs – where the closure of the first subject phrase is overlapped by the introduction of an agitated second subject.

Functional harmony

The harmonic functions as observed in this piece generally adhere to our Classical definitions. As seen in the first subject bars 9 – 10, the functional harmonic analysis is T. (b. 9 to 10), P.D. (b. 11 beat 1-2), D. (b.11 beat 3-4), T. (b. 12). In the second subject phrase, the functional harmony is T. (b. 25 to 26), P.D. (b. 27 -31 beat 2), D. (b.31 beat 3-4).

Scores:

Prelude to “The Breaking of the Fellowship”

I'll be analyzing some of the tracks featured in “The Breaking of the Fellowship” from The Lord of the Rings. One of which would be “In Dreams”.

The Fellowship of the Ring, or Company of the Ring, as described in the first volume of The Lord of the Rings, is a union of 9 representatives from each of the free peoples (Dwarf, Elf, Hobbits, Men, Maia/Istar) in Middle-earth, the number chosen to match the 9 Ringwraiths.

The Fellowship is entrusted with the task of assisting and protecting Frodo Baggins as he bears the One Ring to the land of Mordor where he can destroy it by throwing it into Mount Doom. The 9 set out on their quest at the beginning of winter on December 25, 3018 T.A. after their Fellowship was formed at the Council of Elrond.

The fellowship is led at first by Gandalf, but after his fall in the mines of Moria, Aragorn leads them until Boromir's seduction by the ring coupled with the attack of the Orcs effects the breaking of the Fellowship.

ABOUT THE MUSIC (MACRO–VIEW)

Composer: Howard Shore

The music in general is lyrical and rich in ethnic and vocal fantasy.
I feel that Shores compositional approach to bring forth the action-packed scenes were more subdued and deep, unlike what one would usually find or hear in James Bond movies (which contains lots of percussion). Shores action music is deeply woven into a choral fabric with interweaving textures that provides the magical feel required in the storyline of ‘The Lord of the Rings', without the need to use prominent percussion writings to inject that excitement.

Orchestration, Texture and Contrast

To heighten the sense of importance and urgency in the music, Shore basically makes use of orchestration–such as large orchestral and choral ensembles, to achieve that dense and broad texture.

Sometimes the massive and gothic choral passages, so deeply dominated by the male singers, provide cues that are genuinely frightening, both religiously and otherwise. The dark and suspenseful music illustrate the temptation of the ring and the dangers lurking within the land of Middle–Earth, and the paranoia that are working in the hearts of some members of the Fellowship.

Bombastic and heroic choirs and music such as those found in “Treason of Isengard” reflect the sacrifices of brave men and the bravery of the members of the Fellowship despite being outnumbered by the forces of evil.

Lighter moments, through the use of staccatos found in the "Concerning Hobbits" cue, offer a break from the awe, thus providing stark contrasts within the music.

Of Motivic Idea

The main musical theme in any film plays a vital role in captivating audiences and listeners. In LOTR, the main theme is generally lyrical and heroic, aimed at the brass, but restrained by a unified and realized string section. In fact, after listening to the tracks from the trilogy, I discovered that the most effective and tender moments of this theme are performed by the weaving violins, cellos, and basses while the brass offer a soft accompaniment. Woodwinds are sometimes employed to inject the ethnic feel of a particular location into the music.

This melodic idea sometimes undergoes fragmentation and rhythmic alteration as well as being played in different keys (such as C major in 'Many Meetings', D major and E major found in 'In Dreams' and 'Return of the King' ) to portray different expressions and moods by using the same motives.

Audio Tracks are Up

Phew.. I have finaly found a way to upload the audio files.

To listen to them, please go to:
http://sg.geocities.com/yickjr/

For better quality listening, please save the files before playing them as the file size are quite large.

Albert Tiu and Thomas Hecht Duet Recital

Haha.. I know I’m digressing from what I’m supposed to post in this blog, but this is related to music right? I’ll try to keep this as short as possible =D

As you might have guessed, I attended this concert yesterday and it was a truly wonderful experience. This was held in the new YST Concert Hall. For those who haven’t been there yet, it looks like a smaller version of the esplanade concert hall.

Ok, one thing I was really impressed on was the kaleidoscope of tonal shades/ colours surrounding me throughout their concert. I finally understood what it really means to have depth in one’s playing. The expressive range and sound scope produced was so huge, it was almost comparable to that of an orchestra.

Wow! It has been a long time since I had felt so alive with the sound of music. I feel so inspired, am going to practice piano as soon as I get home.

Oh before I forget, Mr Albert Tiu improvised the birthday song for his wife during the encore. I noticed he basically make use of non-harmonic tones such as chromatic passing notes & neighbour notes to play with our expectation - i.e. the tendency to resolve was heightened by the usage of this chromatic p.n., but he keeps delaying the arrival of such resolution, thus creating the feel of musical suspense as well as musical joke in a sense.

'Jack and Sally Montage' - Harmonic Overview

Generally this piece is very modulatory with quite a number of non-harmonic tones used. These non-harmonic/ chromatic embellishments in a sense obscure the tonality as well as chord progression.

I found that a very prominent feature in one of its motivic idea is this semitonal movement (e.g. bar 9). This upper chromatic note may sometimes be treated as a neighbour note or part of the chord progression.

I felt that this piece of music can be largely classified as strophic form, but for easy reference I have labeled it according to the change in melodic / harmonic pattern and feel of music.

The outline of tonality is as follows:

Introduction: G minor

Section A: Db major → C minor → B minor (I just realized that these keys modulate in a chromatically descending manner!)

Transitory passage: seems to be in C major with lots of chromatically altered chords (although I can't quite notate it)

Section B: Bb major → G minor →Bb major

Transitory passage: C major (again with many chromatic embellishments)

Section C: E major (chord progression brought about by ascending whole tones, F #, G#, A#) → Bb major

Section B’: Bb major → G minor →Bb major

Transitory passage: C major

Section C’: G minor

Section D: A major → C major

Transitory passage: C major → Bb major

Section A’: G minor

'Jack and Sally Montage' - Meter, Pulse Analysis II

Generally, although frequent changes in time signature occurs, listeners would still be able to feel the pulse/ beats of the music since regular rhythms such as semiquavers and quavers are used in abundance.

For instance, starting from bar 42, just by listening to the music without looking at the scores, listeners may first be deceived into thinking that the music has changed from 2/4 into 6/8 time due to the introduction of distinct dance/ waltz – like feel in the melodic and accompaniment pattern. However as one listens on, one senses the unevenness in pulse of the music (i.e. some bars have a beat more or less than 6/8).

Actual sequence of meter employed:
Starting from bar 42, the music passes through 7/8 (b.42-44), 5/8 (b.45), 6/8 (b.46-47), 7/8 (b.48), 6/8 (b.49-54) and then alternating each bar with 3/8 and 6/8 meter from bars 55-59.
As seen, the central time signature is 6/8, but the composer plays with our expectation by ingeniously adding or removing a quaver beat every few bars.

There are also instances, especially in linking passages where the sense of pulse becomes obscured to the listener. Such as in bars 89 – 90 (Fig c) and bars 116 beat 4 – 122 (Fig d) where the music seems to be suspended in time. This is achieved by rubato and the usage of longer valued notes coupled by changes in tempo.

'Jack and Sally Montage' - Rhythm & Pulse Analysis

This piece first began in a simple time signature of 2/4 and is characterized by the use of quavers which gave the music a regular metrical pattern. However the 1st sign of uncertainty in the time signature can be felt from bars 9-11 (see Fig a), due to the interesting harmonic phrasing of the accompaniment where the 6 crotchets are grouped in threes instead of two.

Fig a





From bar 29 (or 0’43) onwards, the music seemed to intensify a little as a result of punctuation in the bass. From here onwards, the rhythmic pattern (shown in Fig b) which can be detected throughout the piece is first presented.

Fig b



The semiquavers in the 2nd beat seemed to propel the music forward. This rhythmic pattern is also a unifying feature which helps bind the entire work together.

From bar 42 onwards, the sense of beat/ pulse is not as clear as before because there are frequent changes in the time signature to irregular meters such as 7/8, 5/8, 3/8. This coupled with the use of more irregular rhythms such as seen in (bar 60, 126), changes in tempo and usage of firmata, gives the music a sense of unpredictability and unevenness which well matches the musical effect of eeriness and eccentricity portrayed by the animation.

Bars 42-48

Bars 49- 63 (LHS) and Bars 86-105 (RHS)

About 'Jack and Sally Montage'

This piece of music is taken from the motion picture "The Nightmare before Christmas".
Composer: Danny Elfman

Synopsis:

The story revolved around Jack Skellington, who is the Pumpkin King of Halloween town.
One day, Jack discovers Christmas town - a land where everything is happy; nothing's dead. It seems to fascinate him and he decided to create Christmas for the world.

However, things just don't turn out right.
He had the Oggie Bboogie's Trick-or-Treaters go and get "Santa Claws" and now he is with the Oogie Boogie!
Jack trys to be the best Santa he can but it goes wrong and he gets shot down while making his present-giving rounds by the recipients of his version of Christmas.

Jack soon realizes that he is the Pumpkin King and has to save Santa before it is to late for Christmas to be fixed.

Sneak Preview

I have spent the past few days trying to source out some possible music for my analysis. There are so many enthralling music which I would love to have a closer look at, but a pity I couldn't find the scores.

So here are some of my choices (subject to changes due to availability of scores):

'Jack and Sally Montage' from "The Nightmare Before Christmas",
'One Jump Ahead' from Disney's Aladdin,
One of the soundtracks from 'The Lord of the Rings',
Maybe another soundtrack from 'Harry Potter' ,
Or 'Hero' by Tan Dun

Anyone who knows where I can get the scores for the above film music please feel free to let me know, so that I would be able to do a detailed analysis on them.

Thanks!

WELCOME to the world of ‘Fresh Earthly Music’!

Since this blog was set up for my music blogging project, it would generally be used as a platform for me to share my musical thoughts and reflections with all of you. In return, I also hope to receive valuable comments from you guys so that I can be enlightened to a different listening perspective.

In this project, we have to analyze 3 songs/ pieces from pop music, musicals or film music – hmm... genres that I'm not too familiar with... Hahaha… Nevertheless I'm still looking forward to embarking on this whole new learning journey and the discovery of various‘Earthly music’.