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War & Peace in the Psalms?

War & Peace in the Psalms?. Jeremiah Selvey Music 185 February 28, 2012 University of Washington. FOUR QUESTIONS . What is a choir? Which parts sing in a choir? What is “tonal music”? What is a “premiere” in music?. What is a Choir?.

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War & Peace in the Psalms?

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  1. War & Peacein the Psalms? Jeremiah Selvey Music 185 February 28, 2012 University of Washington

  2. FOUR QUESTIONS • What is a choir? • Which parts sing in a choir? • What is “tonal music”? • What is a “premiere” in music?

  3. What is a Choir? • Group of singers who strive to create an “orchestra” of voices • Usually led by a conductor • Most choristers in the U.S. are amateurs.

  4. Chichester psalmsBackground • Texts from the Hebrew Psalter • For choir, orchestra, boy soprano • By Leonard Berstein (Jewish; Broadway composer) • Composed in 1965 for Chichester Cathedral

  5. What is “Tonal Music”? • Music that uses the common practice and construct of 18th- and 19th- century melody and harmony. • A single tone or pitch is considered to be “home” and serves as the “base” for the scales on which the harmony and melody are based. • Generally returns back “home.” (Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Debussy)

  6. Soundscape of 1960’s • Expanding to more colorful explorations of composition • Led to three primary schools in the early 20th century. • Traditional / Tonal (Stravinsky, Bartòk, Milhaud, Poulenc) • Serial – dissolution of tonal construct; mathematical construction of melody and harmony (SchoenbergBoulez, Webern) • Avant-Garde – use of experimental techniques; re-creating defintions of music, etc. (Cowell, Varese, Cage) • Fresh thinking appreciate, but not a warm audience response.

  7. Bernstein’s Approach • Conducted many of these contemporary works with the New York Philharmonic • Wrote Symphony No. 3 “Kaddish” in the experimental style • Rejected the avant-garde techniques for Chichester Psalms • Use Broadway material as sources for ChichesterPslams tonal style (a huge contrast to other concert music of the 1960s)

  8. Commission & World Premiere • Commission: contractual agreement between an organization and a composer for a work intended for performance by the organization; implies the rights for that organization to premiere the work. • World premiere: the first performance of a composition. • Chichester Cathedral did NOT get to premiere the work. 

  9. WAR & PEACE? • Movement 1 – celebration & dancing • Movement 2 – calmness & then war; calmness during war • Movement 3 – struggle to find peace; peace found in the “love duet”; final chorale “How good and pleasant it is for people to dwell together in unity.”

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