Listening Blog #6 - China

Title of Piece:  香夭 (Fragrant Sacrifice) from 帝女花 (Princess Chung Ping or The Sacrifice of the Princess)

Performers:  Yam Kim Fei (任剑辉) and Bak Suit Sin (白雪仙)

Culture or Origin:  China (Southern China, Canton) 

Orchestration:  Voices, wind, strings, percussion

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This particular song, at the end of the opera "The Sacrifice of the Princess," is considered one of the most well-known in all of Cantonese opera.  This recording appears to have been from a filmed (as a movie, rather than filmed stage performance) version of this opera.  The two performers are two of the most famous singers in all of Cantonese opera.  Both are women, with Yam Kim Fei portraying the male role.  Chinese educators have begun teaching Cantonese opera to children.  Much like we teach theatre to our young students, these experiences in performing musical plays can be a great opportunity for our students to gain social skills by working with others towards a common goal.  Musical theatre often allows our students to really step outside of their comfort zone and explore different aspects of musical performance. 

  

Listening Blog #5 - Brazil

Title of Piece:  Marinheiro So

Performers:  Clementina de Jesus

Culture or Origin:  Brazil

Orchestration:  Voice, percussion, guitar

Clementina de Jesus was a very popular Brazilian samba singer.  Her music was very well known throughout the country.  This particular piece is a good example of a "call and response" type performance.  In this recording, she has a back-up group singing the response.  In other videos I found, the audience sings the response.  Call and response is a great way for students to create music, especially when they are very young.  Children are able to repeat back what they hear with relative ease.  This allows them to experience world music in an non-intimidating way.

Below is another video example, with the audience responding to Clementina's calls.

Listening Blog #4 - South Africa

Title of Piece:  Siyahamba

Performers:  International Artists Carillon (Seattle)

Culture or Origin:  South Africa/Zulu

Orchestration:  Handbells, hand chimes, percussion




Siyahamba is one of the most well known South African pieces in the world of Choral Music.  I am willing to bet that nearly every choral director in America has been exposed to this piece.  I decided to choose a video of a handbell choir performing this piece, because it speaks to the topic of authenticity.  Is this an "authentic" performance of this Zulu Freedom song?  No.  Does that make it poor or disrespectful, I don't think so.  We encounter "inauthentic" performances of music all the time.  Any time a marching band plays Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer" or a concert orchestra plays an arrangement of "Danny Boy," they are presenting a version of the song that not "authentic."  Even a Bach cantata, unless performed with Baroque instrumentation and voicing, cannot be considered "authentic."  However, as Johnson suggests (and Koops agrees with, though with caveats), music educators need to strive to help students understand the context in which the piece was originally conceived.  We can show respect and admiration for the culture and people, while performing the music tailored to our particular ensembles.  If we couldn't do that, there is no way that any of the ensembles that exist in schools (percussion, marching band, guitar, handbell, women's or men's choirs, mixed choirs, show choirs, orchestras, concert bands, etc) could perform music that wasn't specifically written for them.  Quality arrangements of music are available for our students to be able to experience and study a particular style or culture, with respect and curiosity.  It is our duty as educators to be careful to choose repertoire that maintains the high standard of respect for the source material.  

Listening Blog #3 - The Maasai people of Kenya and Tanzania

Title of Piece:  Unknown

Performers:  Maasai men

Culture or Origin:  Maasai people of Kenya and northern Tanzania

Orchestration:  Human voice, some body percussion

This piece is a good example of the call-and-response tradition of African music.  The leader sings out a melodic phrase and the rest of the people respond in turn.  The context of these pieces often relates directly to the structure.  In the Maasai culture, children use call-and-response as learning songs, women often sing of their homes and children, and men will sing of their strength and even of political candidates!  This particular video and recording is from a charity called A Voice is Heard which offers aid to developing countries.  It is possible to hear the harmony that is included by the "response" men, especially towards the end of the recording.  The piece keeps a steady pulse, most likely comparable to 4/4 time with 2 bar phrases (perhaps 2/4 with 4 bar phrases)  due to the structure of the snapping and clapping.

Listening Blog #2 - Tibetan Monks

Title of Piece:  Unknown

Performers:  Names unknown, two Tibetan Monks

Culture or Origin:  Tibetan monasteries (Tibet, India, Mongolia)

Orchestration:  Human voice

Classifying instruments for students is very useful because it helps them understand how the sounds are produced.  Once they understand the how, they can begin to understand the proper technique needed to create those sounds correctly.  When thinking about instrument classification, I think that some people are quick to forget the human voice.  Thankfully, the text includes the "singing membrane" as part of the membranophone family of instruments.  The vibration of the vocal folds (not cords) by air creates sound that can then be manipulated by other parts of the vocal tract (larynx, tongue, teeth, lips).  The monks featured on this video are able to produce a fundamental pitch and then alter the position and shape of their mouth, larynx, and pharynx to amplify certain harmonic overtones present in the fundamental pitch.  Skilled practitioners of this type of singing are often able to amplify more than one overtone, leading to 3 or even 4 voiced chords being produced by one singer.
 

 

Listening Blog #1 - Estonia

Title of Piece: Mu isamaa on minu arm

Performers:  The people of Estonia, a choir of 30,000 and an audience of 300,000+

                     This video comes from Laulupidu 2009.

Culture or Origin:  Estonia, 1869/1944

This particular piece of music has a fascinating history and connection to the Estonian culture.  If ethnomusicologists study the connection between music and culture, this song would be at the heart of the study of Estonia.  The text was written by Lydia Koidula and was chosen for the first Estonian Song Festival (or Laulupidu) in 1869.  After the Soviet occupation of Estonia, the text was set to a new tune by Gustav Ernesaks (1944).  It has been performed as the last song of the Laulupidu festival since 1947.  This song, sung in Estonian, allowed the people of this nation to maintain their identity while under the control of the Soviet Union.  It was an act of defiance of the USSR that occurred right under the noses of the Soviets.  At the Laulupidu festival of 1988, the seeds of revolution were beginning to sprout, and this song gained even more meaning and signaled the end of Soviet control in the Baltics.  Along with Latvia and Lithuania, Estonia participated in "The Singing Revolution" which was one of the more remarkable events in the break up of the USSR.  Music became the tool of protest, and the Baltics declared their independence from the USSR in the summer of 1991.

Click here for the text and translation.

Laulupidu takes place every 5 years, and the next one is scheduled for next week! July 4-6, 2014.

http://2014.laulupidu.ee/en/

Incidentally, there is a wonderful documentary called "The Singing Revolution" that chronicles the changes that took place in Estonia during those few tumultuous years, and the role music played in the independence of the Baltic States.   About 6 years ago my school was visited by a group of singers from around the world, including one Estonian.  She told me about this documentary, and I immediately found it and watched it.  It is available to rent on DVD from Netflix, and streams from time to time (not right now).  I have included the trailer for the film for those who are interested.