Piano

I sat next toccata Saunders parents, and to see how proud they were through out the show was a special thing to be a part of. Sonata for Cello and Plano by Claude Debussy, the first piece was Jazzy, then romantic, then mysterious. It really set the tone for the rest of the concert. The first piece really showed a lot of variety In the tones and tempos of the song. And it was so interesting to listen to because I never knew what was going to happen next. The second piece was a solo, and it was so inspirational. Cantor 1 & 2 for solo cello, by Morals Noble.

Jacob was breathing hard, playing an overwhelming amount of notes all so fast. You could really see the passion in his face, and his entire body language. He is such a professional and advanced performer who clearly has a very bright future in his music career. This musical number was also one that threw curve balls at me, because of the continually changing tempo and tones from romantic to suspenseful. All the pieces were long in duration, and that really impressed me because it’s clear that they put in so much effort and time with practicing, and then performing perfectly.

Music is a really powerful thing, and it was the most clear how much passion he has for what he does, and that’s what makes a great musician. His vibrato was impressive to watch, and it made me wish I had played cello longer. After intermission, Beets came back, which I was glad about because I love the sound of the cello and piano together; it’s absolutely beautiful. This piece was called Fretters for Cello and Piano by Arbor Part. The song was slow and quiet and It sounded familiar to me.

The notes had so much flow, and the two performers vided so well together; always on the same page. There was such a good build on the song, and was really moving. The short amount of time the musicians have to change their page of music is so amazing to me, because It seems critical that they don’t mess up. And they TLD. Very professional. The last piece was my favorite because It was so beautiful. Sonata In C Major, pop. 119 by Serge Profile. It made me feel so fancy and classy. The whole show was romantic, but the last piece really stood out to my on the romance level.

When the show was over, I was really happy that I had chosen this concert to attend, because it need up being my favorite. Venus in fur By Joyfully was great. White Christmas lights, and the position of the instruments made me feel like I was at a classy coffee shop in France. The cello and piano were the first instruments I ever learned how to play, and I went with a friend who plays the cello currently, so we both had a great appreciation for the show. I sat next to Jacob special thing to be a part of. Sonata for Cello and Piano by Claude Debussy, the first the concert.

The first piece really showed a lot of variety in the tones and tempos of he song, and it was so interesting to listen to because I never knew what was going Fretters for Cello and Piano by Arbor Part. The song was slow and quiet and it sounded together; always on the same page. There was such a good build on the song, and page of music is so amazing to me, because it seems critical that they don’t mess up… And they didn’t. Very professional. The last piece was my favorite because it was so beautiful. Sonata in C Major, pop. 119 by Sergei Profile. It made me feel so fancy and classy.

It is arguable that some Romantic music made greater demands upon its listeners than did music of previous historical periods. What were those demands? Why did these changes come about? And what strategies can you formulate for listening to this music today? In consideration of the musical changes present in the Romantic era, this essay will contend that these changes are very much related to the wider social and technological changes in society around that time. Thus, it is important to identify the broad time period encompassed by this era.

The definition of Romanticism in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians is: “A movement or, more commonly, period of cultural history. When understood as a period, Romanticism is usually identified with either the first half or the whole of the 19th century. The term is used with reference primarily to the arts, but it can also embrace philosophy, socio-political history and, more widely, the ‘spirit’ of the era. ” [i] Consequently, this essay views that Romantic music encompasses the whole of the nineteenth century and will consider some of the key changes which occurred around that time period.

It has been argued that these changes have resulted in music which makes greater demands upon its listeners and this essay will highlight these demands and how they were influenced by those social and technological changes of that time, concluding with strategies for listening to this music today. Some of the music which can be used to illustrate these changes are specific works by Beethoven, a composer, who is viewed as a major influence on the music of the nineteenth century. This can be evidenced by the Grove article on Romanticism, which deems it to be widely accepted that Beethoven “inaugurated a ‘Romantic era’”[ii].

The demands of Romantic music are characterised by several key changes. These changes can be summarised as follows: an increased intensity, both technical and musical; a greater use of radical contrasts in the music and a significant increase in the length of musical compositions. The increased intensity of Romantic music can be demonstrated by an analysis of the Diploma syllabus of the ABRSM[iii]. This syllabus provides an “authoritative assessment framework” [iv] for technical and musical ability and one can see that the vast preponderance of its pieces fall into the Romantic category.

Furthermore, as one progresses through the levels of syllabus, the “repertoire becomes more demanding” [v] and the volume of Romantic pieces increases steadily. A major factor in this change is the related technological advancements of that time period which resulted in the upgrading of a number of musical instruments to more advanced forms. This can be illustrated with reference to the specific example of the piano, an instrument refined considerably during the Romantic period.

Key changes incorporate the introduction of modern style pedals, greater string diameters and tensions, an extended number of octaves, the double escapement action and the cast iron frame[vi] [vii]. Thus, the instrument of the nineteenth century is far superior to its eighteenth century counterpart. The resultant musical changes include a greater quantity of octaves available and a greater range of power and dynamics made available to the composer. This had the obvious corollary of composers producing pieces with greater use of radical dynamic contrasts. According to Winter[viii], Romantic composers used their new piano to great effect: The single most important development in the sound of the Romantic piano was doubtless the new emphasis on the sustaining (or damper) pedal. ” These key changes of distinctive contrasts and increased intensity were aided by the accompanying social change in music around the Romantic period, which can be characterised by the rise of the virtuoso. Franz Liszt, the legendary pianist, dazzled audiences across Europe, garnering rave reviews wherever he travelled, considered by The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians to be “the greatest piano virtuoso of his time” [ix]. The improved piano was critical to his displays of technical prowess.

Without it he would not have been able to play pieces as demanding on the instrument. The “hitherto unimagined difficulty” [x] of his Vingt-quatres grandes etudes pour le piano[xi], was considered too much by the composer, he revised the Etudes and later published his Etudes d’execution transcendante[xii], – the latter still ferociously difficult but surpassed in that respect by the former. Given that a key feature of Liszt’s playing style and compositions was technical skill, one could argue Liszt could not have been the performer, or composer, he was, in the preceding century.

Nicolo Paganini was another virtuoso of the highest calibre – a violinist[xiii]. He, too, gave fantastic performances to rapturous crowds in numerous countries. William Ayrton, editor of The Harmonicon, remarked that: “[H]is powers of execution are little less than marvelous, and such as we could only have believed on the evidence of our own senses; they imply a strong natural propensity for music, with an industry, a perseverance, a devotedness and also a skill in inventing means, without any parallel in the history of his instrument. ” [xiv]

Paganini, similar to Liszt, composed works for his instrument, which were considered some of the hardest in its repertoire[xv] – pushing the boundaries of the Romantic violin to previously unseen heights. An excellent way for a virtuoso to show off their talents is a concerto. The concerto provided a perfect vehicle to showcase the new technically advanced instruments and the music that could be performed on them[xvi]. One characteristic of Romantic concertos is their length. Indeed, this increased length is another key aspect of Romantic music as a whole.

To take one concrete example of this, Vladimir Askenazy’s interpretations of Beethoven’s piano concertos[xvii] are significantly greater in length than his interpretations of Mozart’s concertos[xviii]. Further illustration of this is the opening movements of Beethoven’s piano concertos numbers 4 and 5, which both last longer than a number of Mozart’s concertos in their entirety and are longer, by far, than any of Mozart’s first movements. Similarly, other forms of musical composition demonstrated increasing length during the Romantic era.

Beethoven’s Piano Sonata number 29 ,‘Hammerklavier’, being a case in point, according to Marston[xix], the extremely long solo piece was “most likely the longest ever written at that time”. The Hammerklavier sonata is also a perfect example of the other previously stated Romantic characteristics. The use of pianississimo and fortissimo a bar apart in the final section of the first movement is but one example of the radical contrasts present in the piece as a whole[xx]. Another hallmark of Romantic music is present in this piece: extreme technical difficulty – Andras Schiff declared Hammerklavier “virtually unplayable” [xxi].

This increase in length was also evident in the Romantic symphony. One striking example being Beethoven’s Symphony number three, ‘Eroica’, first published in 1804 [xxii], at the very dawn of musical Romanticism – its opening movement “dwarf[s] any comparable previous movement” [xxiii]. According to Bonds[xxiv], Eroica is the start, for Beethoven at least, of music displaying profound Romantic characteristics: “Particularly from the ‘Eroica’ onwards, Beethoven was seen to have explored a variety of ways in which instrumental music could evoke images and ideas transcending the world of sound. Overall, these properties of Romanticism were influenced by the social changes of the nineteenth century. These changes meant that composers of the Romantic era had greater freedom than ever before. Unlike their counterparts in previous historical periods, they no longer had to be almost entirely dependent on the church or the state or wealthy, upper-class patrons[xxv] [xxvi]. As highlighted previously, musicians could support themselves by giving public concerts, “Paganini earned so much money in one year that he could have bought 300 kilos of gold. [xxvii] [xxviii] As we can see in this example from Grove, the orchestra of the Romantic age was distinctly different from its predecessors in that it was not for the personal amusement of royalty or a symbol of status: “During most of the 18th century orchestras had been an accompaniment to and an expression of aristocratic court culture; in the 19th century the orchestra became a central institution of public musical life. ” [xxix] Given the demands illustrated through these changes, several strategies are suggested.

One possible strategy would be to learn a piece. As reading music is a necessary precursor to this, it would be a required and fruitful use of one’s time to learn to do so if the skill has not already been learnt. Learning to play a piece of music would be the ideal realisation of this strategy. However, this is not always possible and would be impractical for a piece with a large number of parts – a symphony, for example. Nevertheless, one can study and appreciate the technical or musical difficulty involved in a piece without being able to master it.

Once able, listening to a piece of music whilst consulting the score is also a useful tool for following a piece and picking out specific parts. This is especially true of any orchestral piece. Another related strategy would be to try and put oneself in the shoes of a listener of the Romantic era. Listening to recordings performed on period instruments would be an ideal method of doing this. Also, learning more about the people of the period and what it would have been like for a nineteenth century person to listen to a certain work for the first time would be a further way to pursue this strategy.

To learn, and appreciate, any other art forms linked with a piece of music is another strategy for listening to Romantic music – for example, Beethoven’s Symphony number 9. Beethoven based the final movement on the poem ‘Ode to Joy’ by Friedrich Schiller[xxx] – the movement is scored for orchestra, four vocal soloists and a choir – who sing the words of the poem. The case can be made that, to fully appreciate this work, one must appreciate the poem on which it is based. Additionally, understanding of the language the words are in – German – would take this strategy even urther. Separating a piece of music into parts is another strategy for listening to Romantic music. For example, a symphony or sonata can be listened to as individual movements, easier to absorb than, perhaps, thirty minutes or an hour’s worth of music. Exploring huge compositions or collections at one time is not the correct strategy, the sheer volume of notes can be daunting and there is a danger that listening to too much music dulls one to the finer points of that music, it simply becomes noise.

The distinct movements many composers put in their music should be utilised when first discovering a work, only once more understanding is cultivated should one attempt to listen to an entire concerto, sonata or symphony. Conclusively, it has been shown that Romantic music made greater demands upon its listeners than did music of previous historical periods. These demands were: increased technical and musical intensity; the use of bold, vivid contrasts and a considerably augmented duration of musical compositions.

These changes came about due to technological advancements of the period, less reliance on patronage and the ‘musician’ became a respected and viable profession in the nineteenth century. There are many strategies which can be devised for listening to Romantic music, in the present day. These are: learning how to read and play music; to put oneself in the shoes of a listener of the time period; to study any art forms which are linked to a piece of Romantic music and dividing a composition into more easily manageable sections. These strategies will further aid the listener in appreciating and understanding Romantic music. ———————- [i] Jim Samson, “Romanticism”, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, [Accessed 2 December 2009] [ii] Jim Samson, “Romanticism”, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, [Accessed 2 December 2009] (1. History of usage) [iii] ABRSM, “Music Performance Diploma Syllabus from 2005”, [Accessed 2 December 2009] [iv] Ibid. [v] Ibid. [vi] Philip R. Belt, Maribel Meisel/Gert Hecher, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, [Accessed 2 December 2009] (5. The Viennese piano from 1800. ) [vii] Michael Cole, “Pianoforte”, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, [Accessed 2 December 2009] (6.

England and France, 1800–60. ) [viii] Robert Winter, “Pianoforte”, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, [Accessed 2 December 2009] (2. Romantic period) [ix] Alan Walker, et al. , “Liszt, Franz”, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, , [Accessed 2 December 2009] [x] Howard Ferguson and Kenneth L. Hamilton, “Study”, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, [Accessed 2 December 2009] [xi] Franz Liszt, Vingt-quatres grandes etudes pour le piano, 1839, Vienna: Haslinger [xii] Franz Liszt, Etudes d’execution transcendante, 1852, Leipzig: Breitkopf & Hartel xiii] Edward Neill, “Paganini, Nicolo”, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, [Accessed 2 December 2009] [xiv] Edward Neill, “Paganini, Nicolo”, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, [Accessed 2 December 2009] (7. France and Great Britain, 1831–4, and last years, 1835–40. ) [xv] Ibid. [xvi] Arnold, Denis and Timothy Rhys Jones, “concerto”, The Oxford Companion to Music Oxford Music Online, [Accessed 2 December 2009] [xvii] Ludwig van Beethoven, Beethoven: The Piano Concertos, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, cond. by Georg Solti, (Decca, 1995) xviii] Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mozart: The Piano Concertos, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Philharmonia Orchestra, cond. by Vladimir Ashkenazy, (Decca, 1995) [xix] Nicholas Marston, “Approaching the Sketches for Beethoven’s ‘Hammerklavier’ Sonata”, Journal of the American Musicological Society, Vol. 44, No. 3 (Autumn, 1991), p. 404-450, University of California Press on behalf of the American Musicological Society, p. 404 [xx] Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Sonata no. 29 ‘Hammerklavier’, 1891, Stuttgart: J. G. Cotta Final three bars of first movement – “Allegro” [pic] [xxi] Andras Schiff, Lecture on Piano Sonata no. 9 ‘Hammerklavier’ by Ludwig van Beethoven, Wigmore Hall, May 2006, Published by The Guardian, [Accessed 2 December 2009] [xxii] “‘Eroica’ Symphony”, The Oxford Dictionary of Music, 2nd ed. rev. Ed. Michael Kennedy. Oxford Music Online, [Accessed 2 December 2009] [xxiii] Mark Evan Bonds, “Symphony”, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, [Accessed 2 December 2009] (II. 19th century, 2. Beethoven) [xxiv] Ibid. [xxv] Joseph Dyer, “Roman Catholic church music”, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, [Accessed 2 December 2009] (V. The 19th century, 1. Catholic church music and the Romantic aesthetic. [xxvi] Joseph Dyer, “Roman Catholic church music”, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, [Accessed 2 December 2009] (IV. The 18th century) [xxvii] John Spitzer and Neal Zaslaw, “Orchestra”, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, [Accessed 2 December 2009] (7. The Romantic orchestra (1815–1900). ) [xxviii] Edward Neill, “Paganini, Nicolo”,Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, [Accessed 2 December 2009] (8. Playing style. ) [xxix] John Spitzer and Neal Zaslaw, loc. cit. [xxx] Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony no. 9, ca. 1925, Leipzig: Ernst Eulenburg

Edvard Grieg (15 June 1843 – 4 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is best known for his Piano Concerto in A minor, for his incidental music to Henrik Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt (which includes Morning Mood and In the Hall of the Mountain King), and for his collection of piano miniatures Lyric Pieces.

Biography

Edvard Hagerup Grieg was born in Bergen, Norway on June 15, 1843. His parents were Hiemlik Grieg (1806–1875), a merchant and the American vice-consul in Bergen, and Gesine Carrie Hagerupel (1814–1875), a music teacher and daughter of Edvard Hagerup.

The family name originally spelled Greig, has Scottish origins. After the Battle of Culloden in 1746, however, Grieg’s great-grandfather traveled widely, settling in Norway about 1770, and establishing business interests in Bergen. Edvard Grieg was raised in a musical home. His mother was his first piano teacher and taught him to play at the age of 6. Grieg studied in several schools, including Tank’s School,. [2] He often brought in samples of his music to class. In the summer of 1858, Grieg met the eminent Norwegian violinist Ole Bull, who was a family friend; Bull’s brother was married to Grieg’s aunt.

Bull recognized the 15-year-old boy’s talent and persuaded his parents to send him to the Leipzig Conservatory, then directed by Ignaz Moscheles. Grieg enrolled in the conservatory, concentrating on the piano, and enjoyed the many concerts and recitals given in Leipzig. He disliked the discipline of the conservatory course of study, but he achieved very good grades in most areas. An exception was the organ, which was mandatory for piano students. In the spring of 1860, he survived a life-threatening lung disease. The following year he made his debut as a concert pianist, in Karlshamn, Sweden.

In 1862, he finished his studies in Leipzig and held his first concert in his home town, where his program included Beethoven’s Pathetique sonata. (Grieg’s own recording of his Piano Sonata, made late in his life, confirms that he was an excellent pianist). In 1863, Grieg went to Copenhagen, Denmark, and stayed there for three years. He met the Danish composers J. P. E. Hartmann and Niels Gade. He also met his fellow Norwegian composer Rikard Nordraak (composer of the Norwegian national anthem), who became a good friend and source of great inspiration. Nordraak died in 1866, and Grieg composed a funeral march in his honor.

On 11 June 1867, Grieg married his first cousin, Nina Hagerup. The next year, their only child, Alexandra, was born. She died in 1869 from meningitis. In the summer of 1868, Grieg wrote his Piano Concerto in A minor while on holiday in Denmark. Edmund Neupert gave the concerto its premiere performance on 3 April 1869 in the Casino Theater in Copenhagen. Grieg himself was unable to be there due to conducting commitments in Christiania (as Oslo was then named).  In 1868, Franz Liszt, who had not yet met Grieg, wrote a testimonial for him to the Norwegian Ministry of Education, which led to Grieg obtaining a travel grant.

The two men met in Rome in 1870. On Grieg’s first visit, they went over Grieg’s Violin Sonata No. 1, which pleased Liszt greatly. On his second visit, in April, Grieg brought with him the manuscript of his Piano Concerto, which Liszt proceeded to sightread (including the orchestral arrangement). Liszt’s rendition greatly impressed his audience, although Grieg gently pointed out to him that he played the first movement too quickly. Liszt also gave Grieg some advice on orchestration, (for example, to give the melody of the second theme in the first movement to a solo trumpet).

In 1874–76, Grieg composed incidental music for the premiere of Henrik Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt, at the request of the author. Many of the pieces from this work became very popular in the orchestral suites or piano and piano-duet arrangements. Grieg had close ties with the (Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra) (Harmonien), and later became Music Director of the orchestra from 1880–1882. In 1888, Grieg met Tchaikovsky in Leipzig. Grieg was struck by the sadness in Tchaikovsky. Tchaikovsky thought very highly of Grieg’s music, praising its beauty, originality, and warmth.

Latter Years

Edvard Grieg Museum Troldhaugen Grieg’s later life brought him fame. The Norwegian government awarded him a pension. In spring 1903, Grieg made nine 78-rpm gramophone recordings of his piano music in Paris; all of these historic discs have been reissued on both LPs and CDs and, despite limited fidelity, show his artistry as a pianist. Grieg also made live-recording player piano music rolls for the Welte-Mignon reproducing system, all of which survive today and can be heard. In 1906, he met the composer and pianist Percy Grainger in London. Grainger was a great admirer of Grieg’s music and a strong empathy was quickly established.

In a 1907 interview, Grieg stated: “I have written Norwegian Peasant Dances that no one in my country can play, and here comes this Australian who plays them as they ought to be played! He is a genius that we Scandinavians cannot do other than love. ” Edvard Grieg died in the autumn of 1907, aged 64, after a long period of illness. His final words were “Well if it must be so. ” The funeral drew between 30,000 and 40,000 people out on the streets of his home town to honor him. Following his wish, his own Funeral March in Memory of Rikard Nordraak was played in an orchestration by his friend Johan Halvorsen, who had married Grieg’s niece.

In addition, the Funeral March movement from Chopin’s Piano Sonata No. 2 was played. His and his wife’s ashes are entombed in a mountain crypt near his house, Troldhaugen.

Music

Grieg is renowned as a nationalist composer, drawing inspiration from Norwegian folk music. Early works include a symphony (which he later suppressed) and a piano sonata. He also wrote three sonatas for violin and piano and a cello sonata. His many short pieces for piano — often based on Norwegian folk tunes and dances — led some to call him the “Chopin of the North”. The Piano Concerto is his most popular work. Its champions have included the pianist and composer Percy Grainger, a personal friend of Grieg who played the concerto frequently during his long career. An arrangement of part of the work made an iconic television comedy appearance in the 1971 Morecambe and Wise Show, conducted by Andre Previn. Some of the Lyric Pieces (for piano) are also well-known, as is the incidental music to Henrik Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt, a play that Grieg found to be an arduous work to score properly.

In an 1874 letter to his friend Franz Beyer, Grieg expressed his unhappiness with what is now considered one of his most popular compositions from Peer Gynt, In the Hall of the Mountain King: “I have also written something for the scene in the hall of the mountain King – something that I literally can’t bear listening to because it absolutely reeks of cow-pies, exaggerated Norwegian nationalism, and trollish self-satisfaction! But I have a hunch that the irony will be discernible.” Grieg’s popular Holberg Suite was originally written for the piano, and later arranged by the composer for string orchestra.

Grieg wrote songs, in which he set lyrics by poets Heinrich Heine, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Henrik Ibsen, Hans Christian Andersen, Rudyard Kipling, and others. Russian composer Nikolai Myaskovsky used a theme by Grieg for the variations with which he closed his Third String Quartet.

List of Selected Works

• Piano Sonata in E minor, Op. 7
• Violin Sonata No. 1 in F major, Op. 8
• Concert Overture In Autumn, Op. 11
• Violin Sonata No. 2 in G major, Op. 13
• Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 6
• Incidental music to Bjornstjerne Bjornson’s play Sigurd Jorsalfar, Op. 22
• Incidental music to Henrik Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt, Op. 23
• Ballade in the Form of Variations on a Norwegian Folk Song in G minor, Op. 24
• String Quartet in G minor, Op. 27
• Album for Male Chorus, Op. 30
• Two Elegiac Melodies for Strings, Op. 34
• Four Norwegian Dances for piano four hands, Op. 35 (later orchestrated)
• Cello Sonata in A minor, Op. 36
• Holberg Suite for piano, later arr. for string orchestra, Op. 40
• Violin Sonata No. 3 in C minor, Op. 45
• Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 6
• Lyric Suite for Orchestra, Op. 54 (orchestration of four Lyric Pieces)
• Peer Gynt Suite No. 2, Op. 55
• Suite from Sigurd Jorsalfar, Op. 56
• Four Symphonic Dances for piano, later arr. for orchestra, Op. 64
• Haugtussa Song Cycle after Arne Garborg, Op. 67
• Slatter (Peasant Dances) for piano, Op. 72
• Sixty-six Lyric Pieces for piano in ten books, Opp. 12, 38, 43, 47, 54, 57, 62, 65, 68 and 71, including: Arietta, To the Spring, Little Bird, Butterfly, Notturno, Wedding Day at Troldhaugen, At Your Feet, Longing For Home, March of the Dwarfs, Poeme erotique and Gone.

Music. I spend more than two hours playing, singing, or listening to music everday. Almost everything I do involves music. I love it; it can lift my spirits, or tell me a story. But, ? Is it something you can dance to? Something that is played or sung? Is it something that has balance, or sounds pleasant? What is music? It is defined as “An art form consisting of sequences of sounds in time, including tones of definite pitch organized melodically, harmonically, and rhythmically. ” To me, music means expression. When I was six years old, I acquired my first CD player.

I didn’t get any CD’s with it, so I used my parents. One CD that I picked up was by Mindy McCready. I didn’t understand what the songs were about, but I knew I really enjoyed the “beat” of the songs, the instruments in each piece, and the sound of her voice. I would always be singing my own words to her songs and I wanted to learn how to make music like she did. She influenced me in a way I didn’t understand at the time, but I knew I wanted to know more about the way her songs worked. I wanted to know how to make something that sounded similar to her songs, and how to make it my own.

That CD is what made me fall in love with the concept of, and the idea itself, known as music. In third grade, only two years after I realized how much I liked music, I started piano lessons with the keyboard player from my church. His name was Larry, he was a great inspiration to me. Larry asked me on my first lesson if learning piano was something I really wanted to do, or if it was just something my parents were having me do. I told him, much more seriously than a third grader should be able to, it was something I needed to do to be able to more clearly understand music; and that I was looking forward to every lesson we would have.

One week later, on my next lesson, I stared to learn my scales. Normally, it takes students months to learn and memorize all of the scales, but it took me only a few weeks. I was much more musically gifted then anyone realized and I quickly took on many other instruments. From third to seventh grade, I learned how to play the piano, guitar, bass, saxophone, french horn, trumpet, clarinet, and flute. I also took choir, training my voice to be the best it could be. The way I could express myself differently through every one of these instruments, made everyday a joyous adventure.

I used the instruments as an outlet; when I was happy, the music would be loud and bouncy. Yet when I was upset, the music would be mournful, slow, and quiet. I conveyed my feelings through the music. The more I learned about music, the more open I became with choices. Before I became a “band geek”, I was quiet and refined. I didn’t talk to many people and I didn’t have any intention on changing that. After I joined two bands though, my life changed drastically. Both classes would result in a “different me”.

When I would play music in my jazz band, I would leave the class excited and ready to try new things. When I would go to symphony, my choices would be more thought out, longer, and with more depth to them. Every piece I played would change my day; depending on how much I enjoyed the piece, and who I was playing it with. The people in band are a big reason . If you’re sitting alone in a room, playing a keyboard, you are not going to be having nearly as much fun, or being as artistic with your musical choices, then if your with a few of your best friends, all who play instruments or sing.

An instance of this is from a year ago, when I had a mentor in symphonic band. He was an amazing saxophone player who loved people. I was his second in command, and for being that, he taught me a few of his tricks on how he became such a beloved musician and person. He showed me how to play music with more expression in singular notes instead of looking at the piece as a whole. He helped me on improvisation and on making a piece personal. He also showed me how to fine tune a musical piece; how to make the different parts work together harmoniously, and how to then play it correctly.

He was a great inspiration to me and I am sad he graduated, but overjoyed I had the opportunity to be taught by such a talented musician for our time. After learning so much from such a great mentor, I began to question how my music could be improved and how I could express myself better. I knew about harmony and melody, and how to balance them; I knew about all the different instruments in different kinds of bands. Yet, I wanted to push my boundaries and become a better instrumentalist.

A great musician once said, “Then let us all do what is right, strive with all our might toward the unattainable, develop as fully as we can [with] the gifts God has given us, and never stop learning” (Beethoven). To me, this means you shouldn’t stop when you think you’re at your best. Always push forward, creating your own limits and don’t fall into society’s expectations. This is how I viewed music; it was something I could never put a limit on and striving for perfection was the only way to be successful with it. To this day, I try my best with music, I make it my own, and I love to play it.

There is nothing else like it, for music is everywhere; all people know some type of music, and it affects every person in a different way. I enjoy music greatly, and hope I will be able to continue learning about it for the rest of my life. The expression used to create music is an unexplainable talent that anyone could utilize, and without it, the days of life would be dull and boring. The way I view it, and as my band director tells me daily, music equals life. SAU Library, + Beethoven, the Music and the Life. + by Lewis Lockwood. Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1st edition (December 16, 2002) + October 1st 2011

Music comes in a variety of different styles.  It has been written since the beginning of time, first through singing, and later through rudimentary instruments.  Through the ages, instruments have continued to develop.  String instruments, like violin and cello, were among the first to appear.  Music has changed and grown through the years and as the styles and trends change and different instruments are invented or innovated, new genres of music are invented.  While these styles are vastly different, there are also some prime similarities that remain, even today.

Bach is an early example of music.  He was born in 1685 and is one of the first musicians to compose in the baroque style (the earliest period of what is typically considered “classical” music).  Prior to the baroque period, instrumental music was somewhat less common and didn’t have the same kinds of harmonies and sounds that people are used to today (Sadie).

Bach’s music is purely instrumental, featuring strings, harpsichord, French horns, and trumpets.  Bach’s music typically has a classical instrumentation consisting of strings, brass (French horns, trumpets; no trombones for another 150 years), woodwinds (clarinet, flute, oboe, sometimes bassoon), and harpsichord.  In his day, there was no electricity, and no electronic music.  Orchestras were very small, consisting of approximately 30 to 40 members, as opposed to 60 to 80 member orchestras seen today.  The Brandenburg concertos were written for even smaller ensembles, from 4 to 20 people (Sadie).

The music was also written in very straightforward, now-traditional ways. Harmonies are very traditional, although Bach liked to use some interesting harmonic shifts in his music.  Muted strings are used in some places.  Musical form is frequently sonata form, binary, or ternary.  Rhythms are fairly straight forward, making use of simple and complex time signatures, rarely syncopated rhythms, and very occasionally, triplets.

 There were few pianos yet, either, and its predecessor, the harpsichord, was not capable of dynamic changes.  The piano that did exist was brand new.  “The Well-Tempered Clavier” was written to celebrate the tuning system that had recently been invented, rather than the just intonation used previously.  “Well tempered” intonation allowed the piano to play in any key without being retuned, because it divided the pitches to be each exactly 100 cents (vibration frequency) apart.  The previous intonation system had been based on ancient Pythagoras’s overtone series (Randel).

Bluegrass is another musical style, which originated around the 1600s, when people first began to migrate to the new world.  It is a type of folk music, created by people in certain regions (often mountains).  Folk music is characterized by special instruments, usually acoustic ones.  Some folk music today includes the washtub-bass, the washboard, and blowing across a jar.  Most folk music includes an acoustic guitar and/or a banjo, some type of bass, and often a fiddle.  A fiddle is exactly like a violin, except in the way it is played.  A violin often uses long melodies and rare double stops (playing two notes at the same time on one instrument), while a fiddle uses fast melodies with short notes and lots of double stops (IBMA).

Andrew McKnight is a bluegrass artist.  His music is sometimes instrumental, using very typical folk instruments like acoustic guitar, fiddle, bass, mandolin, and banjo.  A mandolin is actually a Spanish instrument, which shows the diverse influences that helped to create this unique style of music.  It is not always played in such groups, but is reasonably common (IBMA).

“June Apple” is a completely instrumental and very rapid and typical track, using fast fiddling over a running bass line and steady guitar riffs.  The folk music seems similar to jazz, in that several instruments play a common chord progression and one instrument solos over it, using quick rhythms, sliding into the right note, and improvisation.  It also uses a lot of double stops in the fiddle.  Fiddling is really characterized by this type of soloing – use of double stops, sliding into notes, playing quite rapidly, and primarily on the higher strings.  The music does not really have a standard form, besides the chord progression and soloing (IBMA).

This awareness of musical type is portrayed by McKnight’s lyrics in the other example:

Well, you take that mountain fiddle and you bow it
Then you bring in a bit of banjo for that high energy.
Add a little guitar and before you know it the music from the mountains sets you free.
I don`t care what kind of tune you’re pickin’
Swing or folk or bluegrass sounds mighty fine to me
May the hills and hollers keep that music kickin’ and may the music from the mountains set you free
Copywrite © 2002 Dave Payton and Charlie Bowen of the musical group called` The 1937 Flood.`

The lyrics that typically accompany bluegrass music are about everyday life, very simple things, as they are a type of country music (IBMA).

In this particular case, Andrew McKnight is a solo artist.  However, in other cases, bands are made up of four or five different members, in order to cover all of the instruments named above, especially bass, guitar, banjo, and vocals.

Rock/popular music is another, and more recent musical genre.  It began back in the 1950’s with Elvis, and progressed into many different forms and styles (Kingwood College).  Today’s rock/pop music uses primarily electronic instruments, especially guitar, bass, and keyboard.  The music focuses heavily on the use of drum set and guitars, and occasionally other percussion instruments.  It is also almost always accompanied by vocals.  These vocals may be a group of men and/or women, but are frequently solo artists with unnamed backup artists on the track (Sadie).

Persephone’s Bees is a rock/pop group.  It has lyrics done by a single female vocalist (with other females on back up).  It includes a drum set, electric bass, electric guitar, shaker, other percussion instruments, and other electronic effects, done by a keyboard. In total, there are four members of the band. There is some dissonant vocal harmony, very typical of this style of music.  Drum set is featured very prominently in different tracks, laying down the beat for entire song, and using very common rhythms, especially syncopation.  Most tracks are in a steady, fast, common time, or 4/4 meter (Persephone’s Bees).

There are a lot of electronic effects in this style of music, including different styles of electronic guitar, from clean to distorted; strummed to picked.  All of the instruments blend most of the time, except during particular solos, creating a uniform sound.  There are occasionally bass and drum solos.  The song typically fits a standard style of verse/chorus/verse/chorus (repeated any number of times)/bridge/chorus.

Although there are many differences in these styles of music to highlight, there are also many similarities.  For example, every one of these pieces is tonal, which means they make use of traditional harmonies (major chords, in a I-IV-V-I type progression).  There are not many dissonances in any of the pieces, and the dissonances that exist are used very similarly, in the V chord.

All of these pieces are also written in a standard 4/4 meter, and not something unusual.  All feature a steady beat, whether it is heavily emphasized, as in rock/pop styles, or downplayed, as in classical and bluegrass.  Regardless, they all move along at a decent tempo and interest the listener.

Also, these musical styles come from similar influences.  People created them all to have something nice to listen to (and to do, back in old days).  Most of these styles originated in Europe or with people who came from Europe.  Most of the styles have always found a willing audience, whether in a concert hall, garage band, or country fair.

In these ways and more, these musical styles are very much alike.  Music is for everyone, and so it takes many forms.

Musical styles are vast and different, and have changed and evolved through the ages.  Music is available today in many styles and types of all listeners.  However, they have also remained much the same in key ways, simply because listeners want to hear certain kinds of music.  That is, tonal music that is nice to listen to and traditional.  Music is something that all people have and enjoy, in one of its many forms.  In this paper are only three examples of the many different styles of music that are available.

Bibliography

American Music from the 1950’s to 1990’s (2006).  Kingwood College Library.  Accessed November 20, 2006.  Website: http://kclibrary.nhmccd.edu/music-3.html.

Bluegrass Music: The Roots (2003).  International Bluegrass Music Association.  Accessed November 20, 2006.  Website: http://www.ibma.org/

Persephone’s Bees (2006).  Accessed November 20, 2006.  Website: www.persephonesbees.com.

Randel, Don Michael (2003).  Harvard Dictionary of Music.  Location: Belknap Press.

Sadie, Stanley (2001).  The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.  Location: Oxford University Press.

MUS 121 Jeffrey Phelps, cello and Lee Jordan-Anders, piano 14 October, 2012 Dr. Ford Tidewater Community College CA#1 The Program Sonata in A Major, Opus 69 (1808)Ludwig van Beethoven Allegro, ma non tanto Scherzo, Allegro molto Adagio cantabile/Allegro vivace Sonata (1915) I. Prologue: Lent, sostenuto e molto risoluto II. Serenade: Moderement anime III. Final: Anime, leger et nerveuxClaude Debussy The Concert On Sunday, 14 October, Jeffrey Phelps, cello and Lee Jordan-Anders, piano, performed Ludwig van Beethoven’s Sonata in A Major, Opus 69 (1808) and Claude Debussy’s Sonata (1915) at Trinity Methodist Church in Smithfield Virginia.

After the introduction of the performers we were asked to hold all applause until the end of each piece. The first Sonata by Beethoven bears the heading of Inter Lacrimas et Luctum, meaning “Amid Tears and Sorrow. ” The first movement, Allegro, ma non tanto, from Beethoven’s Sonata, opened with the cello resting on one note. The timbre of the cello as it began in a lower register was warm and rich, the tempo starting rather slow. The mood was mournful to me at the beginning and I had no idea what to expect. The texture at the beginning of the first movement was monophonic.

As the piano entered the melody for both cello and piano was conjunct with symmetrical phrasing. Here the texture became polyphonic. The tone color of the piano seemed varied to me, alternating throughout the piece between vibrant and subdued. When the mood was not lively it became somber. The dynamics of both instruments changed throughout this movement, from piano to forte and then piano again. The movement of the melody was conjunct at the beginning of the piece and the contour of the melody was wavelike, especially by the piano.

This movement began in a major key then abruptly moved into a minor key, where the dynamics were fortissimo. The texture was polyphonic, the counterpoint producing a call and response, as if the cello and piano were holding a conversation. The melody had a narrow to medium range in the beginning of this movement. Repetition allowed all the themes to reappear throughout the movement, which is a trademark of the sonata. The cello and piano take turns performing small solo passages before veering off to something else. At one point early in the piece I heard a homorhythmic texture when cello and piano played the same notes together.

After a descending melody from the piano the movement then becomes disjunct with a wavelike contour. It seemed to me that when the melody in the cello ascended, the melody in the piano descended. It had a lyrical mood to it and it was beautiful. The harmony, at this point, was still in a major key as the cello took over, characterized by a timbre that was dark. The mood was one of melancholy and I could feel sorrow. It was interesting to watch Phelps and Jordan-Anders subtly cue one another as the dynamics became pianissimo and the tempo adagio. In the lower registers both cello and piano had a timbre that was warm.

In the upper registers it sounded fiery. The texture of the cello here was monophonic with no piano. I was not expecting the explosive part that followed. At about four minutes into the movement the dynamics became fortissimo and I could hear the harmony in a minor key. The contour of the melody descended and was conjunct. There was a return to a major key and the dynamics became piano for both instruments. The mood of this movement reminded me of yearning. The tone color for the piano became brighter here as the cello returned to the warm, rich sound like in the beginning.

The contour of the melody was ascending and conjunct. This movement remained in duple meter throughout the piece. There was a return to counterpoint as both cello and piano played, using a polyphonic texture, the dynamics piano before returning to forte. As the tempo became allegro the cello strings were plucked creating a timbre that was bright and a mood that was lively. There was a return to a monophonic texture for the cello and the dynamics became pianissimo. Since this movement’s form was ostinato, I heard short melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic patterns repeated.

This piece was long, at twelve minutes, and at one point I stopped taking notes, in awe of what I was hearing. The entire piece felt symmetrical to me and was sing able throughout. Beethoven’s Sonata 3, Opus 69 nears a close with a texture that was heterophonic, dynamics that go from forte to piano and a bright tone color for cello and piano. The melody remained conjunct with a contour that was wavelike, by ascending and descending, especially for the piano. The tempo returned to allegro throughout this piece and ended with the dynamics returning to forte and the final cadence as the harmony resolved in consonance.

The second movement of Beethoven’s Sonata in A Major, Opus 69 was Scherzo: Allegro molto and began with Jordan-Anders playing the opening notes of the melody in a narrow range with a melodic movement that was conjunct. The texture here was monophonic for only a few measures. The timbre of the piano was bright and the harmony was minor. I heard the second movement in triple meter, and by the time the cello began to play there seemed to be a return to the polyphonic texture which was common in the first movement. The movement of the melody was disjunct with a medium range, the dynamics of the piano soft (piano) and the tempo allegro.

Phelps began playing in a dynamic that was piano which mirrored the opening measures of the piano part, with a very interesting rhythm I’m not sure how to describe. The rhythm was syncopated with a constant emphasis on beat three of every measure with the second beat marked by silence. The timbre of the cello felt bright, even in its lower register. There was an ostinato form in this piece and again, the cello and piano seemed to talk to each other, with a call and response pattern familiar in the first movement of this sonata.

Movement two seemed to reach a dynamic climax halfway through which was forte, only to return to piano. The melody in the piano alternated between conjunct and disjunct and as the dynamics became louder the contour of the melody was ascending. The exchanges between the cello and piano created a lively mood throughout the movement and the texture once again became homorhythmic with a return to a polyphonic texture. I heard these textures throughout the Scherzo. The timbre of the piano and cello became quite broad with very loud dynamics. The theme was repeated and again, ostinato was at play.

The movement ended with dynamics of the piano forte, the cello and piano using a texture that was heterophonic, because both instruments were playing in unison. The cello was plucked near the very end which created a dull timbre. The piano again employed a dynamic that was piano. This piece was full of manic energy that left me wanting to hear more. The word scherzo means “joke” but this lively little piece was anything but a joke! The third movement of Beethoven’s Sonata in A Major, Opus 69, began with a short Adagio cantabile which started with the piano.

The dynamics were soft. The texture of the piano at the very beginning was monophonic until the cello joined in, and I heard a mixture of textures, but couldn’t quite tell for sure what they were. At one point, early on, I heard both piano and cello playing in unison which made the mixed texture heterophonic as well as heterorhythmic. The melody for both cello and piano was conjunct with a movement that I heard as having a narrow range for the piano and a medium range for the cello. The meter was duple. The dynamic used is piano and the tempo was adagio.

Even though the harmony was major, the mood of the first part felt quite melancholy to me. Remaining in duple meter, the movement shifted from the Adagio cantabile to the final Allegro vivace, the title a clue of what was to come! The harmony remained in a major key however the tempo became lively (vivace) and the mood felt playful to me. The tone color of the cello was once again warm, as I am finding the cello to be. The timbre of the piano was bright and crisp as both instruments seemed to veer apart, trying to find a way to come back together. I felt excited when hearing this movement.

The contour of the melody felt wavelike for both instruments, especially when scales were used, sometimes ascending, sometimes descending. The dynamics changed throughout this movement from soft to loud then back to soft again. I heard the movement of the piano as conjunct but wasn’t sure about the cello. Again, ostinato is at play halfway through the movement and I thought I heard dissonance, as the piano and cello seemed to battle it out. The harmony sounded like it was in a minor key at this point, like the cello and piano were trying to find resolution. The timbre of the piano was piercing here.

The tempo for both instruments became fast and the dynamics loud. Finally, the harmony reached consonance, after the cello repeats the first bar of the theme over and over again while the piano pounds out the accompaniment. The dynamics alternated between soft and loud, cello and piano ending on the final note in unison, the dynamics a startling forte. The first movement of Claude Debussy’s Sonata, Prologue: Lent, sostenuto e molto risoluto, began with Lee Jordan-Anders’ lone piano part that was homophonic in texture with a harmony that was minor. The tone color here was very dark, the mood quite somber.

The program notes for this performance note this Sonata as the first of six projected sonatas for various instrumental combinations that Debussy was unable to complete due to the cancer that made his final years a misery. This sonata was the first composition. I could feel his pain and misery as I listened to this work. The phrasing of the melody was symmetrical with a movement that was conjunct. This movement began with a dynamic that was forte. The texture of the piano was homophonic. The cello entered, with an ostinato form which repeated the part just heard by the piano, giving it a tone color that I heard as a bit subdued and dull.

The melody ascended, then descended, only to ascend again creating a wavelike contour with a conjunct movement. The dynamics continued to be forte. The cello then played alone, giving a monophonic texture. I felt the mood to be sad here, the movement of the melody more conjunct with a medium range. The harmony was minor. The tone color was muted. The melody of the cello began to ascend, the dynamics piano. Here, the piano joined the cello and the mood started to feel agitated. I heard the harmony to be dissonant here as the dynamics became forte.

The texture was homophonic here and the timbre of the cello broad. The melody in the cello descended and was conjunct. The dynamics were piano at this point in the sonata and the tempo andante. The movement came to an end with a shift in harmony from major to minor with an obvious slowing of tempo. The dynamics remained piano. The second movement of Claude Debussy’s Sonata, Serenade: Moderement anime, began with the cello that had a tone color that was dull, almost muffled as Phelps plucked the strings with his fingers, which is pizzicato. The melody was not sing able and I heard the harmony as dissonant.

I’m not sure about the meter, but I heard it as nonmetric because it felt weak to me. The dynamics at the beginning of this movement were pianissimo and the mood was one of distraction or agitation. The phrasing was not symmetrical and as the cello continued in the lower register the piano can be heard, also playing in dissonance above the cello. I had a difficult time with this piece because technically it seemed all over the place. The timbre remained dark and gloomy. The melody became conjunct with a narrow range of three notes with the dynamics moving from soft to loud.

The tempo was vivace at one point, even though this movement’s tempo was rather slow. The tone color of the cello became brighter, as a lone part played in a higher register, making the texture homophonic. This movement closed with a cello part that seemed to be looking for resolution, still with a minor harmony and it seemed to repeat the first part of the piece. The third movement, Final: Anime, leger et nerveux, began in duple meter with the melody of the cello sounding sustained, then alternating between an ascending then descending movement, with a wavelike contour.

The piano became very noticeable as Jordan-Anders began playing in a higher range that had a bright tone color. The melody was conjunct and wavelike, the phrasing symmetrical, for a short while. As the piano descended, the timbre of the cello once again became dull, as Phelps plucked the instrument. The mood turned dark and stormy once again as dissonance became prevalent. I’m sure there were all kinds of technical things going on in this movement that my ear is not trained to detect.

I could clearly hear the return to the earlier theme as both instruments reached a loud dynamic, the final note of the movement struck by both cello and piano. Even though this movement was played with mostly piano dynamics, I could hear a contrast between the changing moods, brought about mostly by frequently changing keys. It was a wonderful performance by Jeffrey Phelps and Lee Jordan-Anders and I am very glad I attended. I left the church remembering why I have a soft spot for classical music, something I’ve not listened to very much in recent years, until I signed up for this music appreciation class.

This finest wood made this stringed low keyed, quiet musical instrument

in 1157

Continuously sings quiet flowing harmonies

Monotone pianississimo, pianoissimo, piano and mezzo piano lullaby’s

Keep sounding from the piano’s vibrations.

Flutes, saxophones and original pianos were used to create this harmonic based musical piece. The piano provided the ongoing harmonic sounds throughout the song. The overall tone was very simple, smooth and unaccented. The saxophone played lines four and five to highlight the action of the piano. The altos and tenors sang lines four and five adding more emphases on the pianos purpose. sang the entire song. The flutes played the first three lines, to provide the introduction.

Classical Musical Era;

Play that funky music and make me dance with piano forte musical notes

The strings are becoming more versatile through musical eras

Play harmonic soft flowing lullaby’s for me

The strings are taking us from the baroque to classical eras

Still producing monotones, the musical sounds are altering my moods

The harpsichord is taking us from one musical era into another

Now adding more confusion and options to musicians

The string dominated instrument is changing and creating musical history

Dual musical instrument resulted from economic changes

The string dominated musical instrument is requiring multitasking

The 1750-1825 musical era developed

The string dominated musical instrument is progressing through musical eras

The harpsichord, now allowing the vibrations from the piano sounds to be heard by plucking strings, emphasized all even numbered lines. During the classical musical era, the bass played throughout the song, also providing the harmonic structure. An additional regular piano provided ongoing melody. To emphasize the variety and contrast, the violin interchanged with wind instruments, flutes, and xylophones. This musical piece used sopranos, since it was an opera.

Romantic Era;

Playing softly flowing harmonic sailing music

In childrens darkened quiet room late at night

Playing energetic, jazzy, upbeat, high and low notes

While running through the water on a brightly lit sunny beach in mid daylight

Quiet romantic monotone music piano music with lights down low

Loud blaring music in nightclubs

Comes from the piano progressing into a clavichord

Playing dual notes or sounds simultaneously

Various brass, or wind, instruments; trumpets, horns, trombone and tuba’s were used to bring out the obvious contrasts, and highlight the extreme tempos in this musical selection. Several different pianos were used, the classical piano, the clavichord and harpsichord in this piano concerto. The softer musical versions or the melodies were played on the lyrics accenting softness, lightness. The louder piano’s, horns and trumpets accented the “louder” lyrics, which played slower, bass notes. No singers were used for this musical selection. The focus was primarily on musical instrumentation.

Modern Music;

Play me a pop, rap, jazz, classical tune

A ballad and a tempo

Fom jazzy ragtime To Classical Chariots of Fire

Play me a tune with lots of percussion

Play me a tune with whole notes, quarter notes, half notes eighth and sixteenth notes

Play it in 4/4  2/4 3/4 and 6/8 time

Play the classic take five in 5/4 time

This amazing piece of wood

From the piano, harpsichord, clavichord to the organ

Never fails to entertain in these modern times

This was a full modern concert including various sheet music with mixture of  time signatures and strings, percussions wind, electronic instruments. Tap dancers were used contributing their won percussion. Singers, sopranos, altos, tenors and bass singing voices were used, each given specific roles to show the versatility of the different versions of the piano.   Tambourines, drums and clavichord were used to provide percussion on every line.  Belters were used everytime the purpose of the piano contrasted. There are no specific standards for modern music. It is whatever the musician wants to play. Originating in Paris, modern music can be primitivism, impressionism and expressionism, a combination of all historical musical era’s.