Music Area Study 2 - Something's Coming

• Vaudeville
  • contained popular songs 'borrowed' from elsewhere
  • different words
  • often comical or vulgar
• Burlesque
• • similar to Vaudeville
  • tends to be more restrained and classical
  • parody of other serious plays
• Opera-bouffe
• • comical
  • some spoken dialogue
  • happy ending
• Operetta
• • lighter opera
• Minstrelsy
• • involved white people dressing up as black people to make fun

• Extravaganzas
  • variety stage shows
  • contained dancing, singing, magicians, etc
• Melodramas
• • dramas where spoken lines are puncuated by music
• Broadway Musicals
• • plays with songs
  • usually just in films
• West End Musicals
• • plays with songs
  • tend to be live, in the West End
• Rock Operas
• • involved rock music not operatic
  • found live and in films

• Classical
  • lots of strings
  • lots of percussion
  • nothing too complex
  • clear structures
  • terraced dynamics
  • build up of instruments
  • change of mood
  • ostinatos
  • operatic vocals
  • fragments/imitation

• Jazz
  • off beat/syncopated rhythms
  • accents
  • improvisation
  • walking bass
  • call and responce
  • clicking/mutes

• Latin-American
  • dance-style rhythms
  • driving melody
  • strong percussion
  • time signature (6/8 + 3/4)
  • off beat/syncopated rhythms
  • accented first beat
  • maracas/clapping
  • hemiola
  • voice tremello/rolling r's
  • polyphonic + moments of unison

Jazz - Swing - Blues - Classical - Latin-American - Tango - Bossa-Nova

• Written by Leonard Bernstein
  • Accomplished performer, conductor and composer
  • Studied music at Harvard
  • Conducted the New York Philharmonic

• 1950s version of 'Romeo and Juliette'
• 'Tony and Maria' fall inlove but cannot be together
  • From different teenage gangs
    • 'Jets' from and live in America
    • 'Sharks' from Portorico and live in America
• Fight between the gangs
  • Tony is told Maria is dead
  • Tony gets shot

• Added after the musical was finished to introduce the character of Tony
• 3 clear sections
  • A - syncopated opening melody
  • B - Punchy theme to the song
  • C - Legato, calmer melody
• Tonal piece
  • D major and C major key signature
  • not related keys
  • slips between keys by flattening and raising
• With some dissonance created by
  • blues notes
  • tritones
• 3/4 and 2/4 time signature
  • 3/4 sounds like 6/8 hemiola
• Words are rarely repeated
  • emphasise the importance when repeated

• Tritone
• Syncopation
• Cross rhythms
• Hemiola
• Ostinati
• Dissonance
• Push notes
• Marcato/marked
• Syllabic word setting
• Melasmatic word setting
• Muted trumpets
• Riff
• Blues note - flattened
• Accents
• Tremello
• Dynamic range