Orchestral Suites Research Articles

Effects of classical or heavy metal music in humans and animals: implications for intensive care medicine

The importance of music in intensive care medicine is still controversial and the mechanisms of music are unclear. It is important whether different music styles (classical music [CM], Heavy Metal [HM] show measurable effects on blood pressure (BP) or heart rate (HR) in humans or not. It is also unclear whether behavioral patterns are influenced by music (CM, HM) in animals. We studied the influence of CM (Bach, Orchestral Suite No. 3, BWV 1068) and HM (Band Disturbed: Indestructible) compared to a control group (CO) without music exposure in 120 healthy subjects (60 study subjects, 60 control subjects) and 36 young pigs (18 Pietrains, 18 Wiesenauer Minipigs) according to an identical study protocol (21 minutes of music exposure (CM, HM) or 21 minutes of no music (C0). We were able to clearly demonstrate in 36 pigs that CM led to significantly more activity behavior than HM or CO (p<0,01). HM caused significantly more stress behavior than CM or CO (p<0,01). In humans, there was a decrease in BPsyst, BPdiast or HR (beats per minute [bpm]) among CM: decrease BPsyst -7,5±9,1 mm Hg, BPdiast -4,9±7,5 mm Hg, HR -7,2±10,2 bpm. This was observed less frequently in HM: BPsyst -3,6±7,1 mm Hg, BPdiast -2,7±6,9 mm Hg, HR -5,9±9,0 bpm. The influence of BP and HR was significantly lower in CO compared to music: BPsyst -2,3±7,2 mm Hg, BPdiast -2,0±7,3 mm Hg, HR -5,8±12,3 bpm. BP and HR in humans and behavioral patterns in animals are clearly influenced by music. CM leads more frequently to activity behavior in animals and to lower BP and HR in humans compared to HM or CO. In both animal breeds, stress behavior was observed more frequently in HM compared to CM or CO. Therefore, music may play a role in intensive care medicine.

Музыкальное искусство России начала ХХ века: Альтернатива

The essay is devoted to characterizing a trend opposed to the onslaught of contradictions, disharmony and various destructive influences brought along by the new century in the Russian musical art of the early 20th century. This trend was embodied in the composers’ turn to the humanistic traditions of the past, as well as in the constructive and positive aspirations of modernity. The desire to defend the principles of humanism was mainly associated with the spiritual values of the Classical era. In particular, the author provides insight into the formation of neoclassicism in Russian musical art starting with the late works by P. Tchaikovsky (the orchestral suite “Mozartiana” (1887)). Special attention is paid to the works by S. Taneyev (the cantata “At the Reading of a Psalm” (1912-1915)), N. Myaskovsky (String Quartet No. 4 (1909-1910)), S. Prokofiev (Symphony No. 1 (1917)), Z. Paliashvili (the operas “Abesalom da Eteri” (1910-1919) and “Daisi” (1919-1923)). As a result, it is concluded that the sphere of humanism and harmony, despite being hardly a central trend in the context of the musical and artistic process of the 1910s, was, however, undoubtedly significant, clearly reflecting the reaction to the deforming trends of modernity. The fundamental shift in worldview that occurred in the 1910s – the first half of the 1920s was expressed in the weakening of the considered trend, the growth of contradictions.

The interpretative function of singing in the “score” of a modern ballet performance

Statement of the problem. Under consideration is a specific form of art synthesis – singing in modern ballet. The synthesis of arts is attributive to the poetics of European opera, where a choreographic plan is used, however, singing in ballet is a rather rare phenomenon against the background of the dominance of singing in the operas of the 18th and 19th centuries. Nonetheless, there are eloquent examples of the return of singing in a ballet as a characteristic feature of the innovative choreographic theatre (“Pulcinella” by I. Stravinsky). The relevance of the topic is explained by the lack of musicological research devoted to the functions of singing as a component of ballet, while in modern practice there are clear precedents for the revival of this phenomenon. Some topical sources indicate the synthetic type of theatrical spectacle in the context of French Baroque culture (Danshina, 2010; Anfilova, 2004; Chepalov, 2008 and others), but the vocal component is not considered as a special problem. The purpose of the article is to investigate the interaction of vocal and ballet arts in the modern practice of ballet productions of the Kharkiv Opera and Ballet Theater (Ukraine) in the retrospective context of European musical-theatrical traditions. Modern ballet “The Little Prince” based on A. Saint-Exupery’s novel of the same name (2016) staged by Kharkiv ‘M. Lysenko’ National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet (KhNATOB) was chosen to be the material of the article. The following research methods are used: historical and typological approach that distinguishes the styles of European opera culture; semantic analysis of ballet performance as an artistic text; interpretative-cognitive comprehension of singing and its functions in ballet dramaturgy. Presentation of the research results. The creative experience of the French choreographer Johann Nuss on the stage of Kharkiv Opera Theatre – the premiere of the modern ballet “The Little Prince”, testified to the actualization of intertextuality in solving the problem of the relationship between singing and dancing. Traditional artistic plans are an important factor in the dramaturgy of a ballet performance. Together with two purely choreographic levels where the virtuoso skill of dancers and plastique of “talking” movements prevails, the singing voice is the third plan, which indicates the continuity of the French tradition (one can remember the model of J. B. Rameau’s “Gallant India”). The choice of musical material for the performance belongs to J. Nuss. He “saw” the image of Rose, who the Prince is in love with, twofold: as a choreographic-plastic and a “singing” one. Respectively, the role of Rose is embodied by a ballerina (Honoured Artist of Ukraine Iryna Khandazhevska) and a singer (Honoured Artist of Ukraine Olena Starykova, soprano). Dressed in a costume of a flower, the singer represents an ideal creature: themes from R. Glier’s and S. Rachmaninoff’s vocal compositions sound. The appearance of other bright characters is accompanied by instrumental music fragments, these are the King (J. S. Bach’s Second Orchestral Suite), the Ambitious Man (L. Delibes “Copp&amp;#233;lia”), the Drunkard (“Winter” from A. Vivaldi’s “The Seasons”), and the Banker (J. S. Bach’s Suite for Cello Solo). So, the introduction of coloratura singing into the spectator’s plan of perception of the expressive-linguistic means of ballet opens a new symbolic world. Conclusions. Singing in a ballet is a specific manifestation of the art synthesis characteristic of modern choreographic performance. The vocal art emphasizes the highest, spiritual degree of communication, adding to the spectators’ experience a cathartic component. The interpretative function of singing in the concept of the performance is obvious: singing is a symbol (expression) of the divine essence of a human. Energy of vocals, multiplied by the traditional means of classical choreography and modern ballet, is a component of “multimedia modality” (Petrovic, 2017) as a sign of the interpretive thinking of the directors. Understanding the action of multimodality in the space-time of ballet is an interpretative dimension of spiritual reality. The prospect of researching. The study of modern forms of stage life of “singing in a ballet” indicates the need to develop this concept in the theoretical and methodological key, as well as to consider other examples of ballet performances (“One Thousand and One Nights” by F. Amirov, “Spartacus” by A. Khachaturian in Kharkiv Opera and others).

Visualization of Musical Composition Principles inAshot Asaturyan’s Ballets: Dedicated to the Choreographer’s 85TH Birthday

In 2022, we are celebrating the 85th birthday of outstanding choreographer Ashot Asaturyan. The choreographer died as many as 23 years ago, but judging from the videos of his ballets, we can say that his creative mentality and methods of musical and literary interpretation are still progressive and timely. One more peculiarity of Asaturyan’s method is visualization of polyphonic principles. While in Theme and Variation, a ballet created to the music of the Finale of Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s 3rd Orchestral Suite, those principles have an immanently choreographic function, in some other ballets, they are of dramaturgical significance. The common feature of the three ballets analyzed in this article is the polyphonic nature of their scenarios. Those ballets are Maurice Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe, Igor Stravinsky’s Orpheus and Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances.

A Research on Kuo Chih-Yuan’s Ancient Poetry and Art Song “Liangzhou Ci”

Kuo Chih-Yuan was a famous composer in China Taiwan. He was the pioneer of modern music in China Taiwan and was highly recognized in the music industry. His had written a number of art songs, Hokkien songs, children’s songs, and folk songs adapted with vocal works, as well as instrumental works, including piano music, embodying them with strong local characteristics of orchestral suites, operas, musicals, and choral. From the perspective of “Liangzhou Ci,” a creative ancient poetry and art song, this paper expounds Kuo Chih-Yuan’s creative rules and aesthetic principles by sorting out and collecting relevant materials, analyzing the tonality of his works, and making a comparative study of the changes in intervals, rhythm, and musical structure. This paper further refines the characteristics of ancient poetry and art songs in terms of singing, as well as the humanistic characteristics and historical implications that need to be highlighted when interpreting ancient poetry and art songs, in hope to provide useful reference for vocal music teaching and performance.

Баховские «четверки»

The grouping of pieces is the matter of concern for both composers and researchers. For the former, it manifests itself already in the titles of collections, while for the latter it is an impetus for a comprehensive study of hidden mechanisms behind composers’ thinking. A.Milka in his article Bach’s Sixes (1999) identified several ways Bach approached the grouping of works. However, in his large cyclical opuses another “measure” stands out: the four, formed by canons (Die Kunst der Fuge) or duettos loaded by canonical work (Clavier Übung III). By way of a reminder, Bach’s canons are usually grouped by ten and/or four: Einige Canonische Verænderungen, BWV769, contains four contrapuntal canons (variations I–IV) and four thematic ones (variation V); Musicalisches Opfer features ten canons: six countrapunctal and four thematic; Verschiedene Canones, BWV1087, includes 14 canons written in groups of four, six and four canons. In fact, the grouping of four is not limited to Bach’s canons alone: he is known for numerous four-part suites and sonatas. So, it is not surprising that four orchestral suites, created in different years, were collected and numbered by W. Schmieder as a specific group of four. Research should focus on how Bach organises his compositions in groups of four, but also how, under the pressure of circumstances, he himself violates his plans (e.g., his engraving of Musicalisches Opfer and Die Kunst der Fuge). Whatever approach to grouping we take, a question begs itself: what provides diversity and what facilitates integrity? A.Milka answered this question through his analysis of the “sixes”. This article is an attempt to approach the Bach’s “fours”. The internal organisation of the “four” depends on its context: in a contrasting environment, it demonstrates the diversity of its components, in a balanced environment, it is organized in the order of the main technical characteristics. The functional and semantic content of the “fours” depends on how they are presented in a large cycle: together or in random order. In the first case, the highlight is the difference between the “four” and the pieces surrounding it. In the second case, it strengthens the structure of the whole, as its part, from inside.

ОРКЕСТРОВАЯ СЮИТА В ТВОРЧЕСТВЕ МОЛДАВСКИХ КОМПОЗИТОРОВ

This article is a brief overview of the genre of the orchestral suite in the works of the composers of the Republic of Moldova. The history of the orchestral suite in Moldova from its beginnings to the present day has 100 years old. During this time, it has undergone certain transformations, while retaining its main qualities: the brightness of the musical language and timbre embodiment. The article notes the variety of performing ensembles for which suites are written: these are symphonic, chamber, string, pop and jazz orchestra, orchestra of folk instruments. Special attention is paid to the introduction of nationally characteristic instruments (nai, fluier, caval, taragot, cymbals) into the classic orchestras. One of the aspects is the manifestation of the features of the instrumental concert in the suite cycles. Key words: suite, partita, cycle, orchestra, timbre, concerto, traditional instruments

A Day That Changed Lives.

Sighing with dejection, I rolled towards the window adjacent to my bed and stared into the sullen, rainy October night—another 4:00 am early morning awakening. This pattern had been ongoing for weeks and was becoming exhausting. For the next 2 hours I restlessly tossed, suffering random thoughts, obscured by fatigue and darkness; I cannot fully describe the disquiet inflicted upon me by these hours of unrest. Finally, at 6:00 am, the clock-radio alarm fulfilled its unnecessary duty, heralding the start of yet another day. This morning's Classic FM “arousing music to awaken” was “Jupiter” from The Planets orchestral suite by Holst. Try as I might, I could not feel inspired. I paused, staring at myself in the mirror. I looked tired and demoralized. I sighed again, and prepared for the day ahead.

Bach’s Musical Universe: The Composer and His Work by Christoph Wolff

Reviewed by: Bach’s Musical Universe: The Composer and His Work by Christoph Wolff Zoltán Szabó (bio) Christoph Wolff. Bach’s Musical Universe: The Composer and His Work (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2020). 432 pp. Christoph Wolff’s pivotal research in Bach scholarship, spanning over many decades, hardly needs extensive introduction. The list of his influential publications extends from articles in academic journals, through editorial work in several annual volumes of the Bach-Jahrbuch, to his role of revising and expanding the fundamental scholarly source The New Bach Reader (1998). He is also the author of two sizable tomes on this topic, Bach: Essays on His Life and Music (1991), a collection of thirty-two articles on specific aspects of the composer’s life and works, and the comprehensive biography Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician (2000). His latest book, Bach’s Musical Universe (2020), broadens the scope of scholarly knowledge offered in his previous two books even further, while connecting with them in such an organic manner that it almost makes one wonder: why did we not miss the last part of this scholarly triptych before? Indeed, the author’s meticulously detailed work on Bach research is best appreciated with all three volumes at hand. Regular cross-referencing among them is needed, as numerous footnotes in this book refer the reader to the findings in the other two. The look and touch of a new book can add to the positive experience of using it, and there is almost no disappointment here. The feel of the book is pleasant, it is well bound, it stays open easily, and the font is large enough to read it without straining the eyes (sadly, this is not always the case with academic publications). Unfortunately, though, at least in my copy, there seems to be a color run on the cover page, printed in yellow and white letters, where within the white line of “The Composer and His Work,” the last three letters of the word “composer” are inexplicably yellow. The structure of the book is clear, as it arrives to its focus from two different directions. With evident respect, in chapter 1, Wolff presents and later relies on Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s summary catalogue of his father’s compositions, compiled shortly after Johann Sebastian’s death in 1750 and significantly amended in 1774. Concurrently, from a different approach, the author draws attention to those compositions that are “matching pieces of a certain kind or genre” (21). These have an “opus character” or represent an “opus collection”—a reference to the grouped instrumental compositions of [End Page 98] Corelli, Vivaldi, and others—indicating that Bach prepared these compositions with remarkable care. The Italian composers followed the traditions of collecting compositions in multiples of three, the “holy number,” representing the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Bach did compose a number of cycles in groups of six, for example the toccatas, suites, and partitas for keyboard, but often had other organizational means in mind, such as all the major and minor keys, as in the twice twenty-four movements of the Well-Tempered Clavier. Wolff’s examination of the unifying concepts of these thematically defined works is as valuable as his distinction between what constitutes an opus collection of instrumental works versus choral works. The two approaches should not necessarily lead to the investigation of the same Bach compositions, but, fascinatingly, they almost completely coincide—or perhaps, that is not a coincidence? It is also worth considering that another Bach scholar, Ruth Tatlow, following the lead of her own, very different investigation of proportional parallelisms, also focuses on almost exactly the same set of compositions.1 Intriguingly, some masterworks, such as the four orchestral suites, the sonatas for viola da gamba or traverso flute, and the motets, are missing from both scholars’ list of analyzed compositions, although the reason for this is not necessarily that they would not pass the opus-style benchmark. Bach’s Musical Universe is divided into eight chapters, with a prologue and an epilogue, scrutinizing the composer’s opus collections in roughly chronological order. Wolff’s selection of Bach compositions with an opus character...

The notion of Derivation in Theoretical Concepts Concerning the Formation of Musical Text

The relevance and scientific novelty consist in considering a new concept of derivation in the context of musicological researches. They concern the issues of the procedural formation of the composition of a musical work, as well as the comparison of M. Aranovsky's term with the idea of “metamorphosis”. It is this notion that has become widespread in the composing practice of the 20th–21st centuries.Research methods: systemic — consideration of general positions in works of musicologists about the problem of procedural formation of the composition, their classification, which allows to determine the basic mechanisms how to form the musical text, and gives the opportunity to determine the place of “derivation” in this area. Functional — analytical study of the revelation of this principle with the help of deterministic means of expression on the example of “symphonic metamorphosis” by T. Conroy. Comparative — a comparison of the compositional entire of the original play by K. M. Weber and the orchestral suite of the American composer, it permits to identify the characteristics of the principle of derivation, for its further correlation with the concept of metamorphosis presented in the title of the work.Conclusions of the study demonstrate that the essence of the derivation principle best reflects the mobile nature of the deployment of musical text. It is natural that this term is in line with the procedural concepts of theoretical musical research, which are focused on the study of the fundamental principles of the formation of the composition of a musical work. According to the content of M. Aranovsky's term, we consider this phenomenon from the standpoint of the universal category of change, proposed by N. Goryukhina. In the presented context, this concept can be correlated, as a kind of generalizing principle, with a number of terms for the development of musical material, in particular the composer's concept of “metamorphosis”, since in this phenomenon the principle of derivation, in our opinion, gets the clearest expression. This is evidenced by the results of a holistic analysis of “Symphonic Metamorphoses on the Theme of K. M. Weber” (2006) by the American composer T. Conroy. The musical text of the orchestral work embodies its main idea — the idea of change, through thematic and structural changes that lead to the transformation of the borrowed piano duet, as the initial seed, into a symphonic suite consisting of six parts (change of genre, structure of composition), modification of its original sounds (thematic, modal changes). This expresses, on the one hand, the idea of the composer, indicated in the title of the work — “Metamorphoses”, and on the other hand, the fundamental principle of M. Aranovsky's derivation is manifested. The universal nature of its functioning makes it possible to use this concept to designate multilevel changes of the borrowed original source of K. M. Weber in the musical text of T. Conroy's symphonic suite, which reveals the fundamental meaning of this term when considering the phenomenon of “metamorphosis” as the embodiment of the idea of modification corresponding to the variable, the procedural nature of the musical art. This indicates the prospect of further research.The scientific novelty of the article lies in the consideration of new, actual phenomena of musical art (metamorphosis, derivation), comparison of the characteristic features of their functioning in the composition of a musical work

Suite vs Sonata in the Baroque Era

The article focuses on the suite and sonata as two important genres of instrumental music of the Baroque era. The author draws attention to the widespread misconceptions that Baroque suites were usually built on the basis of four dances: allemande, courante, sarabande and gigue, and Baroque sonatas in general were divided into 2 types — church (sonata da chiesa) and chamber sonata (sonata da camera). He also points to the historical mistake in defining the form of any four-movement Baroque composition (“slow — fast — slow — fast”) as a da chiesa cycle, as well as to the principle error of the traditional interpretation of the sonata da camera as a suite based on the inaccurate translation of the original definition from Sebastien de Brossard’s “Dictionnaire de Musique” (1703). The main idea of the article is that the common comparison of suites and sonatas as two different genres of Baroque instrumental music is possible only in terms of modern musical practice. However, in the Baroque era, the genres, which we call sonata and suite, were actually different phenomena, and their comparison was largely meaningless. Baroque sonata was a form of multi-movement musical work intended to be performed entirely while the suite was formed from many separate and completed pieces; it was not a united work ordinarily. Despite the fact that suites were often formed on the basis of one or another typological principle, they, as a rule, turned out to be nothing more than repertoire collections for learning to play musical instrument or for playing music at home. And although multi-movement orchestral suites, unlike solo ones, had a better chance for full performance, they were also not generally considered as concert works, but were used mainly as a repertoire for Musique de Table, Music for a Firework, etc.

The Source Materials for Bartók’s Suite for Two Pianos, Op. 4b (1941)

The familiar biographical outlines of Béla Bartók’s American years rarely grant much attention to the Suite for Two Pianos, Op. 4b, which the composer transcribed from the Second Orchestral Suite in the fall of 1941. Bartók and his wife performed the new transcription three times in early 1942. This article examines the source materials for the two-piano Suite, on deposit at the Sacher Foundation in Basel, Switzerland, from the collection of Peter Bartók. Seven illustrations show various stages of the transcription process. Even a brief glance at the source materials shows Bartók actively composing in 1941, a fact which complicates the traditional biographical narrative that he stopped composing for three-and-a-half years from 1939 to the summer of 1943. Although the Suite, Op. 4b, was published only in 1960, and was understandably slow to gain acceptance by later pianists, it no longer remains at the periphery of the repertory. Properly accounting for it in future studies of Bartók’s American years will result in a more accurate representation of his experience.

"WANDERING STARS" BY LEONID ZATULOVSKYI: TRADITIONS AND INNOVATION IN THE INTERPRETATION OF THE SYMPHONIC SUITE GENRE

The purpose of the article is to identify the peculiarities of the genre made on the basis of the analysis of the symphonic suite by L. Zatulovskyi and to characterize the features of the works of the Bukovynian composer. Methodology . The methods of historical-cultural, theoretical and genre-style analysis were used, which allowed to reveal traditional and innovative techniques of interpretation of the genre of the symphonic suite. The scientific novelty consists in understanding the development process of the professional musical art of Bukovyna; in revealing features of creative thinking of the composers of the region; in clarifying the principles of orchestral music of the region; in the analysis of music by L. Zatulovskyi, whose work was not explored in contemporary musicology. Conclusions. The orchestral suite Wandering Stars concentrates the signs of creative thinking of L. Zatulovskyi, his principles of work, which combine the properties of various fields of music, thereby denoting the formation of polystylistics, where the classical traditions of European and Ukrainian music, folk music creative work and traits of Bukovynian multinational musical culture are interwoven. L. Zatulovskyi’s suite is an example of the scene-genre programme symphonism, where the background of the colourful national environment reveals the relationship between the heroes of the novel by Sholem Aleichem. On the basis of this work by L. Zatulovskyi one can identify the features of his individual creative style. The composer, relying on genre features of folk music, was able to achieve his own originality of writing. L. Zatulovskyi, intertwining the intonation and rhythmic features of the Ukrainian, Bukovynian and Jewish song and dance traditions, enriched the melody of his works and brought it to a new level of interaction with harmony and a tone-key component.

The activities of the Chinese orchestras of the traditional instruments of the new type in the 1960s - 1970s

The activities of the Chinese orchestras of the traditional instruments of the new type in the 1960s - 1970s

The activities of the Chinese orchestras of the traditional instruments of the new type in the 1960s - 1970s

The activities of the Chinese orchestras of the traditional instruments of the new type in the 1960s - 1970s

Differential effects of Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3 on blood pressure and heart rate - a prospective controlled study

Background There is little known whether music of different styles can directly alter blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) in humans. We studied the potential effects of Bach’s orchestral Suite No. 3 in comparison to silence (S [“controls CO]) on BP and HR.Objective To analyse the effect of different music styles (intervention group) on BP, HR and C compared to S (control group).Methods 120 volunteers aged 25-75 years were randomly assigned in the intervention group (n=60) or to a control group (n=60). Interventional music styles were the different parts of Bach’s Suite No. 3, BWV 1068 [Ouverture, Air, Gavotte, Bourrée, Gigue]). Sixty healthy volunteers served as “control group” (CO): they underwent an identical study protocol but without music application.Results In studied volunteers, systolic, diastolic BP (mm Hg) and HR (min-1) decreased when Bach was played compared to CO (p&lt;0.001). Prior to the study BPsyst was 128.3+11.3 mm Hg, BPdiast was 81.9+7.9 Hg and HR was 75.3+12.0 bpm. After sound exposure or in CO the following results were observed (table). *p&lt;0.001, ap=0.01, bp=0.08 BPsyst (mm Hg) BPdiast (mm Hg) HR (min-1)Ouverture 120.9+12.4* 76.9+8.8* 69.8+11.2*Air 121.1+12.4* 77.1+7.9* 68.4+9.4*Gavotte 120.9+12.6* 77.0+8.9* 68.5+9.8*Bourrée 120.6+13.7* 76.5+9.4* 66.4+8.4*Gigue 120.4+15.2* 78.5+11.1* 68.1+9.2*Controls 120.6+8.7a 75.4+5.5b 78.8+11.9*Conclusions The results provide clear evidence for the potential of Bach’ music styles to influence cardiovascular parameters. All parts of the Suite No. 3 lead to decreased values of BP and HR. In the control group we could not observe similar findings.Trial registration German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS00009835)Funding: None

Landscape—Rhythm—Memory: Contexts for Mapping the Music of George Enescu

George Enescu (1881–1955) falls askance customary narratives of twentieth-century music. Belonging to a lost generation situated between the late-Romantic modernism of Strauss and Mahler and the radical modernism of Schoenberg and Stravinsky, familiar historiographic notions find little hold on his music. The present article seeks to establish more pertinent aesthetic categories for understanding Enescu by proposing that his music is characterized by its idiosyncratic approach to time and its perceived spatial attributes. Drawing on a range of thinkers from both Enescu's native Romania and his adopted homeland of France, the article offers a series of five studies around Enescu's music, using a variety of interconnected concepts such as landscape, rhythm, and memory to map out the boundaries of a conceptual space for it to inhabit. These sections examine the construction and problematization of a national and nostalgic musical landscape in the Romanian Rhapsody No. 2; the powerful sense of space and movement created by the First Orchestral Suite; the vast cyclic networks of the Octet and Symphony No. 2; and the role of childhood memory in such works as the Impressions d'Enfance and Suite Villageoise .

L’Arlésienne: Drame en trois actes et cinq tableaux. Version originale de 1872 pour ensemble instrumental et chœur by Georges Bizet (review)

THE ORIGINAL VERSION OF BIZET'S L'ARLESIENNEGeorges Bizet. L'Arlesienne: Drame en trois actes et cinq tableaux. Version originale de 1872 pour ensemble instrumental et choeur. Edition critique de Herve Lacombe. (Musica Gallica.) [London]: Choudens, 2010. [Forces in Fr., p. 8-9; introd. in Fr., Eng., p. 11-40; sources in Fr., p. 41-43; bibliog., p. 44; contents, p. 45; score p. 47-210; critical appara- tus in Fr., p. 211-22; facsims., p. 223-35. ISBN 978-1-84772-839-5; pub. no. ACF100056; plate no. ACF021309. $113.35.]The music from Bizet's L'Arlesienne is, af- ter Carmen, the most familiar of his works, yet it has very rarely been heard in its origi- nal form, and will continue to be circulated as two popular orchestral suites, not as inci- dental music for the play by Alphonse Daudet, first performed at the Theâtre du Vaudeville, Paris, in September 1872. The play's beginnings were unpropitious, since it was not well received and it survived only nineteen performances, not a good num- ber for a fully staged play at that time. Its revival at the Theâtre de l'Odeon in 1885 was a quite different matter, for it was regu- larly staged in Paris at the turn of the cen- tury, reaching its 1,000th performance in 1951 (see Peter Lamothe, Theater Music in France, 1864-1914 [Ph.D. diss., Univer- sity ofNorth Carolina, 2008], 68-90, 267).The irony is that the 1885 revival was not an expression of interest in Daudet the playwright, but a response to the enormous popularity of Bizet's music. In its original form and its original light orchestration it was forgotten, but as orchestral suites it was a favorite of the conductors Jules Etienne Pasdeloup, Edouard Colonne, and Edouard Deldevez. The first suite was hur- riedly put together by Bizet after the play opened. In the Menestrel of 13 October 1872 Gustave Bertrand had suggested that the music could be arranged as a concert work, and four days later Massenet heard talk of a suite, a form which he himself par- ticularly cultivated in the early 1870s (Mina Curtiss, Bizet and his World [New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1958], 340), and on November 10 it was performed by Pasde- loup in one of his Concerts Populaires, at- tended by thousands. The suite drew on four movements (Prelude, Minuetto, Adagietto, Carillon), and filled out the orchestration with full woodwinds, extra brass, and a harp. It was heard at least fif- teen times in what was left of Bizet's lifetime.The success of the suite led the publisher Choudens to commission a second suite in 1879. This has always been attributed to Ernest Guiraud, although his name appears nowhere in the score. There were not enough substantial pieces in the original L'Arlesienne music to fill out four move- ments, so Guiraud (if it was he) stole a movement from Bizet's suite drawn from the opera La jolie fille de Perth entitled Scenes bohemiennes, which at that time was pub- lished only in a piano arrangement. This movement was the Menuet, a lovely and very familiar flute solo, which is conse- quently thought by many to be part of the L'Arlesienne music. The Menuet had there- fore to be replaced when the full score of the Scenes bohemiennes was published, for which purpose Guiraud (or someone else) arranged the Marche nocturne.Two popular orchestral suites based on L'Arlesienne being played constantly in Paris and elsewhere in the 1880s, when Bizet's music enjoyed a worldwide surge of popular- ity, led to the revival of the play in 1885. But rather than revive the original scoring, a full orchestra was engaged by the theater, conducted by Colonne, and the fuller or- chestrations of six of the longer movements were borrowed from the suites and played in the theater. Choudens then published a full score which represented the music as it was then played, that is, with enlarged or- chestration and a number of cuts. Further popular attention was then drawn to two adaptations of this music. The theme that comes at measure 90 of the Prelude, known as LTnnocent's theme, was issued in a vari- ety of arrangements with the words of the Ave Maria attached, while the Entr'acte no. …

Duke Ellington's America

Few American artists in any medium have enjoyed the international and lasting cultural impact of Ellington. From jazz standards such as Mood Indigo and Don't Get Around Much Anymore, to his longer, more orchestral suites, to his leadership of the stellar big band he toured and performed with for decades after most big bands folded, Ellington represented a singular, path-breaking force in music over the course of a half century. At the same time, as one of the most prominent black public figures in history, Ellington demonstrated leadership on questions of civil rights, equality, and America's role in the world. Drawing on extensive research and a wealth of new interviews, Duke Ellington's America paints a vivid portrait of the life and times of this towering figure, taking him from his youth in the black middle-class enclave of Washington, DC, to the heights of worldwide acclaim.

Birds Like Music, Too

In the Random Samples item “Monkeys have tin ears” on a recent study by Joshua McDermott and Marc Hauser ([1][1]), Isabelle Peretz is quoted as saying, “The observations suggest that only humans have a natural, or innate, inclination to engage with music” (3 August, p. [577][2]). This statement is not quite true. McDermott and Hauser have shown a difference between how humans and nonhuman primates respond to music, but they have not shown a difference between humans and all other animals. It is a well-known phenomenon that birds use song to communicate. Whether birdsong is considered music is still debatable; however, the many parallels between birdsong, language, and music have been, and are still, extensively studied. Certainly, there are similarities between humans and songbirds in their ability to discriminate and respond to music. For example, Watanabe and Sato ([2][3]) have shown that Java sparrows can discriminate between Bach's French Suite no. 5 in G minor and Arnold Schoenberg's Suite for Piano opus 25. The birds were also able to generalize new music by Bach (Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major) and Schoenberg (Five Orchestra Pieces, Opus 16) and artists in similar categories, i.e., Vivaldi and Elliott Carter. In these experiments, music by Bach and Vivaldi was considered classical music, while the music of Schoenberg and Carter was considered modern music. Watanabe and Nemoto ([3][4]) have also shown that, given the option of three perches producing either silence, classical, or modern music, the Java sparrows preferred Bach to Schoenberg and Vivaldi to Carter. These results indicate that Java sparrows or songbirds prefer classical to modern music, or perhaps just more harmonious to dissonant sounds. Additionally, the sparrows chose music they “liked” (e.g., Bach) over silence or music they “disliked” (e.g., Schoenberg). These findings resemble those of McDermott and Hauser and suggest that birds, like humans, clearly engage, and are inclined to engage, with music. ![Figure][5] CREDIT: JOE SUTLIFF 1. 1.[↵][6] 1. J. M.D. McDermott Hauser , Cognition 104, 3 (2007). [OpenUrl][7] 2. 2.[↵][8] 1. S. Watanabe, 2. K. Sato , Behav. Processes 47, 1 (1999). [OpenUrl][9][CrossRef][10][Web of Science][11] 3. 3.[↵][12] 1. S. Watanabe, 2. M. Nemoto , Behav. Processes 43, 2 (1998). [OpenUrl][13] [1]: #ref-1 [2]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.317.5838.577c [3]: #ref-2 [4]: #ref-3 [5]: pending:yes [6]: #xref-ref-1-1 View reference 1. in text [7]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DCognition%26rft.volume%253D104%26rft.spage%253D3%26rft.atitle%253DCOGNITION%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [8]: #xref-ref-2-1 View reference 2. in text [9]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DBehav.%2BProcesses%26rft.volume%253D47%26rft.spage%253D1%26rft.atitle%253DBEHAV%2BPROCESSES%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Adoi%252F10.1016%252FS0376-6357%252899%252900048-0%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [10]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=10.1016/S0376-6357(99)00048-0&link_type=DOI [11]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=000082841000001&link_type=ISI [12]: #xref-ref-3-1 View reference 3. in text [13]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DBehav.%2BProcesses%26rft.volume%253D43%26rft.spage%253D2%26rft.atitle%253DBEHAV%2BPROCESSES%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx