String Ensembles Research Articles

The main problems of modern research on chamber instrumental music in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus

In the center of the author’s attention are the problems of chamber instrumental music in the Eastern European countries: the renewal of the musical language, the genre and stylistic searches, the significant compositional achievements in the field of chamber music. Young musicologists rely in their research on the works of L. Raaben, a recognized authority in the field. They consider the role of the chamber instrumental genres in the artistic space of the Silver Age, present the evolution of the genre of a large ensemble with the participation of the piano, analyze the problems of the history and theory of the piano duet of the 20th century, of the piano sonata, string ensembles. A special area of research is devoted to the chamber music of some composers (A. Dvořák, S. Prokofiev, V. Platonov, etc.), of some regions (Udmurtia), countries (Ukraine, Belarus). The analysis of the presented theses demonstrates the rich prospects for the further study of this field of composition creation, which is considered by many musicians as an area of experimentation and search.

Nonstring Music Teachers’ Comfort Teaching String Ensembles

This study was designed to explore nonstring specialists’ comfort teaching students in string ensembles. Comfort was defined as an individual’s ease when teaching the subject matter. Data were gathered, using a 7-point Likert-type scale related to 15 string topics administered through a researcher-developed study. Participants ( N = 180), who were identified through the National Association for Music Education membership list, were contacted via email. Responses were analyzed using descriptive and parametric statistics. Results revealed that band specialists felt significantly more comfortable in string teaching situations than choir and elementary general music specialists. Participants who took a string methods course, as compared with those who did not, felt more comfortable teaching seven specific string topics. Participants who were currently teaching string ensembles felt more comfortable teaching all string topics, except for vibrato technique. Participants who had taught strings in the past were significantly more comfortable teaching string ensembles than those who had never taught strings. The findings of this study could help higher education string methods instructors select instructional activities and course topics that were revealed to provide the most beneficial experiences.

Teaching Sul Tasto: Making String Ensembles Accessible for Students with Light and Sound Sensitivities

Teaching <i>Sul Tasto</i>: Making String Ensembles Accessible for Students with Light and Sound Sensitivities

Global Culture Reproduction Through The String Orchestra’ Repertoire (The Role of Brandenburg Concerto III BWV 1084 J.S Bach toward the Skills and the musical Spirit of Strings Ensemble Students at the Pasundan University Music Study Program)

The selection of repertoire on a musical ensemble is quite important, especially in the context of rehearsal in the non-professional string ensemble community. It is very common if there is a diversity of skill levels in each member. Such diversity will usually be a common obstacle when it comes to determining a shared repertoire. An overly difficult repertoire (advance) will be difficult for some members otherwise an easy one will create a bored atmosphere for members who are already proficient. Even the role of unbalanced work will make some members may struggle while others will become bored so that the rehearsal atmosphere is not conducive. The author observed that there is an interesting repertoire that is often used as an ensemble rehearsal material in the bowed string’s formation, namely Brandenburg Concerto no. III BWV 1048 Part III in G Major by Johan Sebastian Bach for 3 violins, 3 violas, 3 cellos and 1 double bass. This work is often used as an alternative work together in the community environment of string orchestras in Bandung, and based on the observation of the author of this work is often used in several workshops and ensemble learning materials, with a relatively balanced role, this complex-sounding work has techniques and finger positions that can still be reached by players in the skill range level 3-5 ABRSM. The authors collected data through observations, interviews and documentation on Unpas Music Study Program students who had played this work. After being described and analyzed, the authors found that this work had a significant role in improving ensemble skills playing in string ensembles that would indirectly also improve their individual skills especially for advanced entry-level string instrument students. Keywords: Brandenburg Concerto III, String Orchestra, Music Ensembles, Baroque, Bach.

Towards string theory expectations for photon couplings to axionlike particles

ALP-photon couplings are modeled in large ensembles of string vacua and random matrix theories. In all cases, the effective coupling increases polynomially in the number of ALPs, of which hundreds or thousands are expected in the string ensembles, many of which are ultralight. The expected value of the couplings $g_{a\gamma\gamma}\simeq 10^{-12}\text{GeV}^{-1} - 10^{-10}\text{GeV}^{-1}$ provide viable targets for future x-ray telescopes and axion helioscopes, and in some cases are already in tension with existing data.

Piano quartets by F. Mendelssohn as a phenomenon of the Romantic era

Piano quartets by F. Mendelssohn as a phenomenon of the Romantic era

Serenading Spanish Students on the Streets of Paris: The International Projection of Estudiantinas in the 1870s

Spanish estudiantina plucked string ensembles achieved immense popularity in the last two decades of the nineteenth century and were an important catalyst in the creation of the sonority of a variety of European and American popular musics. Such ensembles had precedents in Spanish student groups dating back to the Renaissance and the rondallas (or groupings of plucked instruments) that were associated with popular outdoor serenades. However, the modern estudiantina movement can be traced back to 1878, and was consciously framed as a modern historical construct. A large grouping of youths and former students, donning Renaissance student dress, decided to form a society to visit Paris during Carnival, on the eve of the 1878 Exposition Universelle. They took Paris by storm, performing in a variety of street settings, reinforcing the exotic stereotypes of serenading musicians associated with Spain, and bringing to life historical notions of the minstrel. In the decade that followed, the European performance contexts of the estudiantinas included theatres, outdoor venues and expositions, garden parties and salons – and they became fixtures of the music hall and the café chantant. This paper explores early English and French constructions of the estudiantina phenomenon, and how the groups were framed in the light of exotic street musics and prevailing tropes of Spain. It also examines how the outdoor performance settings of the estudiantinas were translated onto the theatrical stage.

Stylistics of the Amateur String Instrumental Ensembles in Modern Ukraine

Stylistics of the Amateur String Instrumental Ensembles in Modern Ukraine Natalia Chystiakova Abstract In the paper, the author examines the stylistic peculiarities of amateur string instrumental ensembles in Ukraine on the example of “Expromt” string ensemble, “Crescendo” chamber orchestra (Kharkiv, Ukraine), and “Polyphonya” chamber orchestra (Lviv, Ukraine). Taking a point of departure in the previous definitions of the term “culture”, the author advances the definition of the “amateur string culture”. In the paper, the author uses personal extensive experience as the head of “Expromt” string ensemble and “Crescendo” chamber orchestra, and interviews with colleagues to determine common trends in the repertoire of amateur string ensembles in chamber music, concert music, and plain-air music. The results show that the main genres used by the ensembles are popular classical music, including originals and arrangements, music pieces by the national composers, including both adaptations and original music pieces, as well as remakes and cover versions of the modern popular and rock music. Additionally, the author presents characteristics common to instrumental composition of amateur string ensembles and gives examples of music pieces commonly used by amateur ensembles. The results of the study show that artistic aims of amateur music-making reflect those of academic art but amateur music-making has its own distinct characteristics, which can observed through stylistics. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/ijmpa.v5n2a4

The Classical wind player

This batch of recordings, all of wind-centric pieces, divides into two groups: one of chamber works and one of concertos or other works featuring a solo instrument. Including some well-known and often-recorded works and some that have never before been available on CD, this set demonstrates the virtuosity of today’s historically informed performers and hints at the range and quantity of Classical wind music, which is still easy to overlook as a genre to listen to and to perform. Ignaz Joseph Pleyel: Partitas for winds (Accent acc24276, rec 2012, 68′) includes four works written by Pleyel for string ensembles and arranged for winds by multiple other composers and one partita which may be original or arranged. I find this genre fascinating and the arrangements interesting to contemplate, but I wish that the CD case indicated the arranged nature of the pieces. The Amphion Wind Octet, a long-standing and award-winning group, exhibits good ensemble and very slick and flashy fingers, paired with occasional wild or rough notes. Clarinettists Christian Leitherer and Daniel Beyer’s impressions of rapid string arpeggios are particularly impressive. However, despite the comfortable and sensitive ensemble playing, each instrument sounds distractingly separate, perhaps due to microphone placement, and the bassoon is occasionally drowned out. I found this recording primarily interesting as a way to compare pieces arranged from string works and the different styles that can be attributed to arrangers or to the translation from strings to winds. Compositionally, I am particularly fond of the surprising jazziness of the Sextetto in C minor. The liner notes discuss Pleyel’s career in the context of the once substantial and now neglected Harmoniemusik repertory for wind ensembles. While the notes are very informative and the information about the history of the composition and arrangement of each work is well presented, I found myself wishing that the track listings included the opus numbers used in the notes. This would have ensured no confusion over which track is being discussed at each point in the notes.

Good News in Inclusive String Music Education

There has been a paradigm shift in the field of string instrument instruction and working with students with disabilities over the past 25 years. The previously reported lack of educational preparation for teachers in including students with disabilities in string classrooms and ensembles seems to have been improved upon through teacher training programs, in-service conferences, clinics, and videos. Furthermore, on a closer—illustrated—look, teaching strategies used in early stages of string instruction easily transfer to working with students with disabilities. The increase in interest, participation, and success of students with disabilities in the strings classroom has clarified the need for a body of empirical research in this area.

Vilniaus apylinkių etninis instrumentinis muzikavimas XX a.

In this article, based on the 2002 written material from the 14th ethnic instrumental expedition held in Vilnius district, collected data of 20th century’s folk musicians, their played music and used instruments is analyzed and summarized. There is the best this regions player with cymbals Piotr Kacianovskij remembered. The author conducted interviewing of 25 informants: 14 of them being bellow players (7 accordions, 5 folk accordions and 2 bajans), 4 fiddles and other instrument players (3 mandolins, 2 cymbals, 1 guitar and 1 balalaika). Two major types of instrumental ensembles used to exist in Vilnius district: string and mixed ensembles. In a researched region, ethnic instrumental music traditions were on the brink of extinction on the 2nd part of 20th century, and at the end of that century were barely encountered. The traditions of old folk music playing were not taken over, so this performing art is dwindling. But new traditions are forming.Key words: ethnic instrumental music-making, ethnic music, folk musicians, traditional ensembles, violin, folk accordion, ethnic and brought repertoire.

Influence of Education, Performance Level, and Presentation Medium on Evaluations of String Orchestra Performances

Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of education level (high school orchestra students, undergraduate string music education majors, and in-service orchestra teachers), ensemble performance level (good, average, and weak), and presentation medium (audio-only and audiovisual) on the evaluations of string orchestra performances. Participants (N = 96) evaluated audio-only or audiovisual recordings of good, average, and weak string ensembles. A repeated-measures ANOVA test revealed that string education majors rated intonation more favorably than inservice teachers. All participants were able to discriminate between the good, average, and weak performances when evaluating tone, intonation, and rhythmic precision. Ratings for musical effect did not differ significantly between the good and average groups. Participants assigned significantly lower tone and intonation ratings in the audio-only presentation medium than the audiovisual. Finding evidence of when musicians learn to accurately assess music performances can be useful both for in-service music teachers and teacher educators. If this ability is apparent in high school students, they can have a larger role in the rehearsal process.

Improving the Search Performance of Extended Connectivity Fingerprints through Activity‐Oriented Feature Filtering and Application of a Bit‐Density‐Dependent Similarity Function

The Pipeline Pilot extended connectivity fingerprints (ECFPs) are currently among the most popular similarity search tools in drug discovery settings. ECFPs do not have a fixed bit string format but generate variable numbers of structural features for individual test molecules. This variable string design makes ECFP representations amenable to compound-class-directed modification. We have devised an intuitive feature-filtering technique that focuses ECFP search calculations on feature string ensembles of given compound activity classes. In combination with a simple bit-density-dependent similarity function, feature filtering consistently improved the search performance of ECFP calculations based on Tanimoto similarity and state-of-the-art data fusion techniques on a diverse array of activity classes. Feature filtering and the bit density similarity metric are easily implemented in the Pipeline Pilot environment. The approach provides a viable alternative to conventional similarity searching and should be of general interest to further improve the success rate of practical ECFP applications.

The Influence of Beginning Instructional Grade on String Student Enrollment, Retention, and Music Performance

The purpose of this study was to investigate three primary variables concerning the starting grade level of beginning string instruction in public schools: (a) initial enrollment, (b) retention data for both the end of the first year and at the seventh-grade year of instruction, and (c) music performance level in the seventh grade. Secondary variables including schedule of instruction, decision makers, grade-level organization, and private lessons also were examined. Research objectives were developed to provide string teachers with information for use when they consider the grade level of beginning instruction in their school districts. Later starting grades yielded the highest retention rates, when retention data for both the end of the initial year of instruction and the beginning of seventh grade were compared with starting grade level. The starting grade level of instruction did not, however, affect initial enrollment figures or music performance of string ensembles.

A Gathering of Gamelans and A (Balinese) Tempest (review)

A Gathering of Gamelans and a (Balinese) Tempest. Presented by ShadowLight Productions, Cowell Theater, San Francisco. 13–23 October 2005.

On the Hagedorn behaviour of singular scale-invariant plane waves

As a step towards understanding the properties of string theory in time-dependent and singular spacetimes, we study the divergence of density operators for string ensembles in singular scale-invariant plane waves, i.e. those plane waves that arise as the Penrose limits of generic power-law spacetime singularities. We show that the scale invariance implies that the Hagedorn behaviour of bosonic and supersymmetric strings in these backgrounds, even with the inclusion of RR or NS fields, is the same as that of strings in flat space. This is in marked contrast to the behaviour of strings in the BFHP plane wave which exhibit quantitatively and qualitatively different thermodynamic properties.

Jiangnan Sizhu Music Clubs in Shanghai: Context, Concept and Identity

T hroughout much of China, regional instrumental ensemble traditions have evolved; among these are percussion ensembles, string ensembles, and a variety of ensembles combining heterogeneous instrument types. Chinese musicologists categorize those ensemble genres in which string and wind instruments predominate as sizhu musics.' These sizhu traditions can be (and usually are) differentiated according to instrumentation, repertory and musical style. However, less easily categorizable factors may also be highly significant in defining and distinguishing the various genres: these factors, which are both historical and contextual, include the relative longevity of a tradition and the age and extent of notation and written documentation; the hierarchy of instruments; the flexibility of instrumentation and ensemble size; the relationships between an instrumental ensemble tradition and Chinese opera, narrative song, religious music, and modern Chinese music in the same locale; the typical performance context(s), and the method of transmission. A single genre may also differ from one locale to another: it may be played under varying socio-economic systems (i.e. mainland China, Hong Kong, or Taiwan), may be either indigenous or transplanted (either to another cultural-linguistic region of China or to a nonChinese society), and may even differ from one town to another within its native locale. The performer's, listener's, or researcher's conception of a genre and the values embedded in it will inevitably be influenced by the geographic and social environment in which it is played, heard or studied. Few Western scholars have focused their research on instrumental ensemble music, although some primary data concerning instrumental ensemble traditions in Taiwan (Yeh 1985), Hong Kong (Witzleben 1983a), Honolulu (Smith 1975), and San Francisco (Riddle 1978) is available. In Chinese, while theoretical and historical materials are abundant, contextual data discussing actual performance practice is scarce.2 The nature of the instrumental ensemble in Chinese music remains relatively unexplored; given the potential variables indicated above, there is a need for highly contextualized studies which are both genreand locale-specific before any generalizations

String Solos and Ensembles

String Solos and Ensembles