Vocal Music Through the Ages (Classical-20th Century)

Vocal Music has developed over time, because it "is certainly somewhat a result of the influence individual composers have on one another"- Radio Prague. The History of Music - 20th Century (2001). In the Renaissance period, music then was composed for religious means eg. ayre and ballett. As the Baroque period came around, forms such as masses and passion arose, as it was the movement of religion/Christianity. When the Classical period came along, the orchestra expanded and the development of many instruments lead allowed forms such as opera and oratorio to appear. The Romantic period allowed more freedom of expression so the lied and cantana were created. 20th century pieces had more emphasis on musical elements than overall sound of the piece, so traditional rules were broken to form a more "free" and experimental sounds. There were informal forms, like opera, oratorio and art song but the traditional rules were abandoned.

Two pieces of vocal music that will be compared and contrasted in this essay are Once on a Mountain by Stephan Leek (Parts I and II) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro" (Number 7 Trio and number 9 Aria). This essay will be discussing how these pieces relate to their respective periods through musical elements.

20th century music feature characteristics such as large and unusual intervals (not the minor/major/perfects in classical music) creating chordal dissonance, no tonal centre, frequent change of time signs, having no organised structure/form and the use of non-traditional notation eg. boxes and clusters. This overall, abandoning traditional rules this gives a liberated but odd sounding piece. All these characteristics are apparent in Leek’s “Once on a Mountain”.

Once on a Mountain is an avant-garde work written by Leek, who was inspired by the untouched Australian landscape before the arrival of people. He implies "Australia's heritage, tradition, indeed her national treasures, lie in the mountains, the forests, the native flora and fauna and in the vast expanses of water and surrounding it... we should be humbled by the...beauty in which we live". There are several word paintings (lyrics that paint a picture in the audience's head). Naturally flowing water is depicted in b3-5 by the decrease of clusters.

while mountains and forests found in Movement I bars 1-2 and bars 13-15 respectively because of their large and irregylar intervals show tall trees and mountains.

Other flora and fauna can be depicted in bars 4-7 of Section F of Movement II, as the non traditional notation resemble bird and animal calls.

Techniques such as minimalism (a very small amount of material in many permutations to generate a large work- present in Section F) and pointillism (use of single notes/tiny fragments of melody in ever changing timbres, registers and dynamic levels- apparent in the repetition of rock) used in Once on a Mountain reflect the typical characteristics of 20th century music, even though they are fairly new. Characteristics of music in the classical era are simple, easy to remember melodies that include clear-cut phrases and cadences at bars 16-22, 85-90 and 165-167, strict tempo/rhythm that stresses formal structure over personal interpretation and expression, varied dynamics due to the development of the piano, and the frequent change from long notes to short notes (vice versa). The piece (Marriage of Figaro) overall is polished and elegant in character and sounds pleasing to the ear.

Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro is an extended opera on one of his most admired politicians- Pierre Auguste Carona de Beaumarchais’ play Le Marriage de Figaro. It makes a comment on the aristocracy in dealing with the rights of/over their servants and is set before the French Revolution. The Marriage of Figaro features a trio and an aria which states the stress of structure over expression as seen in the tempo marking in bar 129.

There isn’t freedom for personal interpretation; instead what is written is how it is to be played.
Other characteristics of classical era music would be the frequent change from long notes to short notes (vice versa)

Due to the development of the piano, a wider range of dynamics appeared. This is evident in bars 196-200

Clearly marked cadences are another characteristics of a classical piece, that also gives it the elegent, polished and completed feel.

It is an imperfect cadence (I-V), at the end of a phrase, giving it a complete sounding end to a phrase.
Clear cut and simple, easy to remember melody lines are a part of classical music, revealed in bars 179-185.

All these characteristics is what makes a classical piece, and this is evident in Mozart's Marriage of Figaro.

Both pieces represent their time periods very accurately, as seen by the characteristics of each time period presented in both pieces. Classical music characteristics include simple, easy to remember melodies, clear cut phrases and defined cadences which add up to an elegent and polished character, the frequent change from short-long notes (vice versa) and the range of dynamics due to the developmen of the piano. 20th century music has a rather "free" sound to it, as traditional rules were broken to form a new style, with new notations (eg boxes and clusters), the excess use of repetition to form large works (minimalism) and having small fragments of measures be manipulated in different forms e.g. varying the timbre, dynamic level (pointillism), large and irregular intervals and having no tonal centre. All were apparent in both pieces, "Marriage of Figaro" by Mozart and Stephen Leek's "Once on a Mountain", which ultimately, classical and 20th century pieces.