Week 6: Assignment Question 1
Reading:
Textbook Reference:
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No citations but dont copy from another written. Write the answer with your feelings and read carefully question.
Questions:
1a. At 0:53 below how would you describe the roll on the timpani and energized playing of the strings?
1b. At 4:42 how would you describe the entrance of the piano soloist?
1c. At 5:29 how would you describe the climax of her crescendo; at 5:40 how does the orchestra match her intensity?
1d. At 7:34 how would you describe her arrival at a song-like melody; how do her facial expressions reflect this moment?
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2a. At 0:22 how would you describe the use of timpani at the beginning of Brahms’ 1st symphony, and how this intensity is sustained into the body of the symphony?
2b. At 1:01 how would you describe the sound of the woodwinds?
2c. At 2:15 as we hear the opening melody once again, how would you describe the music now, as the timpani plays a drum roll (trill)?
2d. At 2:34 how would you describe the tenderness of the oboe solo?
Brahms: Symphony No. 1
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3. At 22:35 in three sentences or more, how would you describe the melody and music of Brahms’ 3rd symphony 3rd movement?
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4. Brahms’ 4th symphony 2nd movement begins below at 13:05; how would you describe the peaceful nature of the music that begins around 13:30?
5. At 15:15 as the woodwinds finish their melody, listen as the strings play pizzicato, or pluck instead of bowing. How does this technique help lower the overall volume?
6. At 24:41 in Brahms’ 4th symphony 3rd movement, how would you describe the upbeat energy of this movement?
7. At 25:19 and 26:13 the percussion instrument featured in the 3rd movement is a triangle; how does this special percussive sound enrich the overall symphony?
8. At 39:27 in Brahms’ 4th symphony 4th movement, how would you describe the syncopated rhythms that foreshadow ragtime music (and eventually jazz) in the United States?
Brahms: Symphony No. 4
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9. How does hearing a tribute to Brahms (4th symphony 3rd movement) by the classic rock band Yes on their famous 1971 album Fragile show the importance of the Viennese tradition in 20th century popular music?
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10. At 19:30 how would you describe the final cadence, use of timpani and triangle, and the conductor’s hand and arm movements as the Chineke! Orchestra concludes Brahms’ Variations on a theme by Haydn?
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