L-DAWG AND LIL L-DAWG

GERSHWIN & ROSSINI (FETTUCCINE)

Gershwin ● ●

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From Brooklyn, New York, named Jacob Gershovitz at his birth September 26, 1898 George Gershwin dropped out of school and began playing piano professionally at age 15. ○ Gershwin played in several New York nightclubs and began his stint as a “songplugger” in New York’s Tin Pan Alley. Within a few years, he was one of the most sought after musicians in America. ○ A composer of jazz, opera and popular songs for stage and screen, many of his works are now standards. 1937, Gershwin began to experience troubling symptoms such as severe headaches and noticing strange smells ○

Doctors would eventually discover that he had developed a malignant brain tumor. On July 11, 1937, Gershwin died during surgery to remove the tumor. He was only 38.

Composer Bio ●

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In the mid-1920s, Gershwin stayed in Paris for a short time ○ He applied to study composition with Nadia Boulanger, who, along with several other prospective tutors such as Maurice Ravel, rejected him. ○ They were afraid that rigorous classical study would ruin his jazzinfluenced style During a trip to paris he started composing a tone poem based on his European experiences, called An American in Paris, which he wrote in Paris and Vienna and orchestrated on the boat back to New York. ○ It was an instant success and was made into a movie in 1951.

“As in my other orchestral compositions, I’ve not endeavoured to present any definite scenes [...] The rhapsody is programmatic only in a general impressionistic way, so that the individual listener can read into the music such episodes as his imagination pictures for him”. Gershwin on “An American in Paris”

“An American In Paris” ●

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An American in Paris has been described as a tone poem ○ This implies a loose form, containing musical passages that are descriptive rather than developmental in nature. ○ loosely based on his European experiences, which he wrote in Paris and Vienna and orchestrated on the boat back to New York. The first section of the work uses a French style of music while the second part uses a mostly American style. “An American in Paris” was rhythmically influenced highly by jazz and includes rhythmical features such as: ○ Syncopation ○ Polyrhythm ○ Changes in Meter ○ Rhythmic Regularity

Structure and Form ●

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Gershwin’s rhythmic writing in An American in Paris is of course heavily influenced by jazz ○ Broadway musicals and popular dance music syncopation but it also displays rhythmic techniques used by neoclassical composers (such as the use of irregular metres and polyrhythms of different types). The work can be divided into two main parts each with its own separate melodic material, and a coda that draws together material from both parts. ○ There are also several ideas that appear as countermelodies or are heard between the phrases of a main theme, such as ‘sync’, which is heard several times in the ‘B’ section. The structure looks complicated owing to the rapid intercutting of different pieces of material, often in contrasting tempi and dynamics. ○ relatively common in neoclassical music ○ resulted in sectional or patchwork-like structures.

Structure and Form ●

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The work is bound together mostly through its melodic material: all of the material is based on memorable melodic ideas which are repeated, developed, combined and juxtaposed in different ways. The work is in 2/4 time the piece has two different sections that it can be split into ○ Section A has five main themes ○ Section B has two main themes ○ There are also four minor themes: ■ Chromatic Descending Figure ■ Arpeggio like Flourish ■ Syncopated Rhythmic Flourish ■ Oscillating Figure \ The piece is split into three sections ○ Paris by day, Paris by night, and Memories

Gershwin Style ● Gershwin includes Augmented chords and dissonant harmonies ● Gershwin uses parallel movement to add depth to a piece. ● Bitonality and Chromaticism are other tools used by gershwin to add layers to the work. ● Countermelodies are fairly frequent.

GIOACHINO ROSSINI BIOGRAPHY • Born in Pisaro, Italy (formerly Papal States)

• Giuseppe (father) was a horn player/slaughterhouse musician, Anna (mother) was a singer • began musical training at an early age • first formal training was on the harpsichord under the instruction of Guiseppe Prinetti • eventually left Prinetti, began receiving instruction from Angelo Tesei, who taught Rossini to sight-read, play piano accompaniments, & sing • composed six string sonatas at the age of 12 • in 1805, he made his one & only public appearance as a singer, & had become a capable horn player • composed individual numbers to Vincenza Mombelli’s Demetrio e Polibio • became a cello student at the Conservatorio di Bologna • at 18 years old, his first opera, La cambiale di matrimonio (The Marriage Contract), was produced in Venice • in 1813, Rossini was “catapulted” to international fame with the operas Tancredi and L’ italiana in Algeri

PETITE MESSE SOLENNELLE STRUCTURE PART ONE • Kyrie - chorus • Gloria: - Gloria in excelsis Deo - soloists & chorus - Gratias agimus tibi - trio for contralto, tenor, & bass - Domine Deus - tenor solo - Qui tollis peccata mundi - duet for soprano & contralto - Quoniam tu solus sanctus - bass solo - Cum Sancto Spiritu - chorus PART TWO • Credo: - Credo in unum Deum - soloists & chorus - Crucifixus - soprano solo - Et resurrexit - soloists & chorus • Preludio religioso (during offertory) - piano & harmonium solo • Ritornello - 9 measures for harmonium • Sanctus - soloists & chorus • O salutaris hostia - soprano solo • Agnus Dei - contralto & chorus

STRUCTURE & FORM KYRIE • movement structure is A-B-A - part A is in andante maestoso (eighth note = 108) - piano-harmonium, reprise sotto voce w/ the chorus & soloists in A minor, then transitions to C major - part B is a double canon a capella in andantino moderato (half note = 66) in C minor in an “archaizing style” on the text Christe eleison - part A is a reprise of the first part, but in A major GLORIA consists of: • a piano introduction played in allegro maestoso (quarter note = 120) • a passage of unison between the soloists & chorus • six measures for piano in andantino mosso (quarter note = 58) CREDO • strophic form - first three “verses” consist of A, B, and C themes, followed by “climactic” mini-development section - return to original key & theme A

STRUCTURE & FORM PRELUDIO RELIGIOSO • is a prelude & fugue - prelude is 16 measures of 4/4 andante maestoso (quarter note = 92) - fugue can be played equally on piano or harmonium in 3/4 andantino mosso (quarter note = 76) RITORNELLO/SANCTUS • Ritornello was designed to provide singers with their staring note for Sanctus, as both are in the key of C major (and in 6/8) O SALUTARIS HOSTIA • introduced later on by Rossini in his version for full orchestra as a number to feature piano • 3/4 at tempo andantino sostenuto (quarter note = 88) • piano introduction • A-B-A section •piano finale

COMPARISON ⋅ Both Gershwin and Rossini experienced inspiration from living in Paris ⋅ Both Gershwin and Rossini incorporated different styles of music (Gershwin : American blues and Parisian themed melodies, Rossini : Italian operatic mass and symphonic instrumentation) ● Both Gershwin and Rossini separated their works into different sections to emphasize different melodies and themes. ● Both Gershwin and Rossini incorporate and enlist repetition as a key structural tool to help convey their melodic ideas. ● Both Gershwin and Rossini have distinctive and original rhythms that they are both known for.

BIBLIOGRAPHY ● ● ● ●

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http://www.sd5.k12.mt. us/cms/lib3/MT01001507/Centricity/Domain/114/MT11_scheme_KS5_Rossini_Gershwin.pdf http://www.musicweb-international.com/Programme_Notes/gershwin_ainp.htm http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/510222/Gioachino-Rossini#toc6253 http://www.sd5.k12.mt. us/cms/lib3/MT01001507/Centricity/Domain/114/MT11_scheme_KS5_Rossini_Gershwin.pdf? hc_location=ufi http://www.classiccat.net/rossini_g/biography.php