Berlioz and his Juliette, Harriet

In class, I learned about the "relationship" between Berlioz and Harriet Smithson. I was interested to learn more about his infatuation with her. Berlioz first saw Harriet Smithson at the Odéon Theatre in September 1827. Smithson was in an English theatre group, that night she was playing the role of Ophelia in Hamlet. Berlioz didn't understand English, but he instantly fell in love with Smithson just by watching her on stage and hearing the way she spoke. He wanted to be with her at that very moment, despite their age difference of three years. Smithson lived at 1, rue Neuve Saint Marc. Berlioz moved into 96, rue Richelieu so he could watch Smithson come and go. He went to several of her plays, but she paid him no mind. She even went so far to say, "Please do not leave me alone with that man should he come back". Berlioz refused to let his love for this woman die. He caught her attention by ingesting a lethal dose of opium. She agreed to marry him, and that's when he pulled out the antidote. He was sick for days, but they were eventually married. They were married at the British Embassy with Franz Liszt as a witness and the German poet Heinrich Heine as a guest.
  By the time they were married, Harriet's career was in decline. Berlioz organised a concert with Liszt in order to help his wife pay off her debts. When her debts were finally paid off, Berlioz began to have doubts about his wife. Some people believed that Smithson was eager to marry Berlioz because of her financial problems. His own family disapproved of the marriage to a penniless Protestant actress. By 1843, the marriage between Berlioz and Smithson was rocky. Smithson was becoming jealous of her husband's success. Berlioz was also found guilty of having an affair with the singer Marie Recio in 1841. Smithson left Berlioz, but she was still living at Berlioz's expense.

  Towards the end of her life she suffered from paralysis. Harriet Smithson died on March 3, 1854. She was originally buried at the Cimetière Saint Vincent, until Berlioz learned that Saint Vincent was to be destroyed. He moved her remains to Montmartre cemetery. Death isn't funny, but what's ironic about this chain of events is that when Berlioz and Marie Recio died, they were both buried next to Harriet Smithson.

Carnival of the Animals - Saint-Saens

"Carnival of the Animals" illustration by Ping Zhu

Composer: Camille Saint-Saëns
Title: Carnival of the Animals (Le carnaval des animaux)
Date: 1886
Movements:

I Introduction et marche royale du lion 
(Introduction and royal march of the lion)
II Poules et coqs (Hens and roosters)
III Hémiones (animaux véloces) (Wild asses; quick animals)
IV Tortues (Tortoises)
V L'éléphant (The elephant)
VI Kangourous (Kangaroos)
VII Aquarium
VIII Personnages à longues oreilles (Characters with long ears)
IX Le coucou au fond des bois (The cuckoo in the depths of the woods)
X Volière (Aviary)
XI Pianistes (Pianists)
XII Fossiles (Fossils)
XIII Le cygne (The swan)
XIV Finale

From Wikipedia:

In 1949, Ogden Nash wrote a set of humorous verses to accompany each movement for a Columbia Masterworks recording of Carnival of the Animals conducted by Andre Kostelanetz. Recited on the original album by Noël Coward, they are now often included when the work is performed.

Verses for Camille Saint-Saëns' Carnival of the Animals by the American poet, Ogden Nash: 

Introduction
Camille Saint-Saëns
Was wracked with pains,
When people addressed him,
As Saint Sanes.
He held the human race to blame,
Because it could not pronounce his name.
So, he turned with metronome and fife,
To glorify other kinds of life.
Be quiet please - for here begins
His salute to feathers, fur, and fins.

Royal March of the Lion
The lion is the king of beasts,
And husband of the lioness.
Gazelles and things on which he feasts
Address him as your highoness.
There are those that admire that roar of his,
In the African jungles and velds,
But, I think that wherever the lion is,
I'd rather be somewhere else.

Hens and Roosters
The rooster is a roistering hoodlum,
His battle cry is "cock-a-doodleum".
Hands in pockets, cap over eye,
He whistles at pullets, passing by.

Wild Asses
Have ever you harked to the jackass wild,
Which scientists call the onager?
It sounds like the laugh of an idiot child,
Or a hepcat on a harmoniger.
But do not sneer at the jackass wild,
There is a method in his heehaw.
For with maidenly blush and accent mild
The jenny-ass answers shee-haw.

Tortoises
Come crown my brow with leaves of myrtle,
I know the tortoise is a turtle,
Come carve my name in stone immortal,
I know the turtoise is a tortle.
I know to my profound despair,
I bet on one to beat a hare.
I also know I'm now a pauper,
Because of its tortley, turtley, torper.

The Elephant
Elephants are useful friends,
Equipped with handles at both ends.
They have a wrinkled moth-proof hide.
Their teeth are upside down, outside.
If you think the elephant preposterous,
You've probably never seen a rhinosterous.

Kangaroos
The kangaroo can jump incredible,
He has to jump because he is edible.
I could not eat a kangaroo,
But many fine Australians do.
Those with cookbooks as well as boomerangs,
Prefer him in tasty kangaroomeringues.

Aquarium
Some fish are minnows,
Some are whales.
People like dimples,
Fish like scales,
Some fish are slim,
And some are round,
They don't get cold,
They don't get drowned.
But every fishwife
Fears for her fish.
What we call mermaids
They call merfish.

People With Long Ears
In the world of mules
There are no rules.

The Cuckoo in the Middle of the Wood
Cuckoos lead bohemian lives,
They fail as husbands and as wives,
Therefore, they cynically dispariage
Everybody else's marriage.

Aviary
Puccini was Latin, and Wagner Teutonic,
And birds are incurably philharmonic,
Suburban yards and rural vistas
Are filled with avian Andrew Sisters.
The skylark sings a roundelay,
The crow sings "The Road to Mandalay,"
The nightingale sings a lullaby,
And the sea gull sings a gullaby.
That's what shepherds listened to in Arcadia
Before somebody invented the radia.

Pianists
Some claim that pianists are human,
And quote the case of Mr Truman.
Saint Saëns, upon the other hand,
Considered them a scurvy band.
A blight they are, he said, and simian,
Instead of normal men and womian.

Fossils
At midnight in the museum hall,
The fossils gathered for a ball.
There were no drums or saxophones,
But just the clatter of their bones,
A rolling, rattling carefree circus,
Of mammoth polkas and mazurkas.
Pterodactyls and brontosauruses
Sang ghostly prehistoric choruses.
Amid the mastodonic wassail
I caught the eye of one small fossil,
"Cheer up sad world," he said and winked,
"It's kind of fun to be extinct."

The Swan
The swan can swim while sitting down,
For pure conceit he takes the crown,
He looks in the mirror over and over,
And claims to have never heard of Pavlova.

Finale
Now we've reached the grand finale,
Animale carnivale.
Noises new to sea and land,
Issue from the skillful band.
All the strings contort their features,
Imitating crawly creatures.
All the brasses look like mumps
From blowing umpah, umpah, umps.
In outdoing Barnum and Bailey, and Ringling,
Saint-Saëns has done a miraculous thingling.

You may have seen the Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck cartoon below, which features this work.

Symphonie Fantastique - Berlioz

This week, we will be studying one of the most famous works of the 19th century, and one of the most imaginative and evocative program works ever written. It is Symphonie Fantastique (Fantastic Symphony) by the French composer Hector Berlioz. It was written in 1830 and has five movements:

I. Rêveries – Passions (Daydreams – Passions)
II. Un bal (A ball)
III. Scène aux champs (Scene in the Country)
IV. Marche au supplice (March to the Scaffold)
V. Songe d'une nuit de sabbat (Dream of a Witches' Sabbath)

This composition is considered by many to be one of the greatest orchestral works of the 19th century. Why? Probably due to the innovative and imaginative approach Berlioz took, and it's interesting back-story.

In the 19th Century, as Europe's city's bustled and were industrialized, they enjoyed increased population, expansion, and pollution. It is no wonder that one of the favorite themes of the Romantic's was nature. Many Romantics sough to convey and celebrate the concepts of "Man vs. Nature" and the "Artist as Hero."
Berlioz is no exeption. Symphonie Fatastique was not only his magnum opus, but autobiographical.

In writing this work, Belioz's muse was an Irish actor named Harriet Smithson, whom he fell madly in love with and quickly became obsessed with. Berlioz created a theme, or short musical melody, meant to represent her. It is hauntingly beautiful, and based on a song sang in his youth. Using that same theme throughout all five movements of this massive work, and reworking it differently for each mood and context, serves as the compositional glue that binds the whole together.

With it's themes of obsessive love, nature, drugs, fantasy, self-reference, and execution, this work still manages to ring true over 180 years later. How is this piece like modern music? Can you think of examples of modern music that many can identify with? How did the composer/singer/writer achieve that?

In class, you will see an episode of an excellent program called Keeping Score with the San Francisco Symphony and Maestro Michael Tilson Thomas. The video will take up the entire class time, so we will not hold a discussion. Please make sure you arrive to class on time, or early.

In many ways, Berlioz was an innovator. He wrote the work in five movements, as opposed to just the original four, and for a larger, louder orchestra than ever before. Obviously he intended to make an impact on a grand scale. Can you think of modern innovators in music, art, literature, or science that can be compared to Berlioz?

Connections and Directions:

• Nature in Art
• Obsession
• Autobiographical Arts
• Controversial Innovators

Post For " Pictures at an Exhibition"

During this weeks class I found the "Pictures at an Exhibition" video to be very interesting. The reason I say this is because at first I found it hard to understand what the music was about. But when the Professor started to narrate it I began to visualize and imagine the things happening through the sound of the music. I also wondered why the musicians would always go back to the Promenade section. It was also cool how the music had things that compared then contrasted. I say this because it was so many movements that were slow and mellow while others were more intense and loud. This was a great and also different video from the others we have seen so far. I think that as a listener you can visualize what the composer was trying to show through the music we were listening too. Not only that but just the sound that I heard from all the different instruments was very nice to hear. It was nice to hear them all playing together but with a unique sound because they all were using a different instrument from a different family.

                                                                     By Venezia Manuel

Cute Cat

This is a sample blog post. Hi.

Pictures at an Exhibition - Mussorgsky

Pictures at an Exhibition was composed by the Russian Nationalist composer Modeste Mussorgsky in 1874. It was originally written for piano, but it has been arranged dozens of times for orchestras and other smaller ensembles. The one we will hear has been arranged by Maurice Ravel.

This work was written in memory of Mussogsky's artist friend Viktor Hartmann.
It is a musical depiction of Mussorgy's experience of walking through Hartmann's posthumous art exhibit.

Besides creating original "soundtracks" to each painting, Mussorgsky also wrote numerous "Promenades" as interludes between many of the movements to symbolize his own impressions walking between the paintings.

The video we will watch in class is available to view online for free on the Naxos Video site. It is of the Berlin Philharmonic, one of the finest orchestras in the world, conducted by Simon Rattle. It is from a DVD of a live concert with several other works on it. You should be able to select the "Chapters" tab and jump to Pictures at an Exhibtion, which runs from 0'50" to 1'23". Not only is it an outstanding recording with brilliant playing, but the video is of very high quality with excellent close-ups of all of the instruments.

If you are accessing this link on an off-campus computer, you will need to sign in by proxy using your HawkID and password.

Some Connections and Directions:

• Nationalism
• Art History 
• Folk Culture
• Russian History 

At the University of Indiana, Professor David Ward-Steinman teaches a course called "Connections: Music-Art-Poetry" Check out the images from Hartmann's original exhibition. (Link located near the bottom of the left sidebar)

Embedded below is unique interpretation of this work, using animation and the music as social commentary. It's a pretty clever use of the music.

Learning How You Learn

The fifteen of you come from a wide array of various experiences, and many different majors. The list includes:

• Sociology
• Biology
• Mechanical Engineering
• Nursing
• Microbiology
• English
• Biochemistry
• Music
• Pharmacology
• Business
• Cinema
• Chemistry
• Speech and Hearing

My hope is to engage you based on your interests and to encourage you to share with the class your unique experience and perspective. Strive to connect what you already know and supplement it with what you will learn in this course. Choose your projects and write your blog posts based on this connection. I suppose that if you major is music, cinema, or speech and hearing that these connections will be relatively quick to recognize. The challenge, and a key goal of this course, is to synthesize ideas and concepts from your declared area of study with the wild music by these great composers. Don't feel limited to just your area of expertise, seek to learn by digging up the answers to the natural questions that may arise from this course. The more you learn, the more you realize what you don't know. You will be a student for life, so the skills and tools you utilize for this course, will continue to serve you well far into the future.

Here are a few related links you may want to check out:

15 Steps to Cultivate Lifelong Learning (Stepcase Lifehack)

Study Tip: Learn How You Learn (About.com)

Tips for succeeding in your first year of college (Justin Snider/The Hechinger Report)

A Lesson in Moderation from Mussorgsky

Isaac brought up the point that it might be difficult to draw a connection between Nursing and the music we are studying, and I agreed. However, I did a quick google search for Mussorgsky - the composer of Pictures at an Exhibition, which we will study next week - and nurse, and it turns out he wrote several songs about his memories of childhood.

A collection of related songs is called a Song Cycle, and Mussorgsky wrote a song cycle called The Nursery. Now, the nurses in these songs are not the medical nurses, but more like Nannies, so I admit the stretch.

Mussorgsky was an army officer for a time, and became friends with an Army doctor, who was also a fellow Russian composer, Alexander Borodin. Read more about that here. He and Borodin would be two of the five greatest composers from Russia known as "the Mighty Handful".

Unfortunately, Mussorgsky, as well as several of his friends suffered and died from alcoholism. From his Wikipedia entry:

While alcoholism was Mussorgsky's personal weakness, it was also a behavior pattern considered typical for those of Mussorgsky's generation who wanted to oppose the establishment and protest through extreme forms of behavior. One contemporary notes, "an intense worship of Bacchus was considered to be almost obligatory for a writer of that period. It was a showing off, a 'pose,' for the best people of the [eighteen-]sixties." Another writes, "Talented people in Russia who love the simple folk cannot but drink." Mussorgsky spent day and night in a Saint Petersburg tavern of low repute, the Maly Yaroslavets, accompanied by other bohemian dropouts. He and his fellow drinkers idealized their alcoholism, perhaps seeing it as ethical and aesthetic opposition. This bravado, however, led to little more than isolation and eventual self-destruction 

Does this misguided view of binge drinking and peer pressure sound familiar? It didn't work out for Mussorgsky and his friends, and this story serves as a good lesson in moderation.

Classics to Disney

Fantasia isn't the only classic that resurfaced through Disney. Shakespeare's story of Hamlet came through in Disney's "The Lion King." For example, the famous character of Hamlet is Simba, Claudius is Scar, and Ophelia is Nala. They have the exact same story line, except the ending in "The Lion King" isn't as tragic. In Hamlet, everyone ends up dying in the end - a typical Shakespeare move. The Lion King pulls a typical Disney move, so I can promise a happy ending. Check it out!
If you have never read Hamlet here is a quick summary!
To those of you who have never seen "The Lion King," it's on youtube!

Here is another link explaining the similarities between the two.

Here is one more summary!

Fantasia vs. Fantasia 2000

While watching the Sorcerer's Apprentice today in class Professor Manning brought up that it was from the movie Fantasia. Having grown up watching the remake, Fantasia 2000, he challenged me to "dig into" the differences there were between the two works. This link is the are the results I found regarding his question. Though they are vague explanations on how they are different, the 5 key points are interesting on seeing how they made the two works that are similar, so unique.

Also, I mentioned in class about Fantasia 2000 having dancing hippos. This is the cover for the 2 disc set containing both Fantasia and Fantasia 2000 being sold on Amazon.com. As you can clearly see the large dancing hippo in a tiny Tu-Tu, was something I will remember for the rest of my life just by the look and strangeness of it.

Lastly, someone was questioning which version was best to buy, either Fantasia or Fantasia 2000. This remark to her question on Yahoo is insight to how some feel a certain version is better than the other.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Background:

The Sorcerer's Apprentice (De Zauberlehring) is a symphonic poem* composed by Paul Dukas Composed in 1897, and like many composers of the 19th century, Dukas drew his inspiration from the German Romantic Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Greek satirst named Lucian wrote a very similar frame story called Philopseudes, which was about an Egyptian priest named Pancrates. Dukas' evocative composition went on to inspire Disney's Fantasia and the 2010 motion picture of the same name.

* A Symphonic Poem is a one-movement piece of program music composed for orchestra.

Walt Disney

You may remember this scene below featuring Mickey Mouse from Fantasia. Watch how Disney animates to the music. Is there any difference between the music that Disney used and what Dukas wrote?

 
 

The Poem

Goethe wrote this 14-stanza ballad in 1997. From About.com, below is the complete text of the original German poem alongside an English translation. Listen to a reading of the Goethe poem, both in German and English

Der Zauberlehrling	The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe	Translation by Brigitte Dubiel
Hat der alte Hexenmeister	Good! The sorcerer, my old master
sich doch einmal wegbegeben!	left me here alone today!
Und nun sollen seine Geister	Now his spirits, for a change,
auch nach meinem Willen leben!	my own wishes shall obey!
Seine Wort' und Werke	Having memorized
merkt' ich, und den Brauch,	what to say and do,
und mit Geistesstärke	with my powers of will I can
tu ich Wunder auch.	do some witching, too!
Walle, walle,	Go, I say,
manche Strecke,	Go on your way,
dass zum Zwecke	do not tarry,
Wasser fliesse,	water carry,
und mit reichem, vollem Schwalle	let it flow abundantly,
zu dem Bade sich ergiesse!	and prepare a bath for me!
Und nun komm, du alter Besen!	Come on now, old broom, get dressed,
Nimm die schlechten Lumpenhüllen	these old rags will do just fine!
Bist schon lange Knecht gewesen:	You're a slave in any case,
nun erfülle meinen Willen!	and today you will be mine!
Auf zwei Beinen stehe,	May you have two legs,
oben sei der Kopf,	and a head on top,
eile nun, und gehe	take the bucket, quick
mit dem Wassertopf!	hurry, do not stop!
Walle, walle,	Go, I say,
manche Strecke,	Go on your way,
dass zum Zwecke	do not tarry,
Wasser fliesse,	water carry,
und mit reichem, vollem Schwalle	let it flow abundantly,
zu dem Bade sich ergiesse.	and prepare a bath for me.
Seht, er läuft zum Ufer nieder!	Look, how to the bank he's running!
Wahrlich! ist schon an dem Flusse,	and now he has reached the river,
und mit Blitzesschnelle wieder	he returns, as quick as lightning,
ist er hier mit raschem Gusse.	once more water to deliver.
Schon zum zweiten Male!	Look! The tub already
Wie das Becken schwillt!	is almost filled up!
Wie sich jede Schale	And now he is filling
voll mit Wasser füllt!	every bowl and cup!
Stehe! Stehe!	Stop! Stand still!
Denn wir haben	Heed my will!
deiner Gaben	I've enough
Vollgemessen!	of the stuff!
Ach, ich merk' es! Wehe! Wehe!	I've forgotten - woe is me!
Hab' ich doch das Wort vergessen!	what the magic word may be.
Ach, das Wort, worauf am Ende	Oh, the word to change him back
er das wird, was er gewesen!	into what he was before!
Ach, er läuft und bringt behende!	Oh, he runs, and keeps on going!
Wärst du doch der alte Besen!	Wish you'd be a broom once more!
Immer neue Güsse	He keeps bringing water
bringt er schnell herein,	quickly as can be,
Ach, und hundert Flüsse	and a hundred rivers
stürzen auf mich ein!	he pours down on me!
Nein, nicht länger	No, no longer
kann ich's lassen,	can I let him,
will ihn fassen,	I must get him
das ist Tücke!	with some trick!
Ach, nun wird mir immer bänger!	I'm beginning to feel sick.
Welche Miene! Welche Blicke!	What a look! - and what a face!
O, du Ausgeburt der Hölle!	O, you ugly child of Hades!
Soll das ganze Haus ersaufen?	The entire house will drown!
Seh' ich über jede Schwelle	Everywhere I look, I see
doch schon Wasserströme laufen.	water, water, running down.
Ein verruchter Besen!	Be you damned, old broom,
der nicht hören will!	why won't you obey?
Stock, der du gewesen,	Be a stick once more,
steh doch wieder still!	please, I beg you, stay!
Willst's am Ende	Is the end
gar nicht lassen?	not in sight?
Will dich fassen,	I will grab you,
will dich halten,	hold you tight,
und das alte Holz behende	with my axe I'll split the brittle
mit dem scharfen Beile spalten.	old wood smartly down the middle.
Seht, da kommt er schleppend wieder!	Here he comes again with water!
Wie ich mich nur auf dich werfe,	Now I'll throw myself upon you,
gleich, o Kobold, liegst du nieder!	and the sharpness of my axe
Krachend trifft die glatte Schärfe.	I will test, o spirit, on you.
Wahrlich, brav getroffen!	Well, a perfect hit!
Seht, er ist entzwei!	See how he is split!
Und nun kann ich hoffen,	Now there's hope for me,
und ich atme frei!	and I can breathe free!
Wehe! Wehe!	Woe is me! Both pieces
Beide Teile	come to life anew,
steh'n in Eile	now, to do my bidding
schon als Knechte	I have servants two!
völlig fertig in die Höhe!	Help me, o great powers!
Helft mir, ach ihr hohen Mächte!	Please, I'm begging you!
Und sie laufen! Nass und nässer	And they're running! Wet and wetter
wird's im Saal und auf den Stufen,	get the stairs, the rooms, the hall!
Welch entsetzliches Gewässer!	What a deluge! What a flood!
Herr und Meister, hör' mich rufen!	Lord and master, hear my call!
Ach, da kommt der Meister!	Ah, here comes the master!
Herr, die Not ist groß!	I have need of Thee!
Die ich rief, die Geister,	from the spirits that I called
werd' ich nun nicht los.	Sir, deliver me!
„In die Ecke	“Back now, broom,
Besen, Besen!	into the closet!
Seids gewesen,	Be thou as thou
denn als Geister	wert before!
ruft euch nur zu seinem Zwecke	Until I, the real master
erst hervor der alte Meister!”	call thee forth to serve once more!”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe	Translation Copyright © Brigitte Dubiel

Here is a very helpful excerpt from program notes for a youth concert by the Makato Symphony Orchestra:

Paul Dukas was a gifted composer, music critic and teacher at the Paris Conservatory. Dukas was very self-critical of his work, publishing only a small number of his best pieces and destroying the rest. He also edited the works of Beethoven, Rameau, Couperin, and Scarlatti for publication. Dukas’ mother was a gifted pianist who sadly died when Paul was only five years old. However, the composer had a close relationship with his father and older brother, both of whom were bankers. Dukas started to study music when he was very young, but did not show particular talent until he was a teenager. At 16, he entered the Paris Conservatory to study harmony and composition, where he also played timpani in the conservatory orchestra.

In 1889 he took a break from music and served in the military for a little over a year, ultimately to return to composing. In addition to teaching and composing, Dukas was inspector of the provincial conservatories in 1912, which enabled him to travel throughout France. After about a year of that, he returned to the Paris Conservatory. He married in 1915 at age 50 shortly after his father died and had one
daughter.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Scherzo after a Ballade by Goethe was written in 1897. The work is an outstanding example of “program music” or a piece of music that tells a story in musical form. Program music is often inspired by places, images or literature. Dukas’ piece was popular from the beginning, but was made very famous by Walt Disney in his 1940 film Fantasia which stars Mickey
Mouse as an unlucky apprentice battling a mishap with brooms and water.

The story actually goes back to ancient Egypt and was retold in ancient Greece by Lucianes of Samosta. In the older story, the sorcerer is a priest in the temple of Isis and the broom is a pestle used with a mortar to grind spices or chemicals. There is a little difference in the possible moral of the story, as well. In Goethe’s story, one is told that you should not start something you cannot finish correctly. In the ancient story Lucianes simply pokes fun of “tall tales.” The 18th century German writer Johann Wolfgang Goethe wrote his version of the story in 1782 as a poem. Dukas placed a French translation of Goethe’s poem in the front of the score as his musical interpretation of the story.

Sorcerer’s Apprentice/Story summary:

An old sorcerer leaves his workshop assigning his apprentice some chores, one of which is to fetch water in a bucket to fill a big tank. The apprentice gets tired of his work and remembers the sorcerer’s spell to magically enable the broom do the work. The magic words work and the broom follows his command to fetch water. Soon the tank is full, but the broom keeps bringing more water. The apprentice cannot remember the words to undo the magic and in his worry and frustration hits the broom- which breaks into two pieces. And now both brooms start carrying water! Soon the whole room is flooded with water swirling everywhere. The sorcerer returns, sees what has happened and returns the situation back to

normal while scolding the naughty young apprentice.

Sorcerer’s Apprentice: A listening guideIntroduction: Dukas’ music opens softly and mystically. “Water” theme, Fragment of “broomstick” theme, Fragment of

“ladder” theme, “Master” theme (the apprentice casts spell in imitation of his master while he is away)

Exposition and development: Prelude (The spell is cast) “Broomstick” theme (played by bassoons), “Water” theme (the volume of water increases), “Broomstick” theme (broomstick begins to move on its own), “Apprentice” theme, followed by the repeat and development of “broomstick” and “apprentice” themes. (Continuing increase in volume of water) “Master” theme and “water” theme. (The apprentice has forgotten the spell that is
needed to stop the water and broomstick; none of his attempts work) Climax based on fragment of “broomstick” theme. (Apprentice hits the broomstick with an axe.)

Recapitulation: Broomstick stops for a moment, but then begins to move again with appearance of “broomstick” theme. Recapitulation and development of “apprentice” theme (with “broomstick” theme as counter subject), “Master” theme (apprentice says the spell again but it does not work), repetition and development of “broomstick” theme. (Broomsticks continue to bring more water.) Stretta based on “water” and “broomstick” theme. (The apprentice panics as he sees the volume of water increase.) “Master” theme. (The master arrives back and says the spell.)

Coda: Fragments of soft “water” theme, fragments of “broomstick” theme and “apprentice “ theme as everything returns to normal. Piece closes as it opened.

Suggested Connections and Directions for your Research:

• Romantic Literature
• Goethe
• Sorcerer's Apprentice in Modern Pop Culture
• History of Film Animation
• Sorcery and Witchcraft

Related Links:

• The Sorcerer’s Apprentice By Scott Horton, Harper's Magazine
• Check out this video from 1962 of an artist drawing to the music
• What is a frame story?
• Official film site of the 2010 film Sorcerer’s Apprentice The Goethe Institute
• The Scientist and the Poet by Paul A. Cantor from The New Atlantis

 

How To Post

Here is a helpful link with simple instructions and a video on how to create and publish a post on our Music Gone Wild blog. You all should be designated as authors, so post away, and let me know if you need any help. For more blogging tips, refer to our "Resources" page tab or just click the links below:

Blogger
How to Create a Blog Post in Blogger 
Daily Blog Tips
Edublog Awards
Tips for New Bloggers

Your Responses

Questions:
1. What would you like to learn during this course?
2. Suggest three guidelines for all classroom discussions.
3. What do you think will be the biggest challenge in college?

Responses:

Han Nguyen

• I want to learn how to be an efficient college student, as well as how to appreciate classical music.
• Give everyone a chance to voice their opinion, don’t talk over anybody, pay attention to all speakers
• I think the biggest challenges will be self-motivation...for studies as well as for health.

Shennan Ballo

• I would like to understand the meaning behind the music
• 3 guidelines: 1) Anything goes! 2) Anything goes! 3) Anything goes!
• Biggest challenge - not getting lost and keeping up grades and homework

Maria Lopez

• I want to learn more about music and especially composers and their background information
• I think one [key]? challenge in college is managing time
• 3 guidelines for discussion guidelines:
• info about the composer
• songs
• interesting fact

Jered A.

• What I plan to learn: A more educated outlook on different cultures and their impact on modern music.
• 3 Guidelines: 1) No offensive language 2) Always read over a post/comment before posting it 3) Posts should reflect full ideas (no 1 word posts)
• Hardest part: Finding a place to study/do homework. Avoiding distractions (electronics, people, concerts)  and focussing on schoolwork

Kia Taylor

• I want to learn the stories behind the music. As a dancer, I know my dances convey a message. Dancing explains that without using words. Music does the same. I just have no clue what it’s saying.
• Don’t speak over each other, we will all be heard. If you have something on your mind, let it be known. There’s no such thing as a stupid question.
• Biggest Challenges: I’m not exactly sure. When I get to the challenge you will know.

Lita McDaniel

• How different musical songs can relate to a persons personal life, and how it can relate to my major of pharmacy.
• 1) Everyone needs to contribute 2) One person talking at a time 3) Keep the topic to music (or something closely related)
• Trying to find new friends that have the same interests as me, while keeping some close high school friends.

Reanna Kelm

• In this course I would like to learn more about different types of music and how to interpret music.
• 1) be polite to other people 2) respond to comments 3) get to the point
• My biggest challenge is going to be organizing my homework

Brigitte Waldier

• How music impacts the events of history
• 1) It’s OK to disagree 2) Don’t talk over people 3) come prepared
• time management

Venezia Manuel [response submitted as a blog post]

• I would like to learn as much as possible from my Professor because even though I know some knowledge of music it would be nice to know more terminology as well as music period.Especially since I'm a dance major and music is something you use to free yourself in so many ways.

• 1) Make sure you speak LOUD and clear so the whole class can hear you during discussion. 2) Stay engaged in class discussions 3) Try and be helpful in anyway for your classmates during discussion or anything

• I really can't say what will be the biggest challenge because I haven't faced it yet

Allie Royer,

• Personally I want to learn the fundamentals of music. I feel like the basics would just being something good to know and can become very useful.
• Guidelines: 1) be quiet when someone else is talking 2) don't interrupt 3) get involved
• I personally feel like the biggest challenge will just be understanding music better. I don't have a strong music background so in general this is all new to me.

  
If you didn't reply in class, or if you'd like to add to what you've already said, please do so below as a comment.