W E L C O M E
T O
M Y
W E B
P A G E !
HI !
My name is Jeremy Rogers. I am a music education major at West Chester
University of Pennsylvania. This web page is part of my assignment.
My web page is a listening guide to the piece "Shepherd's Dance" by Gian
Carlo Menotti from Amahal and the Night Visitors.
http://www.schirmer.com/composers/menotti/bio.html
THE COMPOSER
Gian Carlo Menotti was born in Cadegliano,
Italy on July 7, 1911. In 1923 he started formal musical training at Verdi
Conservatory in Milan. When his dad died his mother took him to the United
States and he went to Philadelphia's Curtis-Institute of Music. Menotti
also studied composition in musical studies under Rosario Scalero .
RHYTHM
In the "Shepherd's Dance" the rhythm
in the first section is very repetitive. The bass part is an ostinati.It
lasts for the whole first section. playanexcerpt.vcd
The second bigger section is much faster and uses a lot of
quarter note eighth note rhythms and eighth notes. The second section has
a lot of meter changes. It is hard to hear where they are because the changes
are all duple meters, 9/8 to 6/8 to 9/8 and to 12/8.The beginning of the
second big section uses accents on 1, 4, and 7 in 9/8 which gives the piece
energy and motion making the listener feel it in three.
MELODY
The melody in the "Shepherd's Dance"
in the beginning first section uses a combination of steps and leaps. Most
of the melodic line uses a stepwise motion. The melodic line in the first
seven or eight measures is in canon, so the melody is repeated by a second
verse. playcd.vcd The
second bigger section uses almost an equal amount of steps and leaps.
The melody in the second bigger section repeats but in a different key
scheme. The contour of the melody is usually in a descending motion.
play.vcd
HARMONY
The harmony in this piece has a
lot of texture to it.The harmony does not contrast the melody too much.In
some sections of the piece the melodic line descends as does the harmony.
The second section is very fast so to hear tensions and resolutions is
quite difficult. The whole piece is in the major key. There are not to
many cadences where the phrase or sections of the piece feel complete.
The texture of the piece is very full when the percussion plays. In the
beginning of the piece the canon of the first section has dissonance because
the parts overlap. sample.vcd
Click
here to learn about FORM
EXPRESSIVE ELEMENTS
The piece includes
such elements as dynamics, articulation, phrasing, and tempo. Dynamics
play a great part in increasing the intensity of a piece. When playing
piano it is a mysterious sound and distant. Playing forte, it is a loud,
majestic, or triumphant sound. At the end of this piece it is very loud
and dynamic using triple forte. The beginning is pianissimo and mezzo forte
where the oboes are playing in canon. Articulation also makes a piece more
expressive. The use of tenutos, staccatos, and accents plays a great part
in this piece. Near the end of the piece the tempo gradually increases
in different sections, making the listener more excited and asking the
question; What happens next?
THE WORK
Menotti's, "Shepherd's Dance", from
Amahal and the Night Visitors is a dance. The story is a Christmas
Story related to the Bible. The Operetta starts off with a young boy and
his mother and they are very poor. On the starry night three wise men come
by his mothers house to rest before the rest of their journey. This is
the part of the Operetta where dancers come in to the house and entertain
the three wise men.In the beginning of the piece it is slow which symbolizes
the shyness of the dancers to the wise men and then when the piece gets
faster at the Allegro section it symbolizes their su