OUR CHANGING CLIMATE

Klein High School - Klein, TX

MUSIC
Music and the Natural World

Resource Guide
2 0 24 – 2 0 25
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 Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Polyrhythm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Rhythm: Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

SECTION I: BASIC ELEMENTS OF Harmony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

MUSIC THEORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Common-Practice Tonality . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Chords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Sound and Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Triads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Inversions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Music Is Sound Organized in Time . . . . . . 6
Music of the Western World . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Key Signatures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
The Physics of Musical Sound . . . . . . . . . . 6 Hierarchy of Keys: Circle of Fifths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Sound Waves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

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Instruments as Sound Sources . . . . . . . . . . 6 Harmonic Progression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Dissonance and Consonance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
Pitch, Rhythm, and Harmony . . . . . . . . 8 Diatonic Triads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Pitch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 The Dominant Triad’s Special Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Pitch, Frequency, and Octaves . . . . . . . . . . 8 Bass Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Pitch on a Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 The Dominant Seventh Chord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Pitch on a Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Example: A Harmonized Melody . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Pitch on the Grand Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Other Diatonic Chords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Overtones and Partials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Chromatic Harmonies and
Equal Temperament: Generating the
Modulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Twelve Pitches by Dividing the Octave . . 11
Beyond Common Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Scales: Leading Tone, Tonic, Dominant . 12
Intervals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Other Aspects of Musical Sound . . . . 31
Intervals of the Major Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Minor Scales and Blues Inflections . . . . . .14
Texture, Counterpoint, Instrumentation,
Melody Defined with an Example Using and More Timbre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Scale Degrees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Dynamics, Articulation,
Contour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Ornamentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Range and Tessitura . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Form in Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Rhythm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Perceiving Musical Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Beat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Elements of Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Tempo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Motive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Meter: Duple, Triple, and Quadruple . . . . 17 Phrase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Rhythmic Notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Cadence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Time Signature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Theme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Simple and Compound Subdivision . . . . 20 Introduction and Coda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Mixed and Irregular Meter . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Syncopation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Common Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Repetition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

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 Variation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 LISTENING COMPANION 5: Hermit Thrush
Theme and Variations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 at Morn, Op. 92, No. 2 (1921) –
Twelve-Bar Blues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Amy Beach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Improvisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Section II Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Contrast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Ternary and Rondo Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 SECTION III: CELEBRATING THE
32-Bar Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 PLANET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Verse-Chorus Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Singing the Seasons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Medieval Merriment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Fugue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 LISTENING COMPANION 6: Sumer is
Sonata Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 icumen in (c.1250) – Anonymous . . . . . . . 73

Which Is the Real Music? Scores, Trees of Green, Red Roses Too . . . . . . 76
Recordings, and Performance . . . . . . 39 Counting the Blessings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
LISTENING COMPANION 7: “What a
Section I Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Wonderful World” (1967) – Bob Thiele
[“George Douglas”] and George David
SECTION II: THE NATURAL Weiss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
WORLD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Warming Up After the Cold War . . . .81
Marvels Made Musical . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 Hope for Humanity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

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Grofé and the Grand Canyon . . . . . . . . . . 44 LISTENING COMPANION 8: Global
LISTENING COMPANION 1: Grand Canyon Warming (1990) – Michael Abels . . . . . . .83
Suite, “On the Trail” (1929–31) –
Ferde Grofé . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46 Section III Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Stormy Weather . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 SECTION IV: WORDS OF
Beethoven Lets It Thunder . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 WARNING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
LISTENING COMPANION 2: Symphony You Don’t Know What You’ve Got ‘Til
No. 6, Op. 68 “Pastoral,” Mvt. 4, “Gewitter
It’s Gone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Sturm: Allegro” (“Thunderstorm: Allegro”)
Paving Paradise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
(1808) – Ludwig van Beethoven . . . . . . . . 52
LISTENING COMPANION 9: “Big Yellow
The Globe’s Growing Things . . . . . . . 54 Taxi” (1970) –Joni Mitchell . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Takemitsu and a Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Poison Is the Wind that Blows . . . . . 95
LISTENING COMPANION 3: Ame no ki
Gaye Goes Green . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
(Rain Tree) (Excerpt) (1981) – Tōru
LISTENING COMPANION 10: “Mercy
Takemitsu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Mercy Me (The Ecology)” (1971) –
Playing with Pollinators . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Marvin Gaye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
The Antics of an Insect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Post-Modern Anxiety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
LISTENING COMPANION 4: The Tale of Tsar
Ice Age Coming … . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Saltan, “Flight of the Bumblebee” (1900) –
LISTENING COMPANION 11: “Idioteque”
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
(2000) – Thomas Yorke, Philip Selway,
Birds as Composers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Edward O’Brien, Colin Greenwood,
Hearing a Hermit Thrush . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Jonathan Greenwood (Radiohead), and
Paul Lansky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

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Calling for Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 LISTENING COMPANION 14: Elegy for the
Dangers Up Ahead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Arctic (2016) – Ludovico Einaudi . . . . . . . 120
LISTENING COMPANION 12: “Despite
Repeated Warnings” (2018) – Paul Section IV Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
McCartney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Why Don’t We Listen? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Celebrity Obsession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
TIMELINE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
LISTENING COMPANION 13: “Feels Like GLOSSARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Summer” (2018) – Donald Glover [“Childish
Gambino”] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 NOTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Is It Too Late? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Eight Million Voices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

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 Introduction

When we consider the environment, we do not always that—despite their immediate appeal—challenge us
think about sound as an aspect of our world. Still, the to consider the risks we run when we do not balance
role of music in our lives is very important, and many our needs with the requirements of the planet. The
modern pieces as well as works from the past draw environment can be fragile, and humans need to be
our attention to our ecological surroundings. Both careful stewards of the earth’s ecosystems.
instrumental and vocal compositions have addressed
features of the globe and have served various purposes: To help readers understand the musical features of the
music helps us enjoy our planet, but it also warns us of diverse compositions that we will be studying, Section
our need to protect that biosphere. I provides an overview of the specialized vocabulary
and notation system used in Western music. It explains
Section II of the resource guide, called “The Natural many of the ways that musical pitches are manipulated
World,” showcases pieces that convey the marvels that and combined, and it identifies a number of larger

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exist in nature, from its most grandiose geographic relationships and structures that can be crafted from
wonders to the tiniest creatures that inhabit Earth. All these components. Although the listening examples are
the selections are instrumental, and the composers use quite varied, they all depend on these same foundational
various ingenious techniques to paint mental images, musical elements. In that way, they resemble our own
ranging from features of the landscape to the behaviors core dependency on the earth’s resources: the air we
of various living things that reside on the globe. breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat. Music
helps us to appreciate the importance of these planetary
“Celebrating the Planet” is the focus of the resource gifts, and it admonishes us to do our part in sustaining
guide’s third section. Via a mix of vocal and the world’s precarious balance.
instrumental pieces, we will examine music that
rejoices in various aspects of the environment: its
seasons, its beauties, and even the potential ability of NOTE TO STUDENTS: Throughout the resource guide
its inhabitants to co-exist. you will notice that some terms have been boldfaced and
underlined. These terms are included in the glossary of terms
The final section of the resource guide concentrates at the end of the resource guide.
on “Words of Warning”: engaging compositions

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 Section I
Basic Elements of Music Theory
SOUND AND MUSIC extensions in the Americas.
Definitions The Physics of Musical Sound
Music Is Sound Organized in Time Sound Waves
The broadest definition of music is “sound organized In the abstract, sound is described as a wave of energy.
in time.” Many kinds of sounds—including noises and As a wave, it has both amplitude and frequency. The
tones produced by any means, not only by musical amplitude affects the decibel level, or how loud or
instruments—can be used to create music, particularly soft the tone is. The higher the amplitude of a sound
in the modern era. All that is required is a time frame, wave, the louder it is. The frequency affects the pitch,
sound waves, and a cognizant mind to perceive and which is the highness or lowness of the sound. The
interpret those sounds. Common but not required factors greater the frequency of a sound wave, the higher its
include a person (often called a composer) who first pitch. When the frequency of a wave is between 20 and

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imagines the music, human or mechanical performers 20,000 cycles per second, the normal human ear hears
to generate the sounds, and a mechanical means of it as a single, sustained tone. A pure sine wave at 440
recording and reproducing them. Sometimes the Hz (cycles per second) sounds like an A above middle
composition and performance happen simultaneously C. Orchestral musicians in the United States usually
(often as improvisation, but sometimes via electronic tune their instruments to “A-440,” meaning 440 Hz.
composition). Some degree of human intention and Of course, not every sound has a regular frequency.
perception are necessary for music to exist, but When you drop a book on the floor, the sound quickly
defining this exactly continues to puzzle scientists dies down and has no discernable pitch because the
and philosophers, who debate questions like whether wave pattern is so irregular and short. Thus, there
birdsong can qualify as music, whether accidental sound are two kinds of musical sounds: pitched and non-
can be music, or whether a phonograph playing in the pitched. Percussion instruments provide most of the
forest is music if no one hears it. non-pitched sounds in music.
Music of the Western World Instruments as Sound Sources
It should be noted that many cultures have markedly How is a musical sound wave produced? In the late
different views of music; indeed in some cultures, nineteenth century, two ethnomusicologists (the
music is so interconnected with ritual, language, modern term for scholars who study the music of other
dance, and other aspects of life that in some languages cultures, or who study multiple cultures comparatively),
there is no separate word for “music.” At certain Curt Sachs and Erich von Hornbostel, categorized
times in history, Western traditions have encountered instruments into four groups. Chordophones, such as
and incorporated the music of non-Western cultures. violins, harps, and guitars, have one or more strings,
The reverse process is also sometimes true. And, in which are plucked, bowed, or struck; the vibrating
recent decades, globalization has made the boundaries string creates the sound wave. Aerophones (brass
between Western and non-Western culture increasingly and wind instruments such as the many varieties of
permeable. Nonetheless, the material in this guide will horns and flutes) feature a vibrating column of air.
pertain to what is called the “music of the Western Membranophones have a skin or other membrane
World”—the musical traditions that developed in stretched across some kind of frame. The membrane,
Europe in the past two millennia and their cultural but not the frame, vibrates when struck. With

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TABLE 1–1

SACHS/HORNBOSTEL
FAMILY NAME
CLASSIFICATION
Violin, viola, cello, double bass; also guitar
Stringed instruments Chordophones
and lute
Piccolo, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon; also
Woodwinds Aerophones
saxophone
Trumpet, trombone, French horn, tuba; also
Brass Aerophones
flugelhorn, baritone, bugle
Timpani, bass drum, snare drum,
Membranophones
tambourine
Percussion
Marimba, xylophone, vibraphone, tubular
Idiophones
bells, gongs, cymbals, triangle, wood block

Keyboards Piano, harpsichord, organ, celesta Varies

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The most common Western orchestral instruments.

idiophones, the body of the instrument itself vibrates

when struck. Some examples of idiophones are bells,
woodblocks, and xylophones. Ferde Grofé includes a
timpani membranophone in “On the Trail” from the
Grand Canyon Suite (Listening Example 1), while
vibraphones and marimbas (idiophones) perform during
Rain Tree (Listening Example 3). A fifth category was
added later: electrophones, which create sound waves
using a mechanical device known as an oscillator and
are dependent upon electricity. Radiohead’s “Idioteque”
employs synthesizers (Listening Example 11).
Centuries before Sachs and Hornbostel, Western
orchestral instruments were grouped into “families.”
These categories are still used for Western instruments
today. Strings or stringed instruments are usually
bowed or plucked. (A violin plays an extended solo at
the beginning of “On the Trail,” [Listening Example
1].) Brass instruments, which are aerophones made
of metal, are sounded by the performer’s buzzing lips,
which make the column of air vibrate. (A French horn
is prominent in “On the Trail,” Listening Example 1.)
The theremin’s inventor, Russian physicist Woodwind instruments are also aerophones in which
Léon Theremin (1896–1993), with his
the column of air is moved by breath alone—as in the
instrument.
case of flutes, recorders, and related instruments—or

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 3. pitch on keyboard
The diagram below identifies middle C, A440, A 220, A 110, and the names of other Cs
FIGURE 1–1
labeled with pitch names and octave numbers.* Note that As always appear between the
upper two of the three black keys on the keyboard.

C3 C4 C5

A2 A3 C A4 A5

110 Hz 220 Hz middle 440 Hz

C
Pitch on a keyboard. The diagram identifies middle C, A440, A220, A110, and the names of other Cs labeled with pitch
names and
*Note thatoctave numbers.*number
the octave Note that changes
As always appear between
at C, not A. the upper two of the three black keys on the keyboard.
*Note that the octave number changes at C, not A.

by one or two vibrating reeds usually made from wood. of tape music (later followed by more purely electronic
Percussion instruments include membranophones as music produced on computers) are looping and

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well as idiophones, plus some chordophones that are splicing, both of which permit compositions that
struck rather than bowed or plucked, such as the piano. cannot be reproduced by a human performer. Rome,
In some cases, keyboard instruments constitute a fifth Paris, Cologne, and New York City all had famous
category. Table 1−1 lists the most common members of postwar centers for electronic music.
each family of instruments.
PITCH, RHYTHM, AND HARMONY
The first electronic instruments began to appear in the A single, isolated musical sound has four properties:
first decades of the twentieth century. The theremin pitch, duration, volume, and timbre.
is one of the best known early electronic instruments
and is still occasionally used today. When playing this Pitch
instrument, the performer regulates frequency with Pitch, Frequency, and Octaves
one hand and amplitude with the other by disturbing Pitch is the highness or lowness of a sound. A
the electrical fields that surround the protruding bars. Chihuahua has a higher-pitched bark than a St. Bernard;
The next important step in electronic instruments a kitten’s meow is higher-pitched than a tomcat’s yowl.
came at the end of World War II. Enormous advances A tuba is pitched lower than a piccolo. When musicians
in electronics and radio technology had been made speak of “a pitch,” they are referring to a single tone
for wartime purposes, but after the war, many whose highness or lowness does not change—that is, a
state-of-the-art studios were no longer needed for sound that consists of a steadily oscillating sound wave,
military purposes. Within a few years, scientists and like A-440.
composers began collaborating to make art with the If you pluck the A string on a guitar (A-110), find the
new equipment. Electronically generated sounds and exact midpoint and press it firmly to the fret board, and
sounds produced by live instruments were recorded then pluck the now-half-as-long string (either side), you
on tape, where they could be edited, manipulated, and will hear the next-higher A. This is because when you
mechanically recombined to form collages of sound halve the length of the string, it naturally vibrates twice
that were “performed” via loudspeaker. This type of as fast (220 Hz), producing a pitch twice as high. The
composition was first known as musique concrète; musical term for the distance (or interval) between A
the term used is French due to the fact that the first and the next higher or next lower A is called an octave.
practitioners were based in Paris. The basic techniques

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 FIGURE 1–2

The Three Main Clefs: G-clef, F-clef, and C-clef (with C-clef shown in its two most common positions). The bold-face letters
on the staff lines show the pitch name indicated by each clef; the whole notes show where Middle C would appear in each clef.

Pitch on a Keyboard Figure 1–1 identifies middle C, A440, A 220, A 110, and
A piano keyboard provides an excellent visual aid for the names of the other keys on the keyboard. Note that
understanding pitch and harmony. High-sounding all the As appear between the upper two of the three
pitches are to the right; low-sounding pitches are black keys on the keyboard. The distance between any
to the left. Therefore, moving from left to right is two adjacent keys on the keyboard is called a half step,
called moving “up” the keyboard, while moving from or semitone, the smallest interval normally used in
right to left is called moving “down.” Middle C is Western music. A whole step is the distance between
roughly equidistant from either end. The black keys every other key (regardless of color, black or white).
Both half steps and whole steps are the basic intervals

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are arranged in alternating groups of two and three.
Middle C is located to the left of the group of two of any scale (a sequence of pitches in ascending or
black keys closest to the middle of the keyboard. descending order) in Western music. The white keys
are usually called the natural keys, spanning seven

FIGURE 1–3

Grand staff, with all sharps and flats. Vertical lines from below point to white notes, and lines from above point to black notes.

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 FIGURE 1–4

Diagram of overtone series on a staff and a keyboard. (Note: the 8va written at the top of this figure is shorthand for one
octave higher than written.)

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alphabetical letters, A through G. The symbol that [𝄢], which indicates that the fourth line from the bottom
represents a natural note is ♮. (If the natural sign is of the staff should be read as the pitch “F”; and the
omitted, musicians still assume the pitch is natural, but “C-clef” [𝄡], which is centered on a line that is read as
sometimes the symbol is included for clarification.) The “middle C.” The “C-clef” has different nicknames since
signs ♯ (sharp) and ♭ (flat) indicate that a given pitch, it is a movable clef. (The F- and G- clefs used to move,
such as A♮, has been raised or lowered, respectively, but that practice has died out.) When the C-clef indicates
by a half step. So the next note to the right of A on the that the pitch C should be placed on the middle line
keyboard is A♯. But, you can also look at that same A♯ of the staff, we call it the alto clef. But, if the C-clef is
key as being a lower neighbor of the key to its right—in centered on the fourth line from the bottom of the staff,
other words, if you move a half step to the left from B♮, it is called the tenor clef. Figure 1–2 presents each of
the same A♯ key can also be called B♭, since it is half a the standard clefs (along with the location of the pitch
step (one key) below the B. that each clef emphasizes), and the pitch “middle C” is
shown on the appropriate places on the staff, depending
Pitch on a Staff on the clef being used.
Music notation uses a five-line staff as a type of a ladder
to indicate pitches. Each line or space on the staff is Pitch on the Grand Staff
assigned to a letter of the musical alphabet—but the In piano music, two bracketed staves (the plural of
assignment can vary, depending on the clef symbol at “staff”) are used, known as the grand staff. In general,
the left-hand end of the staff. “Clef” comes from the the left hand plays the music notated on the lower staff,
French word “key,” and each clef symbol is the “key” usually containing a bass clef, and the right hand plays
for reading the lines and spaces of the staff. Each clef the notes written on the upper staff, which usually
focuses on one line of the staff; musicians can then contains a treble clef. Figure 1–3 shows a grand staff
figure out the remaining lines and spaces based on that with the pitches labeled that correspond to the white
one reference point. There are three main clefs in use notes and black notes on the keyboard. (Notice, too, that
today: the treble clef, or “G-clef” [𝄞], which indicates the sharp or flat symbol follows the letter when we refer
that the second line from the bottom of the staff is the to pitches in prose—e.g., F♯, A♭, etc.—but the symbol
pitch “G”; the bass (pronounced “base”) clef, or “F-clef” precedes the notehead when we write pitches on a staff.)

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 FIGURE
6. 1–5 with all chromatic pitches labeled use pdf
keyboard
half step
whole step

C# D# F# G# A# C# D# F# G# A# C# D# F# G# A#
Db Eb Gb Ab Bb Db Eb Gb Ab Bb Db Eb Gb Ab Bb

C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C

whole step
OCTAVE
half step half step

Keyboard with all chromatic pitches labeled.

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Overtones and Partials But it is “colored” by the faint presence of the higher
Very few pitches consist of a single, pure frequency. pitches, which are called partials, or overtones. Figure
Rather, one frequency dominates, but many other 1–4 shows sixteen overtones, or partials, above an A
frequencies are also present at very faint volume. For fundamental.
example, when the A string of a guitar is plucked, the
strongest sound wave produced is 110 Hz. But many Equal Temperament: Generating the Twelve
other waves can exist on the string at the same time. Pitches by Dividing the Octave
One is half the length of the string, another is one-third In the world of pure sound waves and overtones,
the length of the string, another is one-quarter the pitches follow mathematical patterns. But, in the
length of the string, and so on. The lowest A is called Western tradition, after about 1750, a system of tuning
7. C scale labeled with scale degrees
the fundamental. It is by far the loudest and strongest. called equal temperament became dominant. With

FIGURE 1–6

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1

Diagram of keyboard with the C scale degrees labeled 1̂, 2̂, 3̂, etc.

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music .
music . When
When arranged
arranged in
in ascending
ascending order,
order, the
the The
The piano
piano keys
keys needed
needed for
for this
this scale
scale are
are shown
shown in
in
seven pitches are known as a diatonic scale, and Figure
igure 1–6 .
igure

TABLE 1–2 TABLE 2

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The most common intervals.
The
The
The Most
Most
Most Common
Common
Common Intervals.
Intervals.
Intervals.

equal temperament tuning, the mathematical ratios half step to the right of the B key is another white key,
are adjusted so that the octave is divided into twelve C—but the enharmonic name for C is B♯. Similarly, an
222000111444–––222000111555 ••• U S A
equal parts. Equal temperament is so common that it enharmonic name for the U
USSB
AADkey
D
D M
M
MUUis
U SIIIC♭.
S
S C
C
CRR S
REEES
SOO
OUU
URR
RCC
CEEE G
G
GU I
14
14
14 U
U
UIIID
D
DEEE

X
is now assumed; tuning systems are mentioned only if
they differ from equal temperament, and this is very There are also symbols that indicate a pitch should be
rare. The twelve different pitches in ascending order raised by two half steps, or a “double-sharp” ( ). The
are called the chromatic scale. The distance (interval) symbol for lowering a pitch by two half steps is called a
between any two consecutive pitches in the chromatic double-flat (𝄫). Both of these symbols occur only rarely.
scale is the half step or semitone. Figure 1–5 identifies
Scales: Leading Tone, Tonic, Dominant
each note name on the piano keyboard. “The Flight of
In the Western tradition, most composers choose a set
the Bumblebee” (Listening Example 4) opens with a
of seven pitches as the basis for a piece of music. When
rapid descending chromatic scale.
arranged in ascending order, the seven pitches are
Each of the black keys derives its labeling from its known as a diatonic scale, and the pitches fall into one
neighboring white keys, and so each black key has two of four different patterns (major and three varieties of
names. As noted earlier, sharp (♯) means “raised” by minor). The C major scale is perhaps the most common
a half step and flat (♭) means “lowered” by a half step. scale; the piano keys needed for this scale are shown in
For instance, notice that E♭ and D♯ refer to the same Figure 1–6.
black key. This means that they are identical in pitch;
C (1̂) – D (2̂) – E (3̂) – F (4̂) – G (5̂) – A (6̂) – B (7̂) – C
we call two different labels for the same piano key
enharmonic pitches. (Note: In older tuning systems, When playing or writing down a scale, the first pitch
an E♭ and a D♯ are not identical and differ slightly in is normally repeated at the top, as the last pitch. It
the number of cycles per second.) Some of the white would sound very unstable to stop at pitch number 7.
keys have additional names as well. For instance, one The seventh scale degree is known as the leading tone

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 9.FIGURE 1–7
intervals of C and G major scales


          
|__||__|V|__||__||__|V |__||__|V|__||__||__|V

Diagram of keyboard with C scale, left, and G scale, right, with symbols beneath to indicate intervals.

because to Western ears it begs to resolve upward to are either ascending (the lower pitch occurs first) or
the C above. descending.
In the C major scale and the melodies that use it, A few intervals that exceed an octave are the major
C is the anchor, a point of repose and completion. and minor ninth and the major and minor tenth. They
Sometimes called the “resting tone” or “Do” (as in can be thought of as an octave plus an m2 (spanning 13
“Doe, a deer….” from The Sound of Music), it is most half steps), M2 (14), m3 (15), and M3 (16 half steps).
often known as the tonic pitch. In a C scale, C is the
tonic pitch. In an A scale, A is the tonic pitch. In an A♭ Intervals of the Major Scale

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scale, A♭ is the tonic pitch, and so on. A scale can be described as a succession of whole
and half steps (or major seconds and minor seconds).
The fifth scale degree, called the dominant pitch, Referring back to the C major scale on the keyboard,
is nearly as important as the tonic. In non-technical you can see that the distance between 1̂ and 2̂, in this
terms, it functions like a second gravitational center case C to D, is a whole step, or M2. (The C♯/D♭ key,
that sets melodies in motion by pulling them away which is skipped over, is the intermediate half step in
from the tonic. The dominant pitch may appear in a between.) Pitch numbers 2̂ and 3̂ are also a whole step
melody more often than the tonic pitch, though the apart. (D to E♭ is one half step; E♭ to E makes two
tonic remains the final resting point. In the key of C, G half steps, which added together make a single whole
is the dominant pitch, and B is the leading tone. step.) Between pitch numbers 3̂ and 4̂, however, there
is no intermediate piano key. The E and the F are only
Intervals a half step, or an m2, apart. Figure 1–7 reproduces the
The distance between any two pitches is called an C major scale on the piano keyboard, with the melodic
interval. Remember that the smallest distance between intervals labeled. You can see that they follow a pattern
any two adjacent keys on the piano is a half step (or of whole steps (marked with square brackets “⊔”) and
semitone). Any larger distance between two piano keys half steps (marked by angled, or pointed, brackets
can be measured by the number of half steps it spans; “∨”). Therefore, a major scale’s sequence of intervals
these distances are shown in the first column of Table consists of whole step–whole step–half step–whole
1−2. However, other terms for intervals are derived step–whole step–whole step–half step (or ⊔-⊔-∨-⊔-⊔-
from the alphabetical letter names of the two pitches. ⊔-∨).
For that reason, although the interval from C to E
spans four half steps, it is called a “Major third” (M3) By using that same sequence of melodic intervals,
because of the three letter names between the lower you can create a major scale starting on any key of
and upper pitches (C to D to E). Table 1−2 gives the the piano. For instance, a G major scale proceeds up
names for the most common intervals. the keyboard looking very much like a C scale (all
white notes), until you get to the seventh scale degree.
Any interval can be performed so it is harmonic (the By definition, if a scale is major, 6̂ to 7̂ must be a
two pitches occur simultaneously) or melodic, with the whole step, and 7̂ to 8̂ a half step apart. A whole step
two pitches occurring in succession. Melodic intervals above 6̂ (E) is F♯. Why not call this note G♭? The

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diagram, is identical to the C and G major scales, and every other major scale, regardless
of the starting pitch.

FIGURE 1–8

C# F# G#

A B D E A
V V
Diagram of an A major scale.

seven pitches of any major scale are properly spelled All minor scales feature a lowered third scale degree,
using seven different letters, so you would not want meaning the interval from the tonic to the third pitch of
to have a G♭ and a G♮ in the same scale. Also, an E the scale is a minor third, not a major third (the interval

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to a G♭ would properly be called a diminished third, that occurs in the major scale). Note that the half steps
not a major second—and a major scale should consist of the natural minor scale are located between 2̂ and 3̂,
only of major and minor seconds. (When a minor and 5̂ and 6̂. The major scale’s upward pull from 7̂ to
interval is made smaller, either by lowering the top 8̂ is not present in the natural minor. Try playing the
note using an accidental, or by raising the bottom note scale through. It can just as easily fall back down to 6̂,
using an accidental, the resultant interval is said to be then 5̂, as it can rise to 8̂. In order to create that pull,
“diminished.”) So, for example, E to G (3 half-steps) is many pieces of music use the harmonic minor mode,
a minor third. When you keep the same letter names which is created by raising the seventh scale degree
but lower the G to G♭, it is still a third, but it is no one half step (by adding a sharp or natural). Melodic
longer minor, since it consists of only two half-steps. minor, shown with intervals marked in Figure 1–9,
It is now a diminished third. Compare the keyboard is the final option. Both the sixth and seventh scale
diagrams shown in Figure 1–7, and you will see the degrees are raised a half step as the scale ascends, and
same sequence of intervals is preserved (⊔-⊔-∨-⊔- then they are restored to their normal “natural minor”
⊔-⊔-∨), even though one begins on G and the other pitches as the scale descends. The alterations here
begins on C. encourage a sense of upward motion to the higher tonic
and a pull downward to the fifth scale degree.
Figure 1–8 shows an A major scale. The sequence of
intervals, labeled below the diagram, is identical to Because C natural minor and E♭ major use the same
the C and G major scales. The sequence of whole and seven pitches—just different tonics—they are called the
half steps will be the same in every other major scale, relative major and minor to each other. (These relative
regardless of the starting pitch. scales are shown in Figure 1–10.) Their relationship is
still relative even when the natural minor is altered to
Minor Scales and Blues Inflections make the harmonic or melodic minor scales. In contrast,
The next most common scale is the minor scale. There major and minor scales that begin and end on the same
are three slightly different varieties: natural (or pure) tonic pitch are called parallel. Relative major and minor
minor, harmonic minor, and melodic minor. Figure scales are perceived as being more closely related to
1–9 shows each of the three, beginning on A. (Like the each other than parallel scales since they use the same
major scale, each scale has its own pattern of whole collection of pitches.
and half steps.)

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 FIGURE 1-9
FIGURE 1−10
FIGURE 1–9

Relative minor and major scales, both with three flatted pitches (B♭, E♭, and A♭). C natural
minor (left) and E♭ major (right).

using a pitch “between the keys” of the piano. Often the ner,” for instance, uses far more leaps than steps, so it is
pitch is part of a small slide—for example, from ♭3 to disjunct. There is even a melodic leap of a major tenth
3. Less commonly, the 5th scale degree is lowered in a (equivalent to sixteen half steps) between “gleam-ing”

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similar manner. In the song “I Got Rhythm” (LISTENING and “… and the rockets’ red glare.”
EXAMPLE 1), a number of words are sung to “blue notes.” Another way to describe a melody’s contour is by di-
MELODY DEFINED WITH AN EXAMPLE USING rection. Melodies may ascend, descend, or move in a
SCALE DEGREES wavelike manner. “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” ascends
A melody is a series of successive pitches perceived by to the first “merrily,” then mainly descends to the end.
the ear to form a coherent whole. Only one pitch occurs A very common contour for melodies is that of an arch,
at a time in a melody; if two pitches occur together, you ascending at the beginning, reaching a climactic high
have either harmony or counterpoint. Most melodies point, and descending toward the end. Contour is nor-
use the seven notes of a single scale. The song “Happy mally described in general terms. Exact intervals and
Birthday,” which is in the major mode, uses the scale de- pitches are named when more precision is needed.
grees shown in the box at the bottom of this page. RANGE AND TESSITURA
It follows the same scale degrees whether you use the Every instrument (including the human voice) has a
B
C major, F major, E♭ major,Minor A major, or any natural,
scales: range of possible
of the fif- harmonic, pitches that it is capable of producing.
and melodic.
teen major scales. You can transpose the melody Happy In order to indicate exactly which A, B, or C , etc., is
Birthday to any major key by beginning the same pattern being played or discussed, each pitch is numbered from
of intervals$%&).%$
-%,/$9 on a different
7)4( note, and it will remain the the
!. %8!-0,% bottomBirthday”
“Happy of the grand staff up:
follows theC1 through
same B1/C♭1,
scale degrees fol-
same melody.
53).' 3#!,% $%'2%%3
lowed
whether
Minor scales: natural, harmonic,
by C2
andyou through B2/C♭2, and so on. A 
viola’s
use the C major, F major, E major, A
melodic.
range
(C3 to E6)
major, or is
anyhigher andfifteen
of the slightlymajor
narrower thanYou
scales. a cello’s
can
CONTOUR
A MELODY is a series of successive pitches per- (C2 to A5). The high, middle, and low parts of an instru-
All melodies contour,
havetoa form A conjunct
or profile.whole. TRANSPOSE the melody “Happy Birthday” to any
Only ment’s range are often called the high, middle,oforinter-
islow
ceived by the ear a coherent
Amelody
scale with blues inflections combines elements of in from
major to 3.byLess
b3key commonly,
beginning the the
same5th scale
patterndegree
one pitch occurs at a time in a melody;that
moves smoothly, in stepwise motion, if is,
two register; in “Ol’ Man River” (LISTENING EXAMPLE 2), the
both major and
mostly minor scales.steps. blues scale,
In a “Row, scaleYour lowered
vals on in
dropsa similar manner.
a different note, and it will remain the same
pitcheshalf steps
occur and whole
together, you have Row,HARMONY
either Row singer
melody.
into a very low register. A melody with a
degrees
Boat” is3 and 7 can be
a familiar either
tune usinglowered,
conjunct
or COUNTERPOINT. Most melodies use the seven
as motion.
in a minorApart high tessitura calls for more pitches in the performer’s
from
scale, “merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,” all the intervals Melody Defined with an Example Usingor low
notesorofnormal
a singleasscale.
in a major scale,“Happy
The song or somewhere in
Birthday,” high register
#/.4/52 than does a melody with a medium
are whole
between,
which isusing
steps and
in the
half
a pitch
major
steps.
“between A
mode,the
disjunct
keys”
uses the piano. Scale
melody, on
theoffollowing
the Degrees
tessitura. This Italian
All melodies have aterm is applied
CONTOUR, most often
or profile. to vocal
A CONJUNCT
other
Often hand, contains proportionally more leaps (intervals A melody
music. is a series of successive pitches perceived
scalethe
larger
pitch is part of a small slide—for example,
than a major second). “The Star Spangled Ban- melody moves smoothly, in stepwise motion, that
degrees:

5ˆ 5ˆ 6ˆ 5ˆ 1ˆ 7ˆ 5ˆ 5ˆ 6ˆ 5ˆ 2ˆ 1ˆ 5ˆ 5ˆ 5ˆ 3ˆ 1ˆ 7ˆ 6,
ˆ 4ˆ 4ˆ 3ˆ 1ˆ 2ˆ 1ˆ
Hap-py birth-day to you, hap-py birth-day to you! Hap-py birth-day, dear Susie, hap-py birth-day to you!

R ESOURC E GUID E
USA D MUSIC
2 0 15 s 17
2 0 14 –
 2024–2025 Music Resource Guide
64"%
.VTJD
3FTPVSDF
(VJEF
t
–
15
 FIGURE 1–10

Relative minor and major scales, both with three flatted pitches (B♭, E♭, and A♭). C natural minor (left) and E♭ major (right).

by the ear to form a coherent whole. Only one pitch direction. Melodies may ascend, descend, or move in a
occurs at a time in a melody; if two pitches occur wavelike manner. “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” ascends

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together, you have either harmony or counterpoint. to the first “merrily,” then mainly descends to the end.
Most melodies use the seven notes of a single scale. A very common contour for melodies is that of an
The song “Happy Birthday,” which is in the major arch, ascending at the beginning, reaching a climactic
mode, uses the scale degrees shown in the box at the high point, and descending toward the end. Contour is
bottom of the previous page. normally described in general terms. Exact intervals and
pitches are named when more precision is needed.
It follows the same scale degrees whether you use the
C major, F major, E♭ major, A major, or any of the Range and Tessitura
fifteen major scales. You can transpose the melody of Every instrument (including the human voice) has a
“Happy Birthday” to any major key by beginning the range of possible pitches that it is capable of producing.
same pattern of intervals on a different note, and it will In order to indicate exactly which A, B, or C♯, etc., is
remain the same melody. being played or discussed, each pitch is numbered from
the bottom of the grand staff up: C1 through B1/C♭1,
Contour followed by C2 through B2/C♭2, and so on. A viola’s
All melodies have a contour, or profile. A conjunct range (C3 to E6) is higher and slightly narrower than a
melody moves smoothly, in stepwise motion, that is, cello’s (C2 to A5). The high, middle, and low parts of an
in mostly half steps and whole steps. “Row, Row, Row instrument’s range are often called the high, middle, or
Your Boat” is a familiar tune using conjunct motion. low register. Joni Mitchell sings in her highest and then
Apart from “merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,” all lowest register in the last two lines of “Big Yellow Taxi”
the intervals are whole steps and half steps. The (Listening Example 9) A melody with a high tessitura
descending melody in “What a Wonderful World” calls for more pitches in the performer’s high register
(Listening Example 7) is very conjunct. A disjunct than does a melody with a medium or low tessitura.
melody, on the other hand, contains proportionally This Italian term is applied most often to vocal music. A
more leaps (intervals larger than a major second). For female singer who performs most comfortably in a high
instance, the French horn melody of “On the Trail” tessitura is called a soprano; a lower-register female
(Listening Example 1) leaps upward and back down singer is called an alto. For men, the higher register is
through several large intervals, so it is disjunct. called tenor, while a low-register male voice is a bass
Another way to describe a melody’s contour is by (pronounced “base”).

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 TABLE 1–3

BEATS PER MINUTE ITALIAN TERM MEANING (APPROX.)

200 Presto very fast
120 Allegro fast
108 Moderato moderate
84 Andante “at a walking tempo”
72 Adagio slow
40 Lento or Grave very slow
Common tempo markings.

Rhythm beats-per-minute.
Rhythm is the way music is organized in time.
Tempo can slow down (ritardando) or speed up
Beat (accelerando), and it can do either gradually (poco a
Beat is the steady pulse that underlies most music. poco) or suddenly (subito). When there is no steady
tempo—which is the same as no discernable beat—

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Sometimes the beat is audible, sometimes not, but it
is present, like the silent or ticking second hand on a music is said to be unmetered. If there is a perceived
mechanical clock. beat, but it speeds up and slows down for expressive
effect, it is called rubato.
Tempo
The speed of the beat is called the tempo. Table 1−3 Meter: Duple, Triple, and Quadruple
shows different tempos and their traditional Italian All beats are of equal length, but not all beats are
names. The Italian terms predate the invention of of equal importance. Normally, beats are grouped
exact timekeeping, so they originally indicated mood into measures (or more informally, bars), which are
or other expressive qualities as related to tempo. For separated by bar lines. The first beat of any measure
example, Allegro means “cheerful” in Italian, and is usually the strongest, so it is customarily called the
so the music should be executed in a fairly lively, or downbeat or strong beat.
slightly “fast” manner. (Allegro music is not always Meter describes the pattern of emphasis superimposed
cheerful, however. Beethoven’s “Thunderstorm” on groups of beats. In general terms, meters are
movement in Symphony No. 6 [Listening Example 2] duple, triple, quadruple, or irregular (also called
calls for an Allegro tempo, but is quite ominous.) The asymmetrical). Music with groups of two beats
numbers at the left indicate the approximate number (alternating as STRONG-weak-STRONG-weak, etc.) is
of beats per minute. Substantial variations exist in the

FIGURE 1–11 Figure 1‐11

1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Are you sleep‐ ing, Are you sleep‐ ing
Quadruple meter in “Are You Sleeping?”
Quadruple meter in “Are You Sleeping?”
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 FIGURE 1–12
16. Happy Birthday rhythm
1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3
Hap-py birth- day to you, hap-py birth- day to you! [Hap-py...]

“Happy Birthday”—four measures with words and beat numbers.

in duple meter, as you can hear in the rapid “Flight of sixteenth notes, thirty-second notes, and so forth.
the Bumblebee” (Listening Example 4). Triple meter The relationships of the most common note symbols
has a three-beat pattern with a STRONG-weak-weak- are shown in Figure 1–13. (Notice that multiple flagged
STRONG-weak-weak (etc.) pulsation, illustrated in notes have an alternate notation, called beams; these
the slow waltz-like pulse of Hermit Thrush at Morn horizontal connecting lines are sometimes easier for
(Listening Example 5). Most common is quadruple a musician to read quickly, since it is customary to
meter, in which there are groups of four beats, with 1 “beam” together a beat’s worth of notes.)
being the strongest beat, 3 being the second strongest
beat, and 2 and 4 being weak beats. However, it is often Another device used in rhythmic notation is the dot.
difficult to distinguish duple from quadruple by ear, so A dot adds half the original value to a note—so a dot
quadruple is sometimes treated as a “duple” meter by following a half note would represent a quarter note,
listeners (and the opposite is also true—duple meter and thus the total duration of a dotted half note should

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is sometimes treated as quadruple meter). Figure 1–11 be a half note plus a quarter note. Also, notes of the
shows two measures from “Are You Sleeping?” with the same pitch can be connected with a curved line called
quadruple beats numbered. Irregular (or asymmetrical) a tie; it “ties” their values together, so that the note
meters are other groupings that cannot be divided into lasts as long as their combined values. The Hermit
steady pulsations of two, three, or four beats. The most Thrush at Morn (Listening Example 5) begins with a
common irregular meters are five-beat or seven-beat dotted rhythm.
measures. The note value symbols in the top half of Figure 1–13
The song “Happy Birthday,” with its groupings of indicate how long musical sounds should last—but
three beats, is in triple meter as is shown in Figure musicians can also be told how long not to make
1–12. The first word falls before the downbeat. This is sound. These symbols for silence are called rests, and
called a “pickup” or anacrusis (pronounced “Anna- they follow a similar hierarchy as the note values; the
croo-sis”). Another illustration of triple meter occurs lower half of Figure 1–13 illustrates the standard rest
in “America (My country, ‘tis of thee)”; this song symbols (and their equivalent note symbols), and how
begins on the downbeat. each rest should be placed on a staff. (The placement is
especially important for whole rests and half rests; they
Rhythmic Notation look identical otherwise.)
A variety of symbols indicate how long a note should
last. An oval note, called a whole note, is the longest Time Signature
symbol used today. A line called a stem can be added In music notation, the meter is indicated with a time
to that oval, and that oval-plus-stem symbol indicates signature, which usually consists of two numbers.
a time value that is half as long as the whole note, or a The lower number indicates a durational value, with 2
half note. When the oval, or note head, is solid black meaning the half note, 4 the quarter note, 8 the eighth,
(with a stem), that indicates a quarter note: a note and 16 the sixteenth note. (This is not a fraction! Note
that is half as long as a half note (and one-fourth the that there is no line between the two numbers.) The
duration of a whole note). When a flag is added to the upper number indicates how many of those durational
stem, the quarter note is halved in duration, so that is values (or their equivalents) will occur in one measure.
called an eighth note. Additional flags can be added, Thus, if the time signature is 68 , the measure will
each subdividing the value of the note by half again: contain the combined time value of six eighth notes.

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 FIGURE 1–13

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Symbols for Notes and Rests. The hierarchy of notes is illustrated by their alignment: 1 whole = 2 half notes = 4 quarter notes = 8
eighth notes = 16 sixteenth notes = 32 thirty-second notes (etc.). The same relationships are true for rests as well.

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 FIGURE 1–14

Swing example: Notated (left); performed (right).

Two other symbols are often used to represent the time triplets on the second and third staves.
signature: a large capital C (called “common time”) is
equivalent to 44 time, and a vertical slash through the C Mixed and Irregular Meter
(C) indicates that the time signature is 22 ; this symbol is Mixed meter and irregular or asymmetrical meter
usually called “cut-time,” although its original name are variations on the grouping of beats. In mixed meter,
is “alla breve”; “On the Trail” (Listening Example 1) measures that have different meters occur in rapid
uses this time signature. succession. Irregular meter features measures that have
different meters alternating in an irregular pattern.
Simple and Compound Subdivision Irregular meter may also mean there is a steady beat but
Normally each beat is divided in half (1 & 2 & 3 & it is grouped unpredictably or inconsistently. A measure
or 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &), which is referred to as simple of seven beats, for example, may go ONE-two-three

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subdivision. If the beat is subdivided into three equal ONE-two ONE-two, or ONE-two ONE-two ONE-two-
parts, then the subdivision is compound. For example: three. (See Figure 1–15; the > symbol above or below a
8 meter can be counted 1 2 3 4 5 6, 1 2 3 4 5 6, or note head is called an “accent.” An accent indicates that
6

ONE-&-a TWO-&-a, ONE-&-a TWO-&-a; Sumer the note is to receive a greater stress than the unaccented
is icumen in (Listening Example 6) and the “Irish” notes around it.)
melody in Global Warming (Listening Example 8) both
illustrate compound subdivision, while “Flight of the When two or more meters are operating simultaneously,
Bumblebee” (Listening Example 4) is an example of it is referred to as polymeter. “On the Trail” (Listening
simple subdivision. The rhythms used in swing music Example 1) contains a polymetric passage, where cut-
are notated as if they are in 44 time, but played as if they time and 68 meters operate simultaneously.
are 128 , as shown in Figure 1–14. Figure 1–16 illustrates

FIGURE 1–15

Examples of asymmetrical (irregular) meters.

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 FIGURE 1–16

2
4    

   

2
4    

2    
4

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2    
4
Two against three (top) and three against four (bottom) polyrhythms.

Syncopation Rhythm: Summary

Rhythm is syncopated when accented or emphasized The important distinction to keep in mind is that
notes fall on weak beats or in between beats. The rhythm is a collection of varying durations, and it is
rhythms in “Happy Birthday” are regular and coincide always audible. Beat refers to a regular underlying
with the beat, so it is not considered syncopated. pulse that is not always audible but is always felt or
Many of this year’s vocal selections use a great deal imagined, and meter is the grouping of beats and the
of syncopation, including “Mercy Mercy Me (The associated patterns of strong and weak beats.
Ecology)” (Listening Example 10) and “Feels Like
Summer” (Listening Example 13). Harmony
Harmony occurs whenever two or more tones are
Polyrhythm sounding simultaneously.
Polyrhythm, also called cross-rhythm, occurs
when two conflicting rhythmic patterns are present Common-Practice Tonality
simultaneously. The most common, as shown in Figure Common-practice tonality (also called common-
1–16, are two against three (the upper example) and practice harmony) is the system of organizing pitch
three against four (the lower example). Note that the and harmony that we find intuitive today in Western
meter does not change. Polyrhythms are common cultures. It developed in Europe beginning in the Middle
in jazz, but the classical composer Beethoven also Ages and was codified by about 1750. Since then, layers
employs 4-against-5 patterns during parts of the of complexity have been added, vigorous challenges
“Thunderstorm” of Symphony No. 6 (Listening have been made by various composers, and knowledge
Example 2). of non-Western music traditions has increased

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 FIGURE 1–17

Examples of triads: C-E-G, C-E♭-G, A-C♯-E♯, B-D-F, B-D♯-F♯.

dramatically. Despite these changes, conventions of in second inversion. When describing inverted
common-practice tonality govern nearly all of the music chords, first inversion is indicated by a “six”
produced or consumed in the Western world. following the chord symbol; second inversion
is indicated by a six and a four aligned
Chords vertically, rather like a fraction with the line
A chord is three or more pitches sounding missing. First- and second-inversion triads are
simultaneously. A book, or a forearm, pressed down on also illustrated in Figure 1–18.
a piano keyboard creates a chord. However, the most
common and useful chords do not employ immediately Any triad may be inverted. The bottom pitch
determines the inversion; the other pitches

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adjacent pitches.
may be in any order, and any of the triad’s
6 Triads three pitches may be duplicated in the same, or
A triad is a three-note chord consisting of different, octaves without changing the chord’s
two intervals of a third. Triads come in four classification as a triad.
qualities: major, minor, diminished, and
Keys
augmented. A major triad (abbreviated as
In music theory, the key is the world of pitch
“M”) has a major third interval between its
relationships within which a piece or substantial
lower two pitches and a minor third between
section of music takes place. “Key” in music theory is
the upper two pitches. A minor triad (m) has
not to be confused with the piano key that you press
a minor third on the bottom and a major third
to produce a single pitch. In terms of harmony, the
above. Less common are the diminished triad
“key” of a piece of music is the set of seven notes, or
(d) (two minor thirds) and the augmented
scale, that has been selected for use in that piece. The
triad (A) (two major thirds). Triads of various
gravitational center of a key is the tonic pitch, which
qualities are shown in Figure 1–17. The basic
in turn lends its name to the entire key. A piece of
chords in any piece of music are the triads built
music whose tonic pitch is D is said to be in “the key
above each note of the scale.
of D;” similarly, an A major piece consists of the seven
The root is the lowest of the three notes in pitches of the key (or scale) of A. Whether the key
a triad. The middle note is called the third, is major or minor depends upon other scale degrees,
and the highest note is called the fifth. When namely 3̂, 6̂, and 7̂. Within a key, pitches and harmonies
the root is on the bottom, the chord is in root relate to one another in specific ways. Each chord has a
position. Root-position triads are shown as the different relationship to the tonic.
first four chords of Figure 1–18.
Unless otherwise specified, “the key of C” means
6 Inversions “the key of C major.” (The other options in common-
Any pitch of a triad can be moved up or down practice tonality are C natural minor, C harmonic
any number of octaves. When the third of the minor, and C melodic minor.) Music in the key of C
triad is on the bottom, the chord is in first major uses mainly the seven pitches of a C major scale,
inversion. When the fifth is on the bottom, it is

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 FIGURE 1–18

Example: C triad plus its inversions, all three with different spacing:
CEG CGE CGEC CGCE // EGC ECG ECGC // etc.

and their octave transpositions. If other pitches occur, minor scales use the same key signature—the
they are called chromatic pitches—and are usually one for natural minor—and add accidentals
decorative or expressive, but not structural. to individual notes throughout the score for
harmonic or melodic inflections.
6 Key Signatures
The key signature is a set of sharps or flats at The key signature is a convenience. See the
the beginning of every staff that indicates the E major scale in Figure 1–19, shown on the
key of the music. The key signature signals keyboard and in two versions on the staff. The
first notated version uses an accidental in front

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which seven pitches make up the scale for
that piece by indicating which pitches will be of each affected pitch. The second notated
consistently raised or lowered. When an F♯ version begins with a key signature of four
appears in the key signature at the beginning sharps (F♯, C♯, G♯, and D♯), indicating that the
of the piece, that means all Fs in the entire performer needs to sharpen any F, C, G, or D
composition are automatically raised, unless pitches they encounter.
otherwise indicated (which would be done with 6 Hierarchy of Keys: Circle of Fifths
a natural sign in front of the individual note). Key signatures fall into a fascinating pattern.
There are only two scales that need only an Remember, there are fifteen major scales.
F♯: G major and E minor (which are relative There are also fifteen minor scales. Each scale
scales to each other). A scale beginning on E corresponds to a key of the same name. And,
needs only the second note (F) raised to have each major scale contains the same pitches as
the order of whole and half steps common to one of the natural minor keys. (Remember the
all natural minor scales. A scale starting on example in Figure 1–10: C minor is the relative
G needs only the 7th degree (F) raised to fall minor of E♭ major; E♭ is the relative major
into the major scale pattern of whole and half of C minor.) There are fifteen key signatures
steps. When music is notated, all three types of needed. Because the major and natural minor

FIGURE 1–19

E major scale on a keyboard (left); E major scale on a staff without key signature (center); E scale on a staff with key
signature (right).

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23
FIGURE 1–20

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Circle of Fifths.

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24
24. dissonance and consonance examples
FIGURE 1–21

 
 
 dissonant 
   
   consonant

Examples of more dissonant chords (piano keys marked with “×”) and more consonant chords (piano keys marked with
dots).

scales have to preserve a certain order of whole counter-clockwise (toward scales that are each
and half steps, there are only thirty possible a perfect fifth lower than the previous one), you
keys. add flats one at a time, progressing from the
key of C to F, B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, and C♭. The
Refer to the circle of fifths for major scales
counterclockwise cycle overlaps the clockwise
shown in the upper half of Figure 1–20 while
cycle at the bottom of the circle, where three
locating each key’s tonic on the keyboard. C, the
pairs of scales dovetail with each other. The
key at the top of the circle, has no sharps or flats
scale with five sharps, B, uses the same piano
in its key signature (all of its pitches are natural).
keys as the scale with seven flats, C♭ major.

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The key of G is a perfect fifth higher, and it
The scales with six sharps and six flats (F♯
uses only one accidental, an F♯ (all the other
major and G♭ major) also use precisely the same
pitches are natural). A perfect fifth is an interval
keys on the piano. Similarly, since C♯ and D♭
of seven half steps subsumed within five letter
are enharmonic equivalents, their scales also
names, e.g., C-G or B♭-F. The key of D is
overlap on the circle and on the piano.
closely related to G; it is a perfect fifth higher,
and it needs only one additional sharp—C♯. As Musicians usually memorize the order of
you continue moving clockwise, each successive sharps and flats that occur in the key signatures:
scale is a perfect fifth higher than the previous F♯-C♯-G♯-D♯-A♯-E♯-B♯ and B♭-E♭-A♭-D♭-
one, and another sharp is added each time, to a G♭-C♭-F♭. Notice that the letter names for the
maximum of seven sharps. You will see that the sharps reverse the order of the letter names
scale with seven sharps is C♯ major—in effect, for the flats—so if you memorize one list of
you have raised every pitch of the C major scale accidentals, the other one is simply in backward
by one half step. To go the other direction, e.g., order. Many people make up mnemonic phrases

25. Resolutions for F-B tritone

FIGURE 1–22

O O
T T T T
O O
  

Two resolutions (shown as “O” notes) of the F-B tritone (shown as “T” notes).

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25
 FIGURE 1-23
FIGURE 1–23 FIGURE 1-23

Diatonic triads.
Diatonic triads.
Diatonic triads.
to help
borrows them from
notes remember at least
outside theone of then
key, the lists.
it is quality
ished of aand
triad, pitch, interval,
it is highlyorunstable;
chord thatintuitively
makes
One saying for the flats is “Big Eaters Always
chromatic . theit listener
seem a suitable wantspoint to hearof rest it or resolution.
resolve to some-
Demand
borrows notesGood
fromChinese Food.”
outside theYou
key,can haveit is
then ished triad, and it is highly unstable; intuitively
Chords within any given key are related to each Dissonance
thing more restful .is relative. TheThe most consonant
diagram in Figure 1–23
fun inventing your own phrases.
chromatic . the listener wants to hear it resolve to some-
other in a predetermined pattern that sounds chords are ones that stress the lowerDpartials
shows a C major scale (left) and a major on
scale
Chords
perfectly within any given
intuitive key areears .
to Western relatedThe to fasci-
each thing
(right) more
the overtone restful .
with a triad The
series.built diagram
Few on things each in F
willscaleigure 1–23
sounddegree .
more
The lower isdiagram
that theshown in Figure 1–20 shows a C major scale (left) and anumerals .
D major
other
nating inthing
a predetermined pattern
pattern that
connecting soundsdia- consonant
They are than an
labeled octave
with with
Roman a fifth added scaleThe
tonicpresents
perfectly
chords the
intuitivecircle
is also ofWestern
tobasedfifths
onfor minor
ears .
the scales.
The
circle It
fasci-
of fifths . (right) with
abovediminished
single a triad
the bass. A major built on
triadtriad, each scale
especially with
is lower-case degree .
with a
But, uses
nating exactly
thing
first theasame
let’sistake
that the principles
pattern
closer look at as
thethe
connecting circledia-
individual of They
small are
the root labeled is
doubled,
superscripted with
also Roman
extremely
circle numerals .
added . consonant. The
Capitalized
tonicfifths for major keys, except that the
chords is also based on the circle of fifths .
triads . scale at the single diminished triad is dissonant
lower-case with a
But other
numerals chords can
indicate majorsound triads, and or lower-case
top (with no flats or called
sharps in thethe
keyindividual
signature)

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But,
The toniclet’s
first take a closer looktheattonic small superscripted circle added . Capitalized
triad (also chord or consonant(with
numerals depending upon what precedes
no superscripted circle) indi-
is
triads . A minor (the relative minor of C major). numerals
simply the tonic) is a diatonic triad built on the
^
them. A cluster of whole steps (say, C,lower-case
cate minor indicate
triads . major triads, and D, E, F♯,
Harmonic
The
tonictonic Progression
triad
pitch, (alsoiscalled
1 . This the tonic
perceived chord
as the or
most numerals
shown as (with
“x” notesno in superscripted
the left-hand circle) indi-
keyboard
simply
A harmonic theprogression
stable chord tonic) is a is
in a key . diatonic
Nearly alltriad
a series built
ofpieces
chords on
ofor the
music M THE DOMINANT TRIAD’S SPECIAL ROLE .
cateof minor
Figure triads .sounds dissonant compared to
tonic
end onpitch,
the
^
1 .
tonic This is
chord . perceived
In a major as the
key, the most
tonic Aside from1–21) the tonic chord, the dominant chord
intervals that moves from tension (dissonance) toward M (V)a is
THE C-E-G
DOMINANT
the most triad (the black-dot
TRIAD’S
important . Itchord
SPECIAL
contains in thethe
left-
ROLE .
lead-
stable
triad ischord
alwaysin major .
a key . Nearly all pieces of music
resolution (consonance). inghand
Aside tone keyboard).
from ^
( 7)the and tonic Butchord,
the that same
fifth thecluster
scale dominant
degree, is more
chord
both of
end
The on the tonic
other majorchord .
triadsInthat
a major
occurkey, the tonic
naturally in
triad is always major . (V) consonant
is the
which want most (the dots of
important . the right-hand
It
to resolve to the tonic pitch . contains keyboard)
the lead-
Dissonance
6a major and Consonance ^ ^
key are on scale degrees 4 and 5 . The ingthan a chord composed of scale
C, D♭,degree,
F, G♭ (theboth“x” of
^
tone ( 7) and the fifth
The Dissonance
other
diatonic major
triads is triads
on the
2, quality
^ ^
andofoccur
3, that 6aare
^
pitch, interval,
naturally
minor (even in Other harmonies, in turn, “pull” to the domi-
noteswantof thetoright-hand keyboard).
^ ^ which resolve to the tonic pitch .
or chord
athough
major they that
key are makes
areonpart it seem
scale
of adegrees
major“unstable”
4 and
key) . or5 . triad
The The nant: these are called predominant harmonies .
^ ^ ^
builttense.
diatonic Theseventh
on triads
the more
on 2,dissonant
3,scale
and 6 adegree
sound, the
are minor more
(even
is unique, TheEars
Other accustomed
triads built onto
harmonies, in
theWestern
turn,
second music
“pull” andto expect
the domi-
fourth scale
though they
consisting ofare
twopart of
minor a major
thirds . key) .
the listener longs to hear a “resolution.” The
This isThe
a triad
dimin- dissonance
nant:
degrees these are
(ii, alsoto resolve.
calledcalledTension
predominant is created as
the supertonic, harmonies .
and IV,
built opposite
on the ofseventh
dissonance scale degree is the
is consonance, unique, Thethe listener
triads builtwaits
on for theasecond
tense intervaland fourthor chord
scale
consisting of two minor thirds . This is a dimin- degrees (ii, also called the supertonic, and IV,

FIGURE 1–24 FIGURE 1-24

FIGURE 1-24

ii-V-I and IV-V-I as simple triads in root position.

ii-V-I and IV-V-I as simple triads in root position.

ii-V-I and IV-V-I as simple triads in root position.

2024–2025 Music Resource Guide
2 0 14 – 2 0 15 • USA D MUSIC R
28
26 ESOURC E GUID
E
2 0 14 – 2 0 15 • U S A D M
 FIGURE 1–25 FIGURE 1-25

The same pitches that were shown in Figure 1–24 are present in these chords, but the notes are rearranged (i.e., some of the
chords areThe
inverted).
same pitches as shown in Figure 1–24 are present in these chords,
but the notes are rearranged (i.e., some of the chords are inverted).
to come to resolution in something more outside the key, then it is chromatic.
restful. Dissonance and its resolution are
the subdominant) are progression.
the most common pre- Chords
art music within any the
developed, givenvast
key majority
are relatedofto music
central to harmonic An example
dominant each other
was written in a voice .)
for the predetermined pattern
In Figure 1–25,that
note that
of thisharmonies .
is the tritone. The tritone is an interval
A chain ofmade up two
triads, each notes that are
pulling threenext,
to the wholeis steps
called the same pitches are present in each ears.
sounds perfectly intuitive to Western chord,Thebut
fascinating
the notes thing is that(that
are rearranged the pattern
is, theconnecting
chords are

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apart (e.g., C-F♯:
a chord progression . TheC-D,
most D-E, E-F♯), or
common six half
chord pro-
diatonic
inverted) . chords is also based on the circle of
gression steps. Tritones can also be called augmented
is predominant-dominant-tonic . This can
fifths. But first, let’s take a closer look at the
fourths
be ii-V-I or (when
IV-V-I . spelled1–24,
In Figure with two
thesenote
arenames a
written If one person sings the top note of each chord, and
individual triads.
as simplefourth
triadsapart,
in rootas in C-F♯) or a diminished fifth
position . another sings the bottom notes, and a third person
(when spelled
More often, some of the enharmonically with two to
chords are inverted note
cre- sings the tonic triad
Themiddle (also no
pitches, called
onethe tonic chord
person has to leap
ate whatnames a fifth
is called apart, as in
smoother C-G♭).
voice Play an IfF you
leading . aroundorexcessively,
simply the tonic) is a diatonic triad built easier
making the progression on
and three
think of the B together
chords on the piano (the
as three “T” notes
horizontal in
layers to sing .
the tonic pitch, 1̂. This is perceived as the most
Figure 1–22). The two most natural
(the top note in each chord is one layer, the middle sounding M stableLINES .
BASS chord in The
a key.bass
Nearlyline
all pieces
is theof music
lowest
resolutions
note in each chordare is aeither G♭ and
second B♭,and
layer, or E the
and low-
C, end oninthe
“voice” tonic chord.
a series In a major
of chords . key, thethe fin-
It provides
as shown by the “O” notes on the
est note in each chord creates a third layer), this keyboard tonictouch,
ishing triad isreinforcing
always major.
the forward pull of the
means eachdiagrams
layerinisFigure 1–22. conjunct and easy
relatively progression . Bass lines often, but not always,
The other major triads that occur naturally in
to sing . (This is due to the fact that when Western play the root of the harmony . Bass lines are
Try playing the tritone followed by its a major key are on scale degrees 4̂ and 5̂. The
resolution a few times. Then try playing it diatonic triads on 2̂, 3̂, and 6̂ are minor (even
backwards (the “O” notes before the “T” notes) though they are part of a major key). The triad
to see if there is a way to make the tritone
sound more restful than the other interval. It
FIGURE 1-26 built on the seventh scale degree (the leading
tone) is unique, consisting of two minor
is difficult, if not impossible. Any chord that thirds. This is a diminished triad, and it is
contains a tritone will sound more dissonant highly unstable; intuitively the listener wants
than a chord without one. to hear it resolve to something more restful.
6 Diatonic Triads The diagram in Figure 1–23 shows a C major
The term diatonic means “within the key.” A scale (left) and a D major scale with a triad
chord or melody is diatonic if no accidentals built on each scale degree. They are labeled
are needed other than those already indicated with Roman numerals. The single diminished
in the key signature. The quality (major, minor, triad is lower-case with a small superscripted
diminished, or augmented) of a diatonic triad circle added. Capitalized numerals indicate
depends upon which scale degree its root is major triads, and lower-case numerals (with no
on. If a melody or chord borrows notes from superscripted circle) indicate minor triads.

Chord 2024–2025 Music

progressions Resource
with Guideadded.
bass lines
27
 FIGURE 1–26

Chord progressions with bass lines added.

6 The Dominant Triad’s Special Role the middle pitches, no one person has to leap around
Aside from the tonic chord, the dominant excessively, making the progression easier to sing.
chord (V) is the most important. It contains the
6 Bass Lines
leading tone (7̂) and the fifth scale degree, both
The bass line is the lowest “voice” in a series

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of which want to resolve to the tonic pitch.
of chords. It provides the finishing touch,
Other harmonies, in turn, “pull” to the reinforcing the forward pull of the progression.
dominant: these are called pre-dominant Bass lines often, but not always, play the root
harmonies. The triads built on the second of the harmony. Bass lines are usually notated
and fourth scale degrees (ii—also called the in bass clef, as shown in Figure 1–26.
supertonic, and IV, the sub-dominant) are the
The most “final” sounding, strongest kind
most common predominant harmonies.
of bass line is one that descends a fifth. 5̂ to
A chain of triads, each pulling to the next, is called 1̂ is the most common bass motion at strong
a chord progression. The most common chord cadences (pausing points), like those which
progression is predominant-dominant-tonic. This can occur at the end of pieces or significant
be ii-V-I or IV-V-I. In Figure 1–24, these are written as sections of music. A 5̂- 1̂ bass line supports a
simple triads in root position. V-I harmonic progression. The most natural-
More often, some of the chords are inverted to create sounding chord progressions within a key are
what is called smoother voice leading. If you think a chain of descending fifths, such as moving
of the three chords as three horizontal layers (the top counterclockwise through the circle of fifths.
note in each chord is one layer, the middle note in each The example in Figure 1–27 shows how a
chord is a second layer, and the lowest note in each simple descending fifths bass line supports a
chord creates a third layer), this means each layer is chain of harmonies that includes every diatonic
relatively conjunct and easy to sing. (This is due to the triad in root position and ends on a cadence
fact that when Western art music developed, the vast when the harmony moves from V to I and the
majority of music was written for the voice.) In Figure melody (in the topmost notes) ends on 1̂.
1–25, note that the same pitches are present in each 6 The Dominant Seventh Chord
chord, but the notes are rearranged (that is, the chords To intensify its pull to the tonic triad, the
are inverted). dominant triad is often turned into a dominant
seventh chord, or V7 (see Figure 1–28). In the
If one person sings the top note of each chord, and key of C, the dominant triad is G-B-D, but the
another sings the bottom notes, and a third person sings dominant seventh chord adds a fourth pitch

2024–2025 Music Resource Guide

28
 FIGURE 1–27 FIGURE 1–28

A descending fifths bass line supports a chain of

harmonies that includes every diatonic triad in root
position and ends in a perfect authentic cadence.
V7 on staff and keyboard with scale degrees, pitches, and
all intervals labeled.
that is an interval of a minor seventh from the
root of the chord: i.e., G-F. (No matter what the
common embellishing notes are a sixth, seventh, and

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key, a dominant seventh chord always consists
of scale degrees 5̂- 7̂- 2̂ and 4̂. In this C major ninth above the root of the chord. Examples are given
example, the pitches are G-B-D-F.) in Figure 1–30, using a C major triad in every case,
but adding a sixth (A), a seventh (B), or a ninth (D)
The dominant seventh chord contains a in turn. Two samples of each added pitch chord are
tritone between 7̂ and 4̂, and thus the chord given. The first is in “close position,” and the second,
holds a great deal of tension. As was true for which contains the same pitches, is spread out (“open
the dominant triad, the urge for V-I and 5̂- 1̂ position”) as it would be more likely to appear in a
harmonic resolution is powerful in a dominant piece of music. As long as the root is on the bottom,
seventh chord. Again, the leading tone (7̂) pulls the chord is considered in root position; the upper notes
strongly to 1̂. But the additional pitch, 4̂ (a can be mixed in any order. (Sometimes composers
seventh above the root), pulls just as strongly omit the fifth, making identification tricky.)
down a half step to 3̂.
Aside from the dominant-seventh chord, other diatonic
The diminished triad built on 7̂ usually seventh chords can be used to create a more complex,
functions in the same way as a dominant sophisticated sound. They can be built on any scale
harmony because unless it is chromatically step by adding an interval of a seventh above the root
altered, it contains the 7̂ - 4̂ tritone that pulls so to any diatonic triad. The addition of the fourth pitch,
strongly to the tonic. particularly when it is diatonic, rarely changes the
6 Example: A Harmonized Melody function of the original triad, but it does add richness
The song “Happy Birthday” can serve to or atmosphere to the music.
illustrate the idea of harmonic progression. In
Figure 1–29, it is harmonized with diatonic Chromatic Harmonies and Modulation
triads and labeled with Roman numerals. Simple harmony is diatonic, and it uses mostly triads.
Complex harmony uses more chromatic pitches, and
Other Diatonic Chords four or more separate pitches may sound at the same
As common-practice harmony developed beyond time. Sometimes the added pitches are diatonic, but
1750, it became more complex. Triads remained sometimes they are chromatic, adding “color.” A brief
the basis for the music, but composers began using passage of chromaticism is heard in “Take Me Out
additional pitches to embellish the triads. The most

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 FIGURE 1–29

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“Happy Birthday” harmonized.

to the Ball Game,” during the phrase “Buy me some and at the right time. Getting from C major to F major is
peanuts ….” quite easy because they are closely related keys, adjacent
on the circle of fifths. To modulate smoothly from
Sometimes one or two pitches of the basic triad are B major to C, the harmonies would need to progress
altered, resulting in modal mixture. This normally through every intervening key in the circle of fifths, so
happens between a major key and its parallel minor the two keys are said to be less closely related.
key. For instance, in a piece using the C major scale,
a C minor triad or F minor triad might occasionally After a modulation, if the music remains in the new key
appear—using accidentals to indicate the E♭ in the for a significant amount of time, a double bar appears,
former and the A♭ in the latter. and the new key signature is inserted. If the new key is
temporary, the key signature does not need to change;
Unless they adhere strictly to the natural minor scale, instead, the composer uses accidentals to change any
minor keys are more chromatic than major ones. pitches that need to be altered.
Most crucially, the natural minor scale has no leading
tone. Unaltered, 7̂ is a whole step below 1̂, and it lacks Beyond Common Practice
the strong pull to the tonic. Without a raised 7̂, the Modulation and chromatic harmonies allowed
dominant seventh chord is relatively weak because it composers to write music that strayed further and
contains no tritone. further from the “home base” tonic. Compositions
could be longer and longer and more and more
Another way that harmony can be made more complex
chromatic. Composers generally pursued these changes
is to modulate (that is, change keys) frequently. The
in order to be more expressive.
simplest way to modulate is to use accidentals to create
the dominant seventh chord of the new key and then Throughout common practice, resolution of dissonance
resolve it to the new tonic. However, if the composer is the driving force behind harmony. In the nineteenth
wants a smooth transition, it must be done gradually century, many Romantic composers sought out new

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 FIGURE 1–30

C major triads with added notes.

ways to portray emotion and individuality in music. derived. Schoenberg’s protégés, Anton Webern and
To many musicians and listeners, complex chromatic Alban Berg, used his methods extensively in the 1930s,
harmonies were better able to express the subtle but twelve-tone techniques (as they are now called)
variations of an individual’s feelings. Richly textured and other “serial” techniques (a term that reflects the
chords could effectively convey the power, intensity, serial ordering of the pitches in the row) caught on

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and transcendence of emotions. more widely only after World War II. Today, most
composers consider Schoenberg’s approach to be one
Another way of increasing complexity (and, composers of many intriguing ways to organize pitches.
believed, expressivity) was to delay the resolution to
the tonic. Sometimes through deceptive harmonic Other challenges to common-practice tonality were
turns and temporary modulations to ever-more-distant mounted in the late nineteenth and early twentieth
keys, it could take five or ten minutes for a dominant centuries. Some composers sought to redefine “music.”
harmony to resolve to a tonic. Luigi Russolo generated and categorized “noises.”
Claude Debussy, Igor Stravinsky, and other composers
Around 1910, a composer named Arnold Schoenberg sometimes used familiar chords from the common-
concluded that music had become so chromatic that practice tradition without ever resolving them (non-
the only possible next step forward was to “free” functional harmonies), adopted unusual scales
dissonance from the need to resolve to the tonic. (including pentatonic, whole-tone, and octatonic),
Schoenberg called this the “emancipation of the and sometimes wrote music in two different keys to
dissonance.”1 He urged composers to abandon the be performed simultaneously (polytonality). As the
conventions of common-practice harmony that made twentieth century progressed, an increasing number of
one pitch lead to another. Lacking a fixed tonal center, experimental composers rejected the idea of forward
this music soon became known as “atonal music.” motion in music, preferring to create music that was
By 1925, Schoenberg developed a new system for meditative, static, or circular rather than linear.
determining pitch relationships. This system was
known as the “twelve-tone method.” Instead of a OTHER ASPECTS OF MUSICAL
scale, each piece had a primary “tone row” consisting SOUND
of all twelve chromatic pitches. Constructing this “tone Texture, Counterpoint, Instrumentation,
row” was a crucial part of the composition process, for
there was no pre-set pattern of intervals to follow as
and More Timbre
Besides melody, rhythm, and harmony, a number
there was for a major or minor scale. Each composition
of factors greatly affect how a performance sounds.
would have its own row of twelve tones from which
Texture in music has a specific meaning. It describes
its melodies, motives, bass lines, and chords would be

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the number of things that are going on at once in a crossword puzzle. Every choice affects many other
piece of music. The four types of texture in Western choices. When complete, everything fits together
music are monophony, homophony, polyphony, and in a complex but fulfilling system in which vertical
heterophony. Monophonic music consists of a single, and horizontal components mesh at every point of
unaccompanied melodic line. Multiple instruments intersection. Amy Beach—with the help of a bird—
or voices may be presenting that melody, but they also incorporated a contrapuntal section within Hermit
are all performing the same pitch at the same time— Thrush at Morn (Listening Example 5).
that is, they are playing the one melody in unison.
(We generally use this term even if high-pitched and Imitative polyphony, on the other hand, features only
low-pitched instruments or singers are performing in one melody, but it is played by multiple people at
different octaves.) staggered intervals, such as the way that children are
taught to sing “Are You Sleeping?”: each group sings
Homophonic texture has two different things going the same tune, but starts slightly later in time than the
on at once: a melody and a harmonic accompaniment. previous group, so that polyphony (“many sounds”)
The accompaniment differs from the melody, but plays results.
a clearly subordinate role, as seen in Figure 1–29. In
Hermit Thrush at Morn (Listening Example 5), the If two performers are producing versions of the same
accompaniment is a series of steady quarter-note chords melody at the same time, but are not playing in precise
that start four bars before the “bird-song” melody enters. unison—that is, each has its own slight differences—
Nearly all popular songs today employ homophonic the texture is called heterophony. Heterophonic
texture; as listeners, we focus on the voice, but the voice texture is fairly rare in Western music, but was
is supported by background instruments. Sometimes employed quite often in the earliest styles of jazz.

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the accompaniment lines move in the same rhythm as Instrumentation, the instrument or combination of
the melody itself, as the lower voices in a church hymn instruments used, is among the most noticeable features
or chorale, but the notes of the accompanying voices fill of a given piece of music. If the pitches of a melody
out the chord pitches; they are not independent melodies. fall within the range of an instrument, that instrument
In a polyphonic texture, however, two or more can play the melody. An electric guitar playing “Happy
separate melodies unfold simultaneously. Each could Birthday” sounds quite different from a piano playing
stand alone, but the composer created them to relate it—even though it remains the same tune. If the same
to each other on a note-by-note basis while retaining pitches were divided up and given to members of
their independence. There are two main types of a symphony orchestra, a marching band, or a four-
polyphony: counterpoint and imitative polyphony. In part choir, the effect would be drastically different
counterpoint, the simultaneous melodies are usually in each time. Arranging is the art of taking an existing
different registers. They are different melodies—each piece of music (melody, harmony, rhythm) and giving
has its own pitches, contour, shape, and rhythm, but instructions as to what each individual performer should
they follow the same beat. Most importantly, their play. Two different arrangements of “Happy Birthday”
pitches fit into the same harmonic progression. The for the same combination of instruments may sound
two (or more) melodies are carefully coordinated very different, depending upon which instruments
by the composer on a note-by-note basis. Any are given prominent, as opposed to secondary or
dissonances or non-harmonic tones must occur within background, roles.
a complicated and detailed set of parameters. If the Each instrument has a unique pattern of overtones.
“rules” are broken, the music will not sound right to All the partials we have discussed are present to some
experienced Western ears, and most performers will degree, but they differ in their relative strength. With
find the music especially difficult to play or sing. The a clarinet, for instance, the first and third partials are
rules are a bit like grammar rules; they were created to very strong. Partials that produce other pitches are
describe a complex process, but can also be used in a relatively very weak on the clarinet. As a result, the
prescriptive way to create successful sentences. clarinet produces a sound wave that looks very similar
Composing counterpoint is a bit like completing a to a pure sine wave, with little ambiguity in pitch. On
difficult number puzzle, like Sudoku, or a diagramless the opposite end of the spectrum are church bells.

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Sometimes the overtones with bells are so strong that piece is articulation. Articulation has to do with the
they seem to drown out the fundamental, and the mechanics of starting and ending a sound. Staccato
listener may wonder what the “real” pitch is supposed indicates that the performer should shorten the
to be. The timbre (pronounced “TAMber”) of a pitch duration of a note rather than letting it sound for its
is also affected by the thickness and density of the full value; this produces extra silence before the next
instrument’s material and the amount of resonance. note, often making the musical phrase sound crisper
The timbre (also called tone color) of an acoustic or choppier. Legato means multiple pitches are played
guitar is affected by the size and shape of its hollow in a smooth, connected but not overlapping manner.
wooden body, where the sound waves produced by the On a keyboard, one can produce staccato by poising
strings resonate and are amplified. the finger above a key and pecking down quickly, then
quickly returning the finger to its original position.
For much contemporary music, both popular and On wind instruments, players use their tongue to
classical, the choice of instruments and the way they produce a distinct beginning for a given pitch. On a
are combined play a central role in making each piece violin, the bow may be bounced from the string, or the
a unique work of art. Instrumentalists are frequently finger used to pluck it (called pizzicato); harp, lute,
asked to modify their timbre by using a “mute,” which and guitar are string instruments that are plucked (or
not only quiets the volume but alters the tone color. strummed), as is electric bass. Legato passages played
In the absence of common-practice harmony, many on the piano involve leaving the finger (with the weight
modern compositions use changes in timbre to mark of the arm balanced on it) on the key until it is time for
changes in form. In popular music, many listeners can the next pitch, at which time the weight is transferred
distinguish styles—rockabilly, Motown, bluegrass, to another finger on the next key. An accent involves
disco, punk, or house—after hearing just a few seconds more sudden sound than a staccato, and, unlike

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of music, due to the differences in characteristic staccato, silent space before the next pitch is not
combinations of instruments and timbres. required. Various degrees of pressure, tonguing, and
bow pressure all contribute to articulation. (Several
Dynamics, Articulation, Ornamentation
articulations are depicted in Table 1–5.)
Dynamics, the loudness and softness of a sound, are
useful to performers and composers for expressive Ornamentation refers to localized embellishments,
purposes. Table 1–4 shows the common Italian terms which are often not written down. A pop singer can
for different dynamic levels and their abbreviations. swoop into a pitch, and a trumpet player can add a trill
The full name of the modern piano is “pianoforte” (a rapid oscillation between two adjacent notes) to the
because, unlike its keyboard predecessors, it could play last pitch of a melody as a grand finale.
both quietly (piano) and loudly ( forte) in response to
changes in the pianist’s touch. FORM IN MUSIC
A gradual increase in dynamics is called a crescendo Form describes how music is organized on a larger
(pronounced “cre-SHEN-doe”), and a gradual decrease time scale—how units are combined to make larger
is called a decrescendo or diminuendo. In a score, either structures. Form is the architecture of music.
the abbreviations “cresc.” or “dim.” or a symbol shaped
Perceiving Musical Form
like an elongated V rotated ninety degrees clockwise
Music takes place in time. By the time the final notes
(for crescendo) or counterclockwise (for diminuendo)
are heard, the sound waves from the beginning have
indicates a gradual change in volume.
long disappeared. To have a sense of the whole shape
The dynamic level for even a single pitch can change of a piece of music, a listener must remember what
multiple times if its duration is long enough. Imagine came before. Most people use some kind of visual
a consonant chord, such as the first syllable of the representation of the music to think about its overall
“A-men” at the end of a sacred piece of music, swelling form, such as scores (music notation) and diagrams.
from a soft to a loud dynamic level then decrescendo-
Memory and anticipation are the key components to the
ing back to a whisper: a very dramatic effect.
listening experience. A listener who expects a dissonant
Another expressive factor affecting the sound of a passage to resolve into a consonant one may encounter
one of several results. The expectation may be met, it

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may be thwarted, or it may be deferred. As the listener motive) and an end (“… you”), followed by a brief
hears a piece, he/she experiences an ebb and flow of pause. The second time the words “Happy Birthday to
tension and release. Tension and release, we know, lend you” are sung, they constitute a second short musical
shape to a chord progression or melody. Tension and phrase, also followed by a brief pause. It begins with
release also operate on a larger scale, though the listener the same motive, but ends a little differently.
is often less conscious of it. The primary way that
tension is created is through harmonic dissonance. Phrases often come in related pairs. The first member of
the pair is called the antecedent phrase, and the second
Besides dissonance, tension can be created in other is called the consequent phrase. As in the “Happy
ways, including increased dynamic level, increased Birthday” example, the two phrases are very similar
tempo, or increased rhythmic activity using shorter in length, rhythm, and melodic contour. The difference
durations. Some combination of all of these is needed lies in the way each phrase ends. The first phrase ends
to sustain tension and release throughout a long somewhat inconclusively; this is something the listener
composition of more than a minute or two in length. can sense, feeling that something more is needed for
closure. Musical terminology can describe this sense
In the next section, we will describe the building blocks of inconclusiveness. The phrase’s rhythm does indeed
of musical form: motives, phrases, cadences, and come to a rest on a downbeat (“you”), but the harmony
themes. Then, we will examine how Western composers supporting the end of the phrase is a dominant harmony,
combine these to create larger forms using the principles and the melodic pitch is scale degree seven, the leading
of repetition, variation, development, and contrast. tone. To ears accustomed to Western music, both of
these are particularly unstable. The consequent phrase
Elements of Form provides the perfect solution. It begins with similar
Motive

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musical material, in what is called a “parallel structure.”
A motive (sometimes spelled “motif”) is the smallest In this case, it duplicates the entire rhythm and first
unit of form. A motive is best defined as the smallest four pitches of the antecedent phrase. The difference is
identifiable recurring musical idea. A motive has a that the consequent phrase comes to a more restful end.
distinctive melodic and rhythmic profile. In “Happy Merely by moving the last two pitches up one scale
Birthday,” the first four notes (corresponding to degree (2̂- 1̂ rather than 1̂- 7̂), it is now possible for a
the four syllables of text) could be called a motive. tonic chord to support “you” this time.
This motive has rhythmic traits (“happy” consists
of a long duration followed by a shorter one, while Cadence
“birthday” consists of two durations of equal length, The term for a resting point in a piece of music is
and “birth” falls on the downbeat, which gives that cadence. Not all cadences have the same amount of
syllable rhythmic emphasis) and melodic traits (the strength or finality, and there are different names to
two notes of “happy” occur on the same pitch; then indicate this. A half cadence rests on the dominant
on “birthday,” the melody rises a step and falls back harmony, like the first short phrase of “Happy
to the first pitch). To describe the motive’s melodic Birthday.” (See Figure 1–29.) A full cadence, also
contour, we would say it rises and falls. A melodic or called an authentic cadence, uses the progression V-I,
rhythmic motive that is repeated many, many times as the second short phrase of “Happy Birthday” does.
in immediate succession is called an ostinato (from Authentic cadences are broken down further by the
the Italian word for “obstinate”). The orchestra plays degree of finality they convey. Other types of cadences
a motif resembling a burro’s clip-clopping hooves also exist, but the important idea is that a cadence is a
numerous times in “On the Trail” (Listening Example point of relative rest in music, roughly analogous to a
1), while Beethoven uses contrasting ostinato patterns comma, semicolon, or period in language. Cadences
to evoke turbulence during the “Thunderstorm” of his occur at the ends of most phrases, themes, larger
Symphony No. 6 (Listening Example 2). sections, and entire pieces of music.
Phrase Theme
A phrase is a cohesive musical thought. In “Happy A theme is a set of phrases that make a complete
Birthday,” the music for the first four words can be melody, which plays a prominent role in a longer
thought of as a short phrase. It has a beginning (the piece of music. For example, the entire song “Happy

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 TABLE 1–4

ppp pianississimo as quietly as possible

pp pianissimo very quietly
p piano quietly
mp mezzopiano somewhat quietly
mf mezzoforte somewhat loud
f forte loud
ff fortissimo very loud
fff fortississimo as loudly as possible
Dynamics chart.

Birthday” could be used as the main theme for a what they have already heard in order to recognize
twelve-minute composition called “Variations on a any of these. Often, musical memory happens on a
Birthday Tune, for Concert Band.” subconscious level. A phrase may simply sound “right”;
a song heard for the first time may seem oddly familiar

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Introduction and Coda when the composer makes skillful use of repetition.
Many pieces of music begin with an introduction,
which is music that precedes the first main theme of Repetition
the piece. In “What a Wonderful World” (Listening Repetition means, literally, repeating musical
Example 7), the strings and guitar play an introduction material, using the identical pitches, rhythms, and
before Louis Armstrong starts to sing. It is particularly harmonies, or at least a very close approximation. If a
common in vocal music to have an instrumental musical idea (usually two measures or less) is repeated
introduction that precedes the singing. Similarly, a at a different pitch level, it is called a sequence.
great many pieces end with a coda, which means “tail” Sequences occur in Hermit Thrush at Morn (Listening
in Italian. (Many popular songs use the term “outro” Example 5) as well as in “Despite Repeated Warnings”
instead.) A coda sounds conclusive, as if it is wrapping (Listening Example 12).
up the composition. When analyzing the form of a
piece of music, introductions and codas are usually When describing musical form, complete sections of
disregarded; they serve mainly as an outer “frame” for music can be labeled with capital letters. The music
the central piece. “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” to a strophic song made up of a single, multi-phrased
(Listening Example 10) has quite a long coda, melody (perhaps two sets of antecedent-consequent
featuring a saxophone solo as well a soprano voice. phrases), repeated four times with different words each
time, would be diagrammed as follows: A A A A.
Common Forms “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” (Listening Example
Musical form controls larger spans of time. Just as 10) employs a strophic form.
mystery novels, thirty-minute television sitcoms,
and movie scripts tend to follow certain patterns, so
Variation
The principle of variation is also central to music.
does music. Balance, proportion, drama, climax, and
Generally speaking, variation is repetition with enough
denouement operate in musical form. Some music-
alterations that the listener senses both continuity and
specific vocabulary will help explain common forms.
contrast.
Repetition, variation, and contrast are the most basic
6 Theme and Variations
formal processes in music. The listener must remember

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 TABLE 1–5

Common articulation symbols.

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Theme and variations is a common way
of structuring a composition. Such a piece The basic shape, as shown in Figure 1–31,
generally starts with a straightforward statement can be summarized as three phrases of four
of the theme, and then follows it with a new measures, each ending at the tonic. The first line
section that repeats the theme but makes lays out the tonic harmony—and the singer’s
significant changes. The listener recognizes that main lament. The second line starts with a
the theme is recurring, but different harmonies, harmonic attempt to escape the tonic, but is
or a new accompaniment pattern, or a fancier pulled back down, while the singer repeats his/
rhythm, or a more complicated texture clearly her complaint. The third line begins with an
delineate a new section. A variation may involve even stronger effort to rise above the tonic, but
changes in any of the basic musical elements, it too sinks quickly back to the starting point.
but enough must remain unchanged that on Harmonic alterations that embellish but do not
some level it remains the same musical idea. A change this three-line profile are common.2
variation is diagrammed by adding a “prime” 6 Improvisation
mark to the same capital letter used for the Improvisation in soul, gospel, and jazz,
theme. Most variations, therefore, could be especially the styles common before 1950, uses
diagrammed A A’ A’’ A’’’ A’’’’, etc. the principle of variation. Individual performers
6 Twelve-Bar Blues create spontaneous variations of a familiar
The twelve-bar blues is also a variation melody while the other instruments play its
form. This twelve-measure chord progression harmonies in a steady tempo.
is repeated, with variations in the melodic
Repetition and variation occur throughout music
material, for several minutes or more. Usually
on more abstract and more localized levels. As
in a moderate or relaxed tempo, with four
a localized example, the second, consequent
beats to the measure, the blues progression
phrase of “Happy Birthday” varies the material
can be played in any key, though C, B♭, and F
of the antecedent phrase. Rhythmically, the song
are traditional favorites. Minor-key blues are
is quite repetitive: try speaking the rhythms on
possible but less common.

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 FIGURE 1–31

Twelve-bar blues, basic progression.

a neutral, un-pitched syllable, and you’ll find is structured in rondo form. There are no hard-
it impossible to distinguish the first, second, and-fast rules about length, proportions, or the
and fourth phrases. On a larger scale, you nature of the contrast.
can think of every new birthday performance 6 32-Bar Form
as a repetition. Sometimes a brave soul will In mid-twentieth-century popular music,
attempt to add harmony, or vary the words or most songs contain a section of contrasting
the tune. Everyone present usually realizes this material. In “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,”
is a variation on the familiar song, not a new there are two eight-measure A sections that
composition out of left field. Whether taking are contrasted with a second eight-measure B
place on a small scale or in the form of a lengthy idea, with a return to the A melody, resulting

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piece, repetition and variation lend continuity in a 32-bar form. (The A sections all begin
to music. They prevent a piece of music from with “Somewhere,” while the B section starts
sounding like a string of unrelated events by with “Someday I’ll wish upon a star.”) The
providing musical coherence. A-A-B-A pattern is sometimes called “song
Contrast form.” “What a Wonderful World” (Listening
Contrast is an important characteristic of many larger Example 7) is a very straightforward example
musical forms. of A-A-B-A form.
6 Verse-Chorus Form
6 Ternary and Rondo Forms
In the early days of popular music, the most
The simplest form using contrast is three-
popular formal architecture was the verse-
part or ternary form, also called ABA form,
chorus (or verse-refrain) form. It consists of
in which two sections of very similar music
multiple verses, each with different words, and
frame a contrasting middle section. Each
a repetitive chorus, or refrain. This form is
of the three sections is self-contained; each
often diagrammed as a-B-a-B (etc.), with the
normally ends with an authentic cadence. In
upper-case “B” indicating that both the melody
classical music, ternary form is often used
and the words repeat. During the verses, it is
for the inner movement(s) of multi-movement
only the melody that repeats. (An example of
works. Rimsky-Korsakov uses a ternary form in
verse-chorus form appears in “Big Yellow Taxi”
“Flight of the Bumblebee” (Listening Example
[Listening Example 9].)
4), as does Einaudi in Elegy for the Arctic
(Listening Example 14). First movements more Development
often use sonata form (discussed later) while 6 Fugue
last movements are usually in sonata or rondo Fugue is not actually a standard form, but
form. Rondo form is also built from distinct a technique. However, the form of many
sections, one of which keeps returning. Typical classical pieces is determined by the way the
diagrams for rondo form include ABACABA or composer uses fugal technique, rather than
ABACA. “On the Trail” (Listening Example 1) by any of the other forms described here. A

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 fugue usually has a single theme, called a that takes the fifth degree of the opening key’s
fugue subject, which the composer develops scale as the tonic. The exposition ends with a
using the technique of imitative counterpoint. strong cadence in the new key. Traditionally, the
When there is a companion theme, it is called exposition is repeated, in part to help establish
a countersubject. Imitation, the approximate the ideas in the listener’s memory.
repetition of a melodic idea at a different
The second section begins with the
pitch level, is central to fugal technique.
development portion of the sonata form, which
At the beginning of a fugue, the subject is
is harmonically unstable and exploratory.
usually heard alone, without accompaniment
Melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic material from
or harmony. A second line of music then
the exposition reappears, sometimes fragmented
enters, imitating the subject (usually a fourth
and varied. Phrases of irregular length, sudden
lower or a fifth higher), and soon a third and
changes in dynamics and texture, chromatic
sometimes a fourth line enter, also imitating
alterations, unexpected chord progressions,
the subject, until a thick polyphonic texture
and frequent modulations convey a sense of
has been created. As the fugue continues, the
struggle. The development portion ends in a
subject may be inverted (turned upside down),
half cadence on the dominant chord of the
reversed, elongated, fragmented, transposed,
original key. With the recapitulation, order is
and overlapped with itself or with polyphonic
restored. Idea #1 returns, just as it was presented
countermelodies. Fugue techniques are much
in the exposition. The transition and Idea #2
older than the major-minor tonal system, but
follow, in what is almost a literal repetition of
even into the twenty-first century, composers
the exposition. The big exception is that the
have found them intriguing and flexible.

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transition does not modulate. When Idea #2
6 Sonata Form arrives, it is now played in the same key as
Sonata form is a standard form that has Idea #1. Not only has order been restored, but
been used for the first movements of many the contrasting Idea #2, off in its own key at
Western classical compositions, beginning the beginning, has now been pulled into the
around 1730. (See the discussion that follows key of Idea #1, the key that started the whole
for a definition of movement.) Within a two- movement. A concluding section in the original
section structure, a sonata form has three key brings the entire movement to a close.
main activities—exposition, development, and In the Classical period, the development and
recapitulation—and a minimum of two main recapitulation portions were played a second
musical ideas, or melodies. The first section time through as well, but most performers today
contains the exposition, which presents the first omit that repetition.
idea in the tonic key, modulates to a different
key (usually the dominant key), and presents The first movements of countless symphonies,
the second idea in the new key. These “ideas” piano sonatas, string quartets, and other
can be easy to identify when they are themes compositions are in sonata form. For that
made of antecedent and consequent phrases. reason, sonata form was simply known as “first-
But sometimes they are simply collections movement form.” However, sonata forms can
of motives or chords, in which case the key appear in other movements.
change is the best signal that Idea #2 is about Very long works often consist of three or four shorter,
to begin. The key change, or transition, is distinct pieces called movements. The sonata cycle
usually characterized by increased rhythmic is the most prevalent multi-movement composition.
activity, louder dynamics, turbulent or unstable The term “sonata cycle” is rarely used, but it is seen
harmonies, and new accidentals. Idea #2, in the everywhere, particularly in longer instrumental works
new key, has an element of contrast. It may be from about 1730 to 1950. Thousands of three-movement
gentler, lighter in texture, higher in range, or works titled “Sonata” exist for solo piano, for solo
contain more—or less—motion than Idea #1. instrument unaccompanied or with keyboard, and for
Idea #2 is most often in the dominant, or the key small groups of instruments. Three-movement sonata

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cycles usually follow a fast-slow-fast pattern of tempos. harmony. Harmony occurs when two or more
The first movement is usually a dramatic sonata form; pitches sound simultaneously.
the second slower and more lyrical, using ABA form; 6 The octave occurs naturally in the overtone
and the final movement lively, in either sonata form, series. Western tradition divides it into twelve
rondo form, or a hybrid of the two. In addition, most equal intervals called half steps.
compositions titled “String Quartet” or “Symphony”
from the same date range use a four-movement sonata 6 Melody is a coherent succession of pitches
cycle form. In the four-movement sonata cycle, which perceived as a whole, with a beginning,
is favored by composers writing for string quartets or middle, and end.
orchestras, a dance-like “minuet and trio” movement 6 Major and minor scales are sets of seven
normally appears before the last movement. different pitches arranged in a specific pattern
of whole and half steps within a single octave.
WHICH IS THE REAL MUSIC? 6 The beat is the steady, regular pulse underlying
SCORES, RECORDINGS, AND most music. Tempo is the speed of the beat.
PERFORMANCE 6 Meter groups beats into regular patterns of
Music theory traditionally describes pieces of music strong and weak beats.
as if they were fixed objects. However, it is important 6 Rhythm is the series of durations of varying
to remember that (most) music is performed by lengths that overlie the beat.
living people. Music notation is able to convey some
6 Nearly all Western music is built upon the need
things precisely—pitch relationships, rhythms,
for dominant harmony to resolve to the tonic,
instrumentation, and to some degree phrasing,

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or resting tone.
dynamics, and articulation. Yet it also has obvious
limitations. We cannot know how smoothly people 6 A key is a hierarchical set of harmonic and
in the 1870s performed a “legato” phrase. Historians melodic pitch relationships organized around
have found written comments suggesting that the a tonic and using one of the thirty major and
exact pitch for concert A may have varied as much minor scales.
as a minor third in either direction from today’s 6 Diatonic music uses pitches from only a
A440—which even today is not universally adopted. single scale; music is chromatic when it uses
Recording technology has allowed us to preserve far accidentals (sharps and flats) to add pitches
more information than notation allows, but this too from outside the key, or to change keys.
is limited in different ways. An entire subfield called
6 The triad is the most basic type of chord. It
“performance practice” exists to address the question,
consists of two stacked thirds.
how did the music really sound? Perhaps critics like
Christopher Small have it right when they propose 6 Some composers in the last 120 years have
that in addition to marveling at the intricate structure sought to expand and even overturn common-
of Western music, we should also study the human practice tonality.
activity he calls “Musicking.”3 Other Aspects
6 Texture, counterpoint, dynamics,
SECTION I SUMMARY articulation, and ornamentation are
Sound and Music important features that can distinguish
6 Music is sound organized in time. otherwise similar musical sounds.
Pitch, Rhythm, Harmony Form
6 Developed over centuries in the Western 6 Tension and release, memory and
world, common-practice tonality is the anticipation, and continuity and contrast
widely accepted system for describing the are fundamental to the listener’s musical
relationships among pitches and harmonies. experience.
6 Pitch is the highness or lowness of a sound. 6 Motives, phrases, cadences, and themes are the
It is the basic building block for melody and smallest building blocks of form.

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6 Musical material may be repeated, varied, Conclusion
developed, or contrasted with different material 6 Music can be represented by diagrams, with
to create longer forms; it can be framed by an notation, or on sound recordings, each of which
introduction and/or a coda. has limitations.
6 Common forms include strophic, theme and 6 Because music is an art form that structures
variations, twelve-bar blues, ternary (ABA), time rather than space, some people consider it
rondo, thirty-two-bar form, verse-chorus, an activity rather than a fixed object.
fugue, and sonata form.

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 Section II
The Natural World

The earth’s oceans have inspired numerous musical

compositions.

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For centuries, composers have used music to
The Moldau (Vltava) River starred in a programmatic journey
portray the surrounding world. Sometimes, musical composed by Bedřich Smetana.
compositions illustrate the earth’s geographical
features, while other works address the weather that work La mer (“The Sea”) (1905) is one example;
warms or chills the planet. Many composers have Englishman Frank Bridge’s orchestral suite The Sea
showcased various living things that reside on Earth, (1924) is equally unspecific.
whether on land or in water.
In contrast, some composers have very precise
In many cases, composers use only instruments—no locations in mind. Many of the earth’s great rivers
voices—to illustrate these aspects of the globe. The have been showcased in musical settings. In 1874, the
media they employ can range from a single instrument, Czech composer Bedřich Smetana took listeners along
such as a piano, all the way to full orchestras. a programmatic journey down a beloved river of his
Sometimes these instrumental pieces convey a homeland, “Vltava” (widely known by its German
storyline of some sort, and scholars label this type name, “The Moldau”). Philip Glass paid tribute to the
of wordless music as programmatic. In the pages to Amazon—the second longest river in the world—in
come, we will take a “programmatic” ride in the Grand his 1999 ballet score Águas da Amazônia (“Waters of
Canyon and will experience a thunderstorm. Other the Amazon”).4 In 1969, Yin Chengzong led a group of
compositions paint simpler musical portraits, and we Chinese composers in revising an older vocal work by
will hear depictions of a bird, a bee, and a tree in this Xian Xinghai—the Yellow River Cantata (1939)—to
section of the resource guide. create the Yellow River Piano Concerto, scored for a
piano and orchestra.
MARVELS MADE MUSICAL
Many geographic landmarks have been celebrated In the United States, the Mississippi River has been
via music. There are pieces illustrating oceans, featured in a vast number of musical works. The
lakes, rivers, and streams; other compositions feature amount of attention it has received is not surprising,
mountains, valleys, or deserts. Some depictions are since the Mississippi and its two great tributaries,
generalized, meaning that they do not depict any the Ohio and Missouri Rivers, make up the world’s
specific place. Claude Debussy’s French symphonic third largest river system.5 One amateur historian has

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 The Yellow River Piano Concerto featured this massive Over a thousand songs—and numerous instrumental pieces—
Chinese river. have addressed the Mississippi River.

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Michael Daugherty has celebrated American vistas such as
the Mississippi River and Niagara Falls in his music.

(1892–1972)—the composer of our first listening

example—depicted scenes from the Mississippi’s
One of the many composers to showcase the Mississippi River headwaters in Minnesota all the way to New Orleans
was Florence Price.
in his Mississippi Suite: A Journey in Tones, which
premiered in New York in 1926. More recently,
collected a list of more than a thousand songs that
Michael Daugherty composed a tuba concerto titled
reference the Mississippi.6 In fact, the National Park
Reflections on the Mississippi (2013); it has been
Service suggests, “The Mississippi River may be the
arranged for tuba and wind band as well.
most musical river in the entire world.”7 In addition,
the river has figured in instrumental compositions, Rivers are not the only American vistas to be
including the Mississippi River Suite (1934) by commemorated musically. Daugherty’s first
Florence Price, who, in 1933, became the first Black composition for wind band was titled Niagara
woman to have a symphony performed by a major Falls (1997), written for the University of Michigan
American orchestra. A few years earlier, Ferde Grofé Symphonic Band in honor of its hundredth

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 Yellowstone National Park contains many natural wonders,
including its widespread geysers.
Niagara Falls are a dramatic feature of upstate New York’s
border with Canada.

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William Grant Still composed an ambitious set of five suites
that surveyed much of the American landscape.
The massive volcanic eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980 led
to the creation of a national monument. recorded history. Hovhaness’s publisher asked him to
write a commemorative work, and by 1982—the same
anniversary.8 The composer Alan Hovhaness was year that Congress declared the region as a national
living in Seattle when the volcano Mount St. Helens monument—Hovhaness had completed his Symphony
erupted in 1980, producing the largest landslide in No. 50: “Mount St. Helens.”9

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 Death Valley’s harsh landscape includes the Zabriskie Point
badlands.

Numerous other American national parks, monuments,

and regions have also been depicted in concert works,
among them Jett Hitt’s lovely concerto Yellowstone
for Violin and Orchestra (2002). Joan Tower’s first
orchestral composition was Sequoia (1981). William
Grant Still—whose Afro-American Symphony (1931)

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was the first orchestral work by a Black composer to be
performed by a major American orchestra—surveyed
much of the United States in his American Scene
(1957). Its five subsections are titled “Suite 1: The
East,” “Suite 2: The South,” “Suite 3: The Old West,”
Ferde Grofé’s most celebrated composition was the Grand
“Suite 4: The Far West,” and “Suite 5: The Southwest: Canyon Suite (1929–31).
A Mountain, A Memorial, and a Song.”10 In fact, in
2003, the scholar Denise von Glahn published The and alto horn and was performing professionally by the
Sounds of Place: Music and the American Cultural age of fifteen.13 He joined the Los Angeles Symphony
Landscape, a book-length study of the vast musical Orchestra as a violist at age seventeen, playing
output that has captured various American scenes. with that ensemble for a decade.14 He also traveled
throughout the Southwest while performing in all
Still, few composers are likely to match the prolific
sorts of venues that required live musicians: vaudeville
“place” output of Grofé. Not only had he composed
houses, theaters, film sets, and cabarets.15
his own Yellowstone Suite in 1960 (and a Niagara
Falls Suite in 1961), but he had previously written Grofé would likely be unknown today if he had not
Death Valley Suite (1949), Hudson River Suite (1955), joined the Paul Whiteman Orchestra as an arranger in
and Dawn at Lake Mead (1956). Grofé’s greatest 1920. Not only did he encounter a much wider swath
achievement, however, was his Grand Canyon Suite, of the United States while touring with the group,
composed between 1929 and 1931. but he created the symphonic jazz arrangement of
George Gershwin’s two-piano version of Rhapsody in
Grofé and the Grand Canyon Blue (1924). The instant popularity of the symphonic
Ferde Grofé regarded himself as a “composer of piece thrust Whiteman, Gershwin, and Grofé into
Americana,” an achievement that was helped by his the national spotlight.16 Whiteman recognized the
widespread exposure to the United States.11 He was commercial potential of symphonic jazz pieces, and
born in New York into a musical family, and his he asked Grofé to compose original works—not
parents moved to the West Coast when Grofé was still just arrangements—for Whiteman’s ensemble. This
an infant.12 Grofé learned to play piano, violin, viola, encouragement led to an outpouring of compositions

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 The Grand Canyon is so vast that it cannot be viewed in its
entirety from one position.

at night. It was dawn, no clouds; I was

spellbound. The silence. As it got lighter and
brighter you could hear nature coming to
life. I get chills right now just thinking about
it. You feel awful close to God there. It just
overwhelms. Words are inadequate. It made
such an impression on me.21
Grofé had joined a long history of awestruck visitors
to the Grand Canyon; in fact, it was one of the earliest

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of North America’s natural wonders to be viewed by
outsiders. Native Americans, of course, had resided
in the region for approximately 13,000 years and had
known of this geological marvel much earlier, but
Paul Whiteman led a jazz orchestra that premiered many they maintained no written records discussing the
celebrated works, including Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and landmark.22 Spanish conquistadors visited the canyon’s
Grofé’s Grand Canyon Suite.
South Rim in 1540, which was 138 years before other
explorers visited Niagara Falls, 167 years before they
from Grofé, many of which remain in the concert
encountered Yellowstone, and three hundred years
repertory to this day.17 The Grand Canyon Suite, in
before they happened upon the Yosemite Valley.23
particular, earned Grofé lavish praise, and Walt Disney
adapted Grofé’s score for a 1958 short film depicting Gradually, as awareness of the Grand Canyon’s
numerous vistas of the canyon; this film won the magnificence grew more widespread, the region
Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Live Action).18 was taken under government protection. Part of it
was designated as a forest reserve in 1893; it was
Even before he joined the Whiteman Orchestra,
declared a game reserve in 1906, and then a national
Grofé’s personal introduction to the Grand Canyon had
monument in 1908. The U.S. National Park Service
a profound impact on him. During World War I, he had
was established in 1916, and it took jurisdiction of the
volunteered to join a U.S. cavalry band as a baritone
Grand Canyon as a national park in 1919, two years
player and reported to Douglas, Arizona, in 1917. (He
after Grofé’s first visit.24 The park encompasses over
noted, “My practice hours were spent on the desert,
1.2 million acres (more than 1,900 square miles) and
much to the relief of my neighbors in the city.”19)
contains 278 miles of the winding Colorado River. In
While he was in Arizona, a sheriff friend took Grofé
its first year as a National Park, it was visited by 37,745
camping at the canyon.20 Grofé recalled,
people; over 4.7 million visitors came to the Grand
It was summertime, August. We had camped Canyon in 2022.25

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LISTENING COMPANION 1: Grand Canyon Suite, “On The Trail” (1929-31)
– Ferde Grofé
In 1922, three years after the Grand Canyon became
a national park, Grofé vacationed in Kingman,
Arizona, and began to have ideas for a work to
commemorate the landscape that had impressed him
so deeply.26 However, he did not start to sketch the
work until 1929, and he initially planned a four-
movement composition that would depict one day,
from dawn to dusk, in the canyon.27 Over time, it
expanded to a five-movement structure with the
working title of Five Pictures of the Grand Canyon.
Grofé credits Eddie King, a recording supervisor
for Columbia Records who had worked with
the Whiteman band on numerous occasions, as
the inspiration for the “On the Trail” movement
Tourists have been riding mules into the Grand Canyon for
(Listening Example 1). After hearing Grofé’s almost 140 years.
description of the work in progress, King said,
“Well, it seems to me that you’re overlooking a

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good bet. You know every tourist goes down the Bright Angel Trail.”28 Grofé was startled: “Gee, I never
thought about it. . . . I forgot about the trail.”29 He added, “I had never been up and down the trail, but I had
been to the head of it.”30
By the time the work debuted on November 22, 1931, it had been retitled as Grand Canyon Suite. Its five
moments are
1. Sunrise
2. Painted Desert
3. On the Trail
4. Sunset
5. Cloudburst
The audience was enthralled by the suite at the premiere. According to Grofé, “The thing went over with a
bang,” and the audience demanded an encore (a repetition of the piece). Whiteman, who was conducting,
chose “On the Trail” as the movement to play a second time, already recognizing that it was going to be the
most popular section of the composition.31
When the score was published the following year, it contained an explanation, or program, for each
movement. For “On the Trail,” the program read:
A traveler and his burro are descending the trail. The sharp hoof beats of the animal form an
unusual rhythmic background for the cowboy’s song. The sounds of a waterfall [tell] them of a
nearby oasis. A lone cabin is soon sighted and, as they near it, a music box is heard. The travelers
stop at the cabin for refreshment. Now fully rested, the travelers journey forth at a livelier pace.
The movement ends as man and burro disappear in the distance.
This is the most popular movement of the suite. It starts as the orchestra simulates the loud bray
of a burro. After a violin cadenza, the first theme—a graceful melody in a rhythmic pattern—is
established. It has the feeling of the burro walking. The second theme of the movement—a melody

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 in Western style—is played contrapuntally to
the first. This is followed by a suggestion of an
old music box, which is played by the celeste.
The opening theme is heard again in a faster
tempo. The movement is concluded with the
bray of the burro and the musical ending,
itself, is short and incisive.32
Because Grofé had never taken the trail ride
himself, he relied on his imagination to create the
journey. The trip is fictional: for one thing, riders
are actually carried by mules rather than burros
(wild donkeys). A pioneer named John Hance is The “Painted Desert” region of the Grand Canyon
believed to have initiated the practice of putting is well-named.
tourists on mules; he advertised mule rides and
lodging at his hotel as early as 1887.33 However, mules are the offspring of male donkeys and female horses,
and they can bray in the manner of a donkey, so Grofé’s scenario is plausible in that aspect.34
Grofé drew the musical elements of this programmatic movement from a wide variety of sources and
inspirations. He said, “I thought of the ‘hee-haw’ right away for the beginning. And then I thought of having
a violin cadenza, to work on that ‘hee-haw’ business.”35 To create the sound of a braying burro, Grofé
employed a disjunct drop of a major seventh interval. A “disjunct” interval refers to notes that are fairly

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distant from each other in terms of their positions on a keyboard, while conjunct pitches are close together,
such as the pitches C-D-E in a C major scale.
When Grofé alluded to a cadenza, he was borrowing a term from the genre of the concerto—a work that
features (most often) a solo instrument and an orchestra. During most concertos, there is a section during
which the orchestra stops playing, allowing the soloist to perform a cadenza—a passage without a steady
beat—in which the solo performer plays particularly challenging, or virtuosic, techniques, sometimes
improvising them on the spot. In creating the cadenza, Grofé was helped by the principal violinist of the
Whiteman orchestra, Kurt Dieterle (1899–1994), and Dieterle was the soloist when Whiteman recorded the
suite in April 1932. Dieterle’s interpretation “became the gold standard by which all future violin soloists
playing the passage were measured.”36
At the very beginning of “On the Trail,” just before the first disjunct “hee-haw,” the timpani sustain a
fortissimo drum roll, meaning that the player hammers rapidly on the drumhead with two mallets. After
the initial bray of the burro, the harp then ascends upward through an arpeggio, in which the notes of a
chord are sounded in succession rather than simultaneously. The members of the ensemble then sustain their
pitches as a fermata—a moment in a piece in which the sense of forward motion stops briefly.
After the fermata ends, the orchestra stops playing, leaving the violinist as the only performer. The soloist
repeats the large “hee-haw” interval twice, sliding down quickly through the intervening pitches in a
technique called a glissando. The violinist then demonstrates the virtuosic technique of double-stops, which
require the performer to play on two strings at the same time. Grofé also asks the violinist to take very quick
upward leaps to a high register in between the double-stops.
During this introductory cadenza portion of “On the Trail,” the violinist will also usher in two important
motifs. After a very slow downward glissando about half a minute into the movement, the violin begins to
play the “Cowboy Song” motif (still employing double-stops). At the end of that tune, after another fermata,
the violinist launches into the “Burro” motif, a humorous pattern of alternating disjunct octave leaps and

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short conjunct phrases (see Figure 2-1). The motif accelerandos bit by bit until it is interrupted by three
fermatas on increasingly high pitches. It is easy to imagine that the burro has started trotting faster and faster
down the cliffside trail before being reined in.

FIGURE 2–1

“Burro” motif from “On the Trail.”37

The “Burro” motif had two sources of inspiration. Grofé was hard at work on the movement in the summer
of 1931 when the Whiteman band had taken him to Chicago. During a break one day, Grofé took his infant
son for a walk in his stroller. As they wheeled along, Grofé could hear “five pile-drivers [that] were thumping
along in some building operation, and their peculiar broken rhythm at once suggested . . . a recollection of
the metrical hoof-tap that I had heard so often from the little beasts of burden in Arizona.”38 Grofé adapted
the melody for the “Burro” motif from a 1926 popular song, “Horses” written by Byron Gay and Richard

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Whiting (Figure 2-2).

FIGURE 2–2

“Horses” by Gay and Whiting.39

Grofé’s infant son also contributed to the invention of the “Cowboy Song” motif. During their Chicago
walks, Grofé often headed to an apartment building surrounded by large shade trees. The baby usually fell
asleep at that point, but according to Grofé, on one particular day,
he didn’t take a nap. He was restless, and I was trying to get a theme for the trail. While I was
standing there, all of [a] sudden this theme came out of the ether, and [I hummed it], rocking the
buggy back and forth—Dee dee, da dum, Dee da da da, da da—it came out just like that, rocking
the baby. In fact, I put him to sleep . . . and that’s where the tune came from. It’s really a lullaby,

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 when you stop to think of it . . . Oh, it worked out fine as the cowboy’s chant, as he’s riding down
the trail on a horse, following a pack train.40
After the introductory violin cadenza has paved the way, the full orchestra reenters and begins to reiterate
the main melodies in a straightforward A-B-A-C-A rondo form. Grofé does have a few surprises for listeners,
however. In the first A section, he asks a percussionist to use coconut shells (muffled with leather) to create
the clip-clop sounds of hooves; some orchestras substitute temple blocks. Grofé also employs polymeter
when the “Cowboy Song” enters, since it is set in cut-time, while the “Burro” motif is in P. Moreover, during
the waterfall and music-box sections, Grofé calls for a tone color that was still somewhat uncommon in
1931: that of the celesta, a small keyboard-operated percussion instrument that produces a bell-like sound.
(The celesta’s sound is better known today, thanks to its prominence in “Hedwig’s Theme” from the Harry
Potter films!) The celesta’s timbre adds a magical quality to Grofé’s imaginary oasis during the often-rugged
journey.

Listening Guide 1: Grand Canyon Suite, “On the Trail” – 1929–31

Ferde Grofé
Timeline

Form

Musical Features

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0:00 Intro Timpani play a fortissimo drum roll, and the orchestra mimics the “hee-haw” braying of the burro for the
first of many times; harp plays an upward arpeggio followed by a fermata for the full ensemble.
0:12 Violin begins its solo cadenza by mimicking the “hee-haw” motif and then performing a series of double-
stops.
0:33 Violin plays a slow downward glissando.
0:39 Violin presents the “Cowboy Song” melody.
1:11 Violin introduces the rhythm of the “Burro” motif, with an accelerando that ends with a very high “E.”
1:29 A “Burro” motif in oboes; accompaniment includes coconut shells.
2:01 Accelerando
2:06 Descending line leads to numerous “hee-haws.”
2:38 “Burro” motif resumes in oboe & piccolo.
2:40 “Cowboy Song” in the French horn in ⍧ against the P meter of the “burro” motif
3:10 Accelerando
3:13 Descending line leads to numerous “hee-haws.”
3:45 B Pianissimo music evokes a waterfall and oasis (harp and celesta in background).
3:55 Trombones play “Cowboy Song” against the pianissimo music.
4:46 A “Burro” motif resumes.
4:48 “Cowboy Song” is played by upper strings and woodwinds while “Burro” motif continues.
5:10 [excerpt ends]
-- C “Music Box” cadenza (solo celesta)
-- A “Burro” motif returns (presto tempo), ending with descending line and “hee-haws.”

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 Klein High School - Klein, TX
Vivaldi incorporated storms into several of his Baroque-era Beethoven helped to change the public perception of an
compositions. artist’s value.

STORMY WEATHER Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie (1733).

The enormously popular “On the Trail” enjoyed a great
The Classic era, which superseded the Baroque
deal of fame independent of Grofé’s complete suite.
style and persisted into the start of the nineteenth
The Philip Morris Radio Show used “On the Trail”
century, contributed additional “storms” to the
as its signature tune for twenty years, thus exposing
repertory, especially in a new genre of the era called
millions of listeners to Grofé’s evocative composition.41
the symphony, a multi-movement work featuring an
However, the finale of the Grand Canyon Suite,
orchestra. Johann Baptist Vaňhal labeled the finale of
“Cloudburst,” also has many fans, and it is just one
his Symphony in E-flat major (Bryan E♭-1; c. 1763–5) as
example in a very long tradition of programmatic
“La Tempesta,” while Joseph Haydn (1732–1809) used
thunderstorms.
the same label to evoke a storm in the last movement of
Musical representations of tempests can be found as Symphony No. 8 “Le soir” (“The Evening”; 1761).
early as the Baroque era, a period of Western music
Despite these earlier examples, it was the Romantic
history spanning roughly 1600 to 1730. In 1725, Antonio
era—comprising most of the nineteenth century—
Vivaldi (1678–1741) published a celebrated set of four
that excelled in “stormy” aural depictions. One of
violin concertos designated as the “Four Seasons”
the most celebrated musical storms came early in the
(Le quattro stagioni). The second of the concertos,
century, and it was written by an even more celebrated
“Summer,” illustrates a dramatic storm in its third
composer: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827).
movement. Vivaldi also wrote not one but two concertos
with the title “La tempesta di mare” (“The Storm at
Beethoven Lets It Thunder
Sea”). Numerous Baroque operas (theatrical works in
Beethoven had the distinction of being one of the first
which the performers sing their dialogue) feature storm
composers to succeed in working “freelance” rather
scenes, such as the “Tempête” (“Tempest”) in Marin
than as an employee. The majority of professional
Marais’s 1706 opera Alcione or Act IV of Jean-Phillipe

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 Joseph Haydn spent much of his life as a servant at the
Esterházy Palace.
Beethoven composed one of the Romantic era’s most effective
musicians in earlier eras were employed by some thunderstorms in his Sixth Symphony, nicknamed “Pastoral.”
sort of patron, whether it was a church or a wealthy
aristocrat. For instance, Beethoven’s slightly older the audience: besides solo vocal works, portions of a
colleague, Joseph Haydn, spent the bulk of his career Mass, the Choral Fantasy, and some improvisation
in the service of the Esterházys, a noble Hungarian by Beethoven, listeners also heard the first public
family. Although Haydn grew to be a highly valued performance of Beethoven’s fourth piano concerto
employee, he was still a servant, and thus he was (with Beethoven as pianist) and the premieres of not
required to wear livery—a household uniform—that one but two symphonies: the Fifth (with its now-
identified his employer. He had to report each day famous short-short-short-long opening motif) and the
to receive the prince’s commands, and much of the Sixth (“Pastoral”), which presented a programmatic
music he wrote was created “on demand” to suit his

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storm as its fourth movement (Listening Example 2).45
employer’s taste and desires, rather than reflecting
Haydn’s free will and artistic vision.42 The two symphonies could not have seemed more
different from each other. The bombastic opening
Beethoven, in contrast, embodied the Romantic era’s of Symphony No. 5 was a marked contrast to the
perception of composers as “artists.” He regarded extremely quiet beginning of Symphony No. 6.
himself as a social equal to the aristocracy, and the Although posterity has characterized the Fifth
aristocrats came to view him that way as well.43 In Symphony’s distinctive opening motif as “Fate
fact, when Beethoven was offered a job in the city of knocking at the door,” viewing it as a metaphor for
Kassel, a group of three Austrian noblemen banded the heartbreaking onset of Beethoven’s deafness and
together in 1809 to offer Beethoven a significant annual his determination to fight onward as a composer,
stipend in order to persuade him not to leave Vienna.44 that characterization did not come from Beethoven
This permanent annuity gave Beethoven the means to himself.46 However, Beethoven provided a very clear
devote himself to composition and to write solely the program for the Sixth Symphony’s five movements:
music he wanted to write—a privilege enjoyed by very
few composers even to this day. 1. Awakening of Cheerful Feelings on Arrival
in the Countryside
The aristocrats may have been particularly anxious to 2. Scene by the Brook
keep Beethoven in Vienna because of the remarkably 3. Merry Gathering of Country Folk
fruitful year he had had during 1808. It culminated 4. Thunderstorm
with an enormous four-hour concert on December 22 5. Shepherd’s Song. Cheerful and Thankful
consisting solely of Beethoven’s music. The evening Feelings After the Storm
had its problems!—the theater was bitterly cold, the
music was under-rehearsed, and one piece had to Just as Grofé had mimicked the “hee-haw” of a burro
be started a second time when the players got lost. in “On the Trail,” Beethoven imitated bird calls of
Moreover, Beethoven had argued with the solo singer a nightingale, a quail, and a cuckoo in the second
he had originally hired; her last-minute replacement movement. To emphasize the sense of a “storyline,”
was young, inexperienced, and unable to perform Beethoven wanted no breaks between the third, fourth,
adequately. Still, it was a remarkable experience for and fifth movements, in contrast to the brief “pauses”

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that normally occur between symphonic movements. After the 1808 premiere of the Sixth Symphony, the
response was immediately enthusiastic, with the
Beethoven’s love of nature is very obvious in thunderstorm movement coming in for particular
the “Pastoral” Symphony. He had expressed his praise. A Viennese journalist commented: “On the
appreciation of summer visits to the countryside in 22nd Herr [van] Beethoven organized a concert for
letters dating back to 1801, and in 1810 he wrote to a his benefit in the Theater an der Wien in which he
friend: presented to the public the youngest offspring of his
How fortunate you are to be able to go into inexhaustible talents. All the pieces were by him.
the country so soon. I cannot enjoy this Unsurpassedly beautiful was the description of a
happiness until the 8th, but I look forward to storm in the first, Pastoral Symphony.” 48 A writer
it with childish excitement. How delighted for Vienna’s most prominent musical publication,
I shall be to ramble for a while through the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung (General Music
bushes, woods, under trees, through grass Newspaper), wrote: “The raging storm, with all that
and around rocks. No one can love the accompanies it, is carried through with such energy
country as much as I do. For surely woods, and tenacity . . . that one truly has to marvel at the
trees and rocks produce the echo which man master’s richness and art.”49
desires to hear.47

LISTENING COMPANION 2: Symphony No. 6, op. 68 “Pastoral,” Mvt. 4,

“Gewitter Sturm: Allegro" (“Thunderstorm: Allegro”) (1808) – Ludwig
van Beethoven

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Storms are disruptive forces of nature, and
Beethoven’s musical depiction is no exception. The
first unsettling aspect is the harmony at the start
of the “Thunderstorm.” Overall, the “Pastoral”
symphony is in F major, and the last measure of the
third movement contains a dominant-seventh chord
(C-E-G-B♭), which longs to resolve to a conclusive
F major chord. However, the first thing played in the
“Thunderstorm” (which follows the third movement
without a pause) is a sustained pianissimo D♭ pitch
in the lowest strings—not the resolution our ears Disney’s Fantasia borrowed (and modified) a lot of classical
music, including Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony.
expect. Moreover, the cellos and string basses are
performing a tremolo—a technique that requires the
players to bow very rapidly on the strings, creating a “trembling” sensation. This ominous sound evokes distant
thunder, also disrupting the pleasures of the third movement’s “Merry Gathering.”
When an F chord finally does arrive in the fourth movement—after the orchestra crescendos to reach
fortissimo for the first time—it is not the expected F major but rather F minor, the darker parallel harmony.
To accentuate this harmonic surprise, Beethoven brings in the timpani for the first time—not just in the
movement, but for the first time in the overall symphony. The timpani sustain the tonic pitch F with a long
drum roll.
Beethoven has yet another surprise for listeners at this dramatic moment in the “Thunderstorm.” The string
basses play a four-note ostinato on every beat, while the cellos play a five-note ostinato of quintuplets at
the same time (see Figure 2-3). This polyrhythmic effect is a second method of conjuring up the sound of
thunder, thus enhancing the drama and turbulence of the storm.

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 FIGURE 2–3

4-against-5 ostinatos.

In addition to the drum roll, the timpani contribute to the sound of thunderclaps by means of sforzandos.
These sharply accented, loud notes are sometimes staggered, with the timpani playing a sforzando on one
beat, followed quickly by sforzandos in other instruments on the next beat.
When the Sixth Symphony is performed, the timpani player must sit quietly during the first three movements
since the timpani are used only in the “Thunderstorm.” The timpanist is not the only performer to be
idle until movement four, however. A piccolo—the highest-pitched member of the woodwind family—is

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heard for the first time almost halfway through the “Thunderstorm,” and it is especially audible as it plays
a sustained high G♭ to suggest the howling winds that accompany the storm. Beethoven employs a third
“surprise” tone color in the second half of the fourth movement: a pair of trombones, the lowest brass
instrument available in that era. (The tuba would not be patented until 1835.50) All three of these timbres—
timpani, piccolo, and trombones—are not heard again once the fourth movement has ended.
Because storms are unpredictable, Beethoven does not employ a conventional form for the “Thunderstorm.”
Small motifs often recur—such as the polyrhythmic ostinatos of Figure 2-3—but there is no repetition of
large-scale sections that would create a strophic form, a ternary form, or so forth. A work of this type is
called through-composed, and the uncertainty over “what comes next?” adds to the drama of the scene.
Beethoven’s influential “Thunderstorm” was one of the pieces that Grofé studied before writing his own
“Cloudburst” movement for the Grand Canyon Suite.51 And, just as had been the case with Grofé’s suite, the
Walt Disney Corporation took an interest in Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony. This time, however, a revised
version of Beethoven’s score was used to support a mythological sequence in the animated film Fantasia
(1940). The conductor Leopold Stokowski (1882–1977) was closely involved in the changes to the symphony.
He felt that a benefit of the film score was that it allowed the sound of certain instruments to be prominent,
some of which were “almost inaudible in the concert hall.”52
Interestingly, most of the Fantasia animation was drawn with a different classical piece—a work by Pierné—
in mind, but as the animation neared completion, the Pierné composition did not seem to work well with
the imagery. One of the story directors, Dick Huemer, suggested the substitution of Beethoven’s symphony.
Perhaps because of this last-minute decision and subsequent musical edits, the scene has been one of the
most-criticized sections of Fantasia.53 Still, as several writers have observed, it is probably a mistake to try
to correlate Beethoven’s music with visual images in the first place.54 They feel that listeners should rely on
their individual imaginations to “see” Beethoven’s programmatic story most effectively.

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 Listening Guide 2: Symphony No. 6 “Pastoral,” Mvt. 4 “Gewitter Sturm: Allegro”
(“Thunderstorm: Allegro”) – 1808
Ludwig van Beethoven
Timeline

Musical Features

0:00 Pianissimo tremolo in low strings [distant thunder]

0:02 2nd violins play staccato, conjunct, descending phrases (also pianissimo) [pattering of raindrops].
0:06 1st violins play longer, legato, disjunct notes [gusts of wind].
0:10 In background, tremolo resumes in low strings.
0:16 Low tremolo continues as at beginning, and subsequent staccato and legato lines recur at varying pitch levels;
crescendo at end
0:32 Timpani play a drum roll on the tonic pitch F while the full orchestra plays a series of sustained fortissimo F minor
chords; cellos & basses play 4-against-5 ostinatos [thunder].
0:53 Strings and bassoons play repeated descending lines [lightning strikes].
1:01 Low strings play a subito pianissimo rapid conjunct line that rises and falls while the violas and 2nd violins play
steady tremolos [more wind during downpour].
1:03 Winds and the 1st violins begin a series of short, sharp sforzando chords [thunderclaps].

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1:21 1st violins play a series of rapid descending phrases [continuing downpour].
1:29 Low tremolo resumes as at beginning, and subsequent staccato, and legato lines recur at varying pitch levels.
1:37 4-against-5 ostinatos resume in cellos & basses.
1:51 Fortissimo chords in the wind instruments while the strings play rapid descents
2:13 The piccolo is prominent on a sustained high G♭ [powerful wind gusts].
2:17 1st violins begin long conjunct chromatic running lines [blowing winds].
2:31 Forte, sustained chords, tremolos, and 4-against-5 ostinatos in the full orchestra (including trombones, for the first
time)
2:42 Music starts to descend and diminuendo; quintuplet ostinato ceases.
3:12 Strings and low winds waver between forte and piano chords.
3:27 Winds and strings play lyrical passage as storm moves on.
3:49 Flute plays rising line to link to the final movement of the symphony.

THE GLOBE’S GROWING THINGS

Natural wonders such as the Grand Canyon are
magnificent, and dramatic weather conditions can be
awe-inspiring. Still, there would be no life on Earth
without oxygen, and most of that oxygen comes from
plants and ocean organisms, such as algae or bacteria.
When students are in elementary school, they start
to learn about photosynthesis—the process by which
plants absorb carbon dioxide and excrete oxygen.55
Vegetation is therefore critical in supporting the cycle
of life on our planet. Plants are essential contributors to the life cycle on Earth.

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Unsurprisingly, plants of all shapes and sizes have
inspired composers’ musical imaginations. Flowers,
in particular, have been featured in thousands of vocal
pieces, but instrumental works have also sought to
convey the attributes of various growing things—
sometimes grouped by linguists under the broad label
flora, which distinguishes plant life from fauna, a term
for the animal life of a region.

Takemitsu and a Tree

The music of Japanese composer Tōru Takemitsu
(1930–96) represents an unusual blend of Western and
Asian characteristics. In his childhood, he had very
little formal musical training, but during World War Rain trees can grow to be vast in size.
II—when the Japanese government had forbidden its
citizens to have any contact with any type of Western some sort of aquatic reference, and the scholar Yukiko
music—he secretly listened to a recording of a French Sawabe sees Takemitsu’s series as representing water
popular song. Takemitsu felt “extreme bitterness” in two directions: “the horizontal level of river, sea and
that such music was forbidden, and because of his ocean . . . and the vertical level of rain.”60
anger, he rejected ethnic Japanese music for many Takemitsu himself saw parallels between his series
years.56 Instead, during his postwar work for the U.S. and the natural cycle of change that water undergoes
Armed Forces, he listened eagerly to the records his

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(evaporation, condensation, and precipitation).61 He
new colleagues brought from America. In this way, wrote, “Water is like a sound” (in the sense that it
he came to know and admire the music of Claude may change form but continues to exist in some way)
Debussy, Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, Olivier and “the sea is like music” (in that tidal currents and
Messiaen, John Cage, and other modernists. Moreover, sound both produce waves)..62 Takemitsu believed that
with several other Japanese musicians, Takemitsu went his series of “Waterscape” compositions would pass
on to establish an “experimental workshop” in 1951.57 through various mutations and would culminate in a
For all intents and purposes, he had become a modern “sea of tonality.”63
“Western” composer in his approach.
Interestingly, the “Waterscape” series is linked by
The situation began to change in the early 1960s. Many a device that Takemitsu called the “S–E–A” motif,
years later, Takemitsu wrote, which is a set of three pitches: E♭–E–A (a rising half-
I must express my deep and sincere gratitude step followed by an upward perfect fourth interval; see
to John Cage. The reason for this is that in Figure 2-4). English-speaking musicians, reading those
my own life, in my own development, for letter names aloud, would say “E-flat” for the first note.
a long period I struggled to avoid being However, German-speaking musicians would call the
“Japanese,” to avoid “Japanese” qualities. first pitch “Es.” The “s” stands for “sanft,” meaning
It was largely through my contact with John
Cage that I came to recognize the value of
my own tradition.58 FIGURE 2–4
As Takemitsu started investigating Japanese
concepts—both musical and philosophical—he was
particularly interested in a traditional value called
sawari. A goal of sawari is to reproduce the sounds
of nature, sometimes by means that would be called
“noise” by Western listeners.59 Takemitsu’s pursuit of
sawari opened the door to a series of works that he Takemitsu’s “S–E–A” motif.
called the “Waterscape” cycle. Their titles all contain

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“soft,” which is the German term for the “flattening” abundant foliage continues to let fall rain
or “lowering” of a pitch. When saying the pitch label drops collected from last night’s shower until
“Es” aloud, Germans pronounce it as “ess”—or “S”— well after the following midday. Its hundreds
and thus the three pitches literally spell “S–E–A.”64 of thousands of tiny leaves—fingerlike—
The scholar Peter Burt points out that these same three store up moisture while other trees dry up at
notes—in reverse order—are also the only musical once. What an ingenious tree, isn’t it?67
pitches that can be extracted from the letters of
Takemitsu’s own name: tAkEmitSu.65 Ōé felt the rain tree could be a metaphor for the
universe, in the sense that “human eyes cannot see
The works in the “Waterscape” series were prompted the capacious tree spanning the cosmic space.”68 Ōé
in various ways, and Takemitsu’s close friend included the story in a collection called “Ante no ki”
Kenzaburō Ōé (1935–2023) was one source of o kiku on’natachi (“Women Listening to the ‘Rain
inspiration. Ōé visited Hawai’i and was fascinated by Tree’”), which he published in 1982 and which earned
the Samanea saman, commonly known as the “rain him the prestigious Yomiuri Literary Prize.69 For
tree.”66 Ōé wrote about the tree in a short story titled Takemitsu, meanwhile, Ōé’s description of the tree was
“Atama no ii, Ame no ki” (“An Intelligent Rain Tree”): extremely captivating—and it led directly to Ame no ki
(Rain Tree), Listening Example 3.
It has been named the “rain tree,” for its

LISTENING COMPANION 3: Ame no ki (Rain Tree) (excerpt) (1981) –

Tōru Takemitsu

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Zen Buddhism and other Eastern philosophies
believe in a concept of unity within multiplicity:
“the notion of ‘oneness’ or interconnectedness with
the universe . . . and that we must be in harmony
with nature.”70 Therefore, Ame no ki (Rain Tree)
“creates a unified image of rain” but uses three
percussionists playing a variety of instruments to
create that single image.71 It can be classified as a
type of chamber music called a trio because of its
three performers. Takemitsu’s score also indicates
that the percussion instruments can be replaced by
three pianos if needed.
Takemitsu blends a mixture of Western and Eastern The percussion keyboard instruments in Takemitsu’s Ame no
ki (Rain Tree) consist of two marimbas (left and right) and a
ideas throughout Ame no ki (Rain Tree). The score vibraphone (center).
calls for three primary Western idiophones: two
marimbas with wooden keys and a vibraphone with metal keys; the vibraphone has a motor that allows
its pitches to pulsate in a technique called vibrato. The marimba and vibraphone players also use varying
numbers of crotales (also called “antique cymbals”): small disks of brass that produce extremely resonant
bell-like sounds. The two marimba players start by striking three crotales of different pitches; their initial
notes—like raindrops—occur slowly, as isolated pitches. Takemitsu adds increasingly busy rhythms in the
first section of the piece to produce the effect of growing numbers of raindrops.
Similar to Beethoven’s “Thunderstorm” (Listening Example 2), the release of the rain tree’s water droplets
is unpredictable, so, like Beethoven, Takemitsu uses a through-composed structure for Ame no ki (Rain
Tree). It does have distinct sections, however, and a second section begins when the vibraphone makes its
first entrance. During this section (B), the other two players do not have specific notation to follow. Instead,
they are instructed to improvise on their crotales, trying to resemble rain droplets. In the third section (C),

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the first two players shift from the crotales to their
marimbas for the first time. Here, they perform
precisely measured music, playing patterns that
mimic each other in a call-and-response way.
The vibraphone (with its motor turned off) joins
the texture about midway through the section.
Rather than participating in the call-and-response
interplay, it performs syncopated three-note
chords. In addition to keyboard percussion, Ame no ki (Rain Tree)
requires the performers to play crotales (antique cymbals) as well.
Our excerpt concludes just as the fourth section
(D) begins. Similar to section (B), the first two
players improvise, but this time they play their marimbas rather than crotales. There are additional sections
in Ame no ki (Rain Tree), but none of them repeat material heard previously; the rain tree continues to shed
its water drops in a continuously unpredictable manner. A transposed version of Takemitsu’s “S–E–A” motif
also appears in one of the later sections, linking Ame no ki (Rain Tree) with the overall “Waterscape” series.
Ame no ki (Rain Tree) employs intriguing visual elements as well. The performers are somewhat separated
from each other on the stage, and each player is illuminated by an overhead spotlight; the stage is otherwise
dark. Takemitsu planned an elaborate pattern of turning the spotlights on and off, sometimes illuminating
only the person who is playing, but sometimes requiring one, two, or all three of the performers to play in
the dark. Although Ame no ki (Rain Tree) is an interesting listening experience, being able to see Takemitsu’s

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desired lighting effects adds a compelling theatrical enhancement to the piece.
Ame no ki (Rain Tree) quickly became a worldwide favorite for percussionists. It made its Japanese debut on
May 31, 1981, and within a decade, it had been featured at the Tanglewood Festival and in New York, San
Francisco, and Stockholm. Ōé’s image of a rain tree also influenced two subsequent works by Takemitsu:
Rain Tree Sketch (1982) and Rain Tree Sketch II—In Memoriam Olivier Messiaen (1992), both of which were
written for a solo piano. Takemitsu’s international reputation also expanded in 1985 when he wrote the film
score for Akira Kurosawa’s Ran, a movie still regarded as one of the greatest films of all time.72

Listening Guide 3: Ame no ki (Rain Tree) (Excerpt) – 1981

Tōru Takemitsu
Timeline

Form

Musical Features

0:03 A Four steady piano notes on B♭ crotale (Player A)

0:15 Player B joins in with A♭ and B♮ crotales in shifting harmonies.
0:27 Rhythms grow a tiny bit busier.
0:48 Notes are grouped in pairs, then groups of three, and then four; the sounds at last decay.
1:21 B Vibraphone (Player C) enters with complex rhythmic patterns; Players A and B “improvise with crotales
softly and irregularly like a rain droplet from the leaves.”
3:09 C Players A and B perform call-and-response patterns on marimbas in 85 meter.
3:59 Player C rejoins the ensemble, playing syncopated chords on the vibraphone (motor off).
5:00 Long diminuendo; rhythmic pace slows at end.
-- D Players A and B “improvise as scattered rain drop[s] behind the vibraphone solo”; Player C starts with
syncopated chords on the vibraphone and moves to busy arpeggios on crotales.

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 Bees are important contributors to the life cycle of plants.

PLAYING WITH POLLINATORS

A rain tree can be enormous! It often reaches eighty
feet in height, and a few rain trees have stretched
upward to 160 feet. Its diameter is even more
impressive since the crown is usually wider than the

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tree is tall. The typical diameter is a hundred feet, but
the largest trees have spanned a whopping 195 feet in
diameter (which is almost two-thirds the length of a Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was only twelve when he began his
football field). Still, this massive tree depends on tiny training as a naval cadet.
insects for its survival, especially moths and bees.73
activities at the same time. Everyone in the Rimsky-
The rain tree is not alone in its dependency. It is part of Korsakov family—including Nikolai himself—assumed
the life cycle on Earth: plants need to make seeds, which that he would follow the footsteps of his older brother
will produce the next generation of plants. However, a Voin by embarking upon a naval career. Nikolai entered
plant’s seed-producing flowers need pollen, and many the Naval College in St. Petersburg at the age of twelve,
plants need help getting their pollen from flower to although he also started taking music lessons at about
flower. Sometimes the wind is sufficient to distribute the same time. Voin initially tolerated Nikolai’s music-
that pollen, but many plants rely on pollinators—often making; he even rented a space with a piano, so Nikolai
insects—to transfer pollen between blossoms.74 could practice. But, when he realized how much time
Nikolai was devoting to music, Voin tried to put a stop
Bees are particularly important contributors to this life to it. When Nikolai lost access to a keyboard, his piano
cycle, and the lives of bees are fascinating. In particular, teacher decided that the young man was too talented to
researchers have discovered that bees use dance to stop teaching him, so he gave Rimsky-Korsakov lessons
communicate, with different movements that indicate in theory and composition instead.76
whether food sources are nearby or further away.75 But,
if we watch a bee’s motions without understanding its When Rimsky-Korsakov was seventeen, he made
motivation, its flight patterns can seem a bit irrational— a life-changing connection. He met Mily Balakirev
and a famous composition by a Russian composer (1837–1910), who gave him informal music tutoring,
captures the wild trajectory of a magical bee. along with a task: compose a symphony. But just as
Rimsky-Korsakov got started on the project, he had
The Antics of an Insect to sail on a naval ship for a three-year tour of duty.
That Russian composer was Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Happily, when he returned at last, he was assigned
(1844–1908), who was one of those rare people who are light clerical responsibilities by the navy, so he plunged
successful in sustaining two very different professional back into composition in his spare time. Balakirev also

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 Klein High School - Klein, TX
Mily Balakirev led the group of Russian composers known as
“The Five” or “The Mighty Handful.”

introduced Rimsky-Korsakov to other young, ambitious The Soviet Union commemorated The Tale of Tsar Saltan in a
1969 postage stamp (Prince Gvidon and his mother gaze at the
Russian composers, who encouraged and critiqued each
magical city).
other. The group eventually were given the nickname of
“The Mighty Handful,” or sometimes just “The Five,” studying how to play the various winds himself; he
because of the powerful impact they had on developing even took a trombone, flute, and clarinet along on his
a “Russian” style of classical music.77 summer vacation.79 This practical knowledge enhanced
his ability to use the tone colors of the instruments
Even though Rimsky-Korsakov’s first symphony
effectively in works such as “The Flight of the
received exuberant applause, as did most of his
Bumblebee” (Listening Example 4).80
subsequent orchestral works, he really wanted to
compose operas. He embarked on his first effort in The famous “Flight” was the musical support for a
1868, and although his busy naval schedule meant that transformation scene in a fairy-tale opera, The Tale of
the opera took three years to complete, it was accepted Tsar Saltan (1900).81 Tsar Saltan marries Militrisa, and
for performance by one of Russia’s premier opera they have a son, Prince Gvidon. Militrisa’s older sisters
companies. This was an auspicious start for the twenty- are jealous, however, and they manage to seal Militrisa
seven-year-old composer, and it was only the first of and Gvidon into a barrel and cast it into the ocean
fifteen operas that he would complete over his lifetime.78 (where the victims are presumed to have drowned).
Instead, they wash ashore on an island, where they
It was not long after his first opera had premiered that
manage to free themselves. When Gvidon rescues a
the head of the Russian navy—an enthusiastic lover of
swan, the magical Swan-Bird thanks him by revealing a
music—created a brand-new (and well-paying) post
magnificent city through the mist; Gvidon becomes its
for Rimsky-Korsakov: that of “Inspector of Naval
ruler. Still, Gvidon misses his father, and the Swan-Bird
Bands.” Since Rimsky-Korsakov knew relatively
turns him into a bumblebee so he can fly to a ship that
little about wind instruments, he diligently began
is sailing to the Tsar’s court. When the ship has landed,

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Gvidon (in his disguised shape) hears the sailors tell the is a princess in disguise, and he takes her as his bride.
Tsar about the magnificence of the island city, but when The Tsar soon arrives and is overwhelmed with joy to
the Tsar says he wants to visit, the evil sisters try to see that his wife and son are alive; he is so happy that he
dissuade him. Angrily, the bumblebee stings them and even forgives the wicked sisters, and the opera ends with
flies home. There, Gvidon discovers that the Swan-Bird an enormous feast.82

LISTENING COMPANION 4: The Tale of Tsar Saltan, “Flight of the

Bumblebee” (1900) – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Even though The Tale of Tsar Saltan is an opera—
which normally focuses on singing voices—Rimsky-
Korsakov was extremely gifted at writing effectively
for an orchestra. The transformation of Gvidon into
a bumblebee occurs at the end of Act III, and the
Swan-Bird briefly sings to the disguised Gvidon,
wishing him luck and warning him not to stay
away too long. However, the orchestral interlude
surrounding her brief message is so vivid that it
can stand alone, without the voice, as a depiction of
what is happening. Therefore, most performances of
the “Flight of the Bumblebee” today are shortened

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concert versions—without any vocalist at all.
Whether performed during the opera or in a concert
hall, the “Flight of the Bumblebee” opens the same
way: the full orchestra plays a loud sforzando
chord, and then the flutes and the first violins play a
very fast descending chromatic scale. There is also
a diminuendo during the scale (to emphasize the
idea that Prince Gvidon is shrinking in size). The
violins are told to play con sordino, which means
“with mute” in Italian; a mute is a small device that
quiets the volume of an instrument. In this case, the
mute helps the violins not to overpower the softer
sound of the flutes.
At the end of the scale, the violins begin to play a
rapidly rising and falling melody that resembles An evil-doer tries to escape the bumblebee (a disguised Prince
Gvidon) in The Tale of Tsar Saltan.
the buzzing of a bee; it is shown in the lower
staff of Figure 2-5. Listeners who have viewed
the full opera would realize that the melody has some special significance: it is an embellished version of a
leitmotif for Prince Gvidon. A leitmotif is a short melody that serves as a musical symbol; many operas of
the nineteenth century employed leitmotifs for various characters. Moreover, sometimes a leitmotif could
reference an object—the Holy Grail, for instance—or even an abstract idea or emotion such as “love” or
“longing.” The practice of writing leitmotifs has persisted onward into many film scores of the twentieth and
twenty-first centuries: John Williams composed a very famous two-note leitmotif to represent the shark in
Jaws (1975). Williams often repeated the leitmotif as an ostinato in the movie, usually with a crescendo and/
or an accelerando, to increase the audience’s sense of terror.

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 FIGURE 2–5

Prince Gvidon’s leitmotif 1, in simple and embellished versions.

Earlier in the opera, Rimsky-Korsakov had introduced a fairly simple leitmotif for the prince, shown in red
on the upper staff of Figure 2-5. During “The Flight of the Bumblebee,” the leitmotif’s same “core” pitches
are used—shown again in red in the lower staff of Figure 2-5—but Rimsky-Korsakov elaborates the leitmotif
by filling in steady sixteenth notes between the core pitches (so that the “bee” buzzes unceasingly).
Figure 2-5 is identified as the “first” leitmotif because Gvidon actually has two symbolic melodies in the
opera. The second leitmotif quickly falls and rises through an arpeggiated F major seventh chord (Figure
2-6). During “Flight of the Bumblebee,” Rimsky-Korsakov incorporates the Gvidon leitmotif 2 in the “B”

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section of the “Flight’s” ternary form.
Hearing the angry buzzing of the bumblebee must
have been a huge delight for the audience at the
opera’s premiere in 1900. Subsequent generations FIGURE 2–6
of listeners have continued to enjoy the sound of
this energetic insect since it has been performed
not only by a wide array of instruments, but
also in some fairly ridiculous contexts: a butter
commercial, The Muppet Show, and even a 1948
Prince Gvidon’s leitmotif 2.
boogie version courtesy, yet again, of Walt Disney.

Listening Guide 4: The Tale of Tsar Saltan, “Flight of the Bumblebee” – 1900
Nikokay Rimsky-Korsakov
Timeline

Form

Musical Features

0:00 Intro Sforzando chord in full orchestra; rapid descending chromatic scale in flutes & muted 1st violin
0:05 A Violins play embellished Gvidon leitmotif 1 (pianissimo), accompanied by pizzicato strings.
0:10 Solo flute takes over the Gvidon leitmotif 1.
0:16 Series of short crescendos and diminuendos on “buzzy” repeated notes that rise in pitch
0:28 Solo flute plays the Gvidon leitmotif 1.
0:30 B A second flute plays a series of sustained notes (sung by the Swan-Bird in the opera).
0:32 Horn plays a sharp sustained note while bassoons & low strings play Gvidon leitmotif 2 quietly.
0:37 Horn plays a sustained note while flutes, oboes, & pizzicato violins play Gvidon leitmotif 2.

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 0:43 A’ Gvidon leitmotif 1 resumes in upper woodwinds and strings.
0:54 Flutes and violins play Gvidon leitmotif 1 twice.
0:57 Falling and rising chromatic scales in flutes while pizzicato violins play Gvidon leitmotif 2.
1:04 Passages heard at 0:54 and 0:57 repeat.
1:12 Coda Downward chromatic scale diminuendos to piano.
1:14 “Buzzy” repeated notes are played twice, rising in pitch.
1:17 Solo clarinet begins upward chromatic scale, taken over by the solo flute.
1:21 Pizzicato strings and lower woodwinds end with two short pianissimo chords.

BIRDS AS COMPOSERS
Bees have enjoyed quite a number of musical
depictions. For instance, some forty years before
“The Flight of the Bumblebee,” François (not Franz)
Schubert composed L’Abeille (“The Bee”), a character
piece for violin and piano that is filled with rapid
“buzzing.” (In a character piece, the composer tries to
capture the essence of something but without depicting
a programmatic storyline.) However, birds offer an
even wider array of sounds than do insects. Moreover,
we often use the term “birdsong” when referring to

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their vocalizations, which emphasizes the potential
connection that many birds can have with music.
Composers have been weaving bird calls into pieces for
many centuries. The thirteenth-century work Sumer
is icumen in (Listening Example 6) includes a brief
imitation of a cuckoo. In 1528, during the Renaissance
era (a period encompassing the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries), Clément Janequin again mimicked a cuckoo,
along with a thrush, blackbird, and nightingale, in
Le chant des oiseaux (“The Song of the Birds”). The
dedicatee of Takemitsu’s third “rain tree” composition,
twentieth-century composer Olivier Messiaen (1908–
92), employed birdsong in a significant number of
works. One of his most celebrated examples was Le
quatuor pour la fin du temps (“Quartet for the End of
Time”; 1941), written (and premiered) while Messiaen A hand-drawn poster alerted the POWs to the premiere of
was incarcerated in a World War II prisoner-of-war Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time (1941).
camp. It does not take much imagination to understand
how the blackbird and nightingale in that composition In Messiaen’s defense, the task of transcribing bird
represented “symbols of freedom”: creatures that calls can be more challenging than it might seem,
were not restrained by the prison walls.83 In a 1953 and it is not just composers who are involved in
work, Réveil des oiseaux (“Awakening of the Birds”), the effort. Ornithologists—scientists who study
Messiaen imitated no fewer than thirty-eight different birds—also have labored to create written records
species of birds, although a scholar who compared of birdsong. One of the earliest scientific attempts to
Messiaen’s notation with recordings of actual birds notate birds’ singing patterns was published in 1650 by
found that Messiaen took a lot of license with his Athanasius Kircher within his Musurgia universalis
interpretations of the various bird calls.84 (“The Universal Musical Art”). Figure 2-7 shows his

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 FIGURE 2–7

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Bird calls in Musurgia universalis, 1650.

transcription of the calls of a rooster, chicken, cuckoo, “absolute pitch”—which is the ability to identify
and quail, plus a spoken word from a parrot.85 specific pitches without using a piano or other
instrument for reference.88 The poet Edward Rowland
Part of the challenge in transcribing birdsong is that Sill (1841–87) at the University of California, Berkeley,
many birds vocalize very quickly. For example, a also possessed that gift, and he had been transcribing
skylark can sing between 100 and 103 tones per second. bird melodies to assist with a colleague’s book about
Moreover, many birds sing in an extremely high California bird songs. He met the ten-year-old Amy
tessitura, even above the highest pitches on the piano.86 while the Cheneys stayed with family in San Francisco
for a year, and after hearing that she “was the happy
Hearing a Hermit Thrush possessor of a correct ear,” he invited her to help him
To notate birdsong accurately, a musician must have
“steal from the birds!” She recalled,
a remarkable ear—and one young American, Amy
[Cheney] Beach (1867–1944), had been demonstrating I shall always remember that first spring
her ability to replicate music from the age of four.87 morning. The poet and I sat down behind a
She had the gift of perfect pitch—sometimes called stone wall. It is a sweet memory of the kindly

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 The hermit thrush produces a surprisingly loud birdsong for
such a small creature.

I took the songs down at the bird’s dictation,

and oh, how hard I worked! Even the
most expert stenographer would have had

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difficulty keeping up with him! I took them
exactly, even as to key, (except for a few
intervals too small to be transcribed) and
Amy Beach’s perfect pitch helped her transcribe birdsong rewrote and corrected as he sang them over
accurately. and over. Then I played them back to him
from the piano and he would answer.92
poet, of California, of the spring flowers, of
the unconscious birds. With pencil and paper Afterward, Beach made good use of the transcribed
we took their melodies. We got twenty of birdsongs. On July 20, 1921, she started composing
their airs that morning.89 Hermit Thrush at Eve, and two days later, she began
to write its companion piece, Hermit Thrush at
Beach continued collecting bird songs throughout Morn (Listening Example 5). The fellow artists at
her life. In 1921, some years after the death of her MacDowell were her first audience, but they were by
husband, Dr. Henry Harris Aubrey Beach, she began no means the last. By November 17, she was urging her
spending summers as a fellow at the MacDowell publisher to get them printed, telling him, “The interest
Colony (recently renamed simply “MacDowell”) in in them is really remarkable everywhere I play them,
Peterborough, New Hampshire—a summer retreat for either in public or private. They appeal to the musician
artists to devote themselves without interruption to and birdlover alike, and I am constantly asked when
their creative projects. Actually, though, Beach did find they are to appear in print.”93 Once the two pieces were
herself interrupted by a “most voluble thrush” that first published as Beach’s opus 92, Hermit Thrush at Morn
summer.90 She found his singing so insistent that she grew to be almost too successful. Some fourteen years
stopped what she was doing and started to transcribe later, Beach admitted to her publisher, “I have had to
his “lonely but appealing music.”91 Her account of what play it on programs until I am almost sick of it, but it is
she called their “conversation” is charming: always demanded.”94

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LISTENING COMPANION 5: Hermit Thrush at Morn, op. 92, No. 2 (1921)
– Amy Beach
In the printed copies of the “hermit thrush” compositions, Beach emphasized the novelty of her avian “co-
composer.” Both of the works in opus 92 contain a note in the score: “These bird-calls are exact notations
of hermit thrush songs, in the original keys but an octave lower, obtained at the MacDowell Colony,
Peterborough, N. H.”95
The bird outside her MacDowell cottage was not Beach’s only source of inspiration, however. Each of the
printed character pieces contained a poetic quotation at the top. In the case of Hermit Thrush at Morn, Beach
quoted a passage from “The Thrush’s Nest,” a poem first published in 1833 by the English poet John Clare.
The excerpt read:
I heard from morn to morn a merry thrush
Sing hymns to sunrise, while I drank the sound
With joy . . .96

FIGURE 2–8

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Hermit Thrush at Morn, p. 1.

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If you examine the score for Hermit Thrush at Morn (Figure 2-8)—after the first four introductory bars—
you will see that the right hand plays very irregular rhythmic patterns: some pitches are a full quarter note
in duration, but sometimes there are groups of thirteen or fourteen notes that need to be performed within a
single pulse of the triple meter. This erratic tune is the actual bird melody (notated, as Beach explained, an
octave lower). Beach’s ingenuity was to devise a waltz-like accompaniment of quarter-note chords for the left
hand that coordinated beautifully with the bird song. (A waltz is a triple-meter ballroom dance for couples
that originated in the nineteenth century.) In fact, Beach’s tempo indication at the beginning—“Quasi valse
lento”—means “Like a slow waltz.” However, in an interview, Beach cautioned performers that “the tempo
of these numbers should be very irregular—‘very free,’ with ‘excessive rubato’ to present their mood,”
reminding players to “concentrate on the bird songs and consider the remainder as background.”97
As shown in Listening Guide 5 (at 0:49), the hermit thrush created a melodic sequence, singing the same
short three-note pattern three times but descending a step lower each time. Beach’s transcription of that
passage is shown in Figure 2-9.

FIGURE 2–9

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Hermit Thrush at Morn, sequence (ms. 18–20).

Beach follows the bird-plus-waltz-chords material (A) with a faster passage marked “Poco agitato” (“A little
more agitated”). In this B section, Beach uses only fragments of the bird’s melody; she incorporates the first
phrase of bird song shown in measure 5 of Figure 2-8 as well as the three-note pattern illustrated in Figure
2-9. These two “bird motifs” are much less prominent since they now appear in the left hand in a much lower
register. Our attention is instead drawn to the right hand, which plays a busy pattern of arpeggiated sixteenth
notes as well as a flowing melodic line of very conjunct quarter notes.
The energy of the “Poco agitato” gradually dies down, allowing the A section to return. Then, the B section
also makes a second appearance. Beach has a surprise for listeners, however: as the “Poco agitato” starts its
downward descent a second time, she moves the sixteenth-plus-quarter-notes melody (B) into the left hand
and puts a four-measure excerpt of the high-pitched bird song (A) into the right hand. By presenting both
melodies at the same time—an illustration of counterpoint (sometimes called non-imitative polyphony)—
Beach creates a C section, and thus turns the architecture of Hermit Thrush at Morn into a rondo form.
Beach did an outstanding job of incorporating the birdsong into this character piece. In fact, a person who
hears a performance of Hermit Thrush at Morn without knowing its title might never realize that a real bird
had been responsible for a good deal of the melodic material. Even for an uninformed listener, however, there
is one hint that Beach was not the sole creator. The overall harmony of Hermit Thrush at Morn is D minor,
and the left hand concludes with a prolonged D minor chord during the last six measures of the piece. The
right hand, however, continues to play the transcription of the bird warbling its tune, and the final pitch that
the thrush sings is a “C”—it does not resolve to a D, F, or A that comprise the D minor triad. Clearly, the
thrush needed more musical training!

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 Listening Guide 5: Hermit Thrush at Morn, op. 92, no. 2 – 1921
Timeline Amy Beach

Form
Musical Features

0:00 Intro Piano (left hand) plays a chordal waltz-like accompaniment (“Quasi valse lento” = like a slow waltz).
0:12 A Bird song appears in right hand (exact transcription but lowered by an octave).
0:49 Descending three-note sequence in “bird” melody
1:21 B New melody of arpeggiations and conjunct quarter notes, marked “Poco agitato” (= a little more agitated);
quiet bird motifs are played in the accompaniment.
2:06 A Waltz chords return at “Tempo I” (the opening speed).
2:13 Bird song resumes.
2:48 Repetition of descending three-note sequence
3:13 B “Poco agitato” material recurs.
3:47 C A + B material simultaneously
3:58 A Waltz chords resume.
4:01 Two “bird song” phrases are played.

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4:12 Coda Piano left hand plays upward arpeggio.
4:15 Bird song plays without accompaniment.
4:25 Piano left hand arpeggiates a D minor chord.
4:27 Sustained D minor chord during three short “bird song” phrases; final phrase ends on an unresolved C.

SECTION II SUMMARY 6 “On the Trail” was repeated when the audience
6 Composers have used both vocal and at the premiere demanded an encore. It opens
instrumental music to portray features of the with a loud drum roll, and then, to represent
earth and the living things that inhabit it. the burro featured in the movement’s program,
the orchestra plays a loud, downward disjunct
6 Some instrumental pieces convey a storyline interval to simulate a “hee-haw.”
without the use of words; they are designated
as programmatic. 6 Following the “hee-haw,” a harpist plays an
upward arpeggio, and then the orchestra
6 Many compositions depict specific locations— sustains a chord by means of a fermata.
rivers, waterfalls, volcanos, and especially
Earth’s natural wonders. One of the most 6 Early in “On the Trail,” the violin plays a
celebrated is Ferde Grofé’s Grand Canyon cadenza, similar to a featured solo passage in
Suite (1929–31). Walt Disney adapted the music a concerto. Grofé’s cadenza requires various
for a 1958 short film. virtuosic techniques such as glissandos
(sliding through the intervening pitches
6 Grofé had visited the Grand Canyon in person between two notes) and double-stops (playing
numerous times, but it was a colleague who two strings simultaneously).
suggested that one of the suite’s movements
should depict the mule ride enjoyed by many 6 During the cadenza, the violinist also
tourists. That recommendation led to “On the introduces two of the movement’s main motifs:
Trail” (Listening Example 1). the “Cowboy Song” and the “Burro” motif.
The latter alternates between disjunct leaps and

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 short, stepwise conjunct phrases. the Japanese value of sawari by reproducing
6 The “Burro” motif got its rhythm from the sounds of nature. His “Waterscape” series
sound of pile-drivers at a construction site and emphasized water in many forms, and—like
its melody from a popular song titled “Horses.” water, he wanted his series to undergo a
The “Cowboy Song” was a spontaneous lullaby process of mutation. Moreover, he linked the
that Grofé sang to soothe his restless infant works with an “S–E–A” motif as a unifying
son. symbol.
6 A passage of polymeter occurs when the 6 Creating unity within multiplicity was always
“Burro” motif, in P meter (emphasized by the important to Takemitsu, and in 1981 he applied
clip-clop sound of coconut shells), is presented that Zen Buddhist principle to Ame no ki
in counterpoint with the “Cowboy Song,” (Rain Tree), Listening Example 3. Inspired
which is in cut-time. The arrival at a waterfall by his friend Kenzaburō Ōé’s description of
and oasis is supported by the sound of a a Hawaiian rain tree, he used a trio of three
celesta. players and multiple instruments to evoke the
unified image of a tree slowly shedding its rain
6 Musical illustrations of storms were present in droplets. The work begins with isolated notes
the Baroque era (circa 1600 to 1730), in both played on crotales (antique cymbals).
instrumental works and in theatrical operas.
Composers of the Classic era (circa 1730 to 6 One of the instruments in Ame no ki (Rain
1815) also included storm depictions in some Tree), the vibraphone, has a motor that can
symphonies. Many Romantic composers also produce a pulsating sound called vibrato;
wrote programmatic “storms” in the nineteenth sometimes Takemitsu asks the motor to

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century. Ludwig van Beethoven created one be turned off. In other passages, the two
of the most celebrated examples in 1808 as the marimbas play call-and-response patterns.
“Gewitter Sturm: Allegro” (“Thunderstorm: 6 Visual drama is added to Ame no ki (Rain Tree)
Allegro”) movement of his “Pastoral” by means of three spotlights that intermittently
Symphony (Listening Example 2). focus on the players.
6 The Sixth Symphony’s “Thunderstorm” 6 Massive as rain trees can be, they still need
opens with a rapidly bowed tremolo to evoke tiny pollinators to help them reproduce. Bees
thunder, and more thunder is suggested by the perform that function for many plants.
subsequent polyrhythmic ostinato patterns of 6 Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov juggled
four-note groups versus quintuplets. Sharp responsibilities as a naval officer with an
sforzando accents mimic thunderclaps, while increasingly successful compositional career.
the unusual timbre of a piccolo helps the He was helped to grow as a musician by his
storm’s winds to howl. Trombones add another participation in “The Mighty Handful,” also
unusual tone color to the “Thunderstorm.” called “The Five,” led by Mily Balakirev.
6 Beethoven presents these effects in an 6 Rimsky-Korsakov created the famous “Flight
unpredictable through-composed form. Walt of the Bumblebee” (Listening Example 4) as a
Disney adapted the movement to become the scene in his fairy-tale opera The Tale of Tsar
score for an often-criticized portion of the Saltan (1900). In the scene, the Swan-Bird
animated Fantasia (1940). transforms Prince Gvidon into a bumblebee, so
6 The plants, or flora, that contribute to Earth’s he can secretly visit his father’s court.
oxygen supply have been showcased musically, 6 Although the Swan-Bird briefly sings during
as have the planet’s animals, or fauna, that the scene, a shortened version of the orchestral
depend on that oxygen. music is often presented in concert without a
6 Torō Takemitsu blended his Japanese heritage vocalist.
with his Western training to produce works 6 To illustrate the shrinking of the prince, the
that illustrated both backgrounds. He adopted orchestral interlude opens with a descending

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 chromatic scale that diminuendos. To make very early published study of notated birdsong
it even quieter, the violins use mutes to appeared in 1650: Athanasius Kircher’s
soften their sound. At the end of the scale, Musurgia universalis.
the violins play a busy repetitive pattern that 6 Amy Beach helped with birdsong transcription
resembles a bee’s buzzing—but that pattern is as a child, assisted by the fact that she had
an embellished version of a leitmotif linked to perfect pitch (also called absolute pitch).
Gvidon earlier in the opera.
6 Beach continued transcribing bird calls at
6 “The Flight of the Bumblebee” also features MacDowell in 1921, and she used her notation
a second leitmotif associated with the prince. that year to generate two character pieces:
Overall, Rimsky-Korsakov structured the flight Hermit Thrush at Eve and Hermit Thrush at
as an A-B-A ternary form, and the piece has Morn (Listening Example 5).
been quoted (and satirized) in numerous later
contexts and by various instruments. 6 Even though the thrush song was erratic,
Beach devised an effective triple-meter waltz-
6 Short instrumental compositions that convey style accompaniment to support it as her
an image of something, without portraying a opening A section. She wove bits of the bird
storyline, are often called character pieces. call into a contrasting faster B section that
6 Birds offer a huge array of sounds for features busy arpeggiation and a slow conjunct
composers to mimic, and examples of “bird melody. Later in the piece, Beach presented
imitation” stretch back for centuries. Janequin both sections simultaneously to create a new
made a famous setting in the Renaissance contrapuntal passage. This section of non-
era (which spanned the fifteenth and sixteenth imitative polyphony comprises a C episode and

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centuries), and instances have continued into contributes to a rondo form overall.
the past century, especially in many works by 6 At the end of the piece, the bird’s final pitch
Messiaen. does not fit harmonically into the tonic D
6 Ornithologists have also sought to transcribe minor triad, reminding us that part of the
bird calls, which can be a challenging task. A music came from a non-human source.

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 Section III
Celebrating the Planet
A vast number of programmatic works and character
pieces have illustrated aspects of the earth, among
them Section II’s portrayals of the Grand Canyon, a
storm, a rain tree, a bumblebee, and a hermit thrush.
However, all five of those compositions were fairly
objective; they did not convey any particular emotions
about the sights or creatures they depicted. In contrast,
there are many pieces that rejoice over various aspects
of the natural world—and some of these works
originated many centuries ago.

SINGING THE SEASONS

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The changing seasons have inspired a myriad of
instrumental and vocal composers. As noted in Section Not everyone is enthusiastic about wintry landscapes.
II, Vivaldi—the Baroque composer who depicted
numerous compositions. Gustav Mahler, for example,
storms in several of his works—published a set of four
included “The Lonely One in Autumn” in Das
programmatic concertos in 1725 called Le quattro
Lied von der Erde (“The Song of the Earth”; 1909),
stagioni (“The Four Seasons”), with each devoted to
capturing the sense of isolation that many humans
a different time of year. However, similar to all the
experience as the plants wither and the days grow
listening examples of Section II, Vivaldi’s concertos
colder. In contrast, most people are exhilarated when
are solely instrumental, and they do not really
winter comes to an end: it is hard to find a song that is
convey any sense of how listeners might “feel” about
unhappy about springtime. Summer, too, is a season
spring, summer, fall, or winter. It is primarily vocal
that fills most people with pleasure—and musicians
compositions that are able to express emotions about
have depicted that response for centuries.
the seasons in a clear-cut way.
Those emotions are not always joyful. The writer Medieval Merriment
Ansel Pereira made a ranking of a hundred songs The first European attempts to “write music down”—
addressing the seasons, and he noted that people react by means of musical notation—began at the start of
in different ways to the various time periods of the the ninth century, during the Middle Ages (also called
year.98 Many of us have heard the cheerful song “Let the medieval era). The instigator of this endeavor was
It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” (1945), which the Catholic Church since it was growing impossible to
greets the winter weather with enthusiasm. Franz keep its chants consistent from parish to parish. Prior
Schubert, on the other hand, captured the anguished to notation, monks, nuns, and priests had to memorize
despair of a heartbroken young man who wanders the all the Church’s increasing hundreds (even thousands)
wintry countryside in the 1827 song cycle Winterreise of devotional and ceremonial chants. Therefore,
(“Winter Journey”). although we are sure that people sang secular (non-
religious) music all the time in their daily lives, the
Still, some seasons tend to spark moods that many earliest surviving written music is entirely sacred,
people share, and those feelings have been captured in intended to support religious services and activities.

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 The Reading Abbey—which once housed the manuscript of
Sumer is icumen in—has fallen into ruins.

contrapuntal music. As discussed in Section I, many

children sing rounds such as “Row, Row, Row Your
Medieval scribes kept many written records, including Boat” or “Are You Sleeping? (Frère Jacques),” but
manuscripts with the newly invented musical notation. they do not learn those rounds by reading sheet music.
Instead, they sing them “by ear” or “by rote.” This
The Catholic Church’s chants were monophonic, so sort of imitative polyphony is easy to master, and
when notation first developed, only melodies needed to

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so it is not surprising that almost no one bothered
be transcribed.99 to transcribe pieces of this sort in the Middle Ages,
especially since writing materials were extremely
Gradually, though, sacred composers started
expensive in that era.
experimenting with ways for people to sing different
melodies simultaneously. They would often use an Still, one remarkable secular round from the mid-
old, familiar chant as a foundation and develop new thirteenth century did survive in an abbey near
tunes that would coordinate with it—the earliest form Reading (pronounced “Redding”), England. (An
of counterpoint. The process is a little like sampling abbey was a religious building where Catholic monks
today, in which older works are borrowed and quoted or nuns lived.) The anonymous round gets its title
in new pieces. from its first line: Sumer is icumen in (“Summer Has
Come”), Listening Example 6. As shown in Figure
It is certainly possible that the secular world had
3-1, the notation was preserved in a manuscript—a
already been creating polyphonic works long
handwritten document—and it is an exuberant
before Catholic scribes started writing down sacred
celebration of the arrival of summer.

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FIGURE 3–1

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The Sumer is icumen in manuscript.

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LISTENING COMPANION 6: Sumer is icumen in (c.1250) – Anonymous
The medieval term for “round” is rota, so Sumer is icumen in has various nicknames. It is called the
“Reading Rota” (named after the abbey that preserved the manuscript). Also, since a synonym for “round” is
canon, some people refer to this work as the “Summer Canon.” The manuscript shown in Figure 3-1 contains
all the information that singers need to perform the round correctly, although the notation is a little different
from the symbols we use today. For one thing, the staff has six lines, rather than just five. It has a clef, but it
differs from the modern clef symbols shown in Figure 1-2: it simply puts a capital “C” on the fourth staff line
(counting up from the lowest line), thus telling the singers to read pitches on that line as “C.” In fact, with
that fourth-line placement, it resembles Figure 1-2’s “tenor” clef. Immediately after the C-clef is a flat symbol
(♭), telling the vocalists to sing all Bs as B-flats; it is actually very similar to the flat sign currently in use.
The shapes of the notes are different from those of today since they are primarily squares and diamonds, but
they have similar proportional relationships to each other in the way that our quarter notes, eighth notes, and
sixteenth notes all interrelate.
To the left of the top staff is a large “S” in blue ink: this is the first letter of “Sumer,” and the rest of the Old
English words are placed beneath the six-line staff, written in black ink.
Sumer is icumen in, ✚ Summer has come, ✚
Lhude sing cuccu! Loudly sing cuckoo!
Groweth sed and bloweth med, The seed grows and the meadow blooms,

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And springth the wode nu. And the woods spring anew.
Sing cuccu! Sing cuckoo!

Awe bleteth after lomb, The ewe bleats after lamb,

Lhouth after calve cu, The cow lows after her calf,
Bulluc sterteth, bucke verteth, The bull jumps, the buck leaps,
Murie sing cuccu! Merrily sing cuckoo!
Cuccu, cuccu, Cuckoo, cuckoo,
Wel singes thu cuccu: Well sing you cuckoo:
Ne swik thu naver nu. Nor stop thou never now.
You will see in the manuscript that there is a large red cross, or “plus,” on the staff after the first phrase of
the poetry. This symbol indicates that when the first singer of the rota (I) reaches that point, the subsequent
singer (II) should start to sing the tune, and so forth. Figure 3-2 shows the layering of four participants,
with Rota I placed on the top line, furthest to the left when we look at the diagram from left to right. As the
diagram shows, the first voice to sing will also be the first person to stop singing.

FIGURE 3–2

I “Sumer is icumen in ✚ . . .”
II “Sumer is icumen in ✚ . . .”
III “Sumer is icumen in ✚ . . .”
IV “Sumer is icumen in . . .”

Staggered entrances of the “Reading Rota.”

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The Figure 3-1 manuscript reveals that the “Summer Canon” is more complicated than we might think.
Besides the imitative polyphony of the rota, there is a second layer of musical activity called a rondellus.
The rondellus was a polyphonic genre for two or more voices that was also popular in the Middle Ages.
This particular rondellus contains two short motifs, a and b. The melodies are crafted so that while the
first performer sings a, the second performer will create consonant harmony by singing b—and then the
performers switch their motifs, so that the first performer performs b while the second person sings a. The
rondellus technique is sometimes called “voice-exchange,” and Figure 3-3 shows how the a and b melodies
are interlocked in Sumer is icumen in.

FIGURE 3–3

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Rondellus within Sumer is icumen in.

“Sing, cuccu, nu” is medieval English for “Sing cuckoo, now”; it is also a celebration of summertime, when the
cuckoo would sing once again. Moreover, within Sumer is icumen in, the rondellus is repeated as an ostinato.
Therefore, when the two voices keep alternating their two motifs, their trade-off can be diagrammed as
a b a b a b (etc.)
b a b a b a (etc.)
The repetitive rondellus becomes an accompaniment pattern for the other four voices, so the medieval
manuscript for Sumer is icumen in labels the rondellus as a “pes” (written in red ink, alongside a bracket),
meaning “foot” or “ground.” The rondellus is the footing, or foundation, on top of which the other
polyphonic rota layer is built.
Some scholars believe that the melody for the pes is quoted, or “sampled,” from an older sacred chant,
Regina caeli laetare. The first five pitches of the
chant—as shown in Figure 3-4—are identical to
the first five pitches of the rondellus (see Figure FIGURE 3–4
3-3, melody a). Figure 3-4 illustrates the medieval
method of writing music called “square notation,”
nicknamed for the shape of most of the noteheads.
A “C” clef is shown on the top line of the four-line
staff, so the starting pitch of the chant is F, just like
the starting note of the a melody in the rondellus.
When both layers—the rondellus and the rota—
are combined, a highly elaborate polyphonic piece Regina caeli laetare.

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is created. The diagram shown in Figure 3-5 graphs the roles of all six voices as performed in Listening
Example 6. In our recording, the singers of the rota each perform the melody three times before stopping,
while the performers chose to have the manuscript’s upper pes voice (labeled “Pes I” in the diagram)
start alone, with the lower pes (“Pes II”) waiting two measures before entering. Similarly, at the end of
the recording, the upper pes stops singing two measures before the lower pes ends. (Scores using modern
notation are available online.)

FIGURE 3–5

Rota-I (3 times) cont.

Rota-II (3 times) cont.
Rota-III (3 times) cont.
Rota-IV (3 times) cont.
Pes I ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab cont. ab ab ab ab ab ab ab
Pes II a ba ba ba ba ba ba ba cont. ba ba ba ba ba ba b

The rota and rondellus layers in Sumer is icumen in.

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Why did the religious monks write down this cheerful secular song, especially since manuscript materials
were so costly? If you look again at Figure 3-1, underneath each staff of the rota you will see a second poem
in Latin notated in red (although only one language accompanies the pes). The Latin poem begins “Perspice
christicola” (“Behold, Christian”), and it is a religious text, in contrast to the secular spirit of the Sumer
poetry. Some scholars suggest that the sacred poem was added in order to justify the inclusion of this joyous
secular piece within an expensive document intended for the Church.100 We will never know what motivated
the unknown scribe to keep a record of this exuberant composition, but it remains a remarkable early
example of a piece that celebrates an annual aspect of the natural world.

Listening Guide 6: Sumer is icumen in – c. 1250

Anonymous
Timeline

Musical Features

0:00 Pes I sings first portion (a) at piano dynamic.

0:03 Pes II begins while Pes I sings second portion (b) at piano.
0:05 Rota melody begins in first upper voice (mezzopiano).
0:07 Rota melody begins in second upper voice (mezzopiano).
0:10 Rota melody begins in third upper voice (mezzopiano).
0:12 Rota melody begins in fourth upper voice (mezzopiano).
0:20 Long crescendo begins in all voices.
0:34 First upper voice starts the Rota melody a second time.
0:59 First upper voice starts the Rota melody a third time; all voices have reached forte and diminuendo begins.
1:30 Pes I and II sing one pattern without upper voices.
1:36 Pes I sings (b) at pianissimo dynamic.

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TREES OF GREEN, RED ROSES TOO
The planet’s abundant gifts have inspired many
musical works expressing gratitude for those natural
riches. Of course, people interested in protecting the
environment would say that we cannot take those
riches for granted—but they would probably agree that
the first step toward taking action is getting people
to appreciate what the world has to offer. “What a
Wonderful World” (Listening Example 7) is one of the
most celebrated songs to cherish Earth’s best qualities,
but in the United States, it was little known—and thus
On January 2, 1913, a New Orleans newspaper announced
unappreciated—for many years. Louis Armstrong’s second trip to the Colored Waif’s Home.

Counting the Blessings Armstrong’s playing would be preserved on record

The story of the iconic “What a Wonderful World” for the first time).106 In 1924, Armstrong married the
should begin with Louis Armstrong (1901–71), its first pianist in Oliver’s band, Lillian Hardin (1898–1971),
singer and the person for whom the song was written. and she is credited with improving Armstrong’s
Indeed, the fact that he could sing the lyrics with understanding of music theory and music notation
sincerity is a testimony to his resilience, for he came (despite some initial resistance from Armstrong),
into the world with a lot of disadvantages. By the time accelerating his musical development.107 “Lil” Hardin
he was born, his father had abandoned his mother.101 is also the person who prodded Armstrong into
As a child, Armstrong did what he could to help

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breaking away from his mentor’s band and starting to
scrape together some income, but he ran wild on the pursue a career as a soloist—an important step in his
streets much of the time, and at the age of nine, he was progress as an independent, innovative musician.108
arrested (for the first time) for being a “dangerous and Along the way, he acquired various nicknames,
suspicious character”; he was sent to the Colored Waifs including “Satchmo,” after friends teased him for a
Home in New Orleans.102 He was released to an aunt, mouth they said was “as big as a satchel.”109 Although
but after shooting a gun into the air on New Year’s Armstrong is best remembered as a cornet (and later
Eve, 1912, he was again sent to the Home in 1913.103 trumpet) player, it was not long after the break from
Oliver that he was first recorded as a singer as well.110
A significant change had taken place in the Colored
Waifs Home by that time: the proprietors, Joseph Many years later, it was another vocal recording by
and Manuela Jones, had hired Peter Davis to be the Armstrong that became a huge hit: he sang a version
institution’s band director. Armstrong began studying of “Hello, Dolly!” that climbed to number one in the
the cornet with Davis, and eighteenth months later, 1964 Billboard charts, despite the overwhelming
when he left the Home, he had mastered a skill that popularity of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones at
would support him for the rest of his life. Although the time. He was sixty-three years old, making him
the Joneses and Davis are little known today, it is the oldest person ever to reach a Number 1 Billboard
likely that without them, “there probably would not ranking until this record was broken in 2023.111 It
have been a Louis Armstrong.”104 Armstrong himself certainly validated his expertise as a vocalist, and
recognized the importance of his time with the Joseph F. Laredo claims there were peers who tried to
Joneses; he wrote to them in 1937 to say, “You both catch colds deliberately in order “to imitate Satchmo’s
shall be the ‘tops’ in my estimation always.”105 gravelly singing voice.”112
There were others who helped Armstrong along the Louis Armstrong and his music had already been
way. The cornetist and band leader Joe “King” Oliver playing a significant role in the world’s politics.
(1881–1938) took a paternal interest in the young Armstrong’s recordings had been banned by the
musician in New Orleans, giving him a cornet of his Nazis during World War II, but still had been secretly
own and eventually persuading Armstrong to join distributed, sometimes under fake titles.113 Armstrong’s
his group when Oliver had moved to Chicago (where music continued to be sought during the “Cold War,”

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 Louis Armstrong was widely known as “Satchmo,” short for Overseas audiences were generally thrilled to see Louis
“Satchel Mouth.” Armstrong arrive.

the nickname for the post-World-War-II tensions compositions; “George Douglas” was derived from the
between communist and capitalist nations, led by first names of two of Thiele’s cousins.120
the superpowers of the Soviet Union and the United
States.114 Repressive governments found jazz, with its Armstrong was not hard to convince. Although he
was not initially impressed by the simple melody, the

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emphasis on “free expression of the individual,” to be
deeply threatening.115 Many citizens in those countries lyrics resonated with him. He had moved to Corona,
did not agree, and when Armstrong took a postwar New York, after marrying his fourth wife Lucille,
commercial tour in 1955, he was mobbed by enthusiastic and his neighborhood “was like one big family. I saw
fans everywhere he traveled. A reporter commented, three generations come up on that block. And they’re
“The simple emotional impact of jazz cuts through all all with their children, grandchildren, they come back
manner of linguistic and ideological barriers, and Louis to see Uncle Satchmo and Aunt Lucille. That’s why I
Armstrong becomes an extraordinary kind of roving can say, ‘I hear babies cry / I watch them grow / they’ll
American ambassador of goodwill.”116 The U.S. State learn much more / than I’ll ever know.’”121
Department sanctioned Armstrong’s 1957 tour to South
Despite the message of unity in the song’s lyrics, there
America, and he traveled to Africa in 1960 as an official
was a great deal of struggle to make the recording
state ambassador.117
a reality. Armstrong had agreed to participate in a
Songwriter Bob Thiele (1922–96) recalls that “in the recording session after his midnight performance at
mid-1960s during the deepening national traumas of the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas. So, around 2 am on
the Kennedy assassination, Vietnam, racial strife, and August 16, 1967, Armstrong, the producers, and a very
turmoil everywhere, my co-writer George David Weiss large ensemble of an orchestra and a choir converged
[1921–2010] and I had an idea to write a ‘different’ on the United Studios.122 Thiele felt that Armstrong
song specifically for Louis Armstrong that would be had fallen into a bit of a rut in recent recordings
called ‘What a Wonderful World.’”118 With Armstrong’s by trying to replicate the sound of “Hello, Dolly!,”
dual reputation as a musician and as an advocate for and therefore “a ballad with violins, cellos, and a
bringing the world together, he was a logical and almost rhythm section . . . would be (we hoped) an attractive
inevitable choice. Thiele explained, “We wanted this departure for Louis and his fans.”123 Still, the extra
immortal musician and performer to say, as only he performers were costly, so Armstrong had also agreed
could, the world really is great: full of the love and to accept a payment that was limited to the minimum
sharing people make possible for themselves and each union rate of approximately $250.124
other every day.”119 Thiele initially used an alias in
Regrettably, not everyone was on board with the
published copies of the song because of an industry
musical approach. Armstrong had recently signed with
bias against record producers recording their own

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 Klein High School - Klein, TX
George David Weiss was one of the co-composers of “What a
Wonderful World.”

ABC-Paramount Records, and the president of the

firm, Larry Newton (1920–2005), “thought Thiele was
In 1987, the film Good Morning, Vietnam at last put the
crazy to record a ballad instead of an uptempo number spotlight on Louis Armstrong’s performance of “What a
like ‘Dolly.’”125 Thiele described how the situation Wonderful World.”
grew worse and worse:
Unfortunately, United Studios was not far from
As the recording progressed, [Newton]
the train tracks leading into Las Vegas. The music
became increasingly incensed and disruptive
arranger Artie Butler (b. 1942) described the challenge
as his agitation about the ‘radical’ concept
that resulted:
intensified. Finally, he declared he wanted to
cancel the date and fire the musicians and me In the middle of recording a freight train
as well. . . . All I could do to convince Newton came into town blowing its whistle. We had
to momentarily leave the control room and to stop the session and wait about twenty
reconsider was to tell him he would go down minutes. About an hour later the train left
in history as the only man who ever threw town and blew its whistle again. We had
Louis Armstrong out of a recording studio.126 to stop the session once more. I remember
Louis and I laughing out loud till it hurt. We
Once Newton was outside, Thiele and Frank Military
actually hung on to each other to keep from
(the publisher of the song) refused to let him re-enter
falling over from laughter.128
the studio, even though Newton kept pounding on the
door.127 Butler described the situation as “the epitome
of Murphy’s law” (a saying long attributed to an
Newton was not the only disruption during the session.
unknown person named Murphy, who reportedly

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declared, “Anything that can go wrong, will go award on Armstrong’s behalf.131
wrong”), but he remembers that “we finally got the
take we all liked at around 6 AM.”129 Despite these overseas triumphs, Newton still blocked
efforts to promote “What a Wonderful World” in the
The angry record executive Newton got his revenge United States. It would be another twenty years until
by refusing to spend any money promoting the new the situation changed: director Barry Levinson chose
recording; fewer than a thousand copies were sold in the song for his film Good Morning, Vietnam (1988).132
the United States over the next year. Still, Thiele and Although the song plays during disturbing scenes
Armstrong got the last laugh. The U.S. was not the of conflict and warfare in the movie, Armstrong’s
world’s only recording market, and in England, the expressive performance finally caught the ears of
record shot to Number 1 and remained on the top of American listeners. That same year, the song joined
the British list for four weeks, selling over six hundred Billboard’s “Top Forty” list (reaching the No. 32
thousand copies; it also did well in numerous other spot).133 Of course, this vindication came too late
countries.130 When the recording had gone “silver” in for Armstrong, who had died in 1971, nor was he
England—meaning it had reached sales of five hundred able to take pleasure in the song’s addition to the
thousand copies—a British executive flew to the U.S. Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.134 Nevertheless, “What
to deliver Armstrong’s award plaque in September a Wonderful World”—with its tributes to so many
1968. Since Armstrong was ill and was hospitalized at aspects of the planet’s beauty—had received its full
the time, it was ironic that Newton had to accept the recognition at last.

LISTENING COMPANION 7: “What a Wonderful World” (1967) – Bob

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Thiele [“George Douglas”] and George David Weiss
“What a Wonderful World” is an excellent example of the 32-bar “song form” (A-A-B-A) architecture
described in Section I. The contour of the first two A melodies is almost identical, but the first phrase
cadences on “A,” the mediant of the F major key, while the second phrase ends on the tonic “F.” In both
cases, after a quick upward disjunct leap to the dominant “C” and its upper-neighbor “D” (the submediant of
the key), the melody makes a slow and graceful conjunct descent to the tonic.
A common nickname for the third phrase of a 32-bar form is bridge, and it usually differs harmonically
from the A phrases. In the case of “What a Wonderful World,” the first half of B lingers, in turn, on several
repetitions of the supertonic “G” and the mediant; the second half of B alternates between the high “D” and
“C” before descending to a cadence on “G.”
When A returns a third time, as the last eight measures of the 32-bar form, it does not conclude on the
expected tonic but instead pauses on the mediant “A.” This lack of resolution builds our anticipation for the
short coda phrase that does cadence on F. Interestingly, though, Armstrong improvised a brief “Oh, yeah” at
the end that returns to the mediant yet again, allowing the song to feel as if it were lingering onward without
ever ceasing. Apart from that short ad-lib, however, Armstrong stuck quite closely to the songwriters’
melody, “something he rarely did.”135 He takes some gentle liberties with the rhythm, but there is no interlude
in which he plays the trumpet. In fact, he does not “jazz it up” in any way; instead, he was very careful to
maintain the tender, ballad-like atmosphere that the record producers had envisioned.
As seen in Figure 3-6, the A phase of “What a Wonderful World” (in the upper staff) bears a marked
similarity to the first phrase of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” (in the lower staff). “Twinkle,” however, is in
ternary form (A-B-A), with its B consisting of two repetitions of a 5-4-3-2 descent. If the songwriters were
aware of the kinship between the pieces, they never publicly acknowledged it. It is intriguing, however, that
both pieces are lullaby-like celebrations of the natural world: green trees, red roses, blue skies, white clouds,
rainbows, and a “diamond in the sky” are all beautiful images for singers and listeners alike to enjoy.

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 FIGURE 3–6

“What a Wonderful World” and “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” comparison.

Listening Guide 7: “What a Wonderful World” – 1967

Bob Thiele [“George Douglas”] and George David Weiss
Timeline

Form

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Text Musical and Textual Features

0:00 Intro “Flowing” accompaniment in À meter; guitar arpeggios underneath

sustained string pitches
0:06 A I see trees of green Anacrusis starts on dominant; first full measure of melody presents
Red roses too an upward leap from tonic F to C, followed by slow stepwise descent
I see them bloom in successive measures; section ends on mediant (A).
For me and you
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world
0:33 A I see skies of blue Same accompaniment and contour as at 0:06, but section ends on
And clouds of white tonic (F).
The bright blessed day
The dark sacred night
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world
1:00 B The colors of the rainbow Opening phrases consist of repeated pitches on supertonic and
So pretty in the sky mediant; flute countermelody and vibraphone are added.
Are also on the faces
Of people going by
1:13 I see friends shaking hands Melody moves to higher register; oscillates between submediant and
Saying how do you do dominant; soft background choir singing “oohs”
They’re really saying
1:24 I love you Faint echo of vowel sounds by choir
1:27 A I hear babies cry Accompaniment of 0:06 resumes; phrase cadences on mediant.
I watch them grow
They’ll learn much more
Than I’ll ever know
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

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 1:52 Coda Yes, I think to myself Ritardando to cadence on tonic; strings sustain while guitar plays
What a wonderful world two final strums.
2:10 Oh, yeah . . . Quiet upward glockenspiel arpeggio against sustained strings

WARMING UP AFTER THE COLD

WAR
“Global warming” was an early widespread term for
climate change, and it continues to be viewed as a
very significant environmental challenge. However,
Michael Abels (b. 1962) presented a different way of
understanding the term, inspired by the initial post-
Cold War “thaw.”

Hope for Humanity

Abels’s Global Warming (Listening Example 8) is an
illustration of blended cultures; moreover, the composer
himself had a mixed heritage as the son of a white
mother and a Black father. Like Louis Armstrong, he

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Michael Abels, composer of Global Warming, has also won a
never knew his father, but his upbringing was much
Pulitzer Prize for his opera Omar (2022).
happier than that of Satchmo.136 His white maternal
grandparents adopted him soon after his birth in question that he wanted to focus on music. However,
Phoenix, Arizona, and they took him to their farm in unlike his friend Smith, who went to Juilliard to study
South Dakota. By the age of four, he was fascinated by cello, Abels did not want to attend a conservatory (a
the family’s piano, and they arranged for him to take school that focuses almost exclusively on training in
piano lessons.137 Regrettably, he suffered from severe the arts, such as music, theater, dance, or the visual
allergies and was hospitalized twice before he was six arts).143 Abels said, “I felt, in high school, that I was
years old. The family was advised that desert air would all about music and that I wasn’t a well-rounded
be beneficial, so before he was seven, he was sent back person. I wanted to be around people who just weren’t
to Phoenix, where he would live with an aunt and uncle musicians.”144 Moreover, Abels had particularly wanted
until he went off to college.138 to come to Southern California after he first visited
Los Angeles at the age of nine. He told an interviewer,
Although Abels calls his grandparents “great, great
“I looked around and just knew that’s where I should
people,” the move back to Arizona opened several
be living. I can’t explain it, but you just have to listen
important doors for him.139 He continued his musical
to your gut.” He added, laughing, “Since then I have
training and began dabbling in composition by the
questioned my 9-year-old self.”145
age of eight.140 One of his second-grade classmates
was Mark Russell Smith (b. 1962), whose father had Abels’s love of Los Angeles led him to enroll at the
founded and was the conductor of the Phoenix Boys University of Southern California (USC). It was a
Choir.141 Both boys sang with the group, and when they fortunate choice:
were thirteen, they attended a summer music camp at
Northern Arizona University. Abels had just completed When I got to USC I was turned on to so
his first symphonic work—a piano concerto—and many different styles of music that helped
the two teenagers premiered the composition with the me learn about me and myself. The genre we
camp orchestra, with Smith as conductor and with call World music was being defined at that
Abels playing the piano part.142 point in popular music. Those styles of music
and cultures had always existed obviously
By the time Abels went to college, there was no

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 The Juilliard School is one of the most prestigious music
conservatories in the United States (and the world).

The city of Phoenix offered a young Michael Abels a number metaphorically in this film.”151 Abels thought he was
of valuable music-making opportunities. being “punked” by the unfamiliar caller, and told Peele
to send him the script. Only when the script actually
[laughs], but here in [the] US we were just
arrived did Abels believe that the opportunity was
waking up to those styles of music.146
genuine.152 That script went on to win the Oscar for Best
Abels began to shine as a composer during his Original Screenplay, and a lasting collaboration was
undergraduate years, and his Queries (1984) for underway.153 Peele reports that the legendary director

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two pianos and a prepared piano earned him the Steven Spielberg told him, “Michael Abels — that guy
“Outstanding Senior” award.147 (A prepared piano has is great. You’ve got to use him again. It’s like me and
had various objects inserted within its strings—paper, John Williams.”154 Abels scored the subsequent Jordan
screws, bolts, rubber bands, etc.—which alter the Peele movies Us (2019) and Nope (2022); he also has
timbre of the normal piano sound.) worked on numerous scores with other directors.

Abels’s student years in Los Angeles allowed him to Although Abels is, today, a Hollywood A-list film
explore his own heritage more extensively. He joined composer, he has been successful as a concert and
a church’s gospel choir while he was at USC, and after theatrical musician as well. The opera Omar (2022)
graduating, he studied west African drumming at that he co-authored with Rhiannon Giddens (b. 1977)
California Institute for the Arts (Cal Arts) for a year, was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 2023; his childhood
saying, “I wanted to hear more and learn more about friend Mark Russell Smith was one of the first people
[how] that music worked.”148 Abels noted, “I was raised he telephoned with the news.155 His concert music,
by my white side and I felt very comfortable being the meanwhile, has been performed by orchestras and
darkest face in the room, but, essentially, I didn’t really soloists all over the world, and his work has been
have the experience around being Black. . . . Part of supported by the National Endowment for the Arts,
that was being part of a Black community. Music is the Meet the Composer, and the Sphinx Organization (a
universal language, and [it] lets you communicate with group dedicated to championing music by Black and
people you have not yet met.”149 Latinx artists).156

Although Abels’s road to success began slowly, in time The piece that launched Abels’s professional career
he achieved spectacular recognition in several ways. For was the overture Global Warming (1990), and it is
many years, Abels worked as a music teacher at New the piece in which he felt he found his own “voice”
Roads, a private school in Santa Monica, California, as a composer.157 (An overture is an orchestral work,
while publishing much of his music on YouTube.150 usually shorter in duration than a symphony.) Global
Those videos eventually caught director Jordan Peele’s Warming, too, can be seen as a happy result of Abels’s
attention, and he telephoned Abels in 2017 to ask him to move back to Phoenix as a child since the piece was
contribute the soundtrack for the movie Get Out, saying commissioned by his childhood friend Smith and the
“I want the African American voice both literally and Phoenix Symphony Guild (later renamed the Phoenix

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Michael Abels opted to earn his bachelor’s degree in music at
the University of Southern California.

Youth Symphony).158 Smith conducted the premiere of

Global Warming on May 7, 1991.159 The piece quickly
skyrocketed into fame: the following year, the Detroit
Symphony Orchestra performed it as part of their 1992
African-American Symphony Composers Forum. A

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decade later, the Chicago Sinfonietta also included
it in their third recording for their African Heritage
Symphonic Series.160 By 2023, Global Warming had
been performed by over two hundred ensembles, Director Jordan Peele has hired Michael Abels to compose the
and after the election of President Nelson Mandela, scores for three successful movies.
it was one of the first works by an African-American
say, and I’ve enjoyed a musical friendship that has
composer to be played by the National Symphony of
intersected through our entire lives and it’s a beautiful
South Africa.161 Abels remains grateful for Smith’s
thing. It’s really been a huge gift to my life.”162
long-standing support, telling an interviewer in 2023,
“He’s been the longest advocate of my music I must

LISTENING COMPANION 8: Global Warming (1990) – Michael Abels

The subject matter of Global Warming was inspired by the fall of the Berlin Wall, a political event that began
on November 9, 1989, and which symbolized the collapse of several communist governments in central and
eastern Europe. By December 3, the leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, and U.S. President
George H. W. Bush released a joint statement that the Cold War was coming to an end.163
Abels saw these events as hopeful signs of improvement in the world’s politics—that the world’s cultures
were warming to each other at last. He observed,
Living in Los Angeles, I’ve been able to learn about music from around the world simply by
opening the window; among my neighbors are immigrants from every corner of the world. I was
intrigued by the similarities between folk music of divergent cultures, and decided to write a piece
that celebrates these common threads as well as the sudden improvement in international relations
that was occurring.164
Abels added, “Since the piece was commissioned for an orchestra in the desert city of Phoenix, AZ, ‘global

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warming’ was the title that seemed to incorporate
all these ideas best.”165
The sounds of the desert and various cultural
traditions are interwoven in Global Warming.
Michael Abels wrote an explanatory program note
that was published with the score:
The opening section of the piece is a vision
of the traditional idea of global warming—a
vast desert, the relentless heat punctuated
by the buzzing of cicadas, and an anguished,
frenetic solo violin. This scene gives way to
several episodes reminiscent of folk music of
various cultures, most noticeably Irish and
Middle Eastern. At the climax of the piece, a East and West Germans celebrated in 1989 when the Berlin
Middle Eastern melody is transformed, through Wall began to fall.
gradual changes in rhythm and ornamentation,
back into the Irish refrain, and many counter-melodies join in to present a noisy yet harmonious
world village. This joyous moment is broken by a sudden return to the stark vision of the opening,
leaving it to the listener to decide which image may more accurately reflect the future.166

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As shown in Listening Guide 8, Abels uses various musical elements to evoke the three environments
described in his synopsis. The introductory “desert” vista employs the tone color of a guiro to suggest
the buzzing of cicadas. Just as in “On
the Trail” (Listening Example 1), the
FIGURE 3–7 introduction features a violin cadenza
that soon begins to alternate with a series
of cello cadenzas. During the transition
from the end of the introduction into the
lively A section, Abels asks the cellist
to play three grace notes—quick, short
notes (usually indicated with smaller
Cello grace notes in Global Warming. noteheads) that embellish the longer
main pitches. (See Figure 3-7.) Grace
notes are very characteristic elements in
bagpipe playing, and Ireland features the sound of
bagpipes in much of its ethnic music, so the grace
notes in the cello signal the approach of the “Irish”-
flavored A section.
Several other factors play a role in enhancing the
Irish atmosphere. The flute enters with a spirited
tune that is full of grace notes, and it also uses a
scale that is characteristic of Ireland. Section 1 of
the Resource Guide introduced you to the major and
minor scales, or modes, that are the most common
building blocks in Western music. However, many
Michael Abels calls for the sound of a guiro during the cultures use different modes, and even the Western
“desert” section of Global Warming. world routinely used a wider array of scales until the

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Baroque era. Irish music often uses a scale called
the Dorian mode—a series of whole- and half-steps
that proceed through a ⊔-∨-⊔-⊔-⊔-∨-⊔ pattern. (You
can produce this pattern on the piano if you start
on D and play only the piano’s white keys as you
ascend to the next D.) After the flute introduces the
compound-duple, grace-note-filled melody in Dorian
mode, other woodwind instruments are gradually
added. Moreover, a bodhran—a single-headed Irish
drum—begins to accompany them. (It is pronounced
“BOW-rahn,” with “bow” rhyming with “cow.”)
As Section A progresses, more and more
orchestral tone colors are added. In some cases, the
instruments alter their timbres, such as a passage
that asks the trumpets to use mutes. Although
French horns can be muted as well, their design
allows them to be played with a performer’s fist
blocking the bell’s opening, in a technique called
stopped horn. This tone color is very “buzzy”
or nasal-sounding. The addition of a harp also

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contributes to the “Irish” flavor of the section.
The full (unmuted) orchestra does not play
simultaneously until more than four minutes have
elapsed, and at that point, all instruments perform
at a fortissimo dynamic level. Their sudden stop— A drummer plays a large bodhran next to a bagpiper.
except for a tambourine—signals the start of the
B section. Once again, a solo woodwind introduces the new, Middle-Eastern-tinged melody. This time, the
initial instrument is an oboe, and although it also performs frequent grace notes, it differs in a couple of
significant ways from the “Irish” tune. One difference is its mode: this section of Global Warming is in the
Mixolydian mode, a scale using a ⊔-⊔-∨-⊔-⊔-∨-⊔ pattern of steps. The Mixolydian mode is widely used
in Middle Eastern music, and you can produce its pattern by starting on a piano’s G pitch and proceeding
upward through only the white keys.
Abels also employs a rhythmic twist to suggest the Middle East. The B section is initially set in simple-triple
meter, which—as you know—consists of three pulses per measure, with each pulse equaling a quarter-note
duration (or two eighth notes). As seen in the first measure of Figure 3-8, a series of six eighth notes in that
time signature could be counted as
1-&-2-&-3-&. The second measure in
Figure 3-8 again shows six eighth notes,
FIGURE 3–8 but now there are only two accents per
measure, as if the eighth notes were
subdividing a dotted-quarter-note pulse.
In other words, the second measure—
because of its accentuations—seems to
have shifted to P time (a compound-duple
meter), even though no change of time
Hemiola. signature is indicated. This technique is
called hemiola: depending on how the

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composer groups the notes within the measures, the listener’s sense of pulse can temporarily shift from triple
to duple (or vice versa).
Global Warming has received consistently strong reviews. The Cleveland Plain Dealer declared, “The
juxtaposition of elements is unleashed in an irresistible display of orchestral color.”167 The Star—published in
Johannesburg, South Africa—considered it to be “a celebration of global healing,” describing it as “partly a
soothing and partly a refreshingly exciting experience.”168 Still, in the twenty-five years since Global Warming
debuted, its title has increasingly drawn new attention. Abels says, “At the time of its premiere, global warming
was not the politically charged term it is today. The piece was not written as a political statement, but its
political message has inevitably deepened as climate change has evolved from theory into reality.”169

Listening Guide 8: Global Warming – 1990

Michael Abels
Timeline

Form

Musical Features

0:00 Intro Sustained pianissimo dissonance in Violins I & II; percussionist scrapes guiro.
0:02 Solo violin cadenza (beginning with upward climb)
0:04 Solo violin plays series of double-stops, gradually descending.

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0:14 Solo cello cadenza (featuring double-stops)
0:24 Sforzando-piano sustained notes added by low strings and woodwinds.
0:27 Solo cello cadenza resumes (upward climb).
0:30 Solo violin cadenza resumes (upward climb).
0:33 Solo violin plays series of double-stops, gradually descending.
0:43 Solo cello cadenza resumes (featuring double-stops).
0:53 New sustained notes begin in low strings and woodwinds; gong is added.
0:55 Solo cello cadenza resumes (upward climb).
0:59 Solo violin cadenza resumes (upward climb, then descent).
1:14 Solo violin plays descending double-stops while cello plays upward climb, then double-stops.
1:30 Solo cello plays a series of three long tones (F), each preceded by a grace note.
1:36 A Marimba starts to play a syncopated pattern, mezzopiano.
1:42 Flute begins Irish-influenced melody in compound-duple meter and Dorian mode (with numerous grace
notes).
1:50 Oboe & flute play the Irish tune; bodhran joins the marimba in an interlocking pattern.
1:56 Oboe & clarinet play the Irish tune; steady chords added in harp.
2:06 Melody moves to flute and oboe.
2:19 Percussion continues while string instruments add a quiet pizzicato background.
2:26 Flute, oboe, & harp resume the Irish melody.
2:36 More woodwinds added to the melody
2:46 Piccolo added to the melody
3:02 More instruments added to melody; horns play sustained tones.
3:13 Lower woodwinds take over the melody; dynamic level drops.
3:18 Dynamic level starts to crescendo.

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 3:25 Strings play the melody ( forte); stopped horns and muted trumpets play sustained notes; triangle plays
accompaniment.
3:34 English horn & clarinet start a series of call-and-response patterns.
3:46 Violins I & II play the melody ( fortissimo); brass, percussion, low strings, and bassoons play short notes as
accompaniment.
3:55 High woodwinds and higher strings play the melody; accompanying instruments play faster pulses.
4:13 Full ensemble plays for the first time; a tambourine is prominent.
4:28 B Tambourine plays new Mixolydian-mode pattern in triple meter but with frequent hemiolas.
4:30 Oboe plays Middle-Eastern-influenced melody.
4:49 More high winds are added to melody; strings play pizzicato accompaniment.
5:11 New melody in lower woodwinds
-- B+A Characteristics of B and A gradually merge.
-- Coda Opening solo cello and violin cadenzas return, along with sustained dissonance, ending with a harp
glissando.

SECTION III SUMMARY from a Latin chant, Regina caeli laetare.

6 Composers have sought to express the feelings 6 Sumer is icumen in is nicknamed the “Reading
of various seasons via music, and depictions of Rota” (after the location of the abbey that
spring and summer often are very joyous. preserved the handwritten manuscript) and

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6 In the Middle Ages, starting around the ninth the “Summer Canon” (due to its celebration of
century, the Catholic Church began devising summer).
musical notation to standardize the worship 6 It is possible that this joyful secular piece
rituals. This meant that monks and nuns no was preserved around the year 1250 because
longer had to memorize thousands of sacred a sacred Latin poem had been devised that
chants. The handwritten manuscripts were would fit the rota’s melody.
expensive to produce, so the medieval church 6 Many features of the planet are cherished
rarely notated secular music, since it would not in “What a Wonderful World” (Listening
support church rituals. Example 7).
6 The earliest notated music was monophonic, 6 Louis Armstrong, who premiered the song,
but composers gradually experimented with had a rough upbringing, but his life began to
ways to produce counterpoint, usually by change when he was taught to play the cornet.
“sampling” (quoting) older chants and adding He followed a successful band leader, Joe
new material to them. It is possible that “King” Oliver, to Chicago, where he married
imitative polyphony—in the form of rounds— Lillian Hardin and started making his first
may have been improvised long before that recordings. His wife encouraged him to pursue
polyphonic music was ever notated. an independent career apart from Oliver and
6 The anonymous Sumer is icumen in (Listening also coached him in music theory.
Example 6), set in Old English, is a rare 6 Besides Armstrong’s mastery of cornet and
example of medieval secular polyphony. It trumpet, he also was an admired jazz singer.
blends two types of counterpoint: a rota, When he recorded “Hello, Dolly!” in 1964,
which was a term for round or canon, as well it pushed the Beatles and the Rolling Stones
as a rondellus, in which two (or more) voices aside to become a Number 1 hit, at the time
exchange melodic lines that are designed to making Armstrong the oldest performer ever to
harmonize with each other. reach that peak.
6 The rondellus melody may have been taken 6 Because Armstrong’s music was so popular

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 worldwide, the U.S. government wanted 6 Abels began exploring his Black heritage in
his help during the Cold War. He served as Los Angeles, singing with a gospel choir and
an unofficial—and later official—cultural taking courses in West African drumming.
ambassador, trying to bring diverse people He then worked as a music teacher and posted
together via a shared love of music. compositions to YouTube.
6 Armstrong’s reputation meant that he was the 6 His online music caught the attention of
desired singer when Bob Thiele (initially under filmmaker Jordan Peele, who wanted a Black
the alias “George Douglas”) and George David composer for his film Get Out (2017). Their
Weiss composed “What a Wonderful World.” successful collaboration led to two more
They wanted to record the “full of love” piece movies with Peele, and Abels has become an
as a ballad, supported by an orchestra and a A-list Hollywood composer.
chorus. 6 Abels has earned accolades for music beyond
6 The middle-of-the-night 1967 recording film scores. His 2022 opera Omar (co-composed
session in Las Vegas was interrupted multiple with Rhiannon Giddens) was awarded a Pulitzer
times, first by the president of Armstrong’s Prize, and he has had a prolific output of
new record company, who wanted an up-tempo successful concert music as well.
piece instead, and later by distant locomotives. 6 Global Warming is the 1990 piece that got
After the executive was ejected, he got his Abels’s career underway. It was commissioned
revenge by refusing to promote the recording by Abels’s longtime friend Smith for the youth
in the United States, even though its overseas orchestra in Phoenix, and Smith conducted
distributor was seeing tremendous sales. the premiere in 1991. It was professionally

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6 It was not until the song was included in the recorded in 2002 and has been performed by
1988 soundtrack for Good Morning, Vietnam more than two hundred ensembles.
that “What a Wonderful World” became a 6 The overture Global Warming was inspired
popular number in the United States. Eleven by the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse
years later, long after Armstrong’s death, it was of communism; Abels saw humanity
voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. experiencing greater warmth after the long
6 “What a Wonderful World” is in 32-bar “song years of the Cold War.
form” (A-A-B-A) and uses a different melodic 6 Abels blends three main atmospheres in Global
contour and contrasting harmonies in its Warming. For the introductory desert’s arid
bridge section (B). The A section’s melody environment, he employs a guiro to evoke the
bears a marked resemblance to “Twinkle sound of cicadas.
Twinkle Little Star.”
6 Grace notes in the cello hint at the Irish
6 Like his composition Global Warming section that follows (A). The Irish effect is
(Listening Example 8), Michael Abels reflects enhanced by the Dorian mode and the addition
a mixed heritage. He grew up with the white of a bodhran drum and a harp. Abels also
side of his family, and health issues meant uses mutes and stopped horn as the A section
much of his childhood was spent in Phoenix. builds to a climax.
6 Thanks to a close friendship with Mark Russell 6 The abrupt shift to an initially quiet B section
Smith, Abels started having excellent musical allows the Middle Eastern ambiance to develop
experiences at a very young age. In college, as well. It is supported by the Mixolydian
though, they went separate directions: Smith mode and the frequent use of hemiola, in
went to a conservatory, while Abels attended which the simple-triple meter briefly sounds
a university in Los Angeles to get a broader like compound-duple.
education.
6 Global Warming is a much-praised work that
6 Abels won a 1984 award for his senior has achieved greater political meaning as the
composition that employed two pianos and a climate crisis has intensified.
prepared piano.

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 Section IV
Words of Warning

Air pollution has been a problem for centuries.

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European study of human ecology.171 Ecology is a field
of biology that examines the relationships between
organisms and their physical environment.172
Different aspects of the natural world have been
targeted for protection although the process is often
slow. The British monarch King Edward I banned
the burning of coal in London in 1306 because of
the noxious smoke it produced. Over five hundred
years later, air quality was still a concern in England,
and a royal commission was launched to investigate
“noxious vapors” that various industrial factories were
producing, since witnesses were reporting “damage to
trees, crops, vegetation and human health.”173 However,
there was resistance to the commission’s findings
Hippocrates wrote the first known study of ecology in the because addressing the issues would often come at a
fourth century bce. financial cost. It was not until 1956 that Britain passed
a “Clean Air Act”; the United States followed with its
It is impossible to know when humans first became own act in 1963, which was strengthened in 1970.174
aware of the need to protect their natural environment,
but evidence for this concern can be found dating In the English-speaking world, writers began having
back many centuries. In 450 bce, the ancient Greek an environmental impact in the nineteenth century.
philosopher Zeno declared, “The goal of life is living Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Nature (1835) proposed
in agreement with nature.”170 Around the fourth limits on how much humanity should expand into
century bce, Hippocrates, nicknamed the “Father of the wilderness. His views influenced Henry David
Medicine,” wrote De aëre, aquis, et locis (“Air, Waters, Thoreau to write Walden; or Life in the Woods (1854),
and Places”), which is regarded as the oldest surviving which detailed his experiences during a two-year

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John Muir (right) and President Theodore Roosevelt stand in
front of Yosemite Valley, c. 1906.

stay at Walden Pond; his essay inspired many later

environmentalists.175 John Muir began publishing
essays about the Sierra Nevada mountain range in
1872, leading to the foundation of the Sierra Club in
1892.176 In that same time span, the first national parks

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and monuments began to be established in the United
States, starting with Yellowstone in 1872, followed by Biologist Rachel Carson published the influential Silent Spring
Sequoia in 1890, and, as noted in Section II, the Grand in 1962.
Canyon in 1908. The National Park Service itself was
created in 1916. environmental concerns continued to move to the
forefront of public awareness. The artist Ron Cobb
YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’VE (1937−2020) devised an “ecology” symbol in 1969
(Figure 4-1), publishing his effort in the Los Angeles
GOT ʼTIL IT’S GONE Free Press on November 7. His symbol combined a
A twentieth-century writer, Rachel Carson, had a huge lower-case “e” (for “environment”) with an “o” (for
public impact. She published Silent Spring in 1962, “organism”); the unbroken elliptical outer line of the
which meticulously documented the horrific effects of “e” represented the planetary orbit, while the round
the chemical pesticide DDT. She demonstrated “how nature of the inner “o” was a symbol for unity and
DDT entered the food chain and accumulated in the wholeness.180
fatty tissues of animals, including human beings,
and caused cancer and genetic damage.”177 Despite A few months after the publication of the ecology
enormous pushback from the chemical industry, the symbol, a U.S. senator, Gaylord Nelson, wanted
President’s Science Advisory Committee vindicated
Carson’s findings, and DDT was eventually banned.
Her work had an even broader legacy, however:
people were beginning to understand that “nature was FIGURE 4–1
vulnerable to human intervention,” and that, “at times,
technological progress is so fundamentally at odds
with natural processes that it must be curtailed.”178
Some see the subsequent widespread acceptance of the
need to regulate industry in order to protect the planet
as the birth of environmentalism.179
Ron Cobb’s “ecology” symbol.
Following the publication of Carson’s book,

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 the forefront of the public’s consciousness in 1970
soon found their way into popular music and onto the
Billboard Top 100 chart as well.

Paving Paradise
One of the artists who responded to the growing
concerns for the natural world was Joni Mitchell (b.
1943). For the first fourteen years of her life, however,
she would not have recognized either part of that
name: she was christened Roberta Joan Anderson, and
although she used her middle name all through her
childhood in Canada, she did not adopt the nickname
“Joni” until she reached high school in 1957.183 The
The University of Michigan was just one of the 1,500 college “Mitchell” surname came eight years later, from her
campuses taking part in the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970. brief marriage to the folk singer Chuck Mitchell (b.
1936).184
to promote a series of informal lectures on college
campuses to raise awareness of environmental Although Joni Mitchell’s earliest interests had been
issues. A volunteer for that campaign, Julien Koenig, in painting and poetry, she began performing folk
suggested the term “Earth Day,” while the date of music in 1963.185 Folk music and protest activities had
April 22, 1970, was selected because that was Koenig’s become intertwined in the late 1960s, led by singers
birthday (which rhymed with “earth day”). On April such as Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, and the

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21, Look Magazine published an article about the group Peter, Paul and Mary.186 Early on, Mitchell
upcoming event and illustrated the article with a flag regarded herself as a “competent mimic” of Baez and
that combined Cobb’s ecology symbol with stripes Judy Collins; she felt music was “just a hobby” and did
modeled on the American flag (Figure 4-2). not think she “had the gift to take it any further than
that.”187 It took an unplanned pregnancy to spur her
into song-writing, and the eventual decision to give up
the baby for adoption only increased her need to write
FIGURE 4–2 music.188
Before Mitchell recorded her own first album, many
of her earliest songs were performed and recorded by
other people.189 To capitalize on her growing song-
writing expertise, she set up a publishing company for
her compositions. Its name—Siquomb Publishing—is
an acronym for “She Is Queen Undisputedly Of Mind
Beauty.”190 Soon, though, she was ready to assemble
an album in which she sang her works herself. After
a move to Los Angeles, she released Joni Mitchell
(Song to a Seagull) in 1968. Although it was only
The “ecology flag.” modestly successful, a Rolling Stone reviewer called
it a “good debut.”191 She followed it with Clouds the
next year; that album included “Both Sides Now” and
To the organizers’ surprise, the first Earth Day far “Chelsea Morning,” two songs by Mitchell that had
exceeded their hopes. In addition to 1,500 colleges and been previously performed by other artists. Clouds did
universities, about 10,000 grade schools participated in much better than her first album, rising to Number 31
the celebration, as well as hundreds of communities.181 on the Billboard charts.192 It also led to Mitchell’s first
Approximately twenty million people took part in Grammy award, for “Best Folk Performance.”193
1970, and “Earth Day” continues to be an annual
event.182 The environmental concerns that were at When the Grammy winners were announced on

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 Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell continues to be honored for
her lifetime of work.
The pink Royal Hawaiian Hotel was referenced in Joni
March 11, 1970, Mitchell’s third album Ladies of the Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi.”
Canyon was nearly complete, and it was released in I arrived there at 11 o’clock at night and the
April.194 Its title referred to Laurel Canyon, a bohemian next morning I ran to the window and threw
neighborhood in Southern California where Mitchell back the curtains and sure enough, there it
had settled in 1969.195 Ladies of the Canyon employed was, paradise, you know, green, lush hills,
a richer array of tone colors than the previous two old Sugarloaf Mountain up there, white birds

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albums: Mitchell again sang and played the piano, flying low, Myna birds all over the place,
guitar, and dulcimer, but she also added cello, clarinet, and, right in the middle of it all, was a big
flute, baritone saxophone, percussion, and even a choir parking lot [laughing]. So I wrote this little
of voices to various tracks.196 rock and roll song to commemorate the
Ladies of the Canyon did even better than Clouds, occasion. It’s called “Big Yellow Taxi,” or,
reaching Number 27 in the United States, and rising alternately, “They Paved Paradise and Put
to Number 8 in Great Britain. One of its tracks, “Big in a Parking Lot.”200
Yellow Taxi” (Listening Example 9), was released as Mitchell’s reference to “Sugarloaf Mountain” (Pu‘u
a single as well, and it, too, enjoyed a great deal of Koa‘e) implies that she was on the island of Maui, but
success: it reached Number 67 on the U.S. Billboard other lyrics (see Listening Guide 9) refer to sights in
rankings and peaked as Number 11 in England.197 Honolulu. The “pink hotel,” for example, is almost
Like Armstrong’s recording of “What a Wonderful certainly the Royal Hawaiian Resort, which has hosted
World” (Listening Example 7), Mitchell’s album guests since 1927.201 Mitchell also seems to have been
enjoyed strong overseas sales; it went gold in the startled by the Foster Botanical Garden in Honolulu,
United Kingdom, selling a million copies.198 Readers which charges an entrance fee to see its trees; she
of Britain’s leading music magazine, Melody Maker, dubbed this the “tree museum” in the song’s poetry.202
voted Mitchell the top female performer of the year.199
The “misguided destruction of ‘paradise’ for the sake of
Unlike most of the songs on the album, “Big Yellow money” is not the only environmental concern raised in
Taxi” had a very different source of inspiration than the lyrics.203 Mitchell also references DDT, urging that
Mitchell’s Laurel Canyon neighborhood. Before it not be used in agriculture—a timely concern, since it
singing the song in a concert on November 29, 1969, would still be two more years before the United States
Mitchell told the audience: would ban the pesticide.204 She pleads, “Leave me the
Two weekends ago I went to Hawaii. It was birds and bees”—a theme that will be heard in many
my first time there and I was only there for of the upcoming songs of Section IV. The “big yellow
two days which was kind of a bummer, I wish taxi” itself does not make an appearance until the last
I could’ve really seen more of the island and verse, when the vehicle takes away Mitchell’s “old man”
(boyfriend). The repeated line “you don’t know what

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you’ve got // till it’s gone” turns personal at that point, Taxi” led Mitchell to dub its upbeat style as “Ecology
rather than fretting about losses in the natural world. rock ’n’ roll.”205
Still, overall, the environmental topics of “Big Yellow

LISTENING COMPANION 9: “Big Yellow Taxi” (1970) –Joni Mitchell

Mitchell’s folk style had indeed been shifting to a more rock-influenced approach. Mitchell attributed the
change to the company she was keeping: “My music now is becoming more rhythmic. It’s because I’m in Los
Angeles and my friends are mostly rock ’n’ roll people, and being influenced by that rhythm.”206 Still, she
used an acoustic guitar on the recording rather than an electric guitar, which is more characteristic of rock,
and there were some unusual percussion tone colors: congas, gourd, and finger cymbals.207 The album credits
the “bop vocal” singing (the “woo, pa-pa-pa-pa” nonsense syllables) to “The Saskatunes,” but the actual
singing was all done by Mitchell herself using multi-tracking, which means that she assembled several
recordings and combined them to play simultaneously. The term “over-dubbing” is often used as well.208
The name of her fictional vocal ensemble was a tribute to her Saskatchewan upbringing.
“Big Yellow Taxi” exemplifies the verse-chorus form discussed in Section I of this Resource Guide, which is
a very common structure in rock and other styles of popular music. Like the B section of “What a Wonderful
World” (Listening Example 7), Mitchell creates contrast by shifting the harmony during each chorus, along
with changes in the guitar’s strumming pattern and the number of accompanying instruments. Moreover,
she uses the uncommon Mixolydian mode during portions of the chorus, similar to the B section of Global

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Warming (Listening Example 8). When she gets to the chorus’s phrase “it’s gone,” she makes a large disjunct
jump downward to the leading tone, putting extra stress on those words of warning.
Mitchell has called “Big Yellow Taxi” a “nursery rhyme,” but she also regards it as a “good little workhouse
of a song” that has “got some content.”209 In fact, she revisited it in several subsequent albums. She released
a “live” version in 1974 on her Miles of Aisles album (recordings made during various performances during
her touring, rather than in a studio), and this second release—with a saxophone solo added to the structure as
well as a reference to a “big yellow tractor”—did even better on the Billboard charts, reaching the Number
24 spot.210 Then, in 1995, Reprise Records issued a single-disc CD that contained seven different versions of
“Big Yellow Taxi”:
1. Radio Mix
2. “Friends” Album Version [“Traffic Jam Mix”] (as performed on the Friends TV show)
3. Late Night Club Mix
4. N.Y. Cab to Club Mix
5. Double Espresso NRG Mix (NRG = “energy”)
6. Tribal Dub
7. Original A Cappella with Guitar
The new mixes were well received, putting Mitchell on Billboard’s dance music charts for the first time.211
Yet another arrangement was included on Mitchell’s 2007 Shine album.
In addition, a host of other performers have recorded their own covers of “Big Yellow Taxi.” (A “cover” is a
recording or performance of a piece by someone other than the first person to introduce the work.) Mitchell’s
official website maintains a list of the “Big Yellow Taxi” covers; as of January 2024, there had been 575
different versions.212 In 1996, BMI (Broadcast Music Inc.) awarded a certificate to Mitchell that verified there
had been a million licensed performances of “Big Yellow Taxi.”213 Moreover, Mitchell told an interviewer in

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2019 that it “is a powerful little song because there have been cases in a couple of cities of parking lots being
torn up and turned into parks because of it.”214 It is comforting to think that sometimes, something that has
been lost can be regained.

Listening Guide 9: “Big Yellow Taxi” – 1970

Joni Mitchell
Timeline

Form

Text Musical and Textual Features

0:00 Intro Acoustic guitar

0:06 Percussion is added.
0:11 Verse
They paved paradise Disjunct melody rises and falls in major mode.
And put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique
And a swinging hot spot.
0:22 Chorus Don’t it always seem to go Guitar strumming pattern changes; bass prolongs the
That you don’t know what you’ve got dominant harmony (mixture of major and Mixolydian).
Till it’s gone?

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They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot.
0:31 Woo, pa-pa-pa-pa, Multi-tracked “back-up singers” interject nonsense
Woo, pa-pa-pa-pa. syllables (note: the sheet music specifies “woo” for the
first syllable, but the chorus seems to say “choo” on
the recording).
0:36 Verse
They took all the trees Pattern of first verse/chorus continues.
Put ’em in a tree museum
And they charged the people
A dollar and a half just to see ’em.
0:47 Chorus Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till it’s gone?
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot.
0:56 Woo, pa-pa-pa-pa,
Woo, pa-pa-pa-pa.
1:01 Verse Hey farmer farmer
Put away that DDT now
Give me spots on my apples
But leave me the birds and the bees.
1:11 Please! Melisma on high note

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 1:12 Chorus Don’t it always seem to go Pattern of first verse/chorus continues.
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till it’s gone?
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot.
1:21 Woo, pa-pa-pa-pa,
Woo, pa-pa-pa-pa.
1:27 Verse Late last night
I heard the screen door slam
And a big yellow taxi
Took away my old man
1:38 Chorus Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till it’s gone?
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot.
1:47 Woo, pa-pa-pa-pa.
1:49 Coda Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till it’s
1:55 gone? Short fermata

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1:57 They paved paradise Return to steady tempo
And put up a parking lot.
2:00 Woo, pa-pa-pa-pa.
2:03 They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot.
2:05 Woo, pa-pa-pa-pa.
2:08 They paved paradise Sung in upper register
2:10 And put up a parking lot. Sung in lower register
2:11 [laughs] Guitar cadences.

POISON IS THE WIND THAT BLOWS long-standing nickname for Detroit and its history of
Environmental messages continued to intensify in the automobile manufacturing.216 Gordy himself had worked
1970s, but not everyone thought this was promising for Ford as a young man, and it directly affected his
material for entertainment. In fact, when the singer business model for Motown Records:
Marvin Gaye (1939–84) wanted to produce an album My own dream for a hit factory was . . . a
with protest songs, Motown head Berry Gordy, Jr. concept that had been shaped by principles I
(b. 1929) exclaimed, “Why do you want to ruin your had learned on the Lincoln-Mercury assembly
career?”215 line. At the plant the cars started out as just
a frame, pulled along on conveyor belts until
Gaye Goes Green they emerged at the end of the line—brand
“Motown” refers to “Motown Records,” a label founded
spanking new cars rolling off the line. I
in 1959 by Gordy in Detroit, Michigan. The initial name
wanted the same concept for my company,
of the record company was Tamla Records, but Gordy
only with artists and songs and records. I
renamed it a year later as a tribute to “Motor City,” a
wanted a place where a kid off the street could

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 Marvin Gaye’s recording of “I Heard It Through the
Grapevine” stayed at Number 1 for almost two months in
Motown Records head Berry Gordy, Jr., watches Diana Ross 1968.

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and the Supremes during a recording session.
quarrels within the denomination led him to pull away
walk in one door an unknown and come out and turn to alcohol.222 Still, he held fast to the House
another a recording artist—a star.217 of God’s view that secular music was sinful, especially
Gordy erected a sign over Motown’s Detroit office that because of its associations with drugs and sexuality—
read “Hitsville U.S.A.,” telling a friend that the label so his son’s growing success as a popular singer was
“expressed what I want it to be—a hip name for a another source of tension in a family that already had
factory where hits are going to be built.”218 its internal pressures.223 Sadly, a quarrel between father
and son in 1984 resulted in the shooting death of the
Motown Records specialized in rhythm and blues, younger Marvin.224
often just called R&B, which had shifting meanings
in the twentieth century. Originally a broad blanket Some twenty-three years before that unfortunate
term for recordings by non-white performers, by the demise, Marvin Gaye had connected with Motown,
late 1950s it had come to designate Black music with where his rise was slow but steady. He married one of
energetic and hard-swinging rhythms that made it Gordy’s sisters, Anna, in 1963 (he was twenty; she was
suitable for dancing.219 thirty-seven), and she helped to promote his career.225
One of his first hits was “How Sweet It Is (To Be
Gordy’s vision for Motown’s “factory” soon became a Loved By You)” (1964), and his recording of “I Heard
reality, and one beneficiary of the musical production It Through the Grapevine,” released in 1968, became
line was Marvin Gaye. Gaye had grown up singing the biggest hit that Motown had ever experienced. It
gospel at church in a small religious sect called “The remained at the top of the pop singles chart for seven
House of God, the Holy Church of the Living God, The weeks.226 Motown recordings also held the next two
Pillar and Ground of the Truth, the House of Prayer positions on the chart, and no other label made it into
for All People.”220 The church mixes doctrine from the top three positions for a month.227 “Grapevine’s”
“orthodox Judaism and Pentecostal Christianity” and opening bars soon “became some of the best known in
does not celebrate either Christmas or Easter.221 Gaye’s pop.”228
father, Marvin Gay, Sr. (his son later added an “e” to
his last name), initially preached for the church, but Ironically, though, Berry Gordy had blocked the release
of “Grapevine” for over a year, arguing that it was too

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innovative and did not fit Gaye’s current image as a
romantic singer. It is true that the recording has a “low,
swampy beat with a sinister tambourine shake [that]
amplified the theme of rumour and insinuation.”229
Two years later, Gaye had recorded the single “What’s
Going On,” a protest piece that was again far removed
from the love songs that had built Gaye’s early
reputation—and Gordy’s reaction was to call it “the
worst thing I’ve ever heard in my life,” so he blocked
the release.230 Others at the record label were upset
that Gaye’s self-produced recording did not follow
the standard Motown practices, so a frustrated Gaye
refused to do any more recording for the label. When
months had gone by with no new Marvin Gaye singles
reaching the airwaves, Motown executives released
“What’s Going On” in January 1971 without Gordy’s
knowledge (he was out of town). Within one day,
Motown had received orders for a hundred thousand
copies, and the song reached the number two position
on the Billboard pop chart.231

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After the demonstrated success of Gaye’s new approach, Marvin Gaye in 1973, two years after releasing “Mercy Mercy
Motown begged him to complete his dream of a full Me (The Ecology).”
“protest” album, What’s Going On, that would include
the single. Gaye used this opportunity as the chance to it also listed all the performing musicians.236 In the liner
reconcile much of his R&B approach with the gospel notes, Gaye thanked many people, including his “wife
style that he had learned as a child, as well as the Anna for buggin’ me into working . . . or else I wouldn’t
innovations he had tried on “What’s Going On,” such do nothin’ I guess but test shade trees.”237 (He thanked
as multi-tracking various voices in the background. her for “provoking his thought process” as well.) The
The album’s various songs addressed themes of “war, notes also contained a religious message from Gaye
peace, ecology, politics, economics, [and] salvation,” urging listeners to “fight the forces of hatred and evil,”
leaving behind the “rock ’n’ romance” that had been to follow the biblical Ten Commandments, and to “love
characteristic of so many of Gaye’s earlier recordings.232 the Lord, be thankful, feel peace.”238
Yet, as reviewers would later remark, “the overall effect
was uplifting, inspiring, and humanizing.”233 It also What’s Going On demonstrated Marvin Gaye’s
garnered Gaye new respect: a reporter for Rolling Stone, “conceptualization and creation of an album as a unified
Vance Aletti, wrote, “There are very few performers whole.”239 The first side of the original LP (vinyl) format
who could carry a project like this off. I’ve always contained six songs, while the reverse contained three:
admired Marvin Gaye, but I didn’t expect him to be Side One
one of them. Guess I seriously underestimated him. It 1. What’s Going On
won’t happen again.”234 A fellow Motown artist, Smokey 2. What’s Happening Brother
Robinson, regarded What’s Going On as “Marvin 3. Flyin’ High (In the Friendly Sky)
Gaye’s masterpiece, the greatest album, in my opinion, 4. Save the Children
ever made by anyone.”235 5. God is Love
The What’s Going On album was released on May 6. Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)
21, 1971, and in addition to the novelty of its blended Side Two
musical styles, it broke away from many of the record 1. Right On
label’s past practices. For the first time in Motown’s 2. Wholy Holy
history, the album included lyrics for each of the songs;

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 3. Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) “Inner City Blues” reached Number 9 on the pop
charts in September 1971, joining “Mercy Mercy Me
The six songs on the first side form a suite that “flows (The Ecology)” (Listening Example 10), which had
like a dream, its twists and turns cushioned by the climbed to the Number 4 spot three months earlier.
simultaneously lush and rhythmically enhanced Both songs also had become Number 1 hits on the
surround sound.”240 Nevertheless, two more of the R&B charts, and their combined sales as singles
selections (in addition to the earlier single release of reached four million copies.241
“What’s Going On”) became independent hit singles:

LISTENING COMPANION 10: “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” (1971) –

Marvin Gaye
Even though “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)”
concluded the album’s first-side suite, its success
as a single demonstrated that it stood apart.
Coming from a Motown artist, its subject matter
made a particular impression. As writer Corey
Irwin notes, “When Marvin Gaye addressed
pollution in his 1971 hit single ‘Mercy Mercy Me,’
he became one of the first R&B singers to ever

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address environmental issues in a song.”242 Many
published discussions of the piece have quoted
one of the musicians on the album, keyboardist
Earl van Dyke, who said, “Berry Gordy didn’t Marvin Gaye employed a Mellotron to create the “operatic”
understand the word ‘ecology.’ He had to have it voice at the end of “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology).”
explained to him.” However, researcher Ben
243

Edmonds notes that Gordy had agreed in 1970 to distribute Sammy Davis, Jr.’s short-lived label “Ecology
Records,” so his education might actually have come a little earlier than Gaye’s song.244
Motown employed many talented songwriters, but “Mercy Mercy Me” was the only piece on the What’s
Going On album to be written solely by Gaye.245 Although it is a straightforward strophic form (with
an extensive coda), some of its distinctiveness came from some very uncommon tone colors. One of the
unusual sounds is a woodblock heard at the very start. Percussionist Jack Ashford (b. 1934) described the
circumstances:
On Mercy Mercy Me I tried out this block I’d just gotten. It was wooden and shaped like a tube. It
was concave, with a middle section that had a hole, ’bout one inch in diameter, running all the way
through it. I’ve got very big hands, so when I cupped it and hit it, you got that very unusual pow
pow pow sound you hear on that record. It came out that way because my hand was acting as an
echo chamber. That gave it such a sound! Marvin had been looking for some different textures, and
when he first heard it he screamed, “That’s it!” I can’t tell you how many people I’ve talked to over
the years who’ve begged me to tell ’em how I got that sound. Because you’ll never hear a sound
like it on any other record. That block was unique; somebody stole it from me, so that was the one
and only time I got to use it.246
Gaye experimented with another tone color—the Mellotron—during the coda of “Mercy Mercy Me.” This
early electronic keyboard instrument (manufactured between 1964 and 1986) was, in essence, an analogue
sampler, since it relied on pre-recorded sounds.247 One of its most famous appearances was in the flute-
like opening of “Strawberry Fields Forever,” a 1967 hit recorded by the Beatles. Gaye used the Mellotron’s

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operatic voice sample at the end of “Mercy Mercy Me,” giving it an almost other-worldly conclusion.248
“Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” has long been respected for its effective musical scoring that enticed
listeners into hearing its environmental message. Like “Big Yellow Taxi,” it worries about the animals and
birds, and it also frets about air and oil pollution, radiation, and the “overcrowded land.” One music critic,
Dave Walsh, declared that it was “the greatest piece of music ever written in favor of the survival of the
environment on the greatest Black pop album ever made.”249 Others might not be quite as effusive, but there
is no disagreement that the song well deserves the recognition it received in 2002, when it was inducted into
the Grammy Hall of Fame.250

Listening Guide 10: “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” – 1971

Marvin Gaye
Timeline

Form

Text Musical and Textual Features

0:00 Intro Steady background pulse with woodblock; moderato

tempo
0:10 A Woah-oh, oh mercy, mercy me
Oh, things ain’t what they used to be, no no

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Where did all the blue skies go?
Poison is the wind that blows from the North
and South and East
0:32 A (Father) Woah-oh, mercy, mercy me (Ah, Gospel choir in background singing “ooh”; Gaye inserts
mercy) over-dubbed text (in parentheses); same background
Oh, things ain’t what they used to be, no no persists until coda.
(Have mercy, Father)
Oil wasted on the oceans and upon our seas
(Have mercy, please have mercy, Father)
Fish full of mercury (Please have mercy,
Father)
0:53 A Oh oh, oh mercy, mercy me (Help us, Father,
have mercy, please help us, Father)
Oh, things ain’t what they used to be, no no
(Have mercy, you oughta help us, Father)
Radiation underground and in the sky (Please
have mercy, ah, help us, Father)
Animals and birds who live nearby are dying
(Oh, please help us, Father, Father, help us,
Father)
1:13 A Oh, mercy, mercy me (Have mercy, mmm,
mercy, Father)
Oh, things ain’t what they used to be (Please
have mercy, ah, mercy, Father)
What about this overcrowded land? (Have
mercy, Father, oh, have mercy, Father)
How much more abuse from man can she
stand? (Please have mercy, mmm)

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 1:31 Coda Ooh, ooh, oh no, no, na, na, na, na Sustained string sounds added
My sweet Lord, na, na, na
My, my Lord, my sweet Lord
Breathe
1:53 Saxophone solo; chorus sings “ooh” in background.
2:12 Downward glissando in piano
2:33 Gospel chorus drops out; saxophone becomes more
prominent.
2:44 Instruments & Mellotron (resembling an operatic
soprano voice) hold a fermata.
2:47 Mellotron plays a rubato wavering line, punctuated by
percussion, piano, & bass.
3:03 Diminuendo to end

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From left to right, the five members of Radiohead: Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Ed O’Brien,
and Philip Selway.

POST-MODERN ANXIETY Yorke (b. 1968), drummer Philip “Phil” Selway (b.
Despite Marvin Gaye’s 1971 plea for heavenly help 1967), guitarist and backing vocalist Edward “Ed”
with the environment, the planet has continued to O’Brien (b. 1968), bass guitarist Colin Greenwood (b.
suffer various ecological disasters, and thus music 1969), and Colin’s younger brother Jonathan “Jonny”
has continued to address environmental problems. In Greenwood (b. 1971), also a guitar and keyboard player.
particular, climate change has been an important theme Jonny was only thirteen when he joined the group.251
for many composers, some of whom—like Gaye—have The band—initially called “On a Friday”—played
used their music to explore new devices as well. their first official show at an Oxford club in 1987.
However, they seldom performed over the next three
Ice Age Coming . . . years because the demands of college life limited their
A striking example of an environmental message within
time together. Gradually, in 1991, they started to fill
musical and technological experiments appeared in
up their performance calendar again.252 They changed
Radiohead’s 2000 recording “Idioteque” (Listening
their name to “Radiohead” in 1992 after they had
Example 11). Radiohead is an English band comprised
signed with the record label EMI, taking the name
of five musicians who met in public school in the mid-
from the title of a song by the Talking Heads. A year
1980s: guitarist and lead vocalist Thomas “Thom”
later, they had their first American hit with the single

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“Creep” from their first album Pablo Honey.253 The solution came at the suggestion of the band’s
producer, Nigel Godrich (b. 1971). Yorke had been
Their style kept evolving in their recordings. Their the main songwriter for their earlier albums, but
earliest material resembled the grunge music of the Godrich proposed that the next album should be a
band Nirvana, but they started to go their own way “six-piece group project.”256 Godrich split the band
with their next two albums, The Bends (1995) and OK into two groups: one group was responsible for
Computer (1997). The latter recording was voted best creating sequences of sounds, and the other group
album ever made by the readers of Q magazine, and would use that material to craft something full-
it won the Best Alternative Music Album award at bodied. It was a long process, but by April 2000, the
the 1998 Grammys.254 But the band was dissatisfied. band had developed enough material to fill two full
Colin Greenwood told an interviewer, “After the OK albums.257 Those two albums—Kid A (2000) and
Computer tour we felt we had to change everything. Amnesiac (2001)—reflected a new blend of “electronic/
There were other guitar bands out there trying to do orchestral/big band” techniques.258
similar things. We had to move on.”255

LISTENING COMPANION 11: “Idioteque” (2000) – Thomas Yorke, Philip

Selway, Edward O’Brien, Colin Greenwood, Jonathan Greenwood
(Radiohead), and Paul Lansky
Jonny Greenwood was responsible for the first

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layer of material that would become “Idioteque,”
the eighth track of Kid A. As he explained in a
radio interview, he started by building a drum
machine
out of very old style synthesizers. [Kind]
of using the same things that I suppose the
Roland technicians would have had in 1978 or
whatever, to decide how to make something
sound like a snare drum out of white noise
and how to create the sound of a bass drum,
a kick drum out of filters. We basically built a
drum machine, and I played a record on top,
at random, and had a radio playing, and was
Bunkers come in many different configurations.
just trying to generate all this chaos over this
drum pattern.259
The drum pattern (see Figure 4-3) is a
persistent ostinato in “Idioteque,” which
FIGURE 4–3 is a customary feature of electronic
dance music (EDM). In fact, although
the band members have been silent about
the meaning of the title, theorist Brad
Osborn believes that the syllable “-teque”
refers to “discothèque,” alerting listeners
that this is a dance piece.260 Others,
Synthesized drum machine ostinato.
however, regard it as being an example of

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intelligent dance music (IDM), arguing
that it is a type of electronic music meant
for home listening rather than dancing.261 FIGURE 4–4
The “chaos” that Greenwood created
had a very long history. In 1859,
Richard Wagner (1813–83) wrote a
music drama—a type of opera—titled
Tristan und Isolde. During the work’s
prelude, Wagner composed what is
now nicknamed the “Tristan chord”: a
four-note dissonant harmony that, when
it first appears, consists of the pitches F, Wagner’s Tristan chord.
B, D♯, and G♯ (see Figure 4-4). It is a
much-discussed chord because Wagner
does not resolve it in a way that listeners might expect.
Over a century later, during a period of months in 1972–3, the composer Paul Lansky (b. 1944) used those
notes as the foundation for his first computer piece, mild und leise, deriving its title from an aria in Tristan und
Isolde. He respelled F with its enharmonic equivalent, E♯, and saw that he could arrange the pitches as [E♯-
G♯] and [B-D♯], with a minor third interval between the first two notes and a major third interval between the
second pair; the distance between G♯ and B is also a minor third. In mild und leise, Lansky decided to build

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a new network of two major thirds separated by a minor third: [E♭-G] and [B♭-D]. Lansky was pleased with
the sound, and in 1974, he entered the piece in the International Electronic Music Competition. As one of the
winners, mild und leise was included in a 1976 LP recording, Electronic Music Winners.262
Many years later, Jonny Greenwood picked up a copy of the LP in a used-record shop in the U.S., and he
added many of the recording’s sounds to the “chaos” that he layered on top of his drum ostinato; his overall
creation lasted about fifty minutes. He handed over his sprawling work to Yorke, and Yorke’s ear was caught
by a forty-second stretch during which Greenwood had sampled mild und leise.263 Yorke extracted that chord
series and used it as another ostinato in “Idioteque,” shown in Figure 4-5.
As “Idioteque” came into focus, Greenwood realized that the sampled chords—which played a major role in
the song—were the intellectual property of Lansky, so he tracked him down at Princeton University, where

FIGURE 4–5

Ostinato based on Lansky chords.

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Lansky was a professor of music composition. Greenwood was anxious to assure Lansky that Radiohead was
“not the sort to take things without asking.”264 The older composer quickly agreed to let the group use the
sample, and the final composition now lists Lansky as co-author.
The drum ostinato that opens “Idioteque” is distinctive, and in an online diary, fellow band member Ed
O’Brien repeatedly referred to the in-process piece as “Thom and Jonny’s Drum Thing.”265 If you look again
at Figure 4-3, you will notice that it has been transcribed in ^ meter. The actual song, however, is in 44 time—
so the drum pattern occupies 1.5 measures each time it is heard, creating a subtle off-balance sensation. And,
if you look again at Figure 4-5, you will see that the chord progression is five measures long, so the drum
pattern and the chords pull the listener two different ways. Allan F. Moore and Anwar Ibrahim point out that
“this degree of irregularity is found very seldom on [Radiohead’s] first two albums.”266
During the opening measures of the drum machine solo, the score calls for fx, which is slang for “effects.”
These are artificially created or enhanced sounds. However, just before the mild und leise chords make their
first appearance, a quick metallic fx is heard; its rhythm is shown in Figure 4-6. This insertion is another
sample from the same old LP that Greenwood had found; it is a tiny snippet from Arthur Kreiger’s (1945–
2023) “Short Piece” (1974).267 Despite the brevity of this excerpt, Greenwood sought Kreiger’s permission
to use it as well. A note in the Kid A album sleeve lists the publication credits for both electronic pieces
with the assurance: “Both samples are used with the kind permission of the composers and the Sony Music
Corporation.”268 Not all sampling artists are as conscientious with their borrowing!
When it came to the text, Yorke created a mosaic of anxious

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postmodern images. As a member of Friends of the Earth,
FIGURE 4–6 he has a particular concern for humanity’s treatment of our
environment.269 The sometimes-unsettling combination of rhythm
and chords in “Idioteque” is well-suited to the postapocalyptic
images of its poetry. The vocal line also enhances the sense
of stress. During the chorus, Yorke sings in a higher tessitura,
which “lends an air of hysteria” to the section.270 As biographer
Dan Caffrey notes, “Beyond squeezing into a bunker, there’s no
Sample from Kreiger’s “Short Piece.” complex planning to cope with the apocalypse. Instead, everyone
sounds panicked and, most likely, doomed.”271
The way that the poetry coordinates with the melody also serves the mood. Several examples of melismatic
text-setting occur during the chorus, indicated by underlining in Listening Guide 11. Most of the time,
poetry in songs is performed by means of syllabic text-setting, with one note for each syllable. In a melisma,

FIGURE 4–7

Syllabic and melismatic text setting.

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however, a syllable is extended over several different pitches. Figure 4-7 illustrates the two text-settings:
the first six syllables (“ev- / ’ry- / thing / all / of / the”) are each set to a single pitch. (Remember that two
notes tied together are considered to be a single note.) Then, the syllable “time” undulates its way downward
through eight notes. That prolonged melisma resembles a wail.
“Idioteque” employs another method of emphasizing the text by dropping certain patterns at unexpected
moments. In the second verse, when the singer starts to fret about the “Ice Age coming,” all the other sounds
except a drum beat disappear.272 During the outro—another word for “coda”—various timbres come and go,
with distant shrieks heard at times. It becomes evident that “the safety of the bunker is a metaphor for the
false sense of security of modern society.”273
The song is an eerie, evocative expression of fear about a world that is collapsing while people ignore the
problems by listening to their mobile phones or by taking the money and running. “Idioteque” also has had
staying power; in 2021, Rolling Stone ranked it as Number 48 in its “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” listing,
calling it the “foreboding, spellbinding centerpiece of Kid A, a squinting image of dystopia set to a glacially
slamming beat.”274 As Caffrey puts it, “That’s what ‘Idioteque’ manages to capture—feeling so helpless that you
can’t do anything but throw your hands in the air and flail around. Call it dancing if it makes you feel better.”275

Listening Guide 11: “Idioteque” – 2000

Radiohead: Thomas Yorke; Philip Selway; Edward O’Brien; Colin Greenwood;
Jonathan Greenwood / Paul Lansky

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Timeline

Form

Text Musical and Textual Features

0:00 Intro Syncopated electronic drum beat ostinato with long bass
notes and other fx
0:11 Brief rhythmic insertion from “Short Piece”
0:12 Sustained mid-range “mild und leise” chords added
0:39 Rapid background pulse added & mid-range pitches cease.
0:59 Verse
Who’s in a bunker? Who’s in a bunker? Mid-range “mild und leise” chords resume.
Women and children first
And the children first, and the children.
I laugh until my head comes off,
I swallow ’til I burst
Until
1:14 I burst, until I. A second voice starts to harmonize with soloist.
1:17 Who’s in a bunker? Who’s in a bunker? Second voice continues harmonizing.
I have seen too much,
I haven’t seen enough, you haven’t seen it.
I laugh until my head comes off,
Women and children first,
And children first, and children.
1:34 Chorus Here I’m allowed, Higher tessitura; long melisma on “time”
Ev’rything all of the time.
1:44 Here I’m allowed,
Ev’rything all of the time.

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 1:51 Verse Ice Age coming, ice age coming, Only solo voice and drum beat
Let me hear both sides,
Let me hear both sides, let me hear both.
Ice Age coming, ice age coming,
Throw it on the fire
Throw it on the fire, throw it on the.
2:03 We’re not scaremongering,
This is really happening, happening.
2:17 We’re not scaremongering, Second voice occasionally harmonizes.
This is really happening, happening.
2:26 Pre- Mobile’s working, mobile’s chirping. Second voice continues to harmonize.
chorus Take the money and run,
Take our money and run, take the money.
2:35 Chorus Here I’m allowed, Second voice softly chants in background; long melisma on
Ev’rything all of the time. “time”; “mild und leise” chords resume.
2:44 Here I’m allowed,
Ev’rything all of the time.
2:53 Here I’m allowed,
Ev’rything all of the time.
3:01 Here I’m allowed,
Ev’rything all of the time.
3:10 Outro Chords cease; solo drums are featured with faint shrieking

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(Coda) fx sounds in background.
3:50 Tambourine “shimmer” and high-hat added.
4:05 “Mild und leise” chords resume.
4:18 Faint chanting “And first the children” in background
4:49 Voices & drums cease; shrieking effect continues.

CALLING FOR ACTION my dad’s teaching. . . . Even though it was

Some songwriters have focused on the need for wise forced on me, it is interesting that I’m a bass
leadership in steering away from disaster and have player. I certainly didn’t pick it because
also expressed their frustration with those who fail to my grandfather had played bass. My dad,
perceive perils. One mainstream artist who took up presumably because of his dad, would point
that thread was Paul McCartney (b. 1942). out the bass on a radio. He’d say, ‘Listen to
that. You hear that, dum duuum dum dum?
Dangers Up Ahead That’s called the bass.’276
McCartney’s meteoric rise from humble beginnings to
Like most Liverpool-based bands in the early 1960s,
global success as a member of the Beatles is legendary.
most of the songs that the Beatles performed were
He never learned to read music, but his father (who
covers, especially of songs by American performers.
played trumpet and piano) gave him valuable listening
The problem was that other bands covered those
skills. McCartney recalled:
same tunes, and it was “hard to stay ahead. It was this
He taught me and my brother harmony; not competition that drove [the Beatles] to write their own
the concept, not written down, but he would songs, since these were the only numbers that rival
say, ‘This tune is the harmony to that tune,’ groups would not steal.”277 Their song-writing skills
so I learned very early how to sing harmony, grew more and more refined, and they composed more
which was one of my big roles in the Beatles. than half of the songs on their first album, Please
Whenever John sang I automatically sang Please Me (1963), which contained six covers and eight
in harmony with him, and that’s due to tunes written by the band.278 The Beatles went on to

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 The Beatles consisted of (from left to right) John Lennon,
Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison.

release 187 original tunes during their years together.279

Their top-selling album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts
Club Band (1967), is viewed as McCartney’s best work
with the Beatles; it has sold a “gargantuan” thirty-two
Linda McCartney helped her husband Paul get going again
million copies.280 after Wings disbanded.

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The breakup of the Beatles—a process that began in Summer Olympics, but to make the contract binding,
1969—hit McCartney hard, and for a while he turned the Olympic organizers paid him £1 (worth about $1.57
to alcohol. His wife Linda coaxed him out of his at the time).285
despair, encouraging him to try writing and recording
on his own. As he found his creativity returning, he When McCartney released the album Egypt Station in
wanted to express his gratitude to Linda, and the song 2018, he reached a new milestone: it was his first record
“Maybe I’m Amazed” (1970) was the result.281 It was to debut at Number 1, and it was the first of his albums
included on his first solo album, McCartney (1970), in thirty-six years to top the Billboard 200 listing.286 (He
which reached Number 1 in the United States.282 That was seventy-six years old.) A Rolling Stone reviewer
same year, McCartney launched a new group, Wings, suggested drawing a Venn diagram: “Make a list of all
and within three years, it, too, was producing Number the songwriters who were composing great tunes in
1 hits, including Live and Let Die (the theme song for 1958. Now make an overlapping list of the ones who are
the 1973 James Bond movie of that title) and Band on still writing brilliant songs in 2018. Your list reads: Paul
the Run (1973). Seven albums released by Wings went McCartney.”287
platinum, meaning—since the threshold for award
certifications has changed over time—that they sold at Egypt Station’s title came from a painting McCartney
least a million copies.283 had made in 1988, and which served as the basis for
the album’s cover.288 He explained his concept for the
After Wings disbanded in 1981, McCartney pursued album’s structure:
a raft of various projects, including collaborations
with other artists, starring in a musical film, playing I liked the words “Egypt Station.” It
a cameo role in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men reminded me of the ‘album’ albums we used
Tell No Tales (2017), composing orchestral music, to make. . . . “Egypt Station” starts off at
touring, and performing in benefit concerts (including the station on the first song and then each
an unannounced appearance at the “Concert for Linda” song is like a different station. So it gave us
in 1999, after the death of his wife the year before).284 some idea to base all the songs around that. I
He donated his performance of two numbers during think of it as a dream location that the music
the opening ceremony when London hosted the 2012 emanates from.289

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In McCartney’s website “Album Notes” for Egypt referred to recordings such as “Band on the Run,”
Station, “Despite Repeated Warnings” (Listening “Live and Let Die,” or the Sgt. Pepper album. These
Example 12) is described as “an epic multi-movement multi-part songs are often given the style label of
closer clocking in at seven minutes with a song suite symphonic rock or progressive rock because of their
structure harkening back to the days of Paul’s previous use of multiple sections, a wide array of instruments,
combos.”290 Those “previous combos” were, of course, and blended styles; they present “a collection of free-
the Beatles and Wings, while the “suite structure” wheeling musical ideas.”291

LISTENING COMPANION 12: “Despite Repeated Warnings” (2018) – Paul

McCartney

“Despite Repeated Warnings” lives up to the

symphonic rock designation in several ways.
Unlike “Idioteque” (Listening Example 11), which
maintains the same tempo, or “groove,” all the
way through, McCartney’s song shifts through
three different styles during the piece, as shown
in Listening Guide 12: a ballad-like opening (and
closing), a faster blues-rock blend, and a driving
rock section that is faster still. The producer of

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the album, Greg Kurstin (b. 1969), described the
process of recording the “epic” piece:
[McCartney] took the band into the rehearsal
room and worked out the structure of it Icebergs come in many sizes, and many of them present
and brought it to L.A. and I worked with genuine threats to sea vessels.
them and we tweaked it and worked out the
arrangement. It was a long evolution to get it to where it got in the end. A lot of orchestral musicians
came in. We had brass players and the Muscle Shoals horn guys came in to do some brass stuff. It
was quite the job of getting that together because it was like five or six songs in one. It’s about seven
minutes long.292
McCartney wanted his song to convey a narrative, which he had been inspired to write after reading a
newspaper report about climate change. He was particularly struck by a phrase in the article, as he explained:
It’s typical, you know, the way people are kind of not doing anything about [climate change]. “It’s
all gonna be fine, don’t worry, oh yeah sure there’s icebergs melting but it doesn’t matter, it’s not
melting in London so don’t worry about it, you know.” And the phrase was in this article, it started
off, “Despite repeated warnings, they’re not listening.” You know, it’s the idea. I like that phrase
“Despite repeated warnings.” I thought, yeah, that sums up a lot of people’s feelings. And then
thought, well, what I’ll do is I’ll do a kind of song where I use symbolism and so the person will be
symbolic of certain politicians and people who argue that climate change is a hoax, and we know
a few. So I’ll do it about that and I’ll get somebody to symbolize one of those people. So I thought,
okay it’s a sea captain and he’s steering a boat and he’s gonna go towards the icebergs but he’s
been warned, and he’s going because he thinks he’s right, and he thinks they’re all making too
much of it. The usual arguments you know . . .
So that’s what it’s about. It’s a sort of story like the Titanic. If they’d been warned, hey, you’re
gonna sink from icebergs, and if the captain said, “It doesn’t matter, it’ll be fine.” So it’s that, using
that kind of idea, so there’s a sort of mad daft captain, and then there’s all the people on the boat

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 who know he’s got it wrong.
So it’s very symbolic for what’s going on in some areas of politics in my mind. So it’s one of those
songs like “Band on the Run” or “Live and Let Die” that is kind of episodic and it’s kind of an epic
production. That is it, and it is hopefully trying to remind people that climate change is not a hoax,
and that we should avoid having a mad captain steering us towards the icebergs.293
McCartney enjoyed the “challenge of putting together these songs that go on a journey,” adding, “I’ve always
quite fancied actually seeing this song staged. It was almost taking place in a church hall in my head, like
a little school production singing in chorus, ‘What can we do? / What can we do? / What can we do? / . . .
this foolish plan.’”294 He pointed out the similarity of that section to the tune of “What Shall We Do With the
Drunken Sailor?,” and he also noted that “‘the best crew on the planet’ is what I call my stage crew, so at a
show I will say to the audience, ‘And let’s hear it for the best crew on the planet.’ So that crept in too.”295
Kurstin loved McCartney’s musical inventiveness, “pushing the boundaries in his songwriting harmonically
and lyrically.”296 Kurstin said, “Just when you think you’ve heard everything in recorded music, he
brings in a song like ‘Despite Repeated Warnings.’ I have never heard a song ever written with that chord
progression.”297 One of those unexpected harmonic shifts occurs during the second section of the song,
when McCartney employs a device called a chromatic mediant.298 The key of Section II is G minor, and
its submediant is E♭ (and a chord built on that submediant would be a major triad: E♭-G-B♭). However,
McCartney unexpectedly substitutes a major triad built on E♮ at various times, shown by underlining in the
Listening Guide. These chromatic mediants give the song unexpected harmonic twists, and they emphasize

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the poetry at those moments, as McCartney wonders “how can we stop him?” and “if we can do it”—urgent
questions in the context of this song.

Listening Guide 12: “Despite Repeated Warnings” – 2018

Paul McCartney
Timeline

Form
Parts

Text Musical and Textual Features

0:00 I Piano chords beginning

0:01 a Despite repeated warnings Ballad style; major mode; short
Of dangers up ahead. phrases
The captain won’t be listening
To what’s being said.
0:28 a He feels that there’s a good chance Guitar is added to
That we have been misled. accompaniment.
0:39 And so the captain’s planning Bass and drums are added.
To steam ahead.
0:53 b What can we do? Minor mode; descending
What can we do? sequence; additional voices and
What can we do to stop this foolish plan going through? reverberation added
What can we do?
What can we do? (Yeah, yeah!)
This man is bound to lose his ship and his crew.
1:19 Oh. Oh. Melismas over sustained chords

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1:28 a Despite repeated warnings Ballad style; major mode; short
From those who ought to know. phrases
Well, he’s got his own agenda
And so he’ll go.
1:53 b’ Paul McCartney Back-Up Singers Minor mode; chorus sings
What can we do? descending sequence while
Those who shout the loudest McCartney sings interjections.
What can we do?
May not always be the smartest.
What can we do?
But they have their proudest
moments
Right before they fall.
What can we do?
Red sky in the morning
What can we do?
Doesn’t ever seem to faze him.
What can we do?
But a sailor’s warning signal
Should concern us all.
2:20 Whoa-oh. Melisma
2:27 II Faster Blues-Rock; minor mode

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2:40 c How can we stop him? Melody rises to chromatic
Grab the keys and lock him up. mediant (underlined words).
If we can do it,
We can save the day.
2:50 d The engineer lives with his wife and daughter, Janet. Chant-like; steady accent on
But he misses them so. beats 2 & 4 of quadruple meter
Although he’s working with the best crew on the planet,
(We’re the best crew on the planet!)
They never want him to go.
3:10 He had a premonition,
He senses something’s wrong.
And by his own admission,
He knew it all along.
The captain’s crazy,
But he doesn’t let them know it.
He’ll take us with him
If we don’t do something soon to slow it.
3:31 Powerful chords (C - Gm)
3:36 c How can we stop him? Chromatic mediants return.
Grab the keys and lock him up.
If we can do it,
We can save the day.
3:46 Interlude
3:56 Powerful chords
4:06 e Below decks, the engineer cries. Upward sequence
The captain’s gonna leave us when the temperatures rise.
The needle’s going up, the engine’s gonna blow.
And we are gonna be left down below.
Down below.

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4:21 III Powerful chords
4:28 Faster; Driving Rock with brass
instruments
4:42 f Yes, we can do it, Steady rock accompaniment
Yeah, we can do it now.
Yes, we can do it.
4:50 Interlude with synthesized
harpsichord tone color; rock beat
resumes.
-- (III) f Yes, we can do it,
Yeah, we can do it now.
Yes, we can do it,
Yeah, we can do it now.
Yes, we can do it,
Yeah, we can do it now.
Oh, yeah.
-- g If life would work out the way you plan it,
That’d be so fine for the wife and Janet.
Sometimes you might have to battle through it.
And that’s the way you learn how you’ve got to do it.
-- h Yes, we can do it, whoa-oh.
Yes, we can do it, whoa-oh-whoa.

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Yes, we can do it, whoa-oh-whoa.
Yes, we can do it, whoa-oh-whoa.
-- Interlude
-- I a Despite repeated warnings
Of dangers up ahead.
Well, the captain wasn’t listening
To what was said.
-- b (What can we do?)
(For those who shout the loudest)
So we went to the captain
(What can we do?)
(May not always be the smartest.)
And we told him to turn around.
(What can we do?)
(But they have their proudest moments)
But he laughs in our faces,
(Right before they fall.)
Says that we are mistaken.
(What can we do?)
(Red sky in the morning)
So we gather around him,
(What can we do?)
(Doesn’t ever seem to faze him.)
Now the ropes that have bound him
(What can we do?)
(But a sailor’s warning signal)
Prove that he should have listened
(Should concern us all.)
To the will of the people.

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 -- Coda It’s the will of the people.
It’s the will of the people.

WHY DON’T WE LISTEN?

Paul McCartney fretted over leaders who do not listen
in “Despite Repeated Warnings,” but many ordinary
citizens also turn a blind eye to environmental
dangers. There are many reasons for that avoidance,
but one issue might be that we are too distracted to
pay attention to the planet’s problems. An artist who
explores that possibility is Donald McKinley Glover,
Jr. (b. 1983), widely known by his musical stage name
“Childish Gambino.”

Celebrity Obsession
In the fifteenth century, in the heart of the Renaissance
era, Leon Battista Alberti (1404–72) declared, “A man
can do all things if he will.”299 This belief has given rise
to the nickname “Renaissance man” for a person who

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is “gifted and skilled in many different areas,” although
some people prefer the term “polymath” since it is
more gender-inclusive.300 Reviewer Ross Horton was
not wrong, therefore, when he wrote, “Donald Glover,
aka Childish Gambino, is the dictionary definition of
a Renaissance man. An actor, singer, writer, rapper,
cultural commentator, father, partner, director,
comedian . . . you name it, he’s probably done it.”301
Like many of the composers featured in this guide,
there was little about Donald Glover’s upbringing that
Donald Glover attends the premiere of one of his films, The
would suggest he was destined for such prominence as
Martian, in 2015.
an adult. He was born to Donald Glover, Sr., a postal
worker, and Beverly Glover, a daycare provider, at Donald Glover spent much of his childhood creating
Edwards Air Force Base, located in Kern County, stories and puppet shows, as well as experimenting with
California. His family moved to Stone Mountain, music and rap, so his mother insisted that he audition
Georgia (near Atlanta), when he was four. His parents for the DeKalb School of the Arts, a performing arts
had a second son, Stephen, adopted two children, and high school.305 By the time he graduated, his classmates
fostered numerous other children.302 As members of voted him “Most Likely to Write for The Simpsons”—
the religious group Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Glovers and indeed, he was soon to write a spec script for the
did not celebrate birthdays or holidays, and Mrs. animated series.306 He expanded his comedic skills
Glover allowed them to watch only PBS programming while attending the Tisch School of the Arts at New
on TV. Mr. Glover Sr. was more lenient, letting them York University, getting coaching from the comedy
watch cartoons and Bill Murray movies.303 Donald troupe Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) and creating
Glover remembers his father also taking him out of comedy videos with two classmates. They called
school to see screenings of the Star Wars prequels, and themselves “Derrick Comedy” and posted their films to
Glover Jr. owned a Lando Calrissian action figure.304 the then-new YouTube platform.307

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Glover’s first big break came when he was invited
to apply as a writer for a new show, 30 Rock; a UCB
teacher had recommended Glover to the producer,
who had also been intrigued by the Derrick Comedy
videos. (Glover submitted his Simpsons script as part
of his application.) Glover got the writing job while still
enrolled in college, and he even occasionally appeared
on the Emmy-winning show, but during a writers’
strike in 2008, he took advantage of the forced break
to create a rap mixtape under the pseudonym Childish
Gambino.308 He had taken that name from a name-
generating tool on the website of the hip-hop group Wu-
Tang Clan. He left 30 Rock in 2009 to pursue his stand-
up comedy career—but within six days, he had been One of Donald Glover’s many enterprises is his musical
career as “Childish Gambino.”
offered a starring role in the NBC series Community.309
Fellow actors on the program encouraged him to keep trends.”315
his music going, which led to another mixtape and then
his first EP—short for “extended play record,” which is As he was singing the song, he also launched
a recording with several tracks but which is not as long an official video for the piece online, in which
as a full album.310 exuberant dancing was peppered with occasional
moments of shocking gun violence. A great deal
Glover’s accomplishments continued to grow. He was of public discussion ensued; many found the song

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signed by the label Glassnote Records in 2011, and his to be a powerful condemnation of “a nation where
first album debuted at Number 11 on the Billboard 200 entertainment is more important than justice.”316
list. He performed on comedy specials, issued more Others felt that it was heavy-handed and a “lazy
and more recordings (several of which earned Grammy critique of capitalism and America’s gun problem.”317
nominations), appeared on other TV programs and Despite the controversy—or perhaps because of
films, and signed a deal with the cable network FX to it—“This is America” became Gambino’s first Number
create the series Atlanta, which premiered in 2016 and 1 Billboard song.318 It also made Grammy history by
ran until 2022.311 In a remarkable life-twist, he landed becoming the first rap song to win both “Song of the
the role of Lando Calrissian in Solo: A Star Wars Year” and “Record of the Year” awards, beating the
Story (2018), and he was widely regarded as the most nominees from all other styles of music.319
charismatic of the characters.312 In 2023, Lucasfilm hired
Glover and his brother Stephen to write for the spin-off Glover made still more music that year. He launched
Lando series that is in development for Disney+.313 a two-track EP titled Summer Pack on July 11,
2018, taking fans by surprise because there had
2018 was also a big year for Glover musically. He been no advance notice. Moreover, the EP featured
won his first Grammy award for “Redbone,” a song a contemporary R&B approach, not Gambino’s
from his third album that was also used in Get Out, customary rap/hip-hop style. The first track,
the same 2018 Jordan Peele film that had launched the “Summertime Magic,” was billed as “the first official
film-scoring career of Michael Abels, composer of single from Gambino’s forthcoming debut album.”320
Global Warming (Listening Example 8).314 On May 5, Since Gambino had already recorded three albums,
2018, Glover was both the guest host and the musical the “debut” was a reference to Gambino’s new
guest on the comedy program Saturday Night Live, contract with RCA Records.321 The subject matter of
and in his second musical number during the show, “Summertime Magic” is lightyears away from “This is
he (as “Childish Gambino”) premiered a new song, America”; it is simply a “happy-go-lucky summer jam”
“This Is America.” The lyrics waver between “happy, in a calypso-flavored R&B style.322 However, Glover
carefree choruses and dark, aggressive verses”—text had a couple of surprises up his sleeve for the second
that addresses the Black experience in a world that is track, “Feels Like Summer” (Listening Example 13).
willing to disregard chaos and just enjoy “pop culture

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LISTENING COMPANION 13: “Feels Like Summer” (2018) – Donald
Glover [“Childish Gambino”]

The title of “Feels Like Summer” suggests that it will be similar in character to “Summertime Magic,” and
for the first minute or so, during the introduction and first verse, there is no real reason to think otherwise.
The “lush and rhythmic” background groove feels like a “nightclub party” (even though the mode is minor),
while Glover’s soulful singing is later beautifully harmonized (see Listening Guide 13).323
Nevertheless, it becomes evident during the first pre-chorus—the section of the song that functions as a
transition between the verse and the chorus—that there is a darker message in the lyrics. Just as Marvin
Gaye fretted about the “overcrowded land,” Gambino begins to reference the “seven billion souls” on the
planet that are rolling ever faster, even as mankind builds machinery that takes control over our choices.
In the chorus, he then expresses the hope that the world will change, but the minor mode subconsciously
prepares us for the chorus’s last rather defeated phrase: “but it just seems the same.” The second verse is very
similar to the first, so it is not until the second pre-chorus that Gambino clarifies his environmental concerns,
some of which echo Joni Mitchell’s worries almost fifty years earlier: “Every day gets hotter than the one
before / Running out of water, it’s about to go down / Go down / Air that kill the bees that we depend upon /
Birds were made for singing, wakin’ up to no sound / No sound.”
With the repetition of the last phrase “No sound,” Gambino introduces a startling moment of word-painting.
Word-painting is a musical device that has been popular since the Renaissance era, in which a composer

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uses musical elements to help convey a word’s literal meaning, such as setting the word “long” to a sustained
pitch. Here, after Gambino sings “No sound,” all the background sounds suddenly disappear while his words
fade away: for a brief instant, we are exposed to the reality of a soundless world. The background groove
then resumes, as if proving Gambino’s point: we tend to keep going about our normal business rather than
addressing the increasingly urgent needs of the planet. The last line of the song—his reiterated plea “Oh, I
hope we change”—is almost inaudible, perhaps to emphasize the unlikelihood of his hopes being realized.
When the two Summer Pack tracks were first released (or “dropped,” to use popular-music slang) in July,
“neither song arrive[d] with the benefit of a conversation-hijacking music video.”324 Therefore, the earliest
song reviews made no mention of the arresting animation that Gambino released on September 2, 2018,
to support “Feels Like Summer.”325 After opening with window blinds through which the sun starts to
shine, the scene shifts to a cartoon version of Gambino walking through a neighborhood on what is clearly
a very hot day. He passes people engaged in various activities—and this is where the internet exploded.
The characters, drawn by artist Justin Richburg, are all modeled on significant Black individuals, mostly
musicians, but also from other walks of life, and innumerable internet viewers chimed in with their
identifications of the various cameos.
The “name-the-celebrity” posts quickly advanced to analyses of what their presence and interactions
symbolized.326 Near the beginning, we see Lil Pump and Trippie Red run like children up to a car in which
21 Savage and Metro Boomin are smoking; the older rappers shoo them away, reflecting the challenges that
newcomers face as they are trying to earn recognition in the industry. Kodak Black also dismisses them from
a window in his house; he is wearing an orange jumpsuit, reflecting his issues with violating his house arrest
and implying the reason why he cannot come out to play. The members of Migos—Quavo, Takeoff, and
Offset—play basketball; the preceding February, Quavo had been named “Most Valuable Player” in the NBA
All-Star Celebrity Basketball Game.327 In this video, however, Quavo’s shot fails to drop.
As the first pre-chorus begins, Gambino walks through a cloud of smoke from Birdman’s grill, while, nearby,
Chance the Rapper (known for his charity work on behalf of young people) is entertained by the antics of

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Jaden Smith (wearing a “Captain Underpantsed version of his all-white Batman costume”).328 Will Smith
washes his car in “dad” sandals and white socks, while stuck high above him in a tree is Azealia Banks.
Banks may be isolated because of her many controversies; a writer for Complex remarked, “She gets more
attention for her public feuds than she does for her music.”329
The subsequent scene is less subtle: it features Nicki Minaj constructing a house with building blocks and
Travis Scott pulling out a block to wreck the whole structure. The vignette is a clear reference to their
recent feud, in which Minaj accused Scott of using his girlfriend’s fame to help his record sales, thereby
pushing Minaj’s new album out of the top Billboard spot.330 We then see The Weeknd, Ty Dolla $ign, and
Frank Ocean playing a vigorous game of tug-of-war against ASAP Rocky, Solange, and Willow Smith,
which may be “a message about the media constantly pitting great artists against one another.”331 The scene
cuts to Soulja Boy speaking earnestly to Lil Pump and Trippie Redd (three new-school rappers deep in
conversation), but suddenly Future rides by on a bike, possibly stolen from Drake, who pursues him angrily,
but has to stop, winded.
The video shifts into a dream sequence as the chorus begins. The background turns solid black, and Kid
Cudi—who has been open about his struggles with anxiety and depression—stands alone and dejected.
His image is replaced by a striking interchange between a weeping Kanye West (now known as “Ye”) and
Michele Obama, who tries to comfort him with an embrace. Why is Ye crying? A few months before the
video’s release, he had launched a storm of outrage by suggesting that submitting to slavery “was a choice”
made by Blacks.332 Obama’s posture, on the other hand, mimics almost exactly a widely circulated 2016
photo of her with George W. Bush, with whom she has a strong friendship despite their different political

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backgrounds.333 It is possible that Gambino is implying that Ye can still be loved by his community despite
his political views that are so unpalatable to many.
With the start of the second verse, the scene shifts to a somber Beyoncé, whose shirt reads “R.I.P. Fredo
Santana,” an “up-and-coming rapper who worked with Gambino but died of a drug overdose in 2018.”334
The final chorus cameo seems more innocuous: Andrew Gillum, who was running for governor of Florida
at the time, sits on a bench and eats a bowl of ice cream. When he sets the bowl down, it melts dismayingly
quickly—one of the few direct images that might remind us of the poetry’s environmental subject matter.
However, it has been suggested that the ice cream—apparently chocolate and vanilla—might symbolize the
late XXXTentacion, a Florida-based rapper well-known for his two-toned hair, who had been shot in his car
by robbers in June 2018.335
Gambino awakens from his daydream as the second pre-chorus begins. He sees Oprah Winfrey and Tiffany
Haddish sitting on a porch, braiding the hair of Lil Uzi Vert and a young woman whose identity is debated.
The three main candidates are Zendaya, Kehlani (although there is no paper airplane tattoo on her cheek),
and Bhad Bhabie. Writers for Slate are inclined to think the figure is Bhabie because of her tank top and the
fact that Uzi is giving her the side-eye.336 One could argue that the tongue-sticking-out is also representative
of Bhabie’s chronic bad behavior.
Continuing his stroll, Gambino sees Lil Yachty and Charlamagne Tha God on a bench enjoying popsicles
together (despite some past public bad-mouthing), while Gucci Mane sunbathes on a towel, enjoying his
“best life” after turning things around since his release from prison.337 The venerable rappers Dr. Dre, Sean
Combs, Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, and Jay-Z are lined up behind Mane: they are dancing the Electric Slide,
often performed at Black barbecues and other social gatherings.338 Video-gaming is the focus on another
front porch: Young Thug plays one device while the sibling basketball players Lonzo, LiAngelo, and LaMelo
Ball circle around a second video game. Behind them, 2 Chainz takes a photo of Meek Mill, Pusha T, and Lil
Wayne.
As the second chorus starts, the trio being photographed are blasted by Super Soaker water cannons wielded

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by the Rae Sremmurd duo (Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi), who then go after J Cole. Cole, known for some
impatience with younger rappers, overcomes them with his garden hose. The scene shifts to the street, where
Janelle Monáe and a second woman are skateboarding. Although some identify the latter as SZA, others
argue for Tessa Thompson, who was then rumored to be a romantic partner of Monáe’s (a relationship that
was confirmed a couple of years later).339 The two skateboarders “are seen nonchalantly—and very cooly—
doing their own thing and going about their business.”340
Once again, the chorus triggers a dream sequence. It opens with Chris Brown weeping, perhaps because
of a long record of violence against women.341 His image is replaced by the singers of OutKast (Big Boi
and André 3000), standing back-to-back with their eyes closed, representing the end of their performing
partnership. A smiling Rihanna, wearing apparel from her own line, succeeds them. She is followed by an
image of a young, healthy Whitney Houston in a pose that resembles a 1987 album cover that was released
years before her death, and then a similar depiction of a young Michael Jackson, smiling and laughing,
quickly appears.342 The daydream’s black background becomes the shadowed side of a house, which
Gambino enters as the sun is sinking.
The preceding description of the various neighborhood residents has been extensive, and it mimics the
intensive focus that various journalists, bloggers, and internet users have given to the animated portrayals.
The irony is this: very few of those exhaustive assessments discussed the music, let alone the ominous
message of the song’s lyrics. Even though Gambino waited six weeks before dropping the video, giving
listeners a month and a half to absorb and react to his environmental concerns, the moment the visual
footage became available, the audience’s attention was diverted almost entirely away from the environmental

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warning. Gambino gave us a perfect demonstration of how celebrity obsession allows us to close our ears
to less comfortable messages. Interestingly, when Gambino released an extended version of “Feels Like
Summer” as part of his first RCA album, 3.15.20 (dropped on March 15, 2020), he retitled it as “42.26”
(reflecting its position, timewise, from the start of the recording), but he did not release a revised version of
the video.343 Perhaps this time, he wanted people to focus solely on listening.

Listening Guide 13: “Feels Like Summer” – 2018

Donald Glover [“Childish Gambino”]
Timeline

Form

Text Musical and Textual Features

0:00 Intro Drum taps & keyboard play syncopated pattern.

0:04 Woo, ey Faint voice (as if in the distance)
0:12 Woo, ey More prominent voice; sustained pitches
0:22 Verse You can feel it in the streets Guitar & bass added; steady drumbeat; minor
On a day like this, the heat mode; random faint echoing sounds and cries in
It feel like summer background
I feel like summer
I feel like summer
0:46 You can feel it in the streets Sung with harmony
On a day like this, the heat
I feel like summer (ey)
She feel like summer
This feel like summer
I feel like summer

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1:10 Pre- Seven billion souls that move around the sun Longer, more lyrical melody; still syncopated
Rolling faster, faster, not a chance to slow down
Chorus Slow down
1:33 Men who made machines that want what they decide
Parents tryna tell the children please slow down
1:49 Slow down Bass drops out briefly.
1:52 Chorus I know Higher register of voice; lines in parentheses are
Oh, I know you know that faint echoes; busier bass pattern
pain
(Oh, no no no no)
I’m hopin’ that this world
will change
(Ooo, I hope this
world will change)
But it just seems the same
(It feels like the same)
2:15 Verse You can feel it in the streets Bass drops out until the first “summer” is sung.
On a day like this, the heat
It feel like summer
(I feel like summer)
I feel like summer
(I feel like summer)
I feel like summer

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2:40 Pre- Every day gets hotter than the one before Sparser accompaniment of bass & drum
Running out of water, it’s about to go down
Chorus Go down
3:03 Air that kill the bees that we depend upon Sustained low bass notes added
Birds were made for singing, wakin’ up to no sound
3:19 No sound Sudden silence (word-painting)
3:22 Chorus I know No sound except soloist
3:24 Oh, I know you know my Accompaniment resumes; higher vocal register;
pain (woah, no no no) background voices sing melismas.
I’m hopin’ that this world
will change (This world will
change, yeah)
But it just seems the same
(woah)
3:45 I know
Oh, I hope we change
I really thought this world could change
But it seems like the same
4:08 I know Long diminuendo begins.
Oh, my mind is still the same
I’m hoping that this world will change
But it just seems the same
4:31 I know Almost inaudible
Oh, I hope we change

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 Lucy Jones meets with members of FEMA (the Federal
Emergency Management Agency) after a 2010 earthquake.

IS IT TOO LATE?
The environmental consequences of inaction are
increasingly apparent in many parts of the globe, but
musicians, activists, and scientists are using music in
efforts to increase public awareness and to motivate
more people to take action. Two of those efforts are the

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Tempo Project and the ClimateMusic Project.
The Tempo Project is led by seismologist Dr. Lucy
People have played the viola da gamba (bass viol) since the
Jones (b. 1955), who, for many years, was the “voice” Baroque era.
of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), giving press
interviews at any hour when earthquakes struck mitigate the crisis.347
Southern California. One time, the “Earthquake
Jones acted upon her beliefs by composing In Nomine
Lady” even held her sleeping son in her arms, which
Terra Calens: In the name of a warming Earth (2019).
many anxious people found very calming. During
She used the Earth’s average surface temperature
her graduate work at Brown University, she began to
data from the previous 138 years—1880–2017—to
study the viola da gamba, a Baroque-era instrument
generate a bass line that is played by a bass viol (a
similar to the cello.344 She retired from the USGS in
synonym for viola da gamba), above which three other
2016 and promptly founded the Dr. Lucy Jones Center
viols play intertwining melodies.348 Each year is a
for Science and Society with the goal of using science
whole note, and Jones correlated each difference of
to build more resilient communities.345 One of its
0.03 degrees centigrade to pitches on the instrument.
endeavors, the Tempo Project (2020), is based on the
Starting with the data for 1880 at the lowest pitch of
belief that music can inspire action, and that “it can
the instrument (B♭), the bass line ascends three octaves
be used to change the emotional climate about climate
by 2013, well into the highest comfortable range of the
change.”346 The Project’s ambition is to engage the
bass viol. Still, the line had to ascend another fifth—
knowledge and skills of three groups of people:
to the highest note possible on the instrument—to
6 Musicians and other creatives who know how accommodate the rising temperature since 2013.349
to invoke emotions, Then, as Jones explains, “I end In Nomine Terra
Calens with a stripping away of harmonies to finally
6 Social scientists, especially psychologists and
land on one, lone, very high note. I end without
communications specialists, who know which
direction to represent the uncertain future. We stand
emotions encourage or inhibit action, and
at a decision point where the future of the world really
6 Physical scientists and engineers who rests on our decisions.”350
understand which actions are needed to

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The ClimateMusic Project, founded in 2014, also aspires
to unite “science + music + action.”351 This nonprofit
organization was the brainchild of interdisciplinary
artist and musician Stephan Crawford, who had served
as director of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s
Commercial Service office. While a student at Tufts
University, he was alerted to environmental concerns
during a campus climate symposium. Years later, he
and some musicians, plus two climate researchers,
spent a day cobbling together a twenty-minute piece
that mimicked the carbon cycle; like Jones, Crawford
mapped temperature data to music. The first audience Eager fans photograph Ludovico Einaudi at a Moscow concert
in 2014.
of thirty friends found the work moving, and the
inspiration for the ClimateMusic Project began.352 composition that received worldwide attention in 2016
Although the ClimateMusic Project has many avenues was Elegy for the Arctic (Listening Example 14) by
for volunteers to participate in large- and small-scale Ludovico Einaudi (b. 1955).
efforts to achieve sustainability, the Project’s showcase Einaudi (pronounced “ay-NOW-dee”) is an Italian-
events are the ClimateMusic Concerts. Each concert born pianist and composer who developed a more
“pairs an original composition with a visualization global perspective through his work with musicians
of one aspect of climate change. The performance is from diverse parts of the world. His grandfather was
introduced by a climate scientist and followed by a a former president of Italy, while his musical interests

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Q&A, panel, or other call to action.”353 Their initial were encouraged by his mother, a pianist. His formal
composition was Climate (2015) by Erik Ian Walker training started at the music conservatory in Turin and
(b. 1957), which “tracks historical and projected ended at the Conservatorio Verdi in Milan, where he
variations in the climate system over 450 years, from earned a diploma in composition.359
1800−2250.”354
Einaudi learned to have “a very open way of thinking
ClimateMusic has sponsored three more original about music” from composer Luciano Berio (1925–
compositions, starting with Icarus in Flight (2018) by 2003), whose wide-ranging interests encompassed
Richard Festinger (b. 1948). It is a string quartet that African vocal music as well as Beatles songs.360 Like
explores three human drivers of the climate crisis— his mentor before him, Einaudi won a scholarship to the
population growth, carbon emissions, and land-use Tanglewood Music Festival in Massachusetts. He also
change—over two centuries, from 1880−2080.”355 Next collaborated with musicians from Mali and Armenia,
came What If We . . .? (2019) by Wendy Loomis (b. learning more about improvisation from them.361 He
1954), which employs spoken text by Royal Kent.356 Her was a relative latecomer to film- and television-scoring,
piece “explores two possible sea level rise scenarios for beginning with scores for Italian movies in the mid-
this century.”357A fourth composition created for the 1990s, but his music has found its way into French,
ClimateMusic Project is Audyssey (2022) by Eduardo English, and American entertainment many times in
Del Signore (b. circa 1955), focused on “solutions the twenty-first century.362 During the coronavirus
that could limit future warming.”358 A fifth work is lockdown, he worked on a solo piano album,
underway by electric violinist Scarlet Rivera (b. 1950). Underwater, which was released in January 2022.
Eight Million Voices It was an earlier piano work, however, that caught the
Much music has been written to depict the world’s attention of many news agencies as well as listeners
features, to celebrate the planet’s cycles and its living all over the world: Elegy for the Arctic, which was
things, to warn of the dangers that Earth faces, commissioned by Greenpeace, an organization devoted
and to prompt people to take action. Still, there are to peaceful activism on behalf of the environment.
compositions that grieve for what has already been The organization had gotten underway in 1971 when
lost due to environmental damage. A climate-focused a group of people in British Columbia were alarmed

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to hear that the U.S. was testing nuclear weapons on
Amchitka Island off of Alaska’s coast. They decided to
send a boat up to the site to protest the testing, and to
raise money for the vessel, they hosted a rock concert.
Among the artists to donate their services were Joni
Mitchell (composer of Listening Example 9) and her
friend James Taylor (b. 1948). Although the needed
funds were raised, the voyage went poorly, and the boat
was intercepted by the U.S. Navy before it reached the
test site. The United States went forward with the 1971
explosion—but the failed Greenpeace mission still
caught the attention of the general public, and the outcry
against the nuclear testing increased steadily. Five
The Arctic Sunrise is the icebreaker ship that transported
months later, the government ended up canceling the
Ludovico Einaudi and the Steinway piano to the Arctic Sea.
rest of the nuclear test program, and Amchitka was, in
time, converted into a bird refuge.363 However, the long- It made a stop in Svalbard, Norway, to pick up two
term consequences of the testing are still debated.364 important passengers: Einaudi and a Steinway piano
that had been shipped to Norway from Germany.368
Greenpeace has engaged in hundreds of campaigns over
They reached the Wahlenbergbreen glacier at 5:40
the past half-century, addressing issues affecting oceans,
pm on an evening in mid-June, and, after a briefing, a
forests, agriculture, and the climate, and fighting
specially-built pontoon that resembled an iceberg was
against nuclear and other toxic threats.365 Greenpeace
lowered into the sea and the piano was set on top of it

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is certainly not alone in its concerns, and in 1974,
by crane.369 There had been an initial idea to perform
there was increasing alarm about toxic materials being
on a real iceberg, but that plan was scrapped because
dumped in the Atlantic Ocean. A “Convention for the
of the possibility that the iceberg could break up
Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-
“without telling you when,” as Einaudi quipped.370
East Atlantic” was formed, and delegates met for the
first time in 1972 in Oslo; they reconvened two years Because the sun does not set in the Arctic in June,
later in Paris. Those first two convention locations— the filming was able to begin at half an hour past
OSlo and PARis—led to the nickname “OSPAR” for midnight.371 Einaudi had brought an audio recording
the commission, which continues to meet to this day. It of Elegy for the Arctic as a back-up in case technical
reflects the cooperative efforts of fifteen governments problems occurred, but he was very happy with the
and the European Union.366 tuning and action of the piano despite the extreme
cold.372 (It was around 0 degrees Celsius, equivalent
In 2016, Greenpeace was lobbying the delegates to
to 32 degrees Fahrenheit.373) Therefore, the premiere
that year’s OSPAR Commission meeting to create a
performance heard on the final video was recorded
sanctuary in the fragile international waters around
“live,” although Einaudi told an interviewer that
the North Pole that would protect it from destructive
afterward, listening to the playback, he realized he had
industries such as drilling and over-fishing. The plan
performed more quickly than he had intended because
called for a protective region that “would safeguard
of the chill.374 The Steinway & Sons Corporation
10% of the Arctic Ocean, an area roughly the size of
pointed out that this was “the northernmost grand
the UK.”367 To reinforce the campaign, Greenpeace
piano concert ever held.”375
had gathered eight million messages of support from
people around the world. Einaudi and the crew took frequent breaks during
filming over the next two days to warm up, but the
In the weeks nearing the commission meeting in
biggest challenge came from the iceberg itself: when
Tenerife, Spain, Greenpeace devised an event to draw
chunks of ice collapsed—some of the most striking
even more media attention to their petition: they would
images in the finished video—they created massive
again use music to catch people’s ears (and hearts). The
waves, and Einaudi had to be evacuated from the
Greenpeace vessel Arctic Sunrise sailed away from the
pontoon for safety.376 (One of those rescues is shown in
Netherlands with the eight million messages on board.

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a “Making of” video that was released the following Alas! Although the majority of the delegates were
year.) The Wahlenbergbreen glacier is a “surging supportive of the proposal, three nations—Norway,
glacier,” meaning that it is melting rapidly, and it Denmark, and Iceland—blocked all attempts to create
can move as much as fifty feet a day; the collapsing the protected Arctic region. Greenpeace announced
chunks of ice are called “calves.”377 The filmmakers the sad tidings on June 24, but declared that it was
at last decided it was wisest to finish the film shoot determined to “continue its global campaign to Save
early; even then, one of the drone camera operators the Arctic.”380 A happier turn of events came that
recalled, “There was so much ice floating, we had December, when the U.S. and Canada announced their
difficulty getting back on to the ship.”378 The Arctic decision to protect millions of acres of Arctic waters
Sunrise returned to port, and Greenpeace spent two from oil and gas drilling.381 Controversy continues
days rapidly editing the footage, so the video could from that decision, but Greenpeace has declared its
be released before the OSPAR Commission meeting determination to continue “peaceful protests” to
began.379 The breathtaking video was posted on protect the Arctic and other vulnerable regions of the
YouTube on June 20, 2016, and fingers were crossed earth.382 Meanwhile, Elegy for the Arctic has been
that the refuge proposal would succeed. viewed over twenty million times, enjoyed for its
artistry as well as for its message.383

LISTENING COMPANION 14: Elegy for the Arctic (2016) – Ludovico

Einaudi

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The nature of an elegy is sorrowful or melancholy, and it is often intended to mourn one who is dead. The title,
therefore, of Elegy for the Arctic reflects Einaudi’s grief over the ecological damage that the Arctic has already
suffered, as does his choice of F minor for the mode.384 The piece opens at a piano dynamic level with a very
low F played in octaves in the left hand. The F is sustained for ten measures, producing an effect known as a
pedal tone, since low-pitched, sustained notes are easily produced by an organ’s pedals. Meanwhile, in this A
section, the right hand plays a slowly rising and falling melody, harmonized in sixths. It moves at a flexible,
rubato pace, and at the end of its third and longest phrase, Einaudi cadences on an E♮, moving the mode from
the natural minor to the harmonic minor. (A video with the score is available on YouTube.)
The quieter second section of the Elegy, B, adds a busier arpeggiated ostinato to the right hand, marked
“delicato,” or “delicately.” The left hand continues to feature sustained notes, but the chords are enriched
with fifths and sometimes thirds. Fermatas occasionally interrupt the pace, and the last phrase diminuendos
to create more contrast with the subsequent C section, which is mezzoforte and features cascading scale
patterns with a top note that is accented each time. (In the Greenpeace “live” video of the Elegy, a portion of
the glacier wall calves dramatically at this moment.) The gradual crescendo builds toward the lowest pitch of
the section, D♭, steadily increasing the intensity.
After another fermata, Einaudi blends features of two previous sections: he brings back delicate arpeggios
that resemble B, but the left hand plays a version of the opening A melody, now with half notes rather than
the previous quarter notes. The lengthening of the notes’ duration in this way is called augmentation, and it
increases the solemn weight of this A’ section. To close, a shortened version of the initial A passage is heard,
and the piece concludes on an E♮, leaving the F minor composition—and the fate of the Arctic—unresolved.

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 Listening Guide 14: Elegy for the Arctic – 2016
Ludovico Einaudi
Timeline

Form
Musical Features

0:00 A Left hand (LH) sustains a pedal tone F in octaves; right hand (RH) plays two phrases of a slowly
rising melody in F minor (harmonized in sixths), marked “rubato”; third archlike phrase ends with
leading tone.
0:34 B Additional pitches in LH chord; RH plays pianissimo ostinato arpeggios (marked “delicato”),
ending with a fermata.
0:44 LH starts to play slow melody above pedal F; arpeggiation continues in RH, and last phrase is a
long diminuendo to pianissimo.
1:22 C RH plays accented 4-note descending scale three times, then continues with full scale; dynamic
level is mezzoforte.
1:26 Previous pattern is repeated.
1:30 Pattern repeats, doubled by the LH one octave lower; full scale continues downward an additional
octave and onward to a low sforzando D♭, followed by an extremely low D♭ in LH.
1:37 Arpeggios resume in RH while low D♭ pedal tone is followed by a low E♭ and a fermata.

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1:45 A’ LH plays augmented variant of opening motif (including leading tone) while RH arpeggiates; ends
with a fermata
2:21 A Return to the closing phrase from beginning; cadences with leading tone (E♮)

SECTION IV SUMMARY in support of the first Earth Day gatherings in

6 Writers have discussed the need for “living in 1970, in which twenty million people took part.
agreement with nature” for many centuries, 6 Canadian-born folk-rock singer-songwriter
and the oldest known study of ecology (the Joni Mitchell included a reference to the
relationship between organisms and their not-yet-banned DDT in “Big Yellow Taxi”
physical environment) dates from the fourth (Listening Example 9). She was dismayed by
century bce. an unsightly parking lot in the middle of the
6 The cleanliness of the air has been a Hawaiian “paradise.”
longstanding concern, but serious attempts to 6 Mitchell called the style of her 1970 song
address it in the U.S. have been underway for “Ecology rock ’n’ roll,” which left most of her
little more than fifty years. folk stylings behind. She used multi-tracking
6 Nineteenth-century writers who showcased (over-dubbing) to add “bop vocal” harmonies
the natural world helped to spur some of the to the verse-chorus song, which explores a bit
earliest activist groups as well as the creation of Mixolydian mode in its chorus.
of various U.S. national parks. 6 The song has been re-released in various
6 Rachel Carson’s 1962 book about the dangers formats, some of which achieved even higher
of DDT helped raise awareness that industry Billboard rankings than the initial (successful)
needs to be monitored to ensure that the release. It has been widely covered by other
environment is protected. Carson is viewed as artists and has been licensed a million times.
the catalyst for the rise of environmentalism. 6 Berry Gordy, Jr., founder of Motown Records,
6 A 1969 ecology symbol was added to a flag was accustomed to using his label as a hit-

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 producing “factory” and specialized in the chord progression became another ostinato in
style of rhythm and blues (R&B). Singer- “Idioteque” (2000). Kreiger’s borrowed material
songwriter Marvin Gaye’s increasing success became part of the song’s electronic fx.
with numbers that stretched the expectations 6 The two ostinatos (drum machine and
for R&B was unsettling to Gordy, who delayed Lansky’s chord progression) have different
the release of various recordings. phrase lengths, and Thom Yorke added
6 Gaye persisted with a protest-themed album distressing text to that unsettling foundation.
despite the discouragement of Gordy. He employed some melismatic text-setting to
6 When others at Motown released one of Gaye’s create a sense of wailing, in contrast with the
protest songs without Gordy’s knowledge, it song’s more prevalent syllabic text-setting.
was an enormous success, so Gaye was at last The outro does not reassure us that the song’s
given the go-ahead for the full album, What’s bunkers will provide any genuine protection
Going On (1971). against the “Ice Age coming.”
6 The first side contained a suite of songs, 6 Rolling Stone magazine has ranked “Idioteque”
concluding with “Mercy Mercy Me (The as Number 48 in the “500 Greatest Songs of
Ecology)” (Listening Example 10). Both the All Time.”
album and the single saw huge sales, and the 6 We usually hope for wise leadership to help
strophic song joined the Grammy Hall of Fame guide us through crises, but Paul McCartney’s
in 2002. “Despite Repeated Warnings” (Listening
6 It was almost unprecedented for an R&B song Example 12) envisions a leader who does not
listen to reason and must be stopped.

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to address environmental issues, and “Mercy
Mercy Me” used some unusual tone colors as 6 McCartney developed his song-writing
well: a distinctive wood block pulse as well skills—particularly in extended forms—
as an other-worldly operatic sample from a during his successful years with the Beatles
Mellotron. and with Wings. He had been composing for
6 The British alternative-rock band Radiohead sixty years by the time he released the album
experimented with synthesizers and electronic Egypt Station (2018), and it debuted at Number
sampling to distinguish themselves from other 1 on the Billboard album chart.
contemporaneous bands. 6 “Despite Repeated Warnings” returned to the
6 Band member Jonny Greenwood sampled symphonic rock / progressive rock style that
prior electronic compositions by Paul Lansky had produced several big hits for McCartney
and Arthur Kreiger while assembling with his earlier bands. These sorts of pieces
his contribution to what would become have multiple sections in various styles,
“Idioteque” (Listening Example 11), and he performed by a diverse array of instruments.
subsequently got both composers’ permission 6 McCartney was inspired to write “Despite
to borrow those portions of their works. Repeated Warnings” after seeing the title
6 Greenwood used a self-built drum machine phrase in a newspaper article about climate
ostinato to underpin “Idioteque” in the change, and he developed the metaphor of a
manner of electronic dance music (EDM). captain recklessly sailing a ship without regard
The disturbing layers that were added to that to the dangers ahead. As the passengers worry
foundation might shift the style to intelligent about how to stop the captain, McCartney used
dance music (IDM), better suited for home chromatic mediant harmony to emphasize
listening than for dancing. their concern.
6 The borrowed material from Lansky’s mild 6 The Renaissance man Donald Glover has
und leise (1972–3) was itself borrowed from seen outstanding success in multiple fields,
the Tristan chord of Richard Wagner’s including scriptwriting, acting, comedy,
Tristan und Isolde prelude (1859). Lansky’s directing, and music. As a singer-songwriter,

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 he has adopted the alias “Childish Gambino,” warming Earth (2019) for a viola da gamba
produced by a name-generator on the Wu-Tang ensemble. One of the bass viols plays a line
Clan website. that is derived from the Earth’s average surface
6 During his first professional work as a show temperature data for 138 years; the melody
writer for 30 Rock, Glover issued the first starts on the instrument’s lowest pitch and ends,
Gambino mixtape, leading in time to his first ambiguously, on the highest possible note.
multi-track extended play album, or EP. 6 The ClimateMusic Project is using concerts
6 The song “Redbone” from Gambino’s third to alert people, musically, to environmental
album was used in the 2018 film Get Out, thus challenges. ClimateMusic has sponsored four
linking him to Michael Abels, composer of original works so far: Climate, Icarus in Flight,
Global Warming (Listening Example 8). What If We . . . ?, and Audyssey. A fifth is
underway.
6 Gambino premiered the song and video “This
Is America” in May 2018, challenging his 6 The activist organization Greenpeace
audience in a new and unexpected way. commissioned Ludovico Einaudi to assist
them with a 2016 campaign to persuade the
6 Also in 2018, Gambino released the multi- Convention for the Protection of the Marine
layered “Feels Like Summer” (Listening Environment of the North-East Atlantic (better
Example 13), using a contemporary R&B known as the OSPAR Commission) to create a
approach. Set in verse-chorus form with a pre- marine sanctuary in the Arctic Ocean. Einaudi
chorus, Gambino’s lyrics made clear reference wrote Elegy for the Arctic (Listening Example
to the environmental threats stemming from 14), and the plan was hatched for him to

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an ever-warming planet. He employed word- premiere the work in the middle of the Arctic
painting to simulate the silence that would Ocean.
result from the loss of birds.
6 The filming of the performance was filled with
6 Gambino dropped the companion video six challenges, including steep waves resulting
weeks after the song’s debut, and the animated from falling (calving) ice from the nearby
film shows dozens of prominent Black glacier. The resulting footage is astonishing,
individuals engaged in various summertime but it failed to persuade the OSPAR
activities. Almost immediately, all published Commission to preserve the region. Still, the
commentary about the song shifted to U.S. and Canada protected part of the Arctic
discussions of the celebrity portrayals, ignoring waters later that year, while the video has been
the environmental message of the lyrics. viewed over twenty million times.
Listeners’ behavior demonstrated how we close
our ears to uncomfortable topics by focusing 6 Einaudi’s elegy is a suitably mournful piece
on entertainment. for the ecological sufferings of the Arctic
region. Its minor mode is reinforced with pedal
6 Multiple organizations are trying to use tones, contrasting with delicato passages. The
music to help people recognize the need for opening material returns to close the piece, but
environmental changes. in augmentation that elongates the previous
6 The Tempo Project is led by a well-known rhythm. The piece does not reach a clear
seismologist, Dr. Lucy Jones, who has written conclusion; instead, it leaves listeners hanging
In Nomine Terra Calens: In the name of a on an unresolved leading tone.

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 Conclusion

Although Earth Day is an annual event that “warming” the globe in a positive, hopeful way.
concentrates on environmental concerns, it could
be argued that every day should be “Earth Day.” The purpose of the works in Section IV, “Words of
Music has certainly done its bit to put nature in the Warning,” was to put an equally needed emphasis
foreground. Long before the first Earth Day gathering on human responsibility. Joni Mitchell employed
in 1970, various musical compositions paid attention upbeat “Ecology rock ’n’ roll” to advocate for
to the planet, ranging from depictions of its features to preserving nature’s beauties and ceasing the use of
celebrations of its virtues. Moreover, as the twentieth DDT. Marvin Gaye used R&B to lament the damage
and twenty-first centuries have advanced, popular being done to our ecology by unrestrained industry
music that addresses Earth’s needs has become and overcrowding. Radiohead experimented with
particularly prominent. synthesizers and sampling to produce “Idioteque,”
a worrisome illustration of a coming Ice Age that

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The power of music to portray images was a focus of was “really happening.” Paul McCartney tackled the
Section II, “The Natural World.” Via programmatic uncomfortable issue of misguided political leadership
works and character pieces, composers have allowed that turns its back on scientific evidence, creating an
us to “see” wonders such as the Grand Canyon or the expansive symphonic-rock epic in the process. Donald
turbulence of a thunderstorm. We heard a percussion Glover—in his guise of Childish Gambino—conducted
trio characterize a tree with an unusual ability to sustain a subtle social experiment with “Feels Like Summer,”
its water supply, and we listened to the antics of a tiny which demonstrated that celebrity obsession allows
bumblebee as conveyed by an orchestra. Amy Beach consumers to ignore uncomfortable environmental
let an actual bird dictate the melody of her piano work subject matter. Greenpeace drew the world’s attention
Hermit Thrush at Morn—a tribute to her transcription to the fragile Arctic ecosystem by commissioning
skills as well as the bird’s melodious singing. Elegy for the Arctic; Ludovico Einaudi’s compelling
performance of the work on a pontoon in the middle of
In Section III, “Celebrating the Planet,” we the Arctic Ocean has been viewed over twenty million
encountered selections that put a much-needed times since its 2016 premiere.
emphasis on joy. One of the earliest surviving
examples of secular polyphony is a delightful medieval Music is not a solution to all the world’s problems, but
canon exulting in the arrival of summer, and it is it can be an asset in encouraging us to work together
supported by a vocal foundation that requires its own in tackling these significant issues. It reminds us to
two-part interaction. More than seven hundred years cherish the riches that the planet has to offer and to
later, “What a Wonderful World” cherished the natural admire its beauties. And, by employing styles of music
world and the flora and fauna that inhabit it. Michael that appear in many people’s playlists, it can get us to
Abels put a spotlight on the commonalities between consider the planet’s needs despite our all-too-human
people from different parts of the world, thereby tendency to ignore those problems.

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 Timeline

450 bce Zeno says, “The goal of life is living in agreement with nature.”
4th Century Hippocrates writes the first study of human ecology: De aëre, aquis, et locis (“Air, Waters, and
bce Places”).
c. 1250 Sumer is icumen in (“Summer Has Come”) is preserved in a medieval manuscript.
1306 King Edward I bans coal-burning in London to combat its noxious smoke.
1528 Janequin mimics various birdcalls in Le chant des oiseaux (“The Song of the Birds”).
1540 Conquistadors visit the Grand Canyon’s South Rim.
1650 Kircher transcribes birdcalls in Musurgia universalis (“The Universal Musical Art”).
1678 Europeans encounter Niagara Falls.
1706 Marais’s opera Alcione features a “Tempête” (“Tempest”).

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1725 Vivaldi publishes the “Four Seasons” violin concertos, with a storm in the “Summer” concerto; it
is unclear when he also wrote two undated concertos depicting “La tempesta di mare” (“Storm at
Sea”).
1761 Haydn includes a “La Tempesta” (“Tempest”) movement in Symphony No. 8 “Le soir.”
c. 1763–5 Johann Baptist Vaňhal puts a “La Tempesta” (“Tempest”) movement in his Symphony in E-flat
major.
1808 Beethoven presents numerous works in concert, including Symphony No. 6 “Pastoral,” with its
fourth-movement “Thunderstorm.”
1827 Franz Schubert composes the song cycle Winterreise (“Winter Journey”).
1835 Ralph Waldo Emerson proposes limits on wilderness expansion in Nature.
1854 Henry David Thoreau publishes his influential account Walden; or Life in the Woods.
1859 Wagner composes Tristan und Isolde, creating the “Tristan Chord” in the prelude.
1860 François Schubert writes the character piece L’Abeille (“The Bee”).
1868 Rimsky-Korsakov begins his first opera.
1872 John Muir begins publishing essays about the Sierra Nevada mountains. Yellowstone is
established as the first U.S. national park.
1874 Smetana finishes “Vltava” (“The Moldau”), depicting a Czech river.
1887 John Hance advertises Grand Canyon mule rides.
1890 Sequoia is named the U.S.’s second national park.
1892 The Sierra Club is founded.
1893 Parts of the Grand Canyon are designated as a forest reserve.
1900 Rimsky-Korsakov completes the opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan, which contains “The Flight of
the Bumblebee.”
1905 Debussy writes the symphonic work La mer (“The Sea”).
1906 The Grand Canyon is declared to be a game reserve.

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1908 The Grand Canyon becomes a national monument.
1909 Mahler composes “The Lonely One in Autumn,” a song in Das Lied von der Erde (“The Song of
the Earth”).
1916 The U.S. National Park Service is established.
1917 Grofé visits the Grand Canyon for the first time.
1919 The U.S. National Park Service takes jurisdiction over the Grand Canyon.
1921 Amy Beach transcribes a birdcall at MacDowell and weaves it into Hermit Thrush at Morn.
1924 Grofé arranges Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue for the Paul Whiteman Orchestra. Frank Bridge
writes The Sea, an orchestral suite.
1926 Grofé’s Mississippi Suite: A Journey in Tones premieres in New York. The song “Horses” is
published, which is later used as the “Burro” motif in “On the Trail.”
1931 Grofé completes the Grand Canyon Suite, which includes “On the Trail.” William Grant Still’s
Afro-American Symphony is the first orchestral work by a Black composer to be performed by a
major American orchestra.
1933 Florence Price is the first Black female composer to have a symphonic work performed by a
major American orchestra.
1934 Florence Price writes the Mississippi River Suite.
1940 Walt Disney uses Beethoven’s “Thunderstorm” from Symphony No. 6 “Pastoral” for a
mythological sequence in Fantasia.
1941 Messiaen mimics birdsong in Le quatuor pour la fin du temps (“Quartet for the End of Time”),

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written in a P.O.W. camp during WWII.
1945 The popular song “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” is released.
1948 Walt Disney releases a cartoon with a boogie version of “Flight of the Bumblebee.”
1949 Grofé composes a Death Valley Suite.
1951 Takemitsu establishes an experimental workshop in Japan to study modern Western music.
1953 Messiaen imitates thirty-eight bird species in Réveil des oiseaux (“Awakening of the Birds”).
1955 Grofé writes Hudson River Suite.
1956 Grofé composes Dawn at Lake Mead. Britain passes a “Clean Air Act.”
1957 William Grant Still creates a musical survey of the United States in his American Scene.
1958 Walt Disney uses Grofé’s Grand Canyon Suite as the score for a short film.
1959 Berry Gordy, Jr., founds Motown Records.
1960 Grofé composes a Yellowstone Suite.
1960 Grofé writes a Niagara Falls Suite.
1962 Biologist Rachel Carson describes DDT’s effects in Silent Spring.
1963 The United States passes a “Clean Air Act.”
1964 The No. 1 position of “Hello, Dolly!” on the Billboard chart makes Louis Armstrong the oldest
performer to reach that ranking at the time. Marvin Gaye’s “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By
You)” is a big hit.
1967 Louis Armstrong records “What a Wonderful World” in an early-morning session in Las Vegas.
The Beatles release Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
1968 Joni Mitchell publishes her debut album Joni Mitchell (Song to a Seagull). Marvin Gaye’s “I
Heard It Through the Grapevine” holds the No. 1 Billboard spot for seven weeks.
1969 Ron Cobb designs the “ecology” symbol. Joni Mitchell releases the album Clouds, which wins her
first Grammy. Yin Chengzong et al. adapt a cantata to create the Yellow River Piano Concerto.

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1970 The United States strengthens its “Clean Air Act.” The first Earth Day is held on April 22.
Joni Mitchell finishes the album Ladies of the Canyon, containing “Big Yellow Taxi.” Paul
McCartney releases “Maybe I’m Amazed” and the solo album McCartney as his first post-
Beatles activity. He launches the band Wings the same year.
1971 Marvin Gaye’s single “What’s Going On” is released without Barry Gordy, Jr.’s knowledge. Its
success leads to the full album of the same title that same year, which includes “Mercy Mercy
Me (The Ecology).” Greenpeace is founded, and its first fund-raiser is a rock concert featuring
Joni Mitchell and James Taylor.
1972 The Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (later
“OSPAR Commission”) meets for the first time.
1973 Paul Lansky finishes mild und leise, based on the “Tristan Chord” and later sampled in “Idioteque.”
Wings (and McCartney) score big hits with “Live and Let Die” and “Band on the Run.”
1974 A “live” recording of “Big Yellow Taxi” reaches No. 24 on the Billboard chart. Arthur Kreiger
composes “Short Piece,” later sampled in “Idioteque.”
1980 The volcano Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington state; Hovhaness commemorates the event
by composing Symphony No. 10 “Mount St. Helens” (completed in 1982).
1981 Takemitsu composes Ame no ki (Rain Tree). Joan Tower writes her first orchestral composition,
Sequoia.
1982 Takemitsu writes Rain Tree Sketch.
1984 Michael Abels earns the “Outstanding Senior” award at USC with the composition Queries.

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1985 Akira Kurosawa uses a score by Takemitsu in the movie Ran.
1988 “What a Wonderful World” reaches No. 32 on the Billboard chart after its use in Good Morning,
Vietnam.
1989 The Berlin Wall falls.
1991 Michael Abels’s Global Warming premieres in Phoenix.
1992 Takemitsu completes Rain Tree Sketch II—In Memoriam Olivier Messiaen.
1993 Radiohead have their first hit, “Creep.”
1995 “Big Yellow Taxi” is released in seven different mixes.
1996 “Big Yellow Taxi” reaches one million licensed performances.
1997 Radiohead’s OK Computer is voted “best album ever” by Q magazine readers. Michael
Daugherty writes Niagara Falls for wind band.
1999 Philip Glass pays tribute to the Águas da Amazônia (“Waters of the Amazon”). The “Concert for
Linda” is held in memory of Linda McCartney.
2000 Radiohead releases Kid A, which includes “Idioteque.”
2001 Radiohead releases Amnesiac, their follow-up album to Kid A.
2002 “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” is inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Jett Hitt
completes the concerto Yellowstone for Violin and Orchestra.
2003 Denise von Glahn publishes The Sounds of Place: Music and the American Cultural Landscape.
2007 “Big Yellow Taxi” is rearranged for the Shine album.
2009 Donald Glover accepts a role in NBC’s comedy Community.
2011 Childish Gambino signs with Glassnote Records, and his first album debuts at No. 11 on the
Billboard chart.
2012 McCartney donates his services (for a pound) to the London Summer Olympics Opening
Ceremony.
2013 Michael Daugherty composes the tuba concerto Reflections on the Mississippi.

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2014 The ClimateMusic Project is founded by Stephan Crawford.
2015 The ClimateMusic Project’s first original composition, Climate, is completed.
2016 Donald Glover’s FX series Atlanta makes its premiere. Ludovico Einaudi debuts the Greenpeace-
commissioned Elegy for the Arctic on a pontoon in the Arctic Ocean, but the OSPAR
Commission fails to vote to create a marine sanctuary in the Arctic. The U.S. and Canada
announce Arctic protections in December.
2017 McCartney appears as Uncle Jack in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.
2018 Jordan Peele’s film Get Out is released, with a score by Michael Abels and the song “Redbone”
by Childish Gambino (which earned him his first Grammy award). Paul McCartney’s album
Egypt Station—containing “Despite Repeated Warnings”—debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard
chart. Donald Glover appears as Lando Calrissian in Solo: A Star Wars Story. As Gambino, he
hosts Saturday Night Live and performs “This Is America”; he releases the controversial video
the same day, and the song is his first No. 1 hit. It later is the first rap song to win “Song of the
Year” and “Record of the Year.” Gambino releases his Summer Pack EP in mid-July, containing
the track “Feels Like Summer.” The video starts to stream in September. ClimateMusic Project
sponsors its second original composition, Icarus in Flight.
2019 Michael Abels writes the score for Jordan Peele’s film Us. Dr. Lucy Jones composes In Nomine
Terra Calens: In the name of a warming Earth. ClimateMusic Project sponsors its third original
composition, What If We . . . ?
2020 Childish Gambino releases his first RCA album, 3.15.20, with “Feels Like Summer” reworked as
“42.26.” Dr. Lucy Jones founds the Tempo Project.

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2021 Rolling Stone magazine ranks “Idioteque” as No. 48 in the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”
2022 Michael Abels writes the score for Jordan Peele’s film Nope; Abels’s co-authored opera Omar
debuts. ClimateMusic Project sponsors its fourth original composition, Audyssey. Ludovico
Einaudi releases the lockdown-created solo piano album Underwater.
2023 Michael Abels’s co-authored opera Omar wins a Pulitzer Prize. Donald Glover is signed by
Lucasfilm as a writer for the Lando series spin-off being developed for Disney+.

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 Glossary

absolute pitch (perfect pitch)– the innate ability performance technique of the childhood tune
to identify pitches by name without using any “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”; (2) a body
instrumental aid as a reference of works that have achieved long-standing
admiration or popularity
antique cymbals – see crotales
celesta – a small keyboard instrument with metal
arpeggio – a chord whose individual pitches are
bars that are struck by felt hammers operated by
played in an upward or downward succession
a piano-like keyboard
rather than simultaneously, in the manner that
one would strum a guitar or harp chant – a single-line (monophonic) melody with
religious text
augmentation – lengthened note values of a melody
heard earlier in a piece character piece – a composition that conveys a

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particular image or sensation without trying to
Baroque era – a designation for the period of
depict a programmatic storyline
western European music history spanning the
seventeenth century and the first third of the chromatic mediant – an altered version of the
eighteenth mediant or submediant triad, achieved either by
reversing the customary mode of that triad (i.e.,
bass viol – see viola da gamba
turning a minor iii triad into a major III) or by
bodhran – a single-headed drum used in Irish folk building a triad on the chromatic neighbor to the
music mediant or submediant rather than the normal
diatonic scale degrees (i.e., building a triad on E♭
bridge – a nickname for the “B” phrase of a 32-bar
rather than E♮ when in the key of C major)
form (A-A-B-A)
Classic era – a designation for the period of western
cadenza – a section during a solo concerto in which
European music history spanning the last two-
the unaccompanied soloist performs virtuosic
thirds of the eighteenth century and persisting
(and sometimes improvised) material while the
into the early nineteenth century
orchestra stops playing
concerto – an instrumental genre that juxtaposes
call-and-response – performance technique
an orchestra against (most often) a soloist, or
in which a soloist or small group presents a
possibly a small group of soloists
short motif that is answered (with similar or
contrasting material) by another musician or a conjunct – a melody in which successive pitches
larger group rise or fall primarily in small, stepwise intervals
canon – (1) technique in which a single melody conservatory – a school that focuses solely on
is performed by multiple musicians, but at training in a particular discipline in the arts, such
staggered, overlapping intervals of time, thus as music, theater, dance, or the visual arts
producing imitative polyphony; a synonym
cover – a recording or performance of a piece by
is round, and an example is the customary

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 someone other than the first person to perform pulse of the music
the work
flora – a Latin word pertaining to the plant life
crotales – (also called “antique cymbals”): small within a particular environment
disks of brass that produce extremely resonant
fx – artificially created or enhanced sounds
bell-like sounds when struck
glissando – a rapid, sweeping glide up or down
delicato – an instruction to play a piece “delicately”
through the pitches of an instrument (players
disjunct – a melody in which successive pitches rise of string instruments can slide up or down the
or fall primarily in large intervals strings, parallel with their fingerboard)
Dorian mode – a scale pattern containing half-steps grace note – a short note played as an
between scale degrees 2 and 3 and scale degrees embellishment just before a longer pitch
6 and 7
guiro – a hollow gourd with notches on one side
double-stop – a technique used on string that produces a raspy sound when the notches are
instruments in which the player bows (or plucks) scraped with a stick
two strings simultaneously to produce an interval
hemiola – the sensation of temporarily shifting
drop (verb) – to release a recording, whether audio from an established duple meter to the feeling of
or video, in the popular music world triple meter, or vice versa
drum roll – a technique of sustaining a drum’s IDM – see intelligent dance music

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sound by playing it with rapidly alternating
intelligent dance music (IDM) – a type of
beaters or drumsticks
electronic music meant for home listening rather
ecology – a field of biology that examines the than dancing
relationships between organisms and their
leitmotif – a melodic idea representing a particular
physical environment
person, object, or idea
EDM – see electronic dance music
manuscript – a handwritten document
electronic dance music (EDM) – a heavily
medieval era – a time period in Western music
percussive electronic musical style designed for
spanning roughly from the sixth century through
dancing at nightclubs, festivals, etc.
the fourteenth (also called the Middle Ages)
elegy – a piece with a melancholy or sorrowful
melismatic text-setting – a type of singing in
character, often intended to mourn for someone
which multiple notes in a melody correspond to a
who has died
single syllable of poetry
encore – a repeated or additional performance of
Mellotron – an early electronic keyboard
music in response to audience demand; it is the
instrument (manufactured between 1964 and
French word meaning “again.”
1986) that sampled pre-recorded analogue
EP – an “extended play” recording with multiple sounds
tracks, but not as many as would appear on a full
Middle Ages – see Medieval era
album
Mixolydian mode – a scale pattern containing half-
fauna – a Latin word pertaining to the animal life
steps between scale degrees 3 and 4 and between
within a particular environment
6 and 7
fermata – a symbol ( ) indicating that a note
multi-tracking – the process of taking separate
(or silence) should be sustained longer than its
recordings and assembling them to play
notated value, briefly halting the underlying

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 simultaneously; over-dubbing is a synonym fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
mute – a device that quiets or muffles an Renaissance man – a person with skills and/
instrument’s sound in some way or talents in many different areas; similar to
“polymath”
opera – a genre originating in the Baroque era that
resembles a play, but which requires characters rhythm and blues (R&B) – an evolving style label
to sing their roles that, by the late 1950s, referred to Black music
with energetic and hard-swinging rhythms that
ornithologist – a scientist who studies birds
made it suitable for dancing
outro – a synonym for “coda,” frequently used in
Romantic era – a nickname for western
popular music
European music that emphasized expressivity,
over-dubbing – see multi-tracking encompassing the majority of the nineteenth
century
overture – a short piece for an orchestra; sometimes
it precedes a theatrical work, but many overtures rondellus – a medieval polyphonic genre in which
are created to be concert compositions two or more voices sing in harmony and then
trade parts, with each person singing the line that
pedal tone – a sustained low pitch, similar to long
the other person had previously sung
notes played by an organ’s pedals
rota – a medieval genre consisting of imitative
perfect pitch – see absolute pitch
polyphony in which all voices enter one at a time

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pre-chorus – a transitional section added to many (in the manner of a round/canon)
verse-chorus (verse-refrain) forms; it occurs after
round – a vocal genre that employs exact imitative
the verse and before the chorus
polyphony (each successive voice sings the same
prepared piano – an acoustic piano which has had melody that the initial vocalist sang); also called
objects inserted between its strings to alter its canon
tone color
sacred – an adjective for something that is intended
program – 1) a description of the events or ideas for religious practices
portrayed by a programmatic composition; 2) a
sampling – the practice of borrowing pre-existing
printed listing of the repertory to be performed
music and embedding it in some way within a
during a concert or recital
new composition
programmatic – instrumental music that conveys a
sawari – a Japanese value that seeks to reproduce
sense of a specific storyline but without the use
the sounds of nature by musical means
of lyrics
secular – an adjective for something that is
progressive rock – a style of rock with songs
“worldly,” meaning it is non-religious
that feature multiple sections, a wide array of
instruments (especially orchestral), and blended sforzando – an indication to play a note loudly and
styles; sometimes called “symphonic rock” with a sharp accent at the start
quintuplet – a group of five notes that occupy the stopped horn – a technique of inserting a fist
same duration of time that four notes of the same within the flared bell of a French horn in order to
value would normally require create a nasal, “buzzy” timbre
R&B – see rhythm and blues syllabic text-setting – a type of singing in which
each syllable of poetry is paired with a single
Renaissance era – a designation for the period of
note
western European music history spanning the

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symphonic rock – see progressive rock added in performance by various means (back-
and-forth movements of the hand, air support,
symphony – an orchestral genre originating in the
etc.); the effect adds intensity to the note
Classic period, comprised (customarily) of three
or four contrasting movements viola da gamba – an instrument with (usually) six
strings and frets, played with a bow; bass viol is
through-composed – a term for a piece of music
now a synonym
without clearly repeated sections
virtuosic – an adjective to describe technically
tremolo – a rapid repetition of a pitch or an
challenging music
oscillation between two pitches that creates a
“trembling” effect waltz – a nineteenth-century ballroom couple’s
dance in a moderate tempo and triple meter
trio – a piece designed to feature three performers
word-painting – a compositional technique in
Tristan chord – a four-note dissonant harmony that
which a composer tries to illustrate the literal
initially consisted of the pitches F, B, D♯, and
meaning of a particular word or phrase with
G♯, taken from the prelude to Richard Wagner’s
musical elements, such as setting the word
Tristan und Isolde
“mountain” or “sky” on a high pitch
vibrato – a slight wavering or oscillating sound

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 Notes

1 Arnold Schoenberg, Style and Idea (Berkeley and Los Angeles: Suite and the Transformation of Wilderness,” Journal of the American
University of California Press, 1975), 91. Musicological Society 57, no. 2 (Summer 2004): 361.
2 The second bar of tonic can be replaced with four beats of IV, or the 20 Jim Farrington, “Ferde Grofé: An Investigation into His Musical
progression ii-V (two beats each). The fourth bar, with the addition of a Activities and Works” (MM thesis, Florida State University, 1985), 86.
minor seventh above the root of the chord, sometimes does double-duty 21 Von Glahn, The Sounds of Place, 205.
as a dominant 7th to the IV chord coming at the beginning of the next
22 National Park Service—U.S. Department of the Interior, “Native Art
line. In bar ten, the harmony often stays on the dominant instead of
and Activism of the Grand Canyon,” Whose Story is History? The
moving down to IV. And, finally, the last tonic is often either replaced by
Diverse History of Grand Canyon, updated 22 February 2022, https://
a dominant 7th, or shortened to two beats, so a V7 can be added to help
www.nps.gov/articles/000/native-art-and-activism-of-the-grand-canyon.
transition back into the next repetition of the entire progression.
htm.
3 Christopher Small, Musicking: The Meanings of Performing and
23 Stephen J. Pyne, How the Canyon Became Grand: A Short History (New
Listening (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1998).
York: Viking, 1998), 4.
4 U.S. Department of the Interior, “Rivers of the World: World’s Longest
24 Pyne, How the Canyon Became Grand, 115–6.
Rivers,” United States Geological Survey: Science For a Changing
World, 11 June 2018, https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science- 25 National Park Service—U.S. Department of the Interior, “Park
school/science/rivers-world-worlds-longest-rivers?qt-science_center_ Statistics,” Learn About the Park: Management, updated 22 June 2023,

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objects=0#qt-science_center_objects. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/management/statistics.htm.
5 National Park Service—U.S. Department of the Interior, “Mississippi 26 “Ferde Grofe: A Style is Born!,” International Musician 52, no. 2
River Facts,” Mississippi—National River and Recreation Area, (August 1953): 26.
Minnesota, updated 10 February 2022, https://www.nps.gov/miss/ 27 Farrington, “Ferde Grofé: An Investigation into His Musical Activities
riverfacts.htm. and Works,” 86.
6 Dean Klinkenberg, “Mississippi River Songs,” Mississippi Valley 28 Don Rayno, 1930–1967, Vol. II of Paul Whiteman: Pioneer in American
Traveler, accessed 16 July 2023, https://mississippivalleytraveler.com/ Music, Studies in Jazz (Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press, 2009), 45,
mississippi-river-songs/. 47.
7 National Park Service—U.S. Department of the Interior, “Songs of the 29 Rayno, 1930–1967, 47.
Mississippi River,” Mississippi—National River and Recreation Area, 30 Rayno, 1930–1967, 47.
Minnesota, updated 29 September 2021, https://www.nps.gov/miss/learn/ 31 Von Glahn, The Sounds of Place, 207.
education/songs-of-the-mississippi-river.htm.
32 Grofé, Grand Canyon Suite, 2–3.
8 Michael Daugherty, “Works: Niagara Falls,” accessed 16 July 2023,
33 Hinch Knece, “The History of Mules at the Grand Canyon,” Grand
https://michaeldaugherty.net/works/symphonic-concert-wind/niagara-
Canyon National Park Lodges, 28 October 2019, https://www.
falls/.
grandcanyonlodges.com/connect/the-history-of-mules-at-the-grand-
9 Forest Service—U.S. Department of Agriculture, “Biological Legacies canyon/.
of Mount St. Helens,” Newsroom: Feature Stories, 18 May 2020, https://
34 SPANA, “What is a Mule? 13 Things You Didn’t Know,” The Society for
www.fs.usda.gov/features/past-present-and-future-research-mount-st-
the Protection of Animals Abroad, 2023, https://spana.org/blog/what-is-
helens.
a-mule-13-things-you-didnt-know/.
10 Catherine Parsons Smith, “William Grant Still,” in The New Grove
35 Rayno, 1930–1967, 48.
Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., ed. Stanley Sadie (London:
Macmillan, 2001), Vol. 24: 392. 36 Rayno, 1930–1967, 48.
11 Denise Von Glahn, The Sounds of Place: Music and the American 37 Grofé, Grand Canyon Suite, 57.
Cultural Landscape, Music in American Life (Urbana: University of 38 Toliver, “Eco-ing in the Canyon,” 361.
Illinois Press, 2003), 198. 39 Byron Gay and Richard Whiting, Horses (New York: Leo Feist, 1926),
12 Songwriters Hall of Fame, “Ferde Grofe,” 2023, https://www.songhall. 4.
org/profile/Ferde_Grof%C3%A9. 40 Rayno, 1930–1967, 48.
13 Jim Farrington, “Ferde Grofé,” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music 41 Von Glahn, The Sounds of Place, 198.
and Musicians, 2nd ed., ed. Stanley Sadie (London: Macmillan, 2001),
42 J. Peter Burkholder, Donald Jay Grout, and Claude V. Palisca, A History
Vol. 10: 433.
of Western Music, 10th ed. (New York: W. W. Norton, 2019), 515–6.
14 Ferde Grofé, Grand Canyon Suite, Robbins Miniature Orchestra Score
43 Burkholder, Grout, and Palisca, A History of Western Music, 559.
(New York: Robbins Music Corporation, 1932), front cover verso.
44 Joseph Kerman, Alan Tyson, and Scott G. Burnham, “Ludwig van
15 Farrington, “Ferde Grofé,” 433.
Beethoven,” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd
16 Von Glahn, The Sounds of Place, 198. ed., ed. Stanley Sadie (London: Macmillan, 2001), Vol. 3: 85.
17 Farrington, “Ferde Grofé,” 434. 45 Kerman, Tyson, and Burnham, “Ludwig van Beethoven,” 84.
18 https://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/. 46 Burkholder, Grout, and Palisca, A History of Western Music, 570–1.
19 Brooks Toliver, “Eco-ing in the Canyon: Ferde Grofé’s Grand Canyon 47 David Wyn Jones, Beethoven: Pastoral Symphony, Cambridge Music

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 Handbooks (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1995), Duckworth, 1945), 31, 36, 49.
19–20. 79 Abraham, Rimsky-Korsakov: A Short Biography, 50.
48 Jones, Beethoven: Pastoral Symphony, 44. 80 Frolova-Walker, “Nikolay Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov,” 401.
49 Jones, Beethoven: Pastoral Symphony, 46. 81 T he full opera can be seen in two YouTube videos: https://youtu.be/
50 Clifford Bevan, “Tuba (i),” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Nvn6rnrZdB4 and https://youtu.be/3_iLE0Molb8.
Musicians, 2nd ed., ed. Stanley Sadie (London: Macmillan, 2001), Vol. 82 https://galaxymusicnotes.com/pages/story-of-the-opera-the-tale-of-tsar-
25: 857. saltan.
51 Jim Farrington, “Ferde Grofé: An Investigation,” 87. 83 Trevor Hold, “Messiaen’s Birds,” Music and Letters 52, no. 2 (April
52 John Culhane, Walt Disney’s Fantasia (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1971): 122.
1983), 17. 84 Hold, “Messiaen’s Birds,” 119–21.
53 Culhane, Walt Disney’s Fantasia, 134. 85 h ttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kircher-musurgia-bird-song_
54 Jones, Beethoven: Pastoral Symphony, 81–8; Culhane, Walt Disney’s (cropped).jpg.
Fantasia, 134. 86 R ichard d’A. Jensen, “Birdsong and the Imitation of Birdsong in the
55 National Geographic, “Photosynthesis,” Resource: Encyclopedic Music of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance,” Current Musicology 40
Entry, updated 15 July 2022, https://education.nationalgeographic.org/ (1985): 50.
resource/photosynthesis/. 87 Adrienne Fried Block, “Amy Beach,” in The New Grove Dictionary of
56 Elliott Antokoletz, A History of Twentieth-Century Music in a Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., ed. Stanley Sadie (London: Macmillan,
Theoretic-Analytic Context (New York: Routledge, 2014), 476. 2001), Vol. 3: 12.
57 Jonathan Tirado, “An Analytical Study of Percussion Literature 88 A my Beach, “Amy Beach, Composer, on ‘Why I Chose My Profession,’”
Influenced by Eastern Musical Practice” (M.M. thesis, The University of in Music in the USA: A Documentary Companion, ed. Judith Tick (New
Texas at San Antonio, 2015), 20. York: Oxford University Press, 2008), 324.
58 Tōru Takemitsu, “Contemporary Music in Japan,” Perspectives of New 89 Beach, “Amy Beach, Composer,” 326.
Music 27, no. 2 (Summer 1989): 199. 90 Una L. Allen, “The Composer’s Corner: No. 10—Mrs. H. H. A. Beach,”
59 Tirado, “An Analytical Study of Percussion Literature Influenced by The Musician 35, no. 7 (July 1930): 21.
Eastern Musical Practice,” 21. 91 Adrienne Fried Block, Amy Cheney Beach, Passionate Victorian: The
60 Peter Burt, The Music of Tōru Takemitsu, Music in the Twentieth Life and Work of an American Composer 1867–1944 (New York: Oxford
Century (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001), 176. University Press, 1998), 221.
61 Noriko Ohtake, Creative Sources for the Music of Toru Takemitsu 92 Allen, “The Composer’s Corner: No. 10—Mrs. H. H. A. Beach,” 21.

Klein High School - Klein, TX

(Aldershot, UK: Scolar Press, 1993), 36; National Oceanic and 93 E. Douglas Bomberger, “Amy Marcy Cheny Beach (1867–1944),”
Atmospheric Administration—U.S. Department of Commerce, “Water in Composers Born 1800–1899: Keyboard Music, vol. 6 of Women
Cycle,” NOAA Education, updated 1 February 2019, https://www.noaa. Composers: Music Through the Ages, ed. Sylvia Glickman and Martha
gov/education/resource-collections/freshwater/water-cycle. Furman Schleifer (New York: G. K. Hall, 1999), 354.
62 Ohtake, Creative Sources for the Music of Toru Takemitsu, 33. 94 Bomberger, “Amy Marcy Cheny Beach (1867–1944),” 352.
63 Burt, The Music of Tōru Takemitsu, 176. 95 A my Beach, “A Hermit Thrush at Morn,” in Amy Beach: Piano Music
64 J ames Siddons, Toru Takemitsu: A Bio-Bibliography, Bio- (Boston: Arthur P. Schmidt, 1922), 43.
Bibliographies in Music, No. 85 (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 96 Adrienne Fried Block, “Amy Beach,” in New Historical Anthology
2001), 15. of Music by Women, ed. James R. Briscoe (Bloomington: Indiana
65 Burt, The Music of Tōru Takemitsu, 177. University Press, 2004), 200.
66 George W. Staples and Craig R. Elevitch, “Samanea saman (rain tree),” 97 Allen, “The Composer’s Corner: No. 10—Mrs. H. H. A. Beach,” 21.
in Traditional Trees of Pacific Islands: Their Culture, Environment, 98 A nsel Pereira, “100 Best Songs With Seasons in the Title,” Spinditty, 10
and Use, ed. Craig R. Elevitch (Hōlualoa, HI: Permanent Agricultural June 2023, https://spinditty.com/playlists/Songs-With-Seasons-in-the-
Resources, 2006), 662. Title.
67 Ohtake, Creative Sources for the Music of Toru Takemitsu, 44. 99 Burkholder, Grout, and Palisca, A History of Western Music, 29.
68 Ohtake, Creative Sources for the Music of Toru Takemitsu, 44. 100 J. Peter Burkholder and Claude V. Palisca, eds., Commentary for
69 https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/5640-yomiuri-prize?page=2. “Sumer is icumen in,” in Ancient to Baroque, Vol. 1 of Norton
70 A ntokoletz, A History of Twentieth-Century Music in a Theoretic- Anthology of Western Music, 8th ed., ed. J. Peter Burkholder and Claude
Analytic Context, 477. V. Palisca (New York: W. W. Norton, 2019), 137.
71 A ntokoletz, A History of Twentieth-Century Music in a Theoretic- 101 James Dapogny, “Louis Armstrong,” in The New Grove Dictionary of
Analytic Context, 478. Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., ed. Stanley Sadie (London: Macmillan,
2001), Vol. 2: 30.
72 https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/greatest-films-all-time.
102 James Karst, “Our Times: The Louis Armstrong Childhood Arrest
73 Staples and Elevitch, “Samanea saman (rain tree),” 662, 670.
That No One Knew About,” The Times Picayune, 21 December 2014
74 F
 orest Service—U.S. Department of Agriculture, “What is Pollination?” (updated 22 July 2019), https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/our-
Managing the Land— Celebrating Wildflowers—Pollinators, accessed times-the-louis-armstrong-childhood-arrest-that-no-one-knew-about/
19 July 2023, https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/wildflowers/ article_c1338e0b-e4c7-59c0-8c0e-67b751d691f3.html.
pollinators/what-is-pollination.
103 Karst, “Our Times: The Louis Armstrong Childhood Arrest That No
75 Bee-Health, “Dance Language of the Honey Bee,” National Cooperative One Knew About.”
Extension Resource—National Institute of Food and Agriculture—
104 Karst, “Our Times: The Louis Armstrong Childhood Arrest That No
U.S. Department of Agriculture, 20 August 2019, https://bee-health.
One Knew About.”
extension.org/dance-language-of-the-honey-bee/.
105 Karst, “Our Times: The Louis Armstrong Childhood Arrest That No
76 Martina Frolova-Walker, “Nikolay Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov,” in
One Knew About.”
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., ed. Stanley
Sadie (London: Macmillan, 2001), Vol. 21: 400. 106 Dapogny, “Louis Armstrong,” 30.
77 Frolova-Walker, “Nikolay Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov,” 400. 107 Donald D. Megill and Richard S. Demory, Introduction to Jazz History,
4th ed. (Upper Saddle River, NH: Prentice-Hall, 1996), 66.
78 Gerald Abraham, Rimsky-Korsakov: A Short Biography (London:

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108 F rank Tirro, Jazz: A History, 2nd ed. (New York: W. W. Norton, 1993), 138 Davis, “Michael Abels.”
190. 139 Davis, “Michael Abels.”
109 Penny M. von Eschen, Satchmo Blows Up the World: Jazz Ambassadors 140 Janet Smith, “VIFF 2022: Composer Michael Abels, Horror Maestro
Play the Cold War (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2004), of Get Out, Us, and Nope, Reveals the Genre Smarts Behind His Scary
59. Music,” Stir: Arts & Culture / Vancouver, 4 October 2022, https://www.
110 Tirro, Jazz: A History, 176. createastir.ca/articles/michael-abels-vso-viff-2022.
111 G rove Music Online, s.v. “Louis Armstrong,” by Gene H. 141 Davis, “Michael Abels.”
Anderson, 16 October 2013, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/ 142 Jonathan Turner, “Arts and Culture: Get Out! A QC Friend Wins the
grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo- Music Pulitzer Prize,” QuadCities.com, updated 12 May 2023, https://
9781561592630-e-1002248099. In December 2023, seventy-eight year www.ourquadcities.com/news/local-news/arts-and-culture/get-out-a-qc-
old Brenda Lee took Armstrong’s place as the oldest person to have a friend-wins-the-music-pulitzer-prize/.
number one hit when her song “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”
143 http://markrussellsmith.net/.
took over the top spot.
144 Davis, “Michael Abels.”
112 Joseph F. Laredo, Booklet for The Best of Louis Armstrong, 20th Century
Masters / The Millennium Collection, MCA Records MCAD-11940. 145 Tim Hare, “Michael Abels: The Full Interview,” Berklee College of
Music, 2021, https://web.archive.org/web/20210228225649/https:/www.
113 von Eschen, Satchmo Blows Up the World, 9.
blogs.berklee.edu/michael-abels-full-interview/.
114 BBC, “Fall of Berlin Wall: How 1989 Reshaped the Modern World,”
146 Hare, “Michael Abels: The Full Interview.”
BBC News, 5 November 2019, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-
europe-50013048. 147 Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, “Composer Michael Abels: Biography,”
Composers, 2023, https://www.aso.org/artists/detail/michael-abels.
115 D anielle Fosler-Lussier, Music in America’s Cold War Diplomacy,
California Studies in 20th-Century Music (Oakland: University of 148 Hare, “Michael Abels: The Full Interview.”
California Press, 2015), 4; and Kiril Tomoff, Virtuosi Abroad: Soviet 149 Smith, “VIFF 2022: Composer Michael Abels.”
Music and Imperial Competition During the Early Cold War, 1945–1958 150 Davis, “Michael Abels.”
(Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2015), 86. 151 Ree Hines, “Pop Culture: How Composer Went From Posting Music on
116 von Eschen, Satchmo Blows Up the World, 10–1. YouTube to Working with Hollywood Director Jordan Peele,” Today,
117 Fosler-Lussier, Music in America’s Cold War Diplomacy, 156; von 28 February 2022, https://www.today.com/popculture/popculture/
Eschen, Satchmo Blows Up the World, 64. composer-michael-abels-jordan-peele-movies-score-rcna17903.
118 Bob Thiele, What a Wonderful World: A Lifetime of Recordings (New 152 Hines, “Pop Culture: How Composer Went From Posting Music on
York: Oxford University Press, 1995), 3. YouTube.”

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119 Thiele, What a Wonderful World, 3. 153 https://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/.
120 Thiele, What a Wonderful World, 8, 54. 154 Jonathan Turner, “Arts and Culture: After Spielberg, Peele, Composer
121 R icky Riccardi, What a Wonderful World: The Magic of Louis Now Back to QCSO,” QuadCities.com, 23 November 2022, https://
Armstrong’s Later Years (New York: Pantheon Books, 2011), 259. www.ourquadcities.com/news/local-news/arts-and-culture/after-
spielberg-peele-composer-now-back-to-qcso/.
122 R iccardi, What a Wonderful World, 259; Louis Armstrong, “What
a Wonderful World,” on The Best of Louis Armstrong: 20th Century 155 https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/rhiannon-giddens-and-michael-abels;
Masters / The Millennium Collection, MCA Records MCAD-11940. Turner, “Arts and Culture: Get Out! A QC Friend Wins the Music
Pulitzer Prize.”
123 Thiele, What a Wonderful World, 4.
156 Subito Music Corporation, “Michael Abels: Composer Bio,” 2023,
124 Riccardi, What a Wonderful World, 259.
https://www.subitomusic.com/composers/highlights/michael-abels/.
125 Riccardi, What a Wonderful World, 260.
157 https://youtu.be/MARVqf N5Nos.
126 Thiele, What a Wonderful World, 4–5.
158 Michael Abels, Global Warming ([n.p.]: Subito Music Publishing, 1991),
127 R iccardi, What a Wonderful World, 260; Thiele, What a Wonderful [ii]; https://pysorchestras.org/2012/07/ellen-rutter/.
World, 5.
159 Aaron Horne, comp., Brass Music of Black Composers: A Bibliography,
128 A rtie Butler, “What a Wonderful World,” Artie Butler: Composer / Music Reference Collection, no. 51 (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press,
Arranger / Music Director / Producer, 2018, https://artiebutler.com/ 1996), 11.
what-a-wonderful-world/.
160 h ttps://www.cedillerecords.org/albums/african-heritage-symphonic-
129 Butler, “What a Wonderful World.” series-vol-iii/; Dominique-René de Lerma, Program Notes for African
130 Riccardi, What a Wonderful World, 264. Heritage Symphonic Series Volume III, Chicago Sinfonietta, conducted
131 R icky Riccardi, “Video Pops: What a Wonderful World: The First by Paul Freeman, Cedille Records CDR 90000 066.
Fifty Years,” New Orleans Jazz Museum, 3 August 2018, https://www. 161 Subito Music Corporation, “Michael Abels: Composer Bio.”
facebook.com/nolajazzmuseum/videos/947138725493034. 162 Turner, “Arts and Culture: Get Out! A QC Friend Wins the Music
132 J ack Doyle, “What A Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong: 1967-1968,” Pulitzer Prize.”
PopHistoryDig.com, November 7, 2012, https://pophistorydig.com/ 163 BBC, “Fall of Berlin Wall: How 1989 Reshaped the Modern World.”
topics/wonderful-world-armstrong/.
164 de Lerma, Program Notes for African Heritage Symphonic Series
133 G raham Nash, Off the Record: Songwriters on Songwriting: 25 of the Volume III, [3].
World’s Most Celebrated Songs (Kansas City, MO: Andrews McMeel,
165 Abels, Global Warming, [ii].
2002), 182; Billboard Media, LLC, “Explore Louis Armstrong: Chart
History,” Billboard: Penske Media Corporation, 2023, https://www. 166 Abels, Global Warming, [ii].
billboard.com/artist/louis-armstrong/. 167 Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, “Composer Michael Abels: Biography.”
134 Nash, Off the Record, 182. 168 Subito Music Corporation, “Michael Abels: Reviews,” 2023, https://
135 Riccardi, What a Wonderful World, 260. www.subitomusic.com/composers/highlights/michael-abels/michael-
abels-reviews/.
136 A ndrew Davis, “Michael Abels: A Composer Makes ‘Waves,’” Windy
City Times, 24 June 2009, https://www.windycitytimes.com/lgbt/ 169 https://michaelabels.com/js_albums/orchestra/.
Michael-Abels-A-composer-makes-Waves/21520.html. 170 Rex Weyler, “A Brief History of Environmentalism,” Greenpeace, 5
137 https://www.encyclopedia.com/literature-and-arts/performing-arts/ January 2018, https://www.greenpeace.org/international/story/11658/a-
music-popular-and-jazz/classical-music. brief-history-of-environmentalism/.

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171 Weyler, “A Brief History of Environmentalism.” 2021, https://www.independent.co.uk/independentpremium/big-yellow-
172 National Geographic, “Ecology,” Resource: Encyclopedic Entry, taxi-joni-mitchell-b1866331.html.
Updated 1 November 2022, https://education.nationalgeographic.org/ 208 Joni Mitchell, Ladies of the Canyon, Warner Bros. Records WS 6375;
resource/ecology/. https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/joni-mitchell-ladies-of-the-
173 R andy Alfred, “Science: July 18, 1876: Royal Commissioners Wrinkle canyon-song-by-song-thread.766962/; Hinton, Joni Mitchell, 106.
Their Noses,” Wired, 17 July 2000, https://www.wired.com/2008/07/ 209 Robert Webb, “Rock & Pop: Story of the Song ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ Joni
july-18-1876-royal-commissioners-wrinkle-their-noses-2/. Mitchell (1970).”
174 Alfred, “Science: July 18, 1876: Royal Commissioners Wrinkle Their 210 Bego, Joni Mitchell, 132; Hinton, Joni Mitchell, 162.
Noses.” 211 Bego, Joni Mitchell, 252–3.
175 Weyler, “A Brief History of Environmentalism.” 212 https://jonimitchell.com/music/song.cfm?id=13.
176 W NET Group, “Timeline of Environmental Movement and History,” 213 Weller, Girls Like Us, 492.
PBS: American Masters, 15 April 2014, https://www.pbs.org/wnet/
214 https://jonimitchell.com/music/song.cfm?id=13.
americanmasters/a-fierce-green-fire-timeline-of-environmental-
movement/2988/. 215 Ben Edmonds, What’s Going On?: Marvin Gaye and the Last Days of
the Motown Sound (Edinburgh: Mojo Books, 2001), 118.
177 N RDC, “Explainer: The Story of Silent Spring,” NRDC, 13 August
2015, https://www.nrdc.org/stories/story-silent-spring. 216 A rthur M. Woodford, This is Detroit, 1701–2001, Great Lakes Books
(Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2001), 197–8.
178 NRDC, “Explainer: The Story of Silent Spring.”
217 Berry Gordy, To Be Loved: The Music, the Magic, the Memories of
179 Weyler, “A Brief History of Environmentalism.”
Motown: An Autobiography (New York: Warner Books, 1994), 140.
180 Dori Partain, “Remember This? Ecology Flag,” Northeast News, 20
218 Gordy, To Be Loved, 118; Woodford, This is Detroit, 1701–2001, 198.
April 2022, https://northeastnews.net/pages/remember-this-ecology-
flag/. 219 Larry Starr and Christopher Waterman, American Popular Music: From
Minstrelsy to MTV, 4th ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014),
181 Adam Rome, “At the Smithsonian: This Homemade Flag From the ’70s
573.
Signals the Beginning of the Environmental Movement,” Smithsonian
Magazine, April 2020, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian- 220 David Ritz, Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye (New York:
institution/homemade-flag-from-70s-signals-beginning-environmental- McGraw-Hill, 1985), 3.
movement-180974373/. 221 Ritz, Divided Soul, 3–4.
182 W NET Group, “Timeline of Environmental Movement and History”; 222 Tom Stockdale, They Died Too Young: Marvin Gaye (Philadelphia:
https://www.earthday.org. Chelsea House, 2000), 8.

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183 Sheila Weller, Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon— 223 Steve Turner, Trouble Man: The Life and Death of Marvin Gaye (New
And the Journey of a Generation (New York: Atria Books, 2008), 73. York: Ecco Press, 2000), 18.
184 Leonore Fleischer, Joni Mitchell: Her Life, Her Loves, Her Music (New 224 Ritz, Divided Soul, 333.
York: Flash Books, 1976), 14. 225 Ritz, Divided Soul, 82.
185 Weller, Girls Like Us, 131. 226 Sharon Davis, I Heard It Through the Grapevine: Marvin Gaye: The
186 Bridgett Henwood, “The History of America Protest Music, From Biography (Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing, 1991), 99.
‘Yankee Doodle’ to Kendrick Lamar,” Vox.com, 22 May 2017, https:// 227 Edmonds, What’s Going On?, 38.
www.vox.com/culture/2017/4/12/14462948/protest-music-history- 228 Turner, Trouble Man, 91.
america-trump-beyonce-dylan-misty.
229 Turner, Trouble Man, 91.
187 Mark Bego, Joni Mitchell (Lanham, MD: Taylor Trade Publishing,
230 Dorian Lynskey, 33 Revolutions Per Minute: A History of Protest Songs,
2005), 30.
From Billie Holiday to Green Day (New York: Ecco, 2011), 157.
188 Weller, Girls Like Us, 145–6.
231 Edmonds, What’s Going On?, 145–7.
189 Weller, Girls Like Us, 210.
Turner, Trouble Man, 91.
190 Bego, Joni Mitchell, 36–7.
232 Edmonds, What’s Going On?, 175.
191 Weller, Girls Like Us, 274, 276.
233 Turner, Trouble Man, 125.
192 Bego, Joni Mitchell, 71.
234 Turner, Trouble Man, 125.
193 https://www.allmusic.com/album/clouds-mw0000192763/awards.
235 Stockdale, They Died Too Young, 27
194 Bego, Joni Mitchell, 78–9.
236 Lynskey, 33 Revolutions Per Minute, 158.
195 Fleischer, Joni Mitchell, 26.
237 Marvin Gaye, What’s Going On, Tamla TS 310, LP.
196 Brian Hinton, Joni Mitchell: Both Sides Now (London: Sanctuary
238 Marvin Gaye, What’s Going On, Tamla TS 310, LP.
Publishing, 1996), 106.
239 A rthur J. Bamford, “Mercy Mercy Me (The Media Ecology):
197 Bego, Joni Mitchell, 79, 82.
Technology, Agency, and ‘Cleavage’ of the Musical Text” (MA thesis,
198 Hinton, Joni Mitchell, 106. University of Denver, 2010), 65.
199 Fleischer, Joni Mitchell, 39; Hinton, Joni Mitchell, 121. 240 Edmonds, What’s Going On?, 207.
200 https://jonimitchell.com/music/song.cfm?id=13. 241 Davis, I Heard It Through the Grapevine, 123.
201 https://www.royal-hawaiian.com/history-overview/. 242 Corey Irwin, “When Marvin Gaye Turned Environmentalist With
202 Charles Morris, “Big Yellow Taxi — Joni Mitchell’s Environmental ‘Mercy Mercy Me,’” UltimateClassicRock.com, updated 11 June 2020,
Anthem Has Been Recycled Many Times,” Financial Times, 8 https://ultimateclassicrock.com/marvin-gaye-mercy-mercy-me/.
September 2019. https://jonimitchell.com/library/view.cfm?id=4491. 243 Turner, Trouble Man, 121.
203 Weller, Girls Like Us, 296–7. 244 Edmonds, What’s Going On?, 224.
204 https://www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/DDT_FactSheet.html. 245 Turner, Trouble Man, 121.
205 Hinton, Joni Mitchell, 109. 246 Edmonds, What’s Going On?, 167.
206 Hinton, Joni Mitchell, 106. 247 Hugh Davies, “Mellotron,” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and
207 Robert Webb, “Rock & Pop: Story of the Song ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ Joni Musicians, 2nd ed., ed. Stanley Sadie (London: Macmillan, 2001), Vol.
Mitchell (1970),” The Independent, 29 October 2004, updated 18 June 16: 354.

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248 Edmonds, What’s Going On?, 190. 281 https://www.beatlesbible.com/people/paul-mccartney/songs/maybe-im-
249 Randal C. Hill, “It Was 50 Years Ago Today: ‘Mercy Mercy Me amazed/.
(The Ecology),’” 50PlusLifePA.com, accessed 1 August 2023, 282 https://www.billboard.com/artist/paul-mccartney/chart-history/tlp/.
https://50pluslifepa.com/leisure/entertainment/2113-it-was-50-years- 283 https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/story/
ago-today-mercy-mercy-me-the-ecology.
284 BBC, “Paul McCartney Leads Linda Tribute,” BBC News, 11 April
250 h ttps://michiganrockandrolllegends.com/index.php/legendary-michigan- 1999, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/316419.stm.
songs/124-111-mercy-mercy-me-the-ecology.
285 Huff Post Entertainment, “Paul McCartney Olympics Payment: Singer
251 Mac Randall, Exit Music: The Radiohead Story (London: Omnibus Paid One Pound ($1.57) For Big Gig,” Huffington Post, 30 July 2012,
Press, 2000), 24. https://web.archive.org/web/20120731135054/http://www.huffingtonpost.
252 Randall, Exit Music, 29, 32, 43. com/2012/07/30/paul-mccartney-olympics-payment_n_1720412.html.
253 G rove Music Online, s.v. “Radiohead,” by Christopher Doll, 3 286 https://www.billboard.com/artist/paul-mccartney/chart-history/tlp/.
September 2014, https://www-oxfordmusiconline-com.calpoly.idm.oclc. 287 Rob Sheffield, “Review: Paul McCartney’s Awesomely Eccentric ‘Egypt
org/grovemusic/display/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo- Station,’” Rolling Stone, 5 September 2018, https://www.rollingstone.
9781561592630-e-1002267510. com/music/music-album-reviews/review-paul-mccartneys-awesomely-
254 David Buckley, “Radiohead,” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music eccentric-egypt-station-719365/.
and Musicians, 2nd ed., ed. Stanley Sadie (London: Macmillan, 288 https://web.archive.org/web/20180621041409/http://mccartneyart.com/
2001), Vol. 20: 744; https://www.awardsandshows.com/features/best- product/egypt-station/.
alternative-music-album-388.html.
289 https://web.archive.org/web/20180620180822/https://www.
255 Dan Caffrey, Radiohead FAQ: All That’s Left to Know About the World’s paulmccartney.com/Egypt_Station_7thSept.
Most Famous Cult Band (Guilford, CT: Backbeat Books, 2021), 32.
290 https://www.paulmccartney.com/discography/albums/egypt-station.
256 Julia Ehmann, Radiohead and the Journey Beyond Genre: Analysing
291 Vincent Perez Benitez, The Words and Music of Paul McCartney: The
Stylistic Debates and Transgressions, Routledge Studies in Popular
Solo Years, The Praeger Singer-Songwriter Collection (Santa Barbara,
Music (London: Routledge, 2020), 103.
CA: Praeger, 2010), 50.
257 Caffrey, Radiohead FAQ, 35.
292 A ndy Greene, “Music: Paul McCartney’s Producer Greg Kurstin
258 Grove Music Online, s.v. “Radiohead,” by Christopher Doll. Breaks Down ‘Egypt Station,’” Rolling Stone, 3 July 2018, https://www.
259 Caffrey, Radiohead FAQ, 41–2. rollingstone.com/music/music-news/paul-mccartneys-producer-greg-
260 Brad Osborn, Everything In Its Right Place: Analyzing Radiohead (New kurstin-breaks-down-egypt-station-666987/.
York: Oxford University Press, 2017), 81. 293 https://youtu.be/zhvZazALhyA.

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261 https://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/radiohead/idioteque/; Simon 294 Paul McCartney, The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, ed. Paul Muldoon
Reynolds, Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance (New York: Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2021), Vol. I: 117.
Culture, new and rev. ed. (London: Faber & Faber, 2013), 662. 295 McCartney, The Lyrics, 117.
262 Paul Lansky, “My Radiohead Adventure,” in The Music and Art of 296 G reene, “Music: Paul McCartney’s Producer Greg Kurstin Breaks
Radiohead, ed. Joseph Tate (Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2005), 168–70. Down ‘Egypt Station.’”
263 Caffrey, Radiohead FAQ, 42. 297 G reene, “Music: Paul McCartney’s Producer Greg Kurstin Breaks
264 Lansky, “My Radiohead Adventure,” 168. Down ‘Egypt Station.’”
265 Caffrey, Radiohead FAQ, 41. 298 Bruce Benward and Marilyn Saker, Music: In Theory and Practice
266 Allan F. Moore and Anwar Ibrahim, “‘Sounds Like Teen Spirit’: (Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2009), vol. II: 201-4.
Identifying Radiohead’s Idiolect,” in The Music and Art of Radiohead, 299 Britannica, s.v. “Renaissance man,” by Michael Ray, Accessed 5 August
ed. Joseph Tate (Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2005), 150. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Renaissance-man.
267 Osborn, Everything In Its Right Place, 115. 300 Students of History, “The Renaissance Man,” StudentsOfHistory.com,
268 Radiohead, Kid A, Parlophone 7243 5 27753 2 3, compact disc. 2023, https://www.studentsofhistory.com/what-is-a-renaissance-man.
269 h ttps://friendsoftheearth.uk/climate/big-ask-how-you-helped-make- 301 Ross Horton, “Childish Gambino: ‘3.15.20,’” The Line of Best Fit, 23
climate-change-history. March 2020, https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/reviews/albums/childish-
gambino-31520-album-review.
270 Marianne Tatom Letts, Radiohead and the Resistant Concept Album:
How to Disappear Completely (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 302 Laura K. Murray, Childish Gambino: Multifaceted Artist. Hip-Hop
2010), 98. Artists. (Minneapolis: Essential Library, 2020), 13–4.
271 Caffrey, Radiohead FAQ, 42. 303 Titi Dokubo, ‘Donald Glover Sr. Had a ‘Really Gentle’ Way of Guiding
His Son Through Difficult Times,” AmoMama.com, 16 January 2023,
272 Letts, Radiohead and the Resistant Concept Album, 95.
https://news.amomama.com/300010-donald-glover-sr-had-a-really-
273 Letts, Radiohead and the Resistant Concept Album, 98. gentle-way.html.
274 https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-songs-of-all- 304 Bijan Stephen, “Donald Glover Has Always Been Ten Steps Ahead,”
time-1224767/radiohead-idioteque-2-1225290/. Esquire, 7 February 2018, https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/
275 Caffrey, Radiohead FAQ, 42. a15895714/donald-glover-atlanta-march-2018/.
276 Barry Miles, Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now (New York: 305 Stephen, “Donald Glover Has Always Been Ten Steps Ahead.”
Henry Holt, 1997), 22–3. 306 Murray, Childish Gambino, 17, 23.
277 Miles, Paul McCartney, 81. 307 Murray, Childish Gambino, 18–21.
278 Starr and Waterman, American Popular Music, 305. 308 Murray, Childish Gambino, 23–6.
279 Ger Tillekens, “The Official Beatles’ Canon: A List of All 212 Beatles’ 309 Tad Friend, “Profile: Donald Glover Can’t Save You,” The New Yorker,
Songs and Covers Officially Released on Record Between 1962 and 26 February 2018, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/03/05/
1970,” Soundscapes: Journal on Media Culture 2 (December 1999), donald-glover-cant-save-you.
https://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/AWP/awp-
310 Chris Lee, “Donald Glover, Renaissance Man of Comedy and Rap,” Los
beatles_canon.shtml.
Angeles Times, 19 July 2010, https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-
280 Jack Whatley, “Music: The Beatles’ Albums Ranked By Their Sales,” 2010-jul-19-la-et-glover-20100719-story.html.
Far Out Magazine, 30 October 2022, https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-
311 Murray, Childish Gambino, 42–50.
beatles-albums-ranked-by-their-sales/.

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312 K yle Buchanan, “Solo Needed Way More of Donald Glover’s Lando,” like-summer-video-celebrity-cameos-explained-2373918.
Vulture, 30 May 2018, https://www.vulture.com/2018/05/solo-needed- 332 B enjamin Lee and Ben Beaumont-Thomas, “Kanye West on Slavery:
way-more-of-donald-glovers-lando.html. ‘For 400 Years? That Sounds Like a Choice,’” The Guardian, 2 May
313 Jeff Sneider, “Exclusive: Donald Glover and Stephen Glover to Write 2018, https://amp.theguardian.com/music/2018/may/01/kanye-west-on-
Lucasfilm’s Lando Series as Justin Simien Exits,” Above the Line, 27 slavery-for-400-years-that-sounds-like-a-choice.
July 2023, https://abovetheline.com/2023/07/27/donald-glover-lando-tv- 333 H rithvika, “Feels Like Summer: A Forecast of Animation’s Political
show-stephen-glover-justin-simien-disney-plus/. and Documentary Function in Music Videos,” Fantasy–Animation.org,
314 Nick Mojica, “Childish Gambino’s ‘Redbone’ Wins Best Tradition R&B 22 October 2021, https://www.fantasy-animation.org/current-posts/
Performance at 2018 Grammy Awards,” XXL, 28 January 2018, https:// feels-like-summer-a-forecast-of-animations-political-and-documentary-
www.xxlmag.com/childish-gambino-best-traditional-rb-grammys/. function-in-music-videos.
315 M L Genius Holdings, “This is America,” Genius, 6 May 2018, https:// 334 Hrithvika, “Feels Like Summer.”
genius.com/Childish-gambino-this-is-america-lyrics. 335 Britton, “We Tried to Explain All the Celebrity Cameos in Childish
316 Tre Johnson, “Donald Glover’s ‘This is America’ Is a Nightmare We Gambino’s ‘Feels Like Summer’ Video.”
Can’t Afford to Look Away From,” Rolling Stone, 8 May 2018, https:// 336 Dessem and Wickman, “Brow Beat: All 62 Cameos in Childish
www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/donald-glovers-this-is- Gambino’s New ‘Feels Like Summer’ Video, Identified. Probably.”
america-is-a-nightmare-we-cant-afford-to-look-away-from-630177/.
337 Britton, “We Tried to Explain All the Celebrity Cameos in Childish
317 Israel Daramola, “Culture, News: The Cynicism of Childish Gambino’s Gambino’s ‘Feels Like Summer’ Video.”
‘This is America,’” Spin, 8 May 2018, https://www.spin.com/2018/05/
338 Roller, “Music Review: ‘Feels Like Summer’ Music Video Has Viewers
donald-glover-this-is-america-review/.
Feeling Good.”
318 Gary Trust, “Childish Gambino’s ‘This is America’ Blasts In at No. 1 on
339 Britni Danielle, “Tessa Thompson Opens Up About Her Relationship
Billboard Hot 100,” Billboard, 14 May 2018, https://www.billboard.com/
with Janelle Monáe and Being Bisexual,” Essence, 23 October 2020,
pro/childish-gambino-this-is-america-no-1-hot-100/.
https://www.essence.com/celebrity/tessa-thompson-relationship-janelle-
319 BBC, “Childish Gambino’s This is America Makes Grammys monae-bisexual/.
History,” BBC News, 11 February 2019, https://www.bbc.com/news/
340 Britton, “We Tried to Explain All the Celebrity Cameos in Childish
entertainment-arts-47197236.
Gambino’s ‘Feels Like Summer’ Video.”
320 Jem Aswad, “Childish Gambino Drops Two New Summer-Themed
341 Luke Girgis, “Chris Brown: Timeline of Violence,” The Brag Media, 23
Songs,” Variety, 11 July 2018, https://variety.com/2018/music/
November 2022, https://thebrag.com/chris-browns-timeline-of-violence-
news/childish-gambino-drops-two-new-summer-themed-songs-
towards-women/.
listen-1202870279/.

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342 https://www.whitneyhouston.com/track/so-emotional/.
321 Aswad, “Childish Gambino Drops Two New Summer-Themed Songs.”
343 https://www.rcarecords.com/news/donald-glover-presents-3-15-20/.
322 A ndrew Howie, “Review: Childish Gambino, ‘Summertime Magic,’ &
‘Feels Like Summer,’” The Pop Break, accessed 6 August 2023, https:// 344 A my Wallace, “Science: Meet Lucy Jones, ‘the Earthquake Lady,’”
thepopbreak.com/2018/07/11/review-childish-gambino-summertime- Smithsonian Magazine, February 2012, https://www.smithsonianmag.
magic-feels-like-summer/. com/science-nature/meet-lucy-jones-the-earthquake-lady-18903045/?all.
323 Brett Faulkner, “Childish Gambino, ‘Feels Like Summer’: Track 345 https://drlucyjonescenter.org/.
Review,” The Musical Hype, 12 July 2018, https://themusicalhype.com/ 346 https://drlucyjonescenter.org/news/tempo-at-agu/.
childish-gambino-feels-like-summer-track-review/; Howie, “Review: 347 https://drlucyjonescenter.org/tempo/video/1/understanding-the-climate-
Childish Gambino, ‘Summertime Magic,’ & ‘Feels Like Summer.’” problem.
324 Chris DeVille, “New Music: Childish Gambino – ‘Summertime 348 https://drlucyjonescenter.org/tempo/video/2/music-to-inspire-action.
Magic’& ‘Feels Like Summer,” Stereogum, 11 July 2018, https://www. 349 Uzay Sezan, “In Nomine Terra Calens: In the Name of a Warming
stereogum.com/2005210/childish-gambino-summertime-magic-feels- Earth—Lucy Jones (2019),” NatureDocumentaries.org, 9 October 2019,
like-summer-pack/music/. https://naturedocumentaries.org/18440/nomine-terra-calens-warming-
325 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8938270/. earth-lucy-jones/.
326 A nais Roller, “Music Review: ‘Feels Like Summer’ Music Video Has 350 Lucy Jones, “The Music of Climate Change,” Dr. Lucy Jones, 15 May
Viewers Feeling Good,” Pirate Media 1, 19 September 2018, http:// 2019, https://web.archive.org/web/20190520143247/https://drlucyjones.
www.piratemedia1.com/arts_and_entertainment/article_91eec512-bc15- com/the-music-of-climate-change/.
11e8-94a9-d73453185287.html. 351 https://climatemusic.org/.
327 Patrick Basler, “Quavo Wins MVP at the 2018 All-Star Celebrity 352 Jamie Saxon, “Earth Advocates: This Is What Climate Change Sounds
Game,” SBNation.com, 16 February 2018, https://www.sbnation.com/ Like,” Tufts Now, 3 May 2023, https://now.tufts.edu/2023/05/03/what-
nba/2018/2/16/17022406/2018-all-star-celebrity-game-quavo-mvp- climate-change-sounds.
migos.
353 Saxon, “Earth Advocates: This Is What Climate Change Sounds Like.”
328 Matthew Dessem and Forrest Wickman, “Brow Beat: All 62 Cameos
354 https://climatemusic.org/our-music/our-music-climate/.
in Childish Gambino’s New ‘Feels Like Summer’ Video, Identified.
Probably,” Slate, 4 September 2018, https://slate.com/culture/2018/09/ 355 https://climatemusic.org/our-music/our-music-icarus-in-flight/.
all-the-cameos-in-childish-gambinos-feels-like-summer-video- 356 https://climatemusic.org/our-music/our-music-what-if-we/.
identified.html. 357 Saxon, “Earth Advocates: This Is What Climate Change Sounds Like.”
329 Eric Diep and Edwin Ortiz, “A History of Azealia Banks’ Twitter 358 https://climatemusic.org/our-music/our-music-audyssey/.
Beefs,” Complex, 18 June 2014, https://www.complex.com/music/a/eric-
359 https://www.wisemusicclassical.com/composer/414/Ludovico-Einaudi/.
diep/a-history-of-azealia-banks-twitter-beefs.
360 Adam Sweeting, “BT River of Music: Ludovico Einaudi Interview for
330 Scott Baumgartner, “News: Childish Gambino Takes Shots at Kanye
London 2012,” The Telegraph, 16 July 2012, https://ghostarchive.org/
West, Travis Scott and Nicki Minaj in New Music Video.” ETonline, 2
archive/FZ9SV.
September 2018, https://www.etonline.com/childish-gambino-takes-
shots-at-kanye-west-travis-scott-and-nicki-minaj-in-new-music- 361 Kathy Parsons, “Ludovico Einaudi 2/2010,” MainlyPiano.com, 2010,
video-108949. https://mainlypiano.com/interviews/ludovico-einaudi-2010-february.
331 Luke Morgan Britton, “We Tried to Explain All the Celebrity Cameos 362 h ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080915094652/http://www.
in Childish Gambino’s ‘Feels Like Summer’ Video,” NME, 4 September chesternovello.com/Default.aspx?TabId=2431&State_2905=2&compose
2018, https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/childish-gambino-feels- rId_2905=414#Full.

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363 https://www.greenpeace.org/international/story/46686/amchitka-the- 375 https://www.steinway.com/news/features/ludivico-einaudi-makes-a-
founding-voyage/. splash.
364 https://nuclearprinceton.princeton.edu/amchitka-island. 376 Flynn, “Behind the Scenes: Aerial Filming Ludovico Einaudi in the
365 https://www.greenpeace.org/international/explore/about/history/ Arctic.”
366 https://www.ospar.org/about. 377 Smith College, “‘Elegy for the Arctic’ by Ludovico Einaudi,” Climate
in Arts & History: Promoting Climate Literacy Across Disciplines,
367 Elvira Jiménez and Erlend Tellnes, “Ludovico Einaudi Performs with 8
accessed 7 August 2023, https://www.science.smith.edu/climatelit/
Million Voices to Save the Arctic,” Greenpeace, 20 June 2016, https://
elegy-for-the-arctic-by-ludovico-einaudi/; https://cpom.org.uk/what-is-
www.greenpeace.org/international/story/7570/ludovico-einaudi-
iceberg-calving-and-why-does-it-matter/.
performs-with-8-million-voices-to-save-the-arctic/.
378 Flynn, “Behind the Scenes: Aerial Filming Ludovico Einaudi in the
368 Jiménez and Tellnes, “Ludovico Einaudi Performs with 8 Million Voices
Arctic.”
to Save the Arctic.”
379 Flynn, “Behind the Scenes: Aerial Filming Ludovico Einaudi in the
369 Steven Flynn, “Behind the Scenes: Aerial Filming Ludovico Einaudi
Arctic.”
in the Arctic,” Skytango.com, 26 July 2016, https://web.archive.org/
web/20210729052205/https://skytango.com/aerial-filming-ludovico- 380 http://archivo-es.greenpeace.org/espana/es/news/2016/Junio/Norway-
einaudi-in-the-arctic-behind-the-scenes/. Denmark-and-Iceland-prevent-protection-of-unique-Arctic-Area-/.
370 Marc Vitali, “Arts & Entertainment: Pianist Ludovico Einaudi on His 381 Jason Daley, “Trending Today: Obama and Trudeau Protect Millions
‘Elegy for the Arctic,” WTTW News, 23 October 2017, https://news.wttw. of Acres from Drilling in the Arctic and the Atlantic,” Smithsonian
com/2017/10/23/pianist-ludovico-einaudi-his-elegy-arctic. Magazine, 21 December 2016, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-
news/us-and-canada-ban-oil-drilling-most-arctic-180961524/.
371 Flynn, “Behind the Scenes: Aerial Filming Ludovico Einaudi in the
Arctic.” 382 Mads Flarup Christensen, “From the Arctic to the Amazon, Peaceful
Protests Will Continue,” Greenpeace, 29 June 2023, https://www.
372 Vitali, “Arts & Entertainment: Pianist Ludovico Einaudi on His ‘Elegy
greenpeace.org/international/story/60486/arctic-30-amazon-peaceful-
for the Arctic.”
protests-european-court-human-rights-russia/.
373 Stephen Heyman, “Ludovico Einaudi, A Classical Artist For the
383 https://youtu.be/2DLnhdnSUVs.
YouTube Age,” The New York Times, 30 December 2016, https://www.
nytimes.com/2016/12/30/arts/music/ludovico-einaudi.html. 384 Steve Zornetzer, “The Arctic is in Crisis,” Arctic Ice Project, 2 August
2022, https://www.arcticiceproject.org/the-arctic-is-in-crisis/?gclid=Cj0
374 Vitali, “Arts & Entertainment: Pianist Ludovico Einaudi on His ‘Elegy
KCQjwz8emBhDrARIsANNJjS6Qh9vngdG4fcs6QCbLohyfpKRvkU9d
for the Arctic.”
yvKXbs6WiOCwl3w2j94tN1QaAiQIEALw_wcB.

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Klein High School - Klein, TX

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ONLINE SOURCES
http://archivo-es.greenpeace.org/espana/es/news/2016/Junio/Norway-Denmark-and-Iceland-prevent-protection-of-
unique-Arctic-Area-/ (press release announcing OSPAR’s failure to act)
http://markrussellsmith.net/ (Mark Russell Smith website)
https://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ (Academy Awards database)
https://climatemusic.org/ (ClimateMusic Project homepage)
https://climatemusic.org/our-music/our-music-audyssey/ (information regarding Audyssey)
https://climatemusic.org/our-music/our-music-climate/ (information regarding Climate)
https://climatemusic.org/our-music/our-music-icarus-in-flight/ (information regarding Icarus in Flight)
https://climatemusic.org/our-music/our-music-what-if-we/ (information regarding What If We . . . ?)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kircher-musurgia-bird-song_(cropped).jpg (birdsong in Musurgia
universalis)
https://cpom.org.uk/what-is-iceberg-calving-and-why-does-it-matter/ (iceberg calving)
https://drlucyjonescenter.org/ (Dr. Lucy Jones Center for Science and Society)
https://drlucyjonescenter.org/news/tempo-at-agu/ (Tempo Innovation Session at the American Geophysical Union)
https://drlucyjonescenter.org/tempo/ (Tempo Project)

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https://drlucyjonescenter.org/tempo/video/1/understanding-the-climate-problem (discussion of goals for the Dr. Lucy
Jones Center for Science and Society)
https://drlucyjonescenter.org/tempo/video/2/music-to-inspire-action (discussion of In Nomine Terra Calens: In the
name of a warming Earth)
https://foe.org/ (Friends of the Earth)
https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/joni-mitchell-ladies-of-the-canyon-song-by-song-thread.766962/ (“Big Yellow
Taxi” album notes)
https://friendsoftheearth.uk/climate/big-ask-how-you-helped-make-climate-change-history (Thom Yorke’s affiliation
with Friends of the Earth)
https://galaxymusicnotes.com/pages/story-of-the-opera-the-tale-of-tsar-saltan (The Tale of Tsar Saltan synopsis)
https://imslp.org/wiki/Sumer_is_icumen_in_%28Anonymous%29 (Sumer is icumen in scores)
https://jonimitchell.com/ (Joni Mitchell website)
https://jonimitchell.com/music/song.cfm?id=13 (“Big Yellow Taxi” background – Mitchell)
https://michaelabels.com/js_albums/orchestra/ (Michael Abels’s website)
https://michiganrockandrolllegends.com/index.php/legendary-michigan-songs/124-111-mercy-mercy-me-the-ecology
(“Mercy Mercy Me [The Ecology]” in Grammy Hall of Fame)
https://nuclearprinceton.princeton.edu/amchitka-island (nuclear testing on Amchitka Island)
https://open.spotify.com/album/1IPIYDV9VjzERYzsbT5J2u?si=MGLruW2CT06Y08DW-vqKJA (American Scene –
Still)
https://pysorchestras.org/2012/07/ellen-rutter/ (Discussion of Phoenix ensemble’s name change)
https://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/radiohead/idioteque/ (classification of “Idioteque”)
https://web.archive.org/web/20080915094652/http://www.chesternovello.com/Default.aspx?TabId=2431&State_2905=
2&composerId_2905=414#Full (Chester/Novello Einaudi biography)

Klein High School - Klein, TX

https://web.archive.org/web/20180621041409/http://mccartneyart.com/product/egypt-station/ (McCartney’s Egypt
Station painting)
https://web.archive.org/web/20180620180822/https://www.paulmccartney.com/Egypt_Station_7thSept (Egypt Station
album announcement)
https://wutangclan.net/name-generator/ (name generator)
https://www.allmusic.com/album/clouds-mw0000192763/awards (Clouds’ Grammy Award)
https://www.awardsandshows.com/features/best-alternative-music-album-388.html (OK Computer Grammy Award)
https://www.beatlesbible.com/people/paul-mccartney/songs/maybe-im-amazed/ (background of “Maybe I’m Amazed”
– McCartney)
https://www.billboard.com/artist/paul-mccartney/chart-history/tlp/ (McCartney’s Billboard ranking)
https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/greatest-films-all-time (Sight & Sound list of greatest films of all time)
https://www.bso.org/tanglewood (Tanglewood)
https://www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/DDT_FactSheet.html (DDT Fact Sheet)
https://www.cedillerecords.org/albums/african-heritage-symphonic-series-vol-iii/ (Global Warming – Abels)
https://www.earthday.org (Earth Day)
https://www.encyclopedia.com/literature-and-arts/performing-arts/music-popular-and-jazz/classical-music (Michael
Abels biography)
https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/5640-yomiuri-prize?page=2 (Yomiuri Literary Prizes)
https://www.greenpeace.org/international/ (Greenpeace)
https://www.greenpeace.org/international/explore/about/history/ (history of Greenpeace)
https://www.greenpeace.org/international/story/46686/amchitka-the-founding-voyage/ (Greenpeace and Amchitka
Island)
https://www.greenpeace.org/international/story/50469/50-years-of-greenpeace-and-music/ (Greenpeace’s use of
music)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8938270/ (release date of “Feels Like Summer” video)
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/michelle-obama-embraces-george-w-bush-why-photo-was-so-n654451
(photo of Michelle Obama embracing George W. Bush)
https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/index.htm (National Park Service)
https://www.nps.gov/seki/learn/historyculture/index.htm (Sequoia National Park information)

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https://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm (Yellowstone National Park information)
https://www.ospar.org/ (OSPAR)
https://www.ospar.org/about (OSPAR Commission background)
https://www.paulmccartney.com/discography/albums/egypt-station (McCartney’s Egypt Station description)
https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/rhiannon-giddens-and-michael-abels (Pulitzer Prize – Omar – Abels)
https://www.rcarecords.com/news/donald-glover-presents-3-15-20/ (3.15.20 release information)
https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/story/ (album certifications)
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-songs-of-all-time-1224767/radiohead-idioteque-2-1225290/
(Rolling Stone’s ranking of “Idioteque”)
https://www.royal-hawaiian.com/history-overview/ (Royal Hawaiian Resort)
https://www.sierraclub.org/library/history-archives (Sierra Club)
https://www.steinway.com/news/features/ludivico-einaudi-makes-a-splash (Steinway’s announcement of Elegy for the
Arctic)
https://www.summitpost.org/pu-u-koa-e-puu-koae-sugarloaf/153012 (Sugarloaf Mountain)
https://www.whitneyhouston.com/track/so-emotional/ (So Emotional album cover)
https://www.wisemusicclassical.com/composer/414/Ludovico-Einaudi/ (biography of Einaudi)
https://youtu.be/0D0dJJRY0qU?t=1979 (Symphony No. 6 “Thunderstorm” – Beethoven – Listening Example 2)
https://youtu.be/12bp917qijY?t=721 (“On the Trail” – Grofé – Paul Whiteman Orchestra recording)
https://youtu.be/1idEVy_qH8c?list=PLnoIi4YKKKd8F9h7CQoXvy4Hb49gYPmIY (Us playlist)
https://youtu.be/1lHOYvIhLxo (Symphony No. 5 – Beethoven)
https://youtu.be/2595abcvh2M (“Big Yellow Taxi” – Mitchell – Listening Example 9)
https://youtu.be/2DLnhdnSUVs (Elegy for the Arctic – Einaudi – Greenpeace “live” video)
https://youtu.be/3_iLE0Molb8 (The Tale of Tsar Saltan, Part 2 – Rimsky-Korsakov)

Klein High School - Klein, TX

https://youtu.be/3_iLE0Molb8?t=404 (The Tale of Tsar Saltan, “Flight of the Bumblebee” – Rimsky-Korsakov)
https://youtu.be/3E1hsm8Kk4I (Paul McCartney in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales)
https://youtu.be/4_ j7liU5-mQ (Audyssey – Eduardo Del Signore)
https://youtu.be/4E8rMLHIpag (tremolo illustration)
https://youtu.be/4FBddgfUJec (Symphony No. 8: Mvt. 4 “La Tempesta” – Haydn)
https://youtu.be/4WGnvAltnG4 (Das Lied von der Erde, “The Lonely One in Autumn” – Mahler)
https://youtu.be/4plSXjcjxVA (In Nomine Terra Calens: In the name of a warming Earth – Jones)
https://youtu.be/4rgSzQwe5DQ (The Four Seasons – Vivaldi)
https://youtu.be/4w8lvj_ZVDs (Icarus in Flight – Festinger)
https://youtu.be/5P_VfLun96o (“Band on the Run” – McCartney)
https://youtu.be/5PxoxYimCIA (Symphony in E-flat: Mvt. 4 “La Tempesta – Vaňhal)
https://youtu.be/5vDVZNOFMEM (“Despite Repeated Warnings” – McCartney – Listening Example 12)
https://youtu.be/6F_6Of21YFQ (What If We . . .? – Loomis)
https://youtu.be/6Ysy6n9MvIA (Yellow River Piano Concerto – Yin et al.)
https://youtu.be/6lvBQJjxw4c (Piano Concerto No. 4 – Beethoven)
https://youtu.be/7DL-ktc4Ya8 (Yellow River Cantata – Xian)
https://youtu.be/73hXRuRJDFQ (Rain Tree Sketch II: In Memoriam Olivier Messiaen – Takemitsu)
https://youtu.be/7H5fXqcL9yY (dulcimer demonstration)
https://youtu.be/7JG54M3e83I (“Big Yellow Taxi” – Radio Mix – Mitchell)
https://youtu.be/7otAJa3jui8?t=79 (“Row Row Row Your Boat”)
https://youtu.be/8AdaI-4bCt0 (Flight of the Bumblebee – The Muppet Show)
https://youtu.be/8PGITZmJrkE (Joni Mitchell/Song to a Seagull)
https://youtu.be/9rmhJfuY48Y (Flight of the Bumblebee - Lurpak Butter)
https://youtu.be/-UiXSyCkofo (Abels interview regarding Nope)
https://youtu.be/ApthDWoPMFQ?list=PLc60gkdW0bcFbUwumMvBpxVrFbkeRzoPf (What’s Going On – album –
Gaye)
https://youtu.be/Aw7HAyq54rw (celesta)
https://youtu.be/avWjPzSj16A (Reflections on the Mississippi – Daugherty)
https://youtu.be/beW9AH1Goxg (“How Sweet It Is [To Be Loved By You]” – Gaye)

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https://youtu.be/cH2PH0auTUU (Rhapsody in Blue – Gershwin)
https://youtu.be/cc-Qf94QVQs (Michael Abels discussing Get Out score)
https://youtu.be/cdDPR8GzXy8 (“Maybe I’m Amazed” – McCartney)
https://youtu.be/cy1na9qA5y0 (“Hello, Dolly!” – Armstrong)
https://youtu.be/d7YWL0mP6jU (Ran soundtrack suite – Takemitsu)
https://youtu.be/dMI4X8OOMOg (bodhran demonstration)
https://youtu.be/dNIIFe2q6mY (Symphony No. 1 – Rimsky-Korsakov)
https://youtu.be/ERJq8lVOCsE (“Big Yellow Taxi” – Tribal Dub – Mitchell)
https://youtu.be/EoxoI_KCUAU (Mississippi Suite: A Journey in Tones – Grofé)
https://youtu.be/EpPErYSJPdQ (Death Valley Suite – Grofé)
https://youtu.be/Eup62RVcCZw (crotales demonstration)
https://youtu.be/e0jO-WN9U9U (Ame no ki [Rain Tree] – Takemitsu [with lighting effects])
https://youtu.be/e1FN047_LT0 (“What a Wonderful World” – Armstrong – Listening Example 7)
https://youtu.be/efiDnHS3fzk (“Mercy Mercy Me [The Ecology]” – Gaye – Listening Example 10)
https://youtu.be/F1B9Fk_SgI0 (“Feels Like Summer” video – Gambino)
https://youtu.be/FH4zLXc8yXI (Hudson River Suite – Grofé)
https://youtu.be/FIoE8Yr-a1E (Hippolyte et Aricie – Rameau)
https://youtu.be/f1vWUhDKmTU (“Big Yellow Taxi” – Double Espresso NRG Mix – Mitchell)
https://youtu.be/fe1pB9KqHRg (La mer – Debussy)
https://youtu.be/fkXugwkfzvc (“Big Yellow Taxi” – Original a Cappella with Guitar – Mitchell)
https://youtu.be/fZ7bhk0fPn8 (The Four Seasons: Summer, mvt 3 “Storm” – Vivaldi)
https://youtu.be/GBlm_LkRmdU?list=PLSnett87SsXXQ51P2RZtuyQ6cgKpMTpXZ (Águas da Amazônia – Glass)
https://youtu.be/GFwpWvG4ZVw (“What Shall We Do With the Drunken Sailor?”)

Klein High School - Klein, TX

https://youtu.be/GjXBKR4iDS8 (Choral Fantasy – Beethoven)
https://youtu.be/gPdsZ22Dv8o (guiro demonstration)
https://youtu.be/gTInBejxFW0 (Fantasia excerpt)
https://youtu.be/gezFLhUznSk (3.15.20 – Gambino)
https://youtu.be/gjMPDS0ezmQ (temple blocks)
https://youtu.be/gqZkhK58a2c (Elegy for the Arctic with score – Einaudi)
https://youtu.be/HQrIIttXtxQ (Niagara Falls – Daugherty)
https://youtu.be/hcFBp8rdPAE (Yellowstone for Violin and Orchestra – Hitt)
https://youtu.be/ieL7BHjiyd8 (“Feels Like Summer” – Gambino – Listening Example 13)
https://youtu.be/IUMog65A-nM (The Making of Elegy for the Arctic)
https://youtu.be/IzHxgXmwdko (“Flight of the Bumblebee” – Rimsky-Korsakov – Listening Example 4)
https://youtu.be/iJUrR3-BrMk?t=69 (sampled sound from Krieger’s Short Piece)
https://youtu.be/jEGLkM1foDs (La tempesta di mare – Vivaldi)
https://youtu.be/jPLnnmwqvmA (Rain Tree Sketch – Takemitsu)
https://youtu.be/joA5IgCBxIo (Jaws – Williams: Leitmotif)
https://youtu.be/jrJUYpStrAs (Hermit Thrush at Morn [with score] – Beach)
https://youtu.be/jt3HYwskcc4 (Climate – Walker)
https://youtu.be/KYh6IVAExtQ (“Big Yellow Taxi” – Shine version – Mitchell)
https://youtu.be/KzH9feTXTHo (“This is America” on Saturday Night Live – Gambino)
https://youtu.be/L45x2L66XP8 (Elegy for the Arctic – Einaudi – Listening Example 14)
https://youtu.be/LK8r2vdNaqA (Sequoia – Tower)
https://youtu.be/l0Rry-ahcHM (Winterreise – Schubert)
https://youtu.be/l6kqu2mk-Kw (“Vltava” [“The Moldau”] – Smetana)
https://youtu.be/lwU_Ab-BTsk (“Are You Sleeping? [Frère Jacques]”)
https://youtu.be/MARVqfN5Nos (Interview with Michael Abels)
https://youtu.be/mS3OLS-GLic (Hermit Thrush at Morn – Beach – Listening Example 5)
https://youtu.be/N9DLG0z1ygM (Global Warming – Abels)
https://youtu.be/Nh23R2qK1zA?list=OLAK5uy_m_XCPIcHMQk2leX6jqA3rsoTOjhFbqlrM (“On the Trail” – Grofé
– Listening Example 1)

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https://youtu.be/Nvn6rnrZdB4 (The Tale of Tsar Saltan, Part 1 – Rimsky-Korsakov)
https://youtu.be/nWDyA4S-geg (“Chelsea Morning” – Mitchell)
https://youtu.be/nXgBtAD5daM (Symphony No. 6 – Beethoven)
https://youtu.be/O75dSwYcpFI (“Big Yellow Taxi” – N.Y. Cab to Club Mix – Mitchell)
https://youtu.be/OtkvHYDbN2U (Le chant des oiseaux – Janequin)
https://youtu.be/o0mATRdzZSc (hermit thrush singing)
https://youtu.be/POydmjVrD0I (Alcione: “Tempête” – Marais)
https://youtu.be/Pbn6a0AFfnM (“Both Sides Now” – Mitchell)
https://youtu.be/PknKPovsCIw (Electric Slide)
https://youtu.be/pdjVcN39cu4 (grace note demonstration)
https://youtu.be/q2Mp4GJkewA (The Sea – Bridge)
https://youtu.be/R-7fHOXPln4 (Grand Canyon Suite: “Cloudburst” – Grofé)
https://youtu.be/RnxA6J02Jj8 (Global Warming – Abels – Listening Example 8)
https://youtu.be/rR_pNpuxw8g (Sumer is icumen in – Anonymous – Listening Example 6)
https://youtu.be/SBFOwHLYj70 (Quatuor pour le fin du temps – Messiaen)
https://youtu.be/SWi5EGygvEc?t=482 (vibraphone demonstration)
https://youtu.be/SWi5EGygvEc?t=770 (marimba demonstration)
https://youtu.be/Sm_4XKotN_k (Niagara Falls Suite – Grofé)
https://youtu.be/sE3uRRFVsmc (“Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”)
https://youtu.be/sgNeH9_8l0w (Réveil des oiseaux – Messiaen)
https://youtu.be/sgmDrhbqAPs (L’Abeille – François Schubert)
https://youtu.be/svwJTnZOaco (“Idioteque” – Radiohead – Listening Example 11)
https://youtu.be/TVCBJJ_CEaQ (The Flight of the Bumblebee – boogie version)

Klein High School - Klein, TX

https://youtu.be/TYNg78XkoqM (illustration of Mellotron)
https://youtu.be/Tp6voHf5kvE (The Grand Canyon – Disney)
https://youtu.be/TyWoVhx3SCI (mild und leise – Lansky)
https://youtu.be/t0xitQKNsQY (“What’s Going On” – Gaye)
https://youtu.be/t9P5vteMa-0 (Hermit Thrush at Eve – Beach)
https://youtu.be/UXWsz5cEclE (“Big Yellow Taxi” – Friends Album version)
https://youtu.be/VWG3npfEoHo (“I Heard It Through the Grapevine” – Gaye)
https://youtu.be/W3FVFwCbsJY (Afro-American Symphony – Still)
https://youtu.be/WHicpqU84V0 (“Big Yellow Taxi” – Miles of Aisles release – Mitchell)
https://youtu.be/WrRCkQEw9Dk?list=PLF8D48517CE3EDCDF (McCartney)
https://youtu.be/wYQZHNwIUq8 (“Live and Let Die” – McCartney)
https://youtu.be/wfdvCrqzTm0 (Mississippi River Suite – Price)
https://youtu.be/XNIjTHHGHIY (“Big Yellow Taxi” - Late Night Club Mix – Mitchell)
https://youtu.be/Xe7wC-HG6RQ (Grand Canyon Suite – Grofé)
https://youtu.be/xNBMicpFJFA (Symphony No. 50: “Mount St. Helens” – Hovhaness)
https://youtu.be/YqOTI_go8rI (Friends episode clip)
https://youtu.be/y4yC96aSCEY (“42.26” – Gambino [revised version of “Feels Like Summer”])
https://youtu.be/yOsr8inpRZ4 (Ame no ki [Rain Tree] – Takemitsu – Listening Example 3)
https://youtu.be/ZR1NN3dYCng (Upright Citizens Brigade)
https://youtu.be/zhvZazALhyA (Paul McCartney discusses inspiration for “Despite Repeated Warnings”)
https://youtu.be/zj5stEte5zI (Underwater – Einaudi)

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