Bonus Listening

Bonus Playlist

“Our Father” from Mary Lou’s Mass (1966)

Mary Lou Williams

Score available in the Contemporary Anthology of Music by Women

Listening Focus

Williams uses elements of the Ordinary of the Mass and the Votive Mass for Peace in this jazz setting. The work was written for vocal soloist, choir, guitar, bass, piano, and drums.

Form at a Glance

Through-composed

Timed Listening Guide

0:00 brief introduction by bass and drums establishing triple meter swing
0:08 vocal soloist enters and dialogues with horn in call and response throughout this section
1:33 pause before the words “lead us not into temptation”; another pause sets up chorus entrance
1:47 chorus enters on “blessed are the peacemakers” from the Votive Mass for Peace; layering of soloist, chorus, piano

Bonus Playlist

Ave Regina Coelorum (Hail Queen of Heaven) (1684)

Isabella Leonarda (1620–1704)

Background Information

The Italian Baroque composer Isabella Leonarda was an Ursuline nun who published more than 200 sacred works including masses, motets, magnificats, church sonatas, and Marian antiphons. Like Hildegard von Bingen, many of Leonarda’s works praised Mary. The Ave Regina coelorum is a Marian antiphon associated with the Divine Office. Mary is first hailed as “queen,” “root of Jesus,” and “gate through which Light rose,” before she is finally asked to intercede to Christ in prayer. Leonarda dedicated some of her works to the sisters who undoubtedly performed the compositions in the convent.

Listening Focus/Form at a Glance

Solo voices introduce the text and are echoed by a chorus. The use of dancelike rhythms in compound time help to declaim the joyful text. Note the alteration of homophonic and polyphonic sections, as well as the basso continuo, a Baroque convention in which an instrument performs a continuous bass line that provides harmonic structure.

Timed Listening Guide

Homophonic Setting

0:00 solo group introduces the opening text against the continuo
Ave, Regina coelorum, Ave, Domina angelorum
Hail, Queen of heaven, Hail, Mistress of the angels

0:08 chorus responds with the same text; echoing of the word “Ave” closes section

0:20 solo group introduces new text
Salve radix, salve, porta ex qua mundo lux est orta
Hail, root of Jesus, hail, the gate through which Light rose over the earth

0:30 chorus responds with the same text, again ending with the echoed “Ave” to close the section

Polyphonic Section

0:44 polyphonic section begins with the chorus expressing the text
Gaude, Virgo gloriosa 
Rejoice, glorious Virgin

echo closes the section

Homophonic Section

1:18 soloists introduce new intercessory text
et pro nobis Christum exora
pray for us to Christ

1:28 chorus echoes the intercessory prayer, still homophonic; echo closes section

Polyphonic Section

1:42 intercession repeated again, this time polyphonically; the intercession gains intensity as voices are added, ending with a final echoing of the text “Ora–Pray.”

Bonus Playlist

Overture from Cephale et Procris (1694)

Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre

Listening Focus/Form at a Glance

Guerre’s “French overture” from the opera Cephale et Procris is typical of the style used in the tragedie lyrique, a French operatic form. It opens with slow, dotted rhythms in a homophonic texture, and is followed by a fast imitative section. Guerre’s original score called for five-part string ensemble and winds. This recording features the harpsichord.
Two repeated sections alternate slow, homophonic segments with fast, imitative segments.

Timed Listening Guide

Section One

0:00 A material: regal homophonic opening featuring dotted rhythms
0:31 A material: opening segment repeated

Section Two

1:01 B material: fast imitative section begins
1:40 A material returns
2:31 B material: repeat of the imitative material
3:10 A material: final statement in the slow homophonic style

Bonus Playlist

Comparing/Contrasting Two Art Songs by Clara Wieck Schumann

“Liebst du um Schöenheit”

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Listening Focus

Schumann’s “Liebst du um Schöenheit” has become a standard recital piece, probably because it was frequently included in mainstream music history textbooks and anthologies in the 1990s as an example of “women’s composition.” The work features a lovely melody with a modest vocal range and simple piano accompaniment.

Form at a Glance

Modified strophic A A A A’

Timed Listening Guide

0:00 piano introduction
0:07 verse one
0:34 verse two
1:00 verse three
1:28 verse four, slightly modified to reflect change in the text

“Er ist gekommen durch Sturm und Regen”

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Score available in the New Historical Anthology of Music by Women

Listening Focus

“Er ist gekommen durch Sturm und Regen” exemplifies a different side of Schumann, with a dramatic piano accompaniment that depicts the “storm and rain” in Rückert’s poem about a woman in love. Also note the wider vocal range exhibited in this work.

Form at a Glance

AAB

Timed Listening Guide

0:00 piano introduction sets the “stormy” tone
0:13 A material: vocalist enters with text “he has come in storm and rain”; the melodic motive will be heard frequently throughout the song
0:41 A material: verse two, still agitated and expressing the text “with daring he has taken my heart”
1:23 B material: verse three, with piano accompaniment that depicts a sense of calm, connected with the text “now spring’s blessings have come ... he remains mine”
1:47 a chromatic descent in the voice with a reiteration of the text “now spring’s blessings have come”
2:06 return to the turbulent piano theme in the postlude, suggesting the potential turbulence of love

Bonus Playlist

Nocturne in B-flat (published 1852)

Maria Szymanowska (1789–1831)

Score available in the New Historical Anthology of Music by Women

Listening Focus

The nocturne was a new genre that emerged during the Romantic era, typically featuring an embellished melody and a reflective aesthetic. Polish-born Maria Szymanowska embraced the genre, along with etudes, waltzes, and other solo piano genres. A renowned performer, she also wrote and published over 100 works. This nocturne exemplifies the legato, song-like piano melodies for which Szymanowska was known, as well as the format and embellishments typical of the genre.

Form at a Glance

Eight-bar-phrase song form with contrasting fantasia sections; ends with a reflective coda

Timed Listening Guide

0:04 introduction of eight-bar phrase
0:41 eight-bar phrase repeated with embellishment in the right hand
1:17 fantasia segment moves away from phrasal form
2:04 return of eight-bar phrase structure, this time with embellishment in left hand
2:39 modulatory fantasia segment begins in the mediant (D-flat)
3:33 return to eight-bar phrase form with octave presentation in right hand and embellishment in left hand
4:12 reflective coda in the upper range brings the work to a close

Bonus Playlist

“Dark is the Night”: Thematic Material of the Gaelic Symphony

Amy Beach

Listening Focus

Listen for segments of Beach’s art song that were used as thematic material for the first movement of her Symphony in E Minor “The Gaelic.”

Form at a Glance

Through-composed

Timed Listening Guide

0:00 piano accompaniment depicts the turbulent sea (compare with the opening measures of the symphony)
0:03 voice enters with material that becomes theme 1 in the exposition of the symphony
0:34 voice enters with material that becomes the contrasting lyrical theme
0:55 note the musical depiction of the lyrics “the wild wind shakes”
1:17 piano closure

Bonus Playlist

D'un matin de printemps (Of a Spring Morning) (1917)

Lili Boulanger (1893–1918)

Listening Focus

In 1913, nineteen-year old Lili Boulanger became the first woman to win the Prix de Rome with the cantata Faust et Helene. By age twenty-four, the bright young talent was extinguished, her life cut short by an extended illness. Boulanger wrote a wide variety of vocal and instrumental works, and despite her youth displayed innovative harmonic language and excellent knowledge of orchestration. D'un matin de printemps, written one year before she died, is a symphonic poem that reflects the changing nature of spring with quick mood changes and an orchestral pallet that shifts between light impressionistic timbres and bold brass and percussion writing.

Form at a Glance

Modified ABA

Timed Listening Guide

A Energetic opening material

0:00 orchestral introduction, with entrance of thematic material (A) in flute at 0:03
0:19 string section takes opening theme, following by winds (0:26)
0:43 strings and double reeds featured
0:55 brass entrance signals beginning of transition to B section

B Contrasting rubato section

1:05 slowed tempo, B material presented in strings
1:52 strings soar on B material, leading to transition

A Return to opening tempo

2:14 double reeds, muted trumpet, flute perform segments of A material
2:35 segments of opening thematic material presented in violin
2:57 full statement of opening thematic material in flute
3:15 string section presents augmented version of A theme
3:58 full orchestra presents climax of the work; harp glissando to the final chord

Bonus Playlist

“Song to the Dark Virgin” (1941)

Florence Price (1887–1953)

Score Available in the New Historical Anthology of Music by Women

Listening Focus/Form at a Glance

Many of Price’s works combine elements of black musical styles with European art music characteristics. “Song to the Dark Virgin” is an art song set to a text by Langston Hughes. In her clear musical setting of the text, Price brings to life societal perceptions of black women during the 1940s, with references to shame of the woman’s body, hiding the body, and even a reference to burning the body. Melissa Blakesly’s analysis of Price’s setting in the New Historical Anthology of Music by Women offers an interesting perspective on how the composer musically responded to Hughes’ text.
Three verses, modified strophic form

Timed Listening Guide

0:00 verse one contrasts light and dark with melodic ascent and descent, ending in a low-range presentation of the text “thou dark one”
0:30 verse two begins similarly to verse one, but presents an emotional peak as the text references “wrapping and absorbing” the body; the verse again ends in the low range, with rhythmic elongation of the text “hide thy body, thou dark one”
1:24 verse three is presented in much the same style as the opening verse; word painting is used as the melody ascends on the text “leaping flame” and peaks on “annihilate” before it concludes with the final utterance of the text “thou dark one”

Bonus Playlist

From the Blues to Rock: Comparing Two Versions of “Hound Dog” – Big Mama Thornton and Elvis Presley

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Listening Focus

Listen for the 12-bar blues progression in Big Mama Thornton’s recording and compare it with the cover by Elvis Presley. Especially note the rhythmic freedom in Thornton’s recording.

Form at a Glance

Eight choruses of 12-bar blues

Timed Listening Guide for Big Mama Thornton’s “Hound Dog”

Chorus One

0:00 A
0:08 A
0:14 B

Two

0:23 A
0:29 A
0:36 B

Three

0:43 A
0:49 A
0:56 B

Four (note call and response and “barking”)

1:02

Five

1:23 full chorus featuring guitar

Six

1:43 another guitar chorus

Seven

2:01

Eight

2:23

Timed Listening Guide: Elvis Presley’s Cover of “Hound Dog”

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Chorus One

0:01 A
0:06 A
0:11 B

Two

0:17 A
0:22 A
0:28 B

Three

0:33 A
0:38 A
0:43 B

Four

0:48 guitar feature

Five

1:04 A
1:10 A
1:15 B

Six

1:20 guitar/vocals

Seven

1:36 A
1:42 A
1:47 B

Eight

1:52 A
1:57 A
2:03 B

Bonus Playlist

Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano: Preamble (1971)

Violet Archer (1913–2000)

Score available in the New Historical Anthology of Music by Women

Listening Focus

Canadian composer Violet Archer wrote over 300 works that represent a wide array of styles and genres. In the Preamble of her Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano she blends modern tonality, metric shifting, and rhythmic motivic development within a structurally traditional sonata form. Her ability to combine lyrical melodies and contrapuntal lines is notable, as is her equal treatment of the alto saxophone and piano parts.

Form at a Glance

Sonata Form: Exposition (with two themes), Development, Recapitulation

Timed Listening Guide

Exposition

0:00 alto saxophone immediately presents rhythmic opening theme, with segments echoed in piano; the dialogue between parts continues throughout the opening section
1:00 rhythmically contrasting second theme is introduced by the piano and is continued by the saxophone (1:19)

Development

1:42 piano begins the development section; listen for elements of the opening themes as the two voices work together
2:23 solo piano presents a percussive rhythmic passage
2:52 solo saxophone responds with an extended cadenza

Recapitulation

4:03 in a reversal of the exposition opening, the piano presents the opening material, followed by a response from the saxophone
4:31 piano right hand and saxophone move together in harmony against rhythmic piano left hand
5:02 return of lyrical theme stated first in the piano, then continued by saxophone
5:31 segments of rhythmic theme presented for the last time, then moving to a largo closure