UT Dallas: Shakespeare in Song

Introduction
The performers for the UTD Chamber Singers performed the event, Shakespeare in Song on the Saturday, March 27th at 8 pm at the Jonsson Performance Hall. Shakespeare in Song is a concept where different plays of Shakespeare are performed with a combination of Opera and Dialogue. These plays do not contain complete stories rather parts of various stories by Shakespeare. The group used to rehearse on campus at UT Dallas’s Arts and Humanities Building where they have their own room.

Music
According to the director of the event she mentions that the plays that where performed during that day originated from three different sources. One of them being the authentic songs by Shakespeare, the solo songs had been composed by a British composer Roger Quilter, and the choral arrangements for the plays were composed by Julliard graduate Matthew Harris. Even though the various songs had different composer they all had a Shakespearean flavor and element of 17th century music. The lyrics of the songs where sung in Old English, which was mainly used during the time period of Shakespeare. All the songs in the play either had a very happy mood or a dull mood to it. When the music wanted to express a happy mood the rhythm of the song was faster whilst for a sad song the piano had a very slow and melodic rhythm. The choral arrangements during the play were done in a way that two different groups would sing the same phrase but at different timings. The melody in the two groups would start of initially and then would be joined by another group and together they would finish the phrase together. This difference in timing of the two groups provided an echo effect and made each line stand out more due to the repetition. These groups were divided into four main categories: Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass. Each of these divisions would sing in response to another group in a different pitch level to distinguish the groups. Some of the songs consist of solo performances with the accompaniment of the piano. The piano gave different ready marks during the performance to indicate that he was ready, if it was a group song he would play one note and for a solo performance would play the introduction without any indication he is ready. The solo performers used a lot of vibrato to provide expressions to the song by varying the hand gestures and facial expressions. Usually all the songs in the performance ended on a very low pitch and long note.

Performers
On the stage, there were the UT Dallas Chamber Singers, the pianist and the director. The singers on the stage were a bunch of UT Dallas students that had signed up for this class. The names of the pianist and the director are Michael Mc Vay and Kathryn Evans respectively. To bring forward the time frame during which it is set, all the personal on stage were dressed in costumes that fit that time period. The singers followed the director to guide them through the song, since she can indicate changes that needs to be done during the songs by hand gestures such as pitch changes, tempo, and keeps beat for the singers. The pianist also follows the director since she has the freedom to such the tempo at her discretion. Since piano is the only instrument on stage it often starts the song before the singers join in. In between the various songs there were dialogues between different characters such that the audience gets background knowledge of the performance. This technique used by the cast helped them transition from one story to another.

Audience
Since the play I attended took place during a Saturday night the audience was very limited, at most there would have been about 30 people in the hall at any given point. From the present audience consists mostly of students from various music classed taking notes, families of the performers, and a few Shakespeare in song listeners. Surprisingly no one tried to clap in between the various songs until the director bowed down to thank you for listening. One thing I noticed was that entire audience was surprised to find out that one of the singers was actually blind. Once she had finished her solo performance people started to cheer and clap loudly to show their appreciation for what a beautiful performance she had done.

Time and Space
Due to the lack of audience the mood was very dull. Most of the students were just there such that they can take notes and the families were just there to provide support. Since there were no real music lover there was absence of energy from the audience. Due to the size of the hall the audiences were able to visually see the singer from a near distance. To help the audience keep track of the song currently being played there were power point slide shows that showed the title of the song and a picture related to the song.

Conclusion
The Shakespeare in Song event helped spread the works of Shakespeare. To provide the audience with a realistic feeling of what would have been present during Shakespeare’s time they used a combination of Old English and costumes to showcase a 17th century play in today’s world.


Works Cited:

• Shakespeare in Song. Dir. Director Kathryn Evans. Perf.
UTD Chamber Singers. University of Texas atDallas,
Jonsson Performance Hall, Richardson, 27 Mar. 2010.

• Program notes. Shakespeare in Song. Mar. 27. Richardson,
University of Texas at Dallas Jonsson Performance Hall.

Comment blog 10

The author whom I am commenting on is Mohammad Abotteen. The composer he had chosen to write about was Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville”. I feel that the repetition of the “Figaro” keeps help reinforce the point that the main character is barber for the song. I do agree with Mo that since he is the main character is the only one singing all the lines even though there are other characters in the scene. One thing I noticed from the song was that the tempo of the music increases and decreases as different stanzas start. I feel this is done to gradually increase the tension as the song progresses. Since Mohammad had covered all the things that can be said about the play I can only agree or disagree with his statements. One thing I also noticed that the actors where dressed as poor during the time frame it is set. This shows the audience that the barber is talking to a certain class of people. Agreeing with Mohammad this performance was unique compared to others since there were only two colors that were used: Black and White.

Blog 10 Opera

The opera that I choose for my blog was composed by Rossini namely “The Barber of Seville”. This performance was performed in Dallas. Since there where two clips from the play I would like to contrast between the two to show how different musical variations where used to portray different moods. The first clip consists of a man (guessing the barber) who seems to be in a very happy mood. To create this happy mood the orchestra provides the singing with a fast tempo which is also known as cabaletta. During the first act the singer repeats a certain work “Figaro” which I do not know the meaning of but this word in way it is repeated creates an element of tension and excitement in the play. The voice of the singing is very high pitch and has almost a nasal tone. The actor also uses facial expression to display the mood of the setting. Various instruments are used to provide the emphases of the phrases being sung by the singer. These instruments vary in octaves and tempo depending of the mood. In contrast the second act, the lady gets soon kind package but the mood is set to be somber, hence there is a slow tempo and tone for the songs. As the lady in the scene gets closer to opening the package the pitch and speed at which the song is played and sung at increases to provide tension in the play. The props in the background also play a role since Rossini’s opera was based on theater rather than on music only.

blog 9 : Avatar Music

Composer James Horner will score the film, his third collaboration with Cameron after Aliens and Titanic. Horner recorded parts of the score with a small chorus singing in the alien language Na'vi in March 2008.He is also working with Wanda Bryant, an ethnomusicologist, to create a music culture for the alien race. James Horner composes a fine music score that has a fusion blend of both Oriental and the Occidental notes. From my past music knowledge I am able to come to the conclusion that the composer of the soundtracks for Avatar took various music groups into one. Two of the most striking ones where: Japanese and Western- Music. For the Navi people they had more of the Japanese tones such as tribal drums and high pitch flutes. Were as the human had a combination of orchestral music with vocals. One point I was able to notice from these soundtracks was that the Navi music had very few instruments and a lot of vocals; maybe due to the lack of technology for them wiliest, the human music was majorly instrumental especially electrical instruments such as guitar. Some of the other elements he has used was the Chinese chanting but in the Navi language. He used the same method related it the story line. But since I am not a expert at identifying the types of music cultures that were used but will say that he used the Western-Music with a mixture of different foreign music instrument to make a new genre for the navi people.

Music Ethnography

Introduction:
Indian music has various types of music ranging from classical music to film music. Even through both of these music forms are very popular the back-bone for any variation originated from Indian Classical Music. When you start to analyze the Indian Classical Music you come across another diversion in type of Music, one being Hindustani Music and the other Carnatic Music. The main difference being Carnatic Music originates from South India whilst Hindustani Music originates from North India. Since Dallas area has an enormous number of Indian families, Indian Classical Music has been incorporated into the society. Within the Dallas region, Carnatic Music is more popular due to the geographical origins of these Indians. Due to my growing interests to learn the basic structure of Indian Classical Music, I therefore choose one of the divisions namely: Carnatic Music as my music ethnography research within the Dallas area to compare it with India from where its origins can be found.
Methodology:
One of the most useful places that came across for this research paper would be recourses that I found on the internet. Even though at times clarification was required due to my lack of knowledge about Carnatic Music, I was able to approach people here whom are being taught Carnatic Music and/or my mom who is a professional singer to clarify these doubts. The event which I attended was conducted by a young artist who had just finished her requirements to be classified as a professional singer. This event took place at the McKinney Performance Art Center on a Saturday. The setup of the stage was very basic. In the center of the stage was where the singer sat and around her there where various instrument players. They had a few statues of Indian Gods to show respect to the Indian God of Music (Ramachandran). I was able to interview one of my own cousins who is about to finish her training to become a classical singer. I went down to her house during one of the weekends to be able to approach and talk to her freely about Carnatic Music.
Ideas about Music:
Carnatic Music had been originated from various Hindu manuscripts but was developed by Purandara Dasa, who is noted as the god father of Carnatic Music. It all started back in 16th century back in India but has slowly spread due to the migration of Indians from India whom at times carry the culture along with them. As mention by Ms. Ramachandran, “Since Carnatic Music has a very strict structure about how to do things, there are not too many difference on the structure and belief in the Dallas area” (Ramachandran). The beliefs still remains that the guru (teacher) is like god to you. The trainee must listen to all orders that are been proposed, it is thought be disrespectful to not order commands and at times can lead to the guru discontinuing their teaching. Since Indian Classical Music in general had originated from Hindu traditions people still try to maintain this by not change any of the themes and objects being sung about. To list a few subjects the songs are based on: 1). Hindu Gods, 2). Nature and its beauty and rarely 3). Human feelings. As mentioned before due to the standard structure Carnatic Music world wide, defines music as one that contains of śruti (the musical pitch), swara (the musical sound of a single note), rāga (the mode), and tala (the rhythm). Especially in the Dallas, the type of dress is valued more due to the different class of Indians found here then back in India (Ramachandran). But they still value the artist’s talents without any sort biased feelings. Carnatic Music is not performed often in the Dallas area due to lack of performance halls. To overcome this requirement people perform during general parties / gatherings. The performers are always allowed to perform when and where they wise to perform.

Activities Involving Music
With today’s media growth everything is almost available everywhere. Due to the genre of Carnatic Music namely: Classical, there are only limited ways a Carnatic fan can get hold of one. Places where you can find things concerning Carnatic Music are limited to few Indian Shops, concerts, or family gatherings. Some people on the other hand bring a hand full of C.D. when they visit Indian and distribute copies amongst known people. Since the number of listeners is limited, popular download places such as iTunes do not offer a wide variety of songs to pick from. Within the Dallas area there are a very few professional singers, this lack of professional singers is mainly due to the lack of mass audiences and opportunities to future their knowledge of Carnatic Music (Ramachandran). Due to this very reason many trainees are trained via phone by professionals in India. Since this music culture is based on Hindu traditions, one is taught not to look down at people from various other cultures. This culture is an open for all, if you interested to listen or even want to learn this culture there is no one that will stop you from doing so. From the event I attend I noticed that majority of the audiences were mainly elderly people with a very small number of youngsters. When I mean elderly people this would consist of people of ages 40+, even the youngster consisted mainly of people who are already learning Carnatic Music. Due to the lack of sufficient exposure to this Culture around Dallas area young people only are exposed due to parental interest (Ramachandran). The event I attended consisted of only of three performers mainly the singing herself, one the left of her was the mrdangam player, and to the right of her was the violin player. The existence of the violin player is mainly due to the influence of modernization on this Music Culture. As expected there was a consistent drone in the background even when the artists was not performing, this task was done by a modern drone box called sruti box. The only other person involved with the production of this concert was the sound system professionals.
Repertoires of Music
Due to limited number of listeners, this music culture can be right fully classified in the Classical genre. Since Classical Music is defined as “One that is performed by professionals but not a large audience” (Alves). The music sung by the artist mainly consists of the notes Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa but at times contains of lyrics. When the music composed contains only of the seven notes mentioned above the performer has the option to sing or play the notes on any instrument. One of the focuses of Carnatic Music is on the singing part, which can be considered the lyrics for this music culture. As mentioned by Ms. Ramachandran “The lyrics of the song try to express the mood and message to the listeners” (Ramachandran). Like all Carnatic singers the performers are given full freedom to either to sing a song sung by another professional or else make alteration to various pieces to their wish. Composition of Music in Carnatic Music is a never ending process since each artist is allowed to make continuous variations to the song. A song performed by an artist might never be the same song when he or she performs it again. Carnatic Music is passed on from generation to generation by the use of gurus; these are professional singers who teach youngsters. But now days within the Dallas area people have started buying C.D.s and trying to learn to sing by themselves (Ramachandran). According to my observations from the event, I noticed that concert have a very calm and peaceful environment where everyone sits and enjoys.
Material Culture
Since Carnatic Music has current requirements, every performance would include: instruments, Indian Gods, and a book with music score. The performers are expected to have their own Music Books and Instruments. Due to the lack of Indian Music Stores in Dallas area, people either buy books from India and ship them or get them personally by making a trip to India. The culture of sharing music scores is the principal method people within the Dallas area get music.
Conclusion
As you all may have noticed by now there are only a limited number of differences between the same Music-Culture in India compared to this Music-Culture in Dallas. One of the major differences can be found in the form of audience age group and the interest level amongst youngsters. Carnatic Music is only half of what is called Indian Classical Music, Indian Classical Music is huge ocean to research and analyze since the music composition are never kept standard.
To show examples of professional concerts conducted in Dallas I have added a few links to Youtube videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2jiVG6TAo8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDZj6EPFVg0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilGdCGUn_Ho








Bibliography:
• Alves, William. Music of the Peoples of the World. Boston, Mass.: Schirmer Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.
• Janani Ramesh, McKinney Performance Arts Center, Dallas. Feb 27 2010.
• Ramachandran, Janani. Personal interview. 02 Mar. 2010.
• Carnatic Music - Soul of Soth Indian Music. Rep. Aug. & Sept. 2009. Web. 4 Mar. 2010. .
• "Music Of India - College Essay - Cheezles." Free Term Papers, Research Papers, Custom Essays, and Book Reports OPPapers.com. Web. 11 Mar. 2010. .
• "Overview of Indian Classical Music." David and Chandrakantha Courtney's Homepage-Indian Musicians. Web. 11 Mar. 2010. .
• "Carnatic Music - An Overview." South Asian Women's Forum (SAWF) Home Page. Web. 11 Mar. 2010. .
• "Carnatic Music: Facts, Discussion Forum, and Encyclopedia Article." AbsoluteAstronomy.com. Web. 10 Mar. 2010. .

blog 8

Being Indian and having Indian parents who know Indian Classical Music has made his research that much easier since I have been able to contact a professional at anytime I have problems understanding something or want any information. The only difficulty I had analyzing this music culture was the lack of professional in Dallas area. So I had to make meetings with only the few professionals in this region. This cultural music is open to everyone that likes to appreciate the kind of music but never tolerates anyone that makes bad comments for no reason. They take there talents serious, almost at times at par with god. I was successfully able to attend a program that was done by a very young professional artist. She was only the age of 18. I would not classify her as an experienced professional but rather a person who has done all that is needed to be called one. Since one of my cousins herself learns Classical Music here in Plano I was able to get hold of views from a trainee perspective of Indian Classical Music. On average one must spend at least 10 hours a week for just practice other then training times. Indian Classical Music is a immensely massive music culture and will take years to completely research each and every aspect of it.

Blog 7

Indian Classical Music finds it origins in the Hindu Religion. This influence by Hinduism has caused the themes covered in Indian Classical Music to limited to either religious topics or nature surrounding us. Classical Music notes are similar to western music is some ways since the 7 basic notes are Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa, in order, replacing Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do found in Western Music. Indian Classical Music as such in Dallas is not openly displayed like other cultural music at pubs and dance places. It is limited to people who either wish to learn it through teachers or through attending music concert. Most of the motivation provided to learn Indian Classical Music in Dallas originates from parents since they would like their kids to experience aspects of Indian tradition even though they are miles away from home. The basic setup of Indian Classical Music is based on ragas and talas. Raga being the melodic tune a singer sings and tala being the meter at which the songs are sung at. On average it takes about 10 years for a fresh learner to get to know and master all the ragas and talas. In Indian Music the singer has the freedom to experiment with songs using different talas for the same song. Indian Classical Music is wide ocean to be understood easily.