ANALYSIS
And did you think of…..
Or…………
Royal Northern College of Music
Wind Symphony
Timothy Renish, conductor
General Background
• Are you a good curator?
What can you find out?
What is worth using?
• Easy to drown in information.
• Easy to follow Alice down the Rabbit hole.
• Easy to get lost in You Tube.
Percy Aldridge Grainger
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Born July 8, 1882 Brighton, Australia. Died February 20, 1961 White Plains, NY.
Began piano study at age 5 with Mother .
A definitive individualist. Did not do well with criticism, especially from his theory tutor.
He studied past masters, but refused to be guided by either his writing or lifestyle.
For humane reasons, Grainger was a complete vegetarian, never smoked nor drank
alcoholic beverages.
Influenced greatly by Rudyard Kipling.
Did not use “foreign” terms in his music. Gave directions in his own language.
Most known for his recording and subsequent use of folksongs.
“Music should be organic rather than architectural; it should unfold, guided by the flow of
the musical idea rather than the outline of a pre-existent form.” – Grainger
Grainger states that his instinct for melody was developed by the beauty and the variety of
“pure-line” in English folksong – but also of Bach, the composer he most revered.
Grainger states that his instinct for melody was developed by the beauty and the variety of
“pure-line” in English folksong – but also of Bach, the composer he most revered.
“Lovingly and reverently dedicated to the memory of Edvard Grieg”. Edvard Grieg was one
of Grainger’s closest friends.
Became Dean of Music at New York University in 1932. He placed jazz on a syllabus and
invited Duke Ellington to be a guest lecturer.
Grainger Settings
• Piano setting begun October 1902, ended July, 1911 (British
Folk-Music Setting #6)
• Set for Mixed Wordless Chorus a capella, 1902 rev. 1911 (BFMS #5)
• Set for String Orchestra w/2 horns optional in 1913 (BF-MS
#15)
• Band version published in 1918. (BF-MS No. 20)
• Set for Orchestra (elastic scoring), 1920 (BF-MS #29)
Irish Tune from County Derry
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Tune collected by Miss J. Ross of New Town, Limavady Co. Derry (Ireland) unknown
date?
Printed in “The Petrie Collection of the Ancient Music of Ireland” (Dublin, 1855)
Submitted with no title – just with the comment that the tune was “very old”
Malachy McCourt, author of Danny Boy: The Legend of the Beloved English Ballad,
claims there is evidence that the original tune was written by a blind Irish harpist
named Rory Dall.
According to legend, the confiscation of the O'Cahan lands in the early 1600s enraged
Blind Rory, whose people had lived on those lands for generations. It drove him to
write a deeply moving tune of pain and passion called 'O'Cahan's Lament'.
There are some who claim that a sort of supernatural intervention occurred: that
Blind Rory, who was drunk one night, had staggered along the riverside and collapsed,
where he reportedly heard fairies playing a haunting melody on his harp. Once he was
sufficiently sober and confident that he could play back the music, he returned to his
castle to serenade his guests with the first rendition of the air that would be
transcribed some 250 years later.
In 1979, Hugh Shields penned an article for the Long Room, the journal of the library
at Trinity College, Dublin, called 'New Dates for Old Songs 1766-1803'. He identified a
tune in Bunting's first volume, entitled 'Aislean an Oigfear' ('The Young Man's
Dream'), as closely resembling the modern version of 'Londonderry Air’.
Irish Tune from County Derry
• Some of the most beautiful airs have owed their origin to Northern
genius, notably the compositions of the famous harper, Rory Dall
O'Cahan, who composed such airs as 'Rory Dall's Purth', to which
Robert Burns wrote 'Ae Fond Kiss'; 'The Minstrel Boy' and 'Emer's
Farewell'5. Stanford, Percy Grainger, and Mrs Needham have all
tried their skill in bringing out the beauties of 'Emer's Farewell',
which comes from Limavady, in the County Derry; but, fine as are
their settings, none seem to me the genuine frame for an air of such
remarkable character. – Charlotte Milligan Fox
• - from the Journal of the Irish Folk Song Society, Vol 12, October
1912. In 1979, Hugh Shields penned an article for the Long Room,
the journal of the library at Trinity College, Dublin, called 'New
Dates for Old Songs 1766-1803'. He identified a tune in Bunting's
first volume, entitled 'Aislean an Oigfear' ('The Young Man's
Dream'), as closely resembling the modern version of 'Londonderry
Air'
Danny Boy
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There are over 100 songs to the same tune that we know as Danny Boy.
The author was an English lawyer, Frederic Edward Weatherly (1848-1929), who was also a
songwriter and radio entertainer.
In 1910 he wrote the words and music for an unsuccessful song he called Danny Boy.
In 1912 his sister-in-law in America sent him a tune called the Londonderry Air (or possibly
something else, as discussed in Section 3), which he had never heard before. He
immediately noticed that the melody was perfectly fitted to his Danny Boy lyrics, and
published a revised version of the song in 1913.
Weatherly gave the song to the vocalist Elsie Griffin, who made it one of the most popular
songs in the new century; and, in 1915, Ernestine Schumann-Henck produced the first
recording of Danny Boy.
– (She performed with Mahler, was well known for her Wagner performances at Bayreuth
from 1896-1914. Met premiere in 1898.)
The Danny Boy lyrics proved particularly popular in the United States, where they were
recorded by a number of popular singers including Bing Crosby. From standingstones.com
From jwpepper.com, 100 Vocal, 75 Choral, 51 Guitar and fretted, 50 Piano/Keyboard, 37
Woodwinds, 26 Concert Band, 17 Brass, 15 Strings, 13 Orchestra, 11 Marching Band, 4 Folk
Instruments, 3 Jazz, 1 Music Classroom, 1 Organ, 1 Percussion.
Danny Boy
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Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen and down the mountain side
The summer's gone and all the roses dying
'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bye.
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But come ye back when summer's in the meadow
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow
And I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow
Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy I love you so.
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But if he come and all the roses dying
And I am dead, as dead I well may be
He'll come and find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an ava there for me.
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And I shall feel, oh soft you tread above me
And then my grave will richer, sweeter be
For you will bend and tell me that you love me
And I shall rest in peace until you come to me.
Elements of Music
• How are they used and why did the
composer make the choices?
Elements of Music
• Melody
– What is the shape of the theme?
– What is the tonality/modality?
– Movement by step or skip?
– Is there a motive?
– Is there a melody?
– Are there counter-melodies?
Irish Tune
Elements of Music
• Rhythm
– Most common note values.
– Syncopation?
– Peculiar time signature?
– Challenges
• Hemiola, mixed meters, etc.
Elements of Music
• Harmony
– What is the harmonic rhythm?
– Does it modulate?
– What are the key relationships?
– Where are the dissonances?
– Are there any suspensions?
Elements of Music
• Timbre
– What are the colors in the piece?
– Is a primarily “bright’ or “dark”?
– How are the colors created?
• Instrumentation/voicing
– Does the timbre reflect the text, title or mood?
Elements of Music
• Texture
– Primarily homophonic, polyphonic, etc.
– Melody and acc. or monody?
– Does the density of the overall texture change?
– How does the compose contrast textures?
• What effect is created?
Elements of Music
• Dynamics
• Articulation
Additional Considerations
• How does the composer
– Create moments of tension and release?
– Use and create contrast?
– Unify the composition?
– Sustain interest throughout the composition?
– Use instrumentation as a contributor to the
overall composition?
– Use orchestration to represent the style period?
The Heart
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The result of analysis.
What attracted you to this piece of music?
What maintains your interest in it?
What makes the composition work?
What gives this music its distinctive qualities?
What do you learn about yourself through the eyes
of this music?
• How has the composer fostered your response
through the use of compositional devices?
Heart Statements
• The heart of Irish Tune from County Derry is Grainger’s exquisite use
of timbre, texture, part-writing and harmony blended with
dynamics which provides the opportunity for affective response at a
deep and significant level.
• The heart of Irish Tune is a soaring arc of a melody, which the
composer sets like a beautiful portrait in the simplest matting and
framing, where every subtle touch of harmony, instrumentation,
and texture does not compete with, but keeps the focus lovingly on
the melody.
Reasons to Perform this Composition
• What is the value of the music in
relationship to available rehearsal time
and student needs?
• If asked why are we learning this piece,
what would be your answer?
What can you teach with this
composition?
• Think specifically about what this
composition teaches well or uniquely.
• Lots of music teaches phrasing or motivic
development, but few teach it exquisitely!
Analysis
• Published guides vs. your experience of
analysis.
– You must experience analysis in order to guide
your students.
– No one prepares to teach visual art by painting by
numbers.
– No one prepares to teach English literature by just
reading NY Times book reviews.
– You don’t analyze – why should they practice?