Agnus Dei - William Byrd

William Byrd was an English composer of the Renaissance. He was born in 1540 in Lincoln, and died on July 4th 1623 in Stondon Massey. He cultivated many of the forms current in England at the time, including various types of sacred and secular polyphony, keyboard and consort music.

Starting in the early 1570s, Byrd became increasingly involved in Catholicism, which became a major factor in both his personal and creative life. His involvement with Catholicism took on a new dimension in the 1580s, as Catholicism became increasingly identified with sedition in the eyes of the Tudor authorities. Byrd's commitment to the Catholic cause found expression in his motets, of which he composed around 50 between 1575 and 1591.
A special feature of the four-part and five-part Masses is Byrd's treatment of the Agnus Dei.

The final words dona nobis pacem ('grant us peace'), which are set to sequences of distressed suspensions in the Four-Part Mass and expressive block homophony in the five-part setting reflect the wishes of the troubled Catholic community of the 1590s.

Lyrics and Translation of Agnus Dei

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem.

Lamb of God, who took away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.
Lamb of God, who took away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.
Lamb of God, who took away the sins of the world, grant us peace.

Here is the link to Agnus Dei: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qlgQoVshf4

Messe de Notre Dame - Machaut

Messe de Notre-Dame is a scared work which was composed my Guillaume de Machaut in the 14^th century.

 

The melody has a pivotal/wave shape. This is clear because the melody is based around a central 'line of music', with minimal movement of the range. The range of the piece moves in a stepwise motion, and goes from high C to low C#. There is a build and release of tension in many sections of the piece including in bars 1-6.

 

This piece is based on the plain chant. This is because of the free rhythm and the unaccompanied meldoy. The structure of it follows the mass ordinary. Its first movement is the Kyrie, then the Gloria, Cred, Sanctus and Anus Dei. The Kyrie is iso-rhythmic. The talea is first sung in bars 1-4, and the color is first sung in bars 1-4 also. This repeats for the rest of the movement.

Current Listening

Hi!!

 

Recently I have been trying to listen to lots of different genres of music, in order to give myself an idea of the sort of pieces I would like to perform as part of my IB Music course to go on my CD.

 

I have tried to find all of these songs on YouTube, so hopefully (if it works) when you click on the name of the song you will be able to listen to it.

 

Please note that these videos aren't necessarily the originals, so you will see some random photos or the lyrics to the songs.

 

My Listening List:

 

Relapse - Collin McLoughlin

Progress - Collin McLoughlin

Keep On Sleeping - Collin McLoughlin

Can't Turn Around - Collin McLoughlin

Take Five - Dave Brubeck

Unsquare Dance - Dave Brubeck

Counting Stars - OneRepublic

Moondance - Michael Buble

West End Blues - Louis Armstrong

When You're Smiling - Louis Armstrong

Clair de Lune - Claude Debussy

Love Dream - Liebestraum - Franz Liszt

Waltz of the Flowers - Tchaikovsky

Serenade - Schubert

Mirrors (by Justin Timberlake) - Boyce Avenue ft. Fifth Harmony (cover)

Someone Like You - Adele

Life on the Border (whole album) - The Wishing Well

Fire in the Valley (whole album) - The Wishing Well

 

 

Miley Cyrus, Jimmy Fallon and The Roots: "We Can't Stop" A capella cover

Okay, so Miley Cyrus doesn't have a very good image these days in the media, etc. but after listening to this a cappella cover of her song "We Can't Stop" my opinion has changed. Her voice is so naturally beautiful, and singing without any instruments or distracting dance moves makes it much nicer to listen to her voice.

I really like how voices are only used in the cover, and that we have people doing the low beats quietly so the voices aren't overpowered.

I'm not really sure on what else to write about this cover, but I really enjoyed it so hopefully you will too! If you click here it will take you to the video.

Enjoy!! :)

Cover vs. Original - Justin Timberlake's 'Mirrors'

Justin Timberlake's song 'Mirrors' is one of my most listened to songs of 2013, but I stumbled across the cover performed by Boyce Avenue and Fifth Harmony and immediately preferred it to the original.

In the original, JT's performance is flawless (my personal opinion) and his voice is definitely suited to songs like this. The simple accompaniment isn't too overpowering of the vocals, and therefore gives the voice the limelight.

When listening to the cover by Boyce Avenue and Fifth Harmony, they started off by having Boyce Avenue's front man (Alejandro Manzano) singing the opening line, followed by lines performed individually by each of the Fifth Harmony girls. When they all come together as one, the performance is flawless with perfect harmonies, and I think this is why I prefer the cover to the original. Having six voices instead of one gives the song more depth and makes it fuller and (personally) nicer to listen to.

Obviously these are entirely my personal opinions, and you may think differently, but give them both a listen. Here are the links:

JT's original: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuZE_IRwLNI
Boyce Avenue and Fifth Harmony cover: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvEZUbzqqyM

Enjoy :)

George Gershwin - An American in Paris (Basic Notes)

Hello!!

I recently listened to a 'BBC Proms Music Guide' about George Gershwin's 'An American in Paris'.

It was actually very helpful, and gave me some of the basic information I needed to know about this piece. Here are the notes that I took:

An American in Paris was composed in 1928. It was about Gershwin's second trip to Paris to take lessons with Nadia Boulanger.

The piece is light and jolly, and represents Gershwin walking through the streets of the French capital. It is in a loose rondo (ABA) form:

• A represents Gershwin strolling through the streets of Paris
• B represents Gershwin feeling quite homesick. This is conveyed by a bit of blues/Americana.

Gershwin composed this piece for a symphony orchestra, plus car horns, saxophones and a celesta. For the New York premiere, he bought 4 taxi horns from Paris to use when displaying this work.


These are the very few, basic notes that I collected from this very short overview. Here is the link to the guide narrated by Andrew McGregor:

http://player.fm/series/bbc-proms-music-guide/pmg-04-sep-12-gershwin-an-american-in-paris

Enjoy!!