Tuesday, March 23, 2010

A Capella Music

Hello Music Appreciators!

This week, you'll listen to two videos that show some different choral styles. One is Renaissance, one is more of a modern day piece.

The second piece is Sicut Cervus by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina - written during the Renaissance period (also to the right):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYU8uomYaiM

The first piece is Ave Maria by Franz Biebl - written in 1964 (also to the right):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCXnhYgoHDw

Listen to each of the pieces. Write one sentence that describes the following in each piece (you should have a paragraph for each piece, with four sentences in each paragraph):
- Texture (monophonic, homophonic, polyphonic) - 20 pts.
- Tempo - 20 pts.
- Meter - 20 pts.
- Use of dynamics (gradual changes? terraced?) - 20 pts.
- Good grammar and spelling, and you refer to each piece by it's name/composer - 20 pts.

Make sure to have accurate information!

Turn in by Monday, March 29 for full credit.

-Mr. Ward

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

L'amar Greer

Biebel's Ave Maria performance was a capella. The meter is in 4/4 time. The tempo was slow. There is a cadence that occurs in the middle of this song. The dynamics were gradually changing fom soft to loud and vice versa. The texture of this male group performance was homophonic.

The Palestrina's Sicut Cervus performance was also a capella. This cortet consisted of a polyphonic texture. The dynamics of this song were gradually (crecsendo) changing from loud to soft. The meter was in 4/4. The tempo of this song was moderately slow. Lastly, Mr.Ward performed well.

Travis said...

In the Palestrina's Sicut Cervus version the texture is polyphonic. They have a slow tempo. The song has gradual dynamics. The meter is in 3/4 time.

In the Biebl's Ave Maria version the texture is monophonic. The tempo is also slow. The song has terraced dynamics because at the very beginning they start off low, but suddenly get a little higher in pitch. The meter is in 4/4 time.

Na'Jae said...

In the Pelestina's Sicut Cervus the texture of the piece is polyphonic because you can hear more than one person singing. The song has a slow piece. The meter seems like its 3/4. The dynamics of this piece is gradual because it goes from a low pitch to a high pitch.

In the Biebl's Ave Maria the texture is monophonic because everybody is singing in unisen. The tempo is slow also. The meter is 2/4. There are no dynamics.

LaQueshaColeman said...

The Palestrina's Sicut Cervus piece had a slow tempo and a meter of 4. The dynamics were gradual. The texture was polyphonic because the voices sung at different paces and levels.

The Biebl Ave Maria piece consisted of 4 meters and had a slow tempo also. The dynamics were graddual also. The texture was monophonic because the voices sung together with the harmony.

Dimitrius Harrington said...

For Palestrania's acapella i thought the tempo was slow. The song was homophonic because there were many sounds in the acapella. I also thought that the meter of the song was 4.


For Biebel's acapella I thought that the tempo was moderately slow. I also thought that the meter was 5, and the song monophonic because all of the men were singiing in unison, and it was one sound.

pervis edmonds said...

1. When I heard the Sicut Cervus by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina I could tell that the musical texture was Monophonic because each person was singing in unison. However everyone wasn’t singing in the same pitch also the tempo was moderately slow than Ave Maria. The meter of the Sicut Cervus piece was between both 3 and 4 because I think each time one person sang I can hear the meter go up by 1 meter and go down by 1 meter. The use of the dynamics had gradual changes between each singer because each singer sang in a different pitch that contrasts with each other.

2. When I heard the Ave Maria by Franz Biebl I could tell that the musical texture was Homophonic because when the men in the back sing they create the melody. Which is supported by the harmony created by the men in the front of the choir also the tempo of this piece is slower than the tempo in Sicut Cervus. Also the meter of this piece is 5 I think the meter is bigger than the first piece because the pace is slower than the Sicut Cervus. Lastly, the use of the dynamics was based on terraced dynamics I could that they use terraced dynamics because the composer tells the singers to stop at the first 17 seconds of the piece before they continued.

pervis edmonds

Jeanette Greene said...

Palestrina’s Sicut Cervus was sung as a quartet. The piece was polyphonic. You can tell because it began with one boy singing solo with his melody then the other three people cam in with a different melody and that continues all throughout the song. The tempo is moderate. The meter is 4/4. The dynamics of the composition are moderately loud to moderately soft all through the song.
The piece by Franz Biebl is sung by a choir. The song is homophonic because the boys sing in harmony with each other and there are not two separate melodies sung. The meter of this song is also 4/4. The dynamics of the song are medium to loud, and the changes between the different dynamics are gradual.

Marvin Marshall said...

The first video has a very slow tempo. The first videois also polyphonic. This song was also written with the strong beat on 3. This song also contains gradual, and terraced dynamics because its slow, but it also is loud at certain points in the song.
The second video also has a faster tempo than the first video, but is also polyphonic. The strong beat is on 4, and this only has terraced dynamics because the change in dynamics isn't slow like the first one.

Kayla Roulhac said...

The texture of Palestrina's Sicut Cervus seems to be polyphonic because it has many different sounds. The meter of the song seems to be in 4. The tempo of the piece is slow. The dynamics in the song change very gradually.

The texture of Biebl's Ave Maria is monophonic. The meter seems to be in 4. The tempo is moderately slow. The dynamics in the song change very gradually.

Michael Staples said...

The Sicut Cervus was monophonic. It was a slow tempo. It was four beats per measure. Dynamics gradually change.

Ave Maria was polyphonic because there were people singing different notes. The tempo was slow. There were four beats per measure. Also the dynamics change gradually.

Steve Moody, P.8 said...

Palestrina's Sicut Cervus, which was a great song, had a polyphonic texture. The tempo was moderate, not very fast and not very slow. The song sounded as if it had a common meter when they are singing. This song was a gradual, smooth transition of loud to soft in its dynamics.
Biebl's Ave Maria is a song with a homophonic texture. The tempo is very slow when they are singing throughout the whole song. I think the meter in this song was 8/4. The dynamics of this song are a gradual change like the first song.

Alexzandria Jones said...

The first piece Biebel's AVE Maria, has a slow tempo and sounds polyphonic because there are polyphonic because there is mutiple voices adding harmony and texture to the piece.The meter of the piece is between 2/4 and 3/4, considering the slow pace of the song. The dynamics of the song is constant with a smooth and low quality.
The second piece Palestrina's sicut cervus the piece is polyphomic because there are again multiple voices adding harmony and layers upon the orginial voice. The tempo is slow. The dynamics change gradually as the notes for some of the singers get higher and higher. The meter is 3/4 due to the pace of the singers.

Danielle Brooks said...

Ave Maria by Franz Biebol has been re-done plenty of times. The texture of the piece is Monophonic. The tempo is stteady and slow. The meter is 4 or 3 I cant really tell. The dynamics of the piece are gradual.

Sicut Cervus by Giovanni Pierlugi da Palestrina is something i never heard before. The tempo is slow. The meter is 3. The dynamics of the piece are gradual. The texture of the piece homophonic.

Makeda Allen said...

Palestrina's Sicut Cervus

The texture of it is
monophonic. The tempo is modern because it may change. The meter is 3. The use of the dynamics were gradually changing because of the different pitches in the voices.


Biebl's Ave Maria


The texture is polyphonic. The tempo is kind of slow. The meter is 5. The use of dynamics was terraced because it went fast.

makayla hart said...

The meter of the first video was 4.The meter of the second video was 3.the tempo of bothe were moderat. the texture for the first on was polyphonic and the second on was homophonic. they both had a little terraced dynamics.

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