HISTORY 204 – PREPARATION 10

(F-11)

Due Tues Dec 1

All four pieces assigned for next week refer to works and/or musical styles of the past. They are: Ligeti, Etude 9 (Vertiges); Schnittke, Concerto Grosso No. 1; Daugherty, Dead Elvis; and Rochberg, Ricordanza. The first three are in NAWM; the Rochberg is in the supplementary listening and scores. Listen to all of them, study the scores a bit. You may want to check out performances of Dead Elvis on YouTube. And you may want to check the notes in NAWM and online.

Please answer the following questions:

1. Which of these pieces refer to only one work or style of the past? Which refer to several styles? Identify in each case the styles (or works) to which they refer. If there are several styles, be specific about where in the score you find each.

2. Try to characterize in each case the composer's attitude toward his sources (e.g. reverence, hostility, irony, respect, etc.). Briefly explain how you hear this attitude in each case.

3. Do pieces like this signal the end of modernism in music? Discuss.