Song
Resonances, chapter 5
Song
Song is the simplest way to tell stories with music
• It requires just one singer
• It may or may not include instrumental accompaniment
• The singer often accompanies themselves
• It can be performed in a small space
• It does not require costumes or staging
All the same, song can equal or surpass opera in dramatic power
For each of these examples, we will be asking:
• How does the music express the singer’s emotions?
• What does the music add that is not communicated by the text?
• How does the music increase the impact of the story or change its meaning?
Beyoncé, Lemonade
Beyoncé’s Lemonade (2016) is an
example of a concept album
• A concept album is a recorded work
that employs ordered songs to
communicate a narrative
• Lemonade recounts a personal
experience with infidelity, exploring the
accompanying emotions
• It also addresses struggles faced by
black Americans
• Released as a “visual album” (extended
music video), although the songs also
communicate meaning through sound
Beyoncé, Lemonade
Lemonade is divided into chapters:
• These include “Intuition,” “Denial,” “Anger,” “Apathy,”
“Emptiness,” “Accountability,” “Reformation,” “Forgiveness,”
“Resurrection,” “Hope,” and “Redemption”
“Hold Up” – https://youtu.be/PeonBmeFR8o
• This song belongs to the “Denial” chapter
• It is preceded by the recitation of poetry by Warsan Shire
• Beyoncé’s yellow dress refers to Oshun, a West-African
goddess of fresh waters, love, and fertility who exhibits a
harsh temper when she has been wronged
• How does the music underscore the message of the lyrics?
• How does it contradict the message of the lyrics?
Beyoncé, Lemonade
“Don’t Hurt Yourself” – https://youtu.be/10pOVWHrWck
• This song belongs to the “Anger” chapter
• It features rock musician Jack White
• It includes an excerpt from Malcolm X’s speech “Who Taught You To Hate Yourself”
• How does the musical style contrast with “Hold Up”?
• How does the music reinforce the song’s message?
“Sandcastles” – https://youtu.be/RD38JT8rypY
• This song belongs to the “Forgiveness” chapter
• How does the musical style contrast with the previous songs?
• How does the music reinforce the song’s message?
Schubert, The Lovely Maid of the Mill
Franz Schubert (1797-1828) was the foremost composer
of German-language art songs in the 19th century
• Many German song texts were drawn from or influenced
by folk culture
• The German philosopher Johann Gottfried von Herder had
inspired widespread interest in folks songs and tales
• He believed that folk culture captured the essence of
national identity
Schubert’s songs were performed principally in small, in-
home concerts known as salons
• Schubert also wrote piano and chamber music for
domestic performance in intimate settings
“Herder also believed that the most authentic form of
national character was to be found among those least Can cultural practices only be created candidly, when
corrupted by cosmopolitan influences—the peasants the group they come from is unaware they are
who worked the land. Before the late 18th century, contributing to something greater than themselves?
impoverished rural folk were treated with contempt. It Herder’s thought seems to be that because rural
peasants are uninfluenced by politics, their way of life
was not believed that they had anything to offer the
is the true culture of the nation. However political
ruling classes other than labor” (134). Do you think that authorities often try to artificially manipulate what
it is true that the most authentic character can be found cultural practices are and aren’t supported through
among those who aren’t corrupted by the same things offering national holidays, for example. Can this also
that others are? be an authentic way to generate national culture?
Should a common language still be a deciding factor
in the formation of countries today? If those factors
like language, culture, or ethnicity were irrelevant in
nation formation, how would it be decided?
Schubert, The Lovely Maid of the Mill
Schubert gained a devoted
following in Vienna
• Support from admirers allowed
him to focus on composing
Salons dedicated to his music
were known as Schubertiade
What does this 1897 painting of
a Schubertiade tell us about
what such performance were
like?
• Schubert himself is seated at the
piano
The Cult of Beethoven (1840)
Josef Danhauser (1805-1845)
Do you think it’s important for artists to have a specific setting in mind when creating music? Are
some types of music only accepted to be played in particular settings?
“Schubert’s listeners sought not only entertainment but also enlightenment, transformation, and
catharsis.” (pg. 136)
How is the way people listened to music in Schubert’s time different from how we listen to music
today?
Schubert, The Lovely Maid of the Mill
The Lovely Maid of the Mill (1824) is a song cycle
• It was written for solo tenor with piano accompaniment
• It is based on a book of poems by Wilhelm Müller published in 1820
• It contains twenty songs
• A young miller wanders in the woods until he finds a brook, which leads to a mill where
he secures a job. He falls in love with the miller’s daughter, who at first seems to
reciprocate his affection. Soon, however, he learns that she in fact loves the hunter.
Overcome with despair, he drowns himself in the brook.
Schubert began working on this cycle while recovering from a bout of illness in 1823
• He would succumb to his illness in 1828, just as he was on the brink of achieving success
outside of Vienna
• He only gained widespread fame after his death
Schubert, The Lovely Maid of the Mill
This song cycle incorporates themes that
were common in the Romantic era (1815-
1900)
• It explores the interior emotional experience
of an individual
• It prioritizes emotional expression over formal
constraints
• It is set in nature
• It recounts a love affair that ends in betrayal
and tragedy
• It portrays death as a welcome escape from
the sorrow and pain of existence
How did Romantic-era ideals about emotion and individual expression shape the
development of Western music, and in what ways do modern listeners still
respond to these emotional narratives today?
Schubert, The Lovely Maid of the Mill
The songs in this cycle explore the wide variety of emotions experienced by the
protagonist
• The songs are diverse in terms of mode, tempo, form, and texture
• Mode: Is the song major or minor? Does the mode change?
• Tempo: Is the song fast or slow?
• Form: Is the song strophic (multiple verses set to the same melody) or through-
composed?
• Texture: Is the accompaniment active or sparse?
“Wandering” – https://youtu.be/GLnI2AEjKNY
• In the first song, the miller sets out to seek employment
• How does this song capture his carefree attitude? Consider the four elements above
Schubert, The Lovely Maid of the Mill
“Mine!” – https://youtu.be/gdeoTFiWJY8
• In the eleventh song, the miller rejoices at having won the love of the miller’s
daughter
• How does this song capture his exuberance? Consider the four elements above
• Mode: Is the song major or minor? Does the mode change?
• Tempo: Is the song fast or slow?
• Form: Is the song strophic or through-composed?
• Texture: Is the accompaniment active or sparse?
“Withered Flowers” – https://youtu.be/mqk8INXCfOg?t=2948
• In the eighteenth song, the miller expresses his despair at losing the love of the
miller’s daughter. He reflects on how she will be sorry when he is dead.
• How does this song capture his despair? Consider the four elements above
“The Brook’s Lullaby” – https://youtu.be/mqk8INXCfOg?t=3490
• In the final song, the brook comforts the miller, who has drowned in its waters
• How does this song soothe and comfort? Consider the four elements above
How does Schubert’s The Lovely Maid of the Mill reflect Romanticism’s fascination with emotional extremes?
How does “Mine” or “Withered Flowers” go hand and hand with what we were discussing in regards to Beyonce's
songs from Lemonade, specifically, "Hold up".
How has music changed over time? Can you find the same message in a song from today versus a song from 100
years ago? Why is this the case?
How can contemporary artists use elements of folk traditions to express national identity in today's world?
Pretty Polly
“Pretty Polly” is a well-known ballad in the Appalachian tradition
• In this tradition, a ballad is a strophic song that tells a story
• Appalachian ballads are most often performed without accompaniment
• Because these ballads are passed down through oral tradition, there are countless
variations in the text and melody—every performance is different
Like many Appalachian ballads, “Pretty Polly” is descended from a much older
British ballad
• “The Gosport Tragedy” is tied to documented events that took place in 1726
• “Pretty Polly” is one of many ballads that retell this story
• All ballads in this family belong to the rich category of murder ballads, meaning that
they recount a gruesome crime, often for the purpose of issuing a warning
• Some versions have been preserved in print, others by oral tradition
Pretty Polly
Dock Boggs (1898-1971) was born in Norton, VA
• He was the youngest of ten children
• The whole family was musical: all sang, and several played the banjo
Boggs learned music from members of his family and community
• He developed a unique style of banjo playing based on his observation
of African American banjo players at local dances
• He learned his version of “Pretty Polly” from his family
Boggs briefly pursued a career in music
• He played for dances in the 1920s, despite his wife’s disapproval
• During this period, there was growing interest in rural Southern music
• He made some recordings in 1927 and 1929
Pretty Polly
The Great Depression derailed Boggs’s career and he returned to full-time work in
the coal mines
• Hard times led him to pawn his banjo in the late 1930s
In 1963, Boggs was rediscovered by Mike Seeger, who had heard his early recordings
• Seeger was part of the folk revival, a movement that saw renewed interest in Southern
American folk styles and repertoires
• Seeger arranged for Boggs to make new recordings and appear at music festivals
Boggs made this recording of “Pretty Polly” in 1963: https://youtu.be/CfyrRNP1ZpU
• He also recorded “Pretty Polly” in 1927: https://youtu.be/UxkSuBhzHqg
• How do these recordings differ? What do they share in common?
Pretty Polly
Jean Ritchie (1922-2015) was born in Perry
County, KY
• She was the youngest of fourteen children
• Her family members all sang ballads and her
father played the Appalachian dulcimer
Ritchie is best remembered for popularizing
the Appalachian dulcimer
• The dulcimer is a type of fretted lap zither
descended from a German folk instrument
Ritchie made her first recordings in 1952
• She benefitting from the heightened interest in
her music that resulted from the folk revival
Pretty Polly
Ritchie made this recording of “Pretty Polly” in 1963:
https://youtu.be/h3rKkP5QJuQ
• Her dulcimer accompaniment includes countermelodies that compliment her singing
Although Boggs and Ritchie’s versions are quite different, they are recognizable
as the same song
What do they share in common? How do they differ? You might consider:
• Melody (pitch and rhythm content)
• Tempo
• Singing style
• Instrumental accompaniment
• Text (narrative perspective, events, specific wording)
Franz Schubert, Elf King
Schubert wrote Elf King in 1815, when he
was only eighteen years old
• Elf King follows in the ballad tradition of
Northern Europe
• Such ballads must include a supernatural
element, dialogue between human and
non-human characters, and a tragic ending
• It was adapted from a Danish folk ballad
that was first translated by Herder
• This text was set by countless composers,
although Schubert’s version was by far the
most successful and influential
Franz Schubert, Elf King
The text was written by the poet Johann
Wolfgang von Goethe in 1782
• Like many of his poems, it was always
meant to be set to music and sung
Goethe had strong feelings about how
composers should set his texts
• Settings should be strophic, simple,
accessible, and folk-like
• The composer should not attempt to
interpret the text
• The original 1782 setting by Corona
Schröter earned Goethe’s approval:
https://youtu.be/6QBoN1IljWw
Erlkönig
Schubert, Elf King
In creating his setting of Elf King, Schubert completely ignored Goethe’s wishes:
https://youtu.be/C3nxyS8wf8E
His setting is through-composed, not strophic
• This allowed Schubert to adapt the music to the specific contents of each poetic
stanza
How does Schubert represents the poem’s four speakers?
• Listen carefully to lines belonging to the narrator, father, son, and Elf King
How does Schubert incorporate text painting to bring the poem to life?
How does the music reflect the dramatic contour of the narrative?
• At which points does the music change? Why?
Bobbie Gentry, Ode to Billie Joe
Bobbie Gentry was born in rural Mississippi in
1942
• She taught herself to play a variety of instruments
as a child
• Many of her songs describe the difficulties of life in
impoverished regions of the South
Ode to Billie Joe (1967) was recorded as a demo
for Capitol records
• Gentry wanted to be a songwriter, not a singer,
and only sang and played guitar on the demo to
avoid the expense of hiring someone else
• Jimmie Haskell dubbed strings onto the recording
● Was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day
● I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was balin' hay
● And at dinnertime we stopped and walked back to the house to
eat
● And Mama hollered out the back door y'all remember to wipe your
feet
● And then she said I got some news this mornin' from Choctaw
Ridge
● Today Billie Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge
● And Papa said to Mama as he passed around the blackeyed peas
● Well, Billie Joe never had a lick of sense, pass the biscuits please
● There's five more acres in the lower forty I got to plow
● And Mama said it was shame about Billie Joe, anyhow
● Seems like nothin' ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge
● And now Billie Joe MacAllister's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge
● And Brother said he recollected when he and Tom and Billie Joe
● Put a frog down my back at the Carroll County picture show
● And wasn't I talkin' to him after church last Sunday night?
● I'll have another piece of apple pie, you know it don't seem right
● I saw him at the sawmill yesterday on Choctaw Ridge
● And now you tell me Billie Joe's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge
● Mama said to me, Child, what's happened to your appetite?
● I've been cookin' all mornin' and you haven't touched a single bite
● That nice young preacher, Brother Taylor, dropped by today
● Said he'd be pleased to have dinner on Sunday, oh, by the way
● He said he saw a girl that looked a lot like you up on Choctaw
Ridge
● And she and Billie Joe was throwing somethin' off the Tallahatchie
Bridge
● A year has come and gone since we heard the news 'bout Billie
Joe
● And brother married Becky Thompson, they bought a store in
Tupelo
●
Billie Gentry, Ode to Billie Joe
Ode to Billie Joe is a strophic song: https://youtu.be/nv33eaygVDQ
• Every verse is sung to the same simple melody
• What are the characteristics of this melody? Why is it effective?
Much of the power of Ode to Billie Joe comes from its storytelling
• The narrative is surrounded by mystery—Gentry has never disclosed exactly what it
was that the narrator and Billie Joe threw off the bridge
• According to Gentry, the song is a study in “unconscious cruelty”
• How does the music facilitate the telling of the story?
• Does the character of the music match the emotional tone of the lyrics? Why or why
not? Either way, is it an effective pairing?
• What do the strings add to Gentry’s simple guitar accompaniment?
Ancient Greece: The Iliad
We know that ancient Greek drama and poetry—including lengthy epics—was
sung, not spoken
• However, almost no notation has survived, with the result that we do not know what
these performances sounded like
The recitation of Greek epics was governed by prosody
• Prosody is the pattern of strong and weak syllables
• The resulting meter is comparable to musical meter
• A common meter in Greek poetry was dactylic hexameter, which divides each line
into six feet (similar to a measures) that each contain a long syllable followed by two
short syllables:
(long-short-short) (l-s-s) (l-s-s) (l-s-s) (l-s-s) (l-s-s)
Ancient Greece: The Iliad
Homer’s Illiad is a famous epic in dactylic hexameter
Although no notation survives, it is believed that the
epic was sung in its entirety
• Why might one sing an epic instead of reciting it?
It is possible to recreate a performance of The Iliad
based on the characteristics of the text:
https://youtu.be/4aPR5eXykhk
• The rhythmic patterns reflect dactylic hexameter
• The shape of the melody reflects the melodic shape of
natural speech
• The tempo is set by the content of the text
• Accompaniment is provided by a four-stringed lyre
Ancient Greece: The Iliad
Modern recreations are also informed by the few
pieces of music that survive
The most famous is a fragment of papyrus that
includes notation for a chorus, to be sung in unison,
from Euripides’s play Orestes:
https://youtu.be/4hOK7bU0S1Y?t=794
• The music is believed to have been written by
Euripides himself
• In contrast with the previous example, the melody
does not follow the natural inflection of the text
• The surviving fragment does not indicate instrumental
accompaniment, but it is believed that instruments—
such as the aulos, heard here—were used
West Africa: The Sunjata Story
The richest extant tradition of epic recitation is to be
found among the Mandinka people of West Africa
• The Mandinka are descendants of the Mali Empire, which
flourished from 1240 to 1645
This tradition is carried on by members of the jali caste
• Traditionally, Mandinkan society was organized according
to a caste system in which one’s social position was
determined by birth
• The jali were not high ranking, but they occupied a special
position
• Although the caste system is officially defunct, knowledge
and skills continue to be passed along family lines
West Africa: The Sunjata Story
In Mandinkan society, the jali carried a large number of responsibilities
• They provided music for ceremonial and entertainment functions
• They sang in praise of the aristocrats they served
• They maintained and transmitted knowledge and traditions, including histories,
genealogies, proverbs, and laws
• They additionally served as moralists, counsellors, spokesmen, public announcers,
mediators, messengers, buffoons, porters, tax collectors, and hairdressers
The role of the jali was particularly significant because Mandinkan society did
not make use of a written language
• All knowledge and culture had to be transmitted and preserved by means of oral
tradition
West Africa: The Sunjata Story
The jali traditionally specialized in particular instruments
• The ngoni is a small lute (and an ancestor of the banjo)
• The balafon is a xylophone with wood keys and gourd
resonators
• The kora, pictured here, is a harp lute
• Each has a unique tuning system quite unlike anything found in
Europe or the United States
Traditionally, these instruments were played only by men
• Boys would learn from a father or uncle
• A musical education would culminate in learning how to build an
instrument
• Female jali were trained to sing and play a percussion instrument
• Today, women play all of the traditional instruments
West Africa: The Sunjata Story
The epic of the Mandinka people is a mythologized
retelling of how the historical figure Sunjanta
unified the Mali Empire and became its first ruler
The epic is only performed properly as a part of
religious ceremonies, which cannot be recorded
• The few existing recordings are brief and omit the
interjections from the community
• In a true performance, participants shout praises, sing
hymns, and offer corrections
Performances vary a great deal
• The melody is determined by the text
• The accompaniment can be played on any instrument
17:00 kora solo Praise song
West Africa: The Sunjata Story
We will compare two performances of the epic:
• Djelimady Sissoko with Sidiki Diabaté on kora (1987)
• Hawa Kassé Mady Diabaté with Fodé Lassana Diabaté on balafon (2014) –
https://youtu.be/yOS78ul1_rA
Although the instrumental accompaniment is different in each case, it operates
according to shared principals
• The performer plays a repetitive kumbengo constructed out of interlocking left- and
right-hand melodies
• The kumbengo is constantly varied and interrupted with improvisatory flourishes
How do the two performances compare? What do they share in common? How
do they differ? We might consider vocal production, melodies, and coordination
between singer and accompanist
