Musical Web
From Military Marches to Jazz to Classical

“Washington’s March”
( Music Sheet) — 1859
Genre: Military March
The nasally timbres of the oboes and bassoon stand out the most from the ensemble, and immediately the audience can feel the tempo of the song emphasized by the deeper timbre of the bassoon. The fuller and rounder timbre of the french horn is a contrast to the two oboes, and it provides another layer of the melody with its harmony. The bassoon has a steady beat, while the oboes and even the french horn introduce some syncopation into the song. The duple meter, best heard through the bassoon, is consistent with a feeling of a march.
In the piano version of the song (given in the “Music Sheet” link), one can visually see that the structure of the song is in 12 bar form with 2 different sections (A&B). It follows a binary form, where the sections are repeated (AABB). This is similar to “Maple Leaf Rag,” although it has a AABBACCDD form (Joyner n.d.). Both follow a binary form, which is a common structure used to choreograph dance (Wikipedia n.d.). In fact, Ragtime was associated with dance music, like “march” and “two-step” (Candelaria 2015).
“Maple Leaf Rag”
Scott Joplin — 1899
Genre: Ragtime
Like “Washington’s March”, “Maple Leaf Rag” is in binary form and duple meter. The right hand plays the evolving melody like the oboes, while the left hand keeps the tempo like the bassoon. The steady beat of the left hand has the characteristic of a march, and it is a contrast to the more free characterstic of the rhythmic right hand. There are total of 4 unique sections (arranged as AABBACCDD as stated in the previous section), and they all seem slightly varied from each other, therefore the audience stays engaged, although only a single instrument is playing. Each section goes in and out of dissonance and consonance, which creates the ‘tension and release’ factor. With syncopation of the right hand and the ‘tension-and-release’ factor, the song is naturally pushed forward.
We segway into the influence of Ragtime in Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, where Orin Grossman, a professor from Fairfield University, goes into the characteristic of Ragtime before delving into the Gershwin’s piece. He discusses the march-like quality of the left hand and the rhythmic, African quality of the right hand.
“Rhapsody in Blue”
George Gershwin — 1924
Genre: Jazz/Classical Hybrid
The Ragtime influence is clear around 3:31 of the recording from above. The timpani and lower range instruments create the “marching” sounds, while the higher range instruments play the complex melody. This characteristic is reflected in the solo-piano. Before, I had stated that it seemed like the right hand and left hand seemed to be constantly fighting between the rigidity of Classical music and the easiness of Jazz. Now, I see that this was intentional and also a direct correlation to Ragtime.
Other clear indications of Jazz are exhibited in the beginning, where the clarinet introduces the melody for the first time. The brass ensemble create the foundation for it, while also exchanging a little bit of a “call and response” with the clarinet. This kind of quality can be seen in big Jazz bands as well. The woody, rounded clarinet is a contrast to the jazzy, buzzing trumpet. They are the few among the different colors of sound that keep the repeated melody from becoming static.
“KoKo”
Charlie Parker — 1945
Genre: Jazz — Bebop
(Note: The characteristics of Bebop were paraphrased from American Music: A Panorama, and the details of the song were weaved into the information. For ease of reading, the citation is at the very end of the paragraph)
Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie became the revolutionaries of Bebop, the new age of Jazz. It held unto the harmonic plan and improvisation of classic Jazz, but it also made plenty of changes as well. The ensembles became smaller (although later expanded), and in this case, it only includes a trumpet, piano, saxophone, bass, and drums. Dizzy played trumpet and piano, so there were actually only four artists in total. Bebop also adopted a faster tempo, and this is exhibited by the trumpet. At 0:08, it completely flies through its solo. This tempo is lightly supported by a string bass, instead of a large brass ensemble like in Big Bands, and despite the dramatically increased speed, one can see the correlation to Ragtime with a constant beat of the bass and syncopated melody of the other instruments. The drums are free to be more creative with its accentuation of the beat because the bass has largely taken on the role of the “tempo keeper”, and it can further the complexity of the already existing rhythm (Candelaria, 2015).
Other common traits of Bebop include union passages and conversation-like characteristics. The most obvious union passages is of the saxophone and trumpet in the introduction as well as at 2:31 after the drum solo. The conversation-like characteristic is shown by the alternation between these union passages and the solos. The time between the two are brief enough to emulate an actual dialogue of speech.
“Cool”
West Side Story — Leonard Bernstein— 1957
Genre: Cool Jazz
Candelaria describes Cool Jazz and Bebop to be two sides of the same coin (2015). While Bebop sped up the tempo and introduced complex, improvised solos, Cool Jazz strove for relaxed tempos, moving towards minimalism and emotional detachment (Rackipov n.d.). Candelaria describes it as a “Music of understatement, restraint, and leanness” (2015). It fits the scene from West Side Story perfectly, because Ice (the very first singer) is trying to persuade the other members of his gang (the Jets) to not make any rash decisions that could land them in jail or worse, get them killed.
Formerly, I had identified the instruments incorrectly. The xylophone/percussionist instrument that I could not place was the vibraphone. An important part of Cool Jazz ensembles (Candelaria 2015). Its melody really stands out, because the other instruments have dramatic entrances and exits throughout the song (dramatized by the crescendos and decrescendos). They represent the contained energy of the gang, randomly exploding out in short bursts of high energy. The piece crescendos to its climax, and it reminded me of a water pot boiling over with the cacophony of multiple singers and instruments overlapping. This all dies down again (abruptly if I may add) at 3:41, where both the main singer and most of the instruments fade out and only a few of the other singers interject a few times before the song finally comes to an eerie end.
Please enjoy the video below of the percussionist playing the vibraphone. I would also like to note how busy he is playing several different instruments in the prologue, in comparison to “Cool” where he plays a maximum of three.
References:
“Binary Form.” Accessed July 23, 2017. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_form.
Candelaria, Lorenzo F., and Daniel Kingman. “Part 5: Jazz and Its Forerunners.” In American Music: A Panorama. 5th ed. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning, 2015.
Joyner, David Lee. “Listening Guides.” American Popular Music | Listening Guides. Accessed July 24, 2017. http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0073526576/student_view0/chapter4/listening_guides.html.
Rackipov, Errol. “9. Cool Jazz & Third Stream.” Accessed July 24, 2017. http://www2.fiu.edu/~rackipov/09%20Cool_third%20stream.pdf.
“Washington’s March.” 19th Century American Sheet Music. Accessed July 23, 2017. http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/sheetmusic/id/30579.
