Claude Debussy Violin Sonata
Debussy utilizes a lot minimalism in both the piano and violin parts. The piano serves as a foundation for the harmony, and it has a number of motivic patterns that are repeated within sections. Each mini section features a new motif which is repeated and expanded upon—mostly in the violin part. The violin plays over the piano in most sections; however, the piano has short solo moments, in which the violin is used to highlight the music in the piano. I liked the back and forth nature between the two instruments, and I thought Debussy did an excellent job of highlight both instruments throughout the piece.
Maurice Ravel Le Tombeau de Couperin
I listened to Ravel’s piano version of Le Tombeau de Couperin. I found the piece to be lyrical with an eloquent flow. A major motif in the piece was the sixteenth note ripples that were feature in the prelude which I really liked. It gave the piece a very forward motion amidst the repetition. The fugue was mostly melodic and wasn’t harmony dependent unlike the prelude. I like the short motifs that Ravel used in the fugue; they mostly shared the same rhythm which was how I was able to identify them. Overall, I think Ravel’s use of motivic idea was the strongest aspect of the piece.
Pierre Boulez Derive
I listened to Boulez’s Derive for chamber ensemble. I liked Boulez’s use of extended techniques within each individual instrument, and I thought the orchestration was unique. The instruments were all used throughout the entire piece, but they were rarely layered over each other, and when they were layered, Boulez would only have a couple instruments play simultaneously. He sometimes would have all the instruments play at once to convey specific dynamics and forte moment. I liked how he used the melodic lines to portray a ripple like effect both within one instrument and between instruments.
Magnus Lindberg Jubilee for Piano
In Lindberg’s Jubilee for Piano, I noticed the lack of tonalism as well as the lack of a consistent meter throughout the piece. There was a frequent use of tuplets that deviated from the simple meter. This gave the piece a nomadic effect, in which it was not grounded in a specific key or meter. I liked the piece because I thought there was a good mixture of melodic and percussive employment of the piano.
G.F. Haas String Quartet Nr. 1
In this piece the string instruments are tuned according to a preset. This gives the instruments a very light high-pitched sound that mimics the sound of water glasses in my opinion. The tuning is described as microtonal which creates natural harmonics that were very audible in the piece. The piece had an interesting use of harmonics, but the direction of the piece was unclear. One thing I enjoyed was the transitions between the different dynamic and elements of the music such as: the scales and glissandos.
Exploring the Different Eras of Contemporary Music 