Music - MYP 4 and 5 - Samuel Wright - Hodder 2020

How are concepts such
as rhythm and pitch able
to cross boundaries?
exploration: Subdividing
Music
rhythms
■
acciaccaturas
in the sticks creating what is called a ), there is
result
ARE RHYTHM AND PITCH
WHY
POWERFUL?
SO
THE COMPOSER: ELLA
MEET
MACENS
Macens (b. 1991) is a composer whose works have
Ella
to capture the imaginations of new listeners. Her
begun
come to life in choral, chamber, electro-acoustic
ideas
orchestral media.
and
the winner of the 2017 Young Composer Award,
As
by Willoughby Symphony Orchestra (WSO) in
organised
you can listen to Macens’ rst orchestral work
Australia,
(2016) on Soundcloud here: https://soundcloud.com/
Flight
the music unfolded, my mind became hooked on
“As
the act of flying, in all its forms: – soaring,
visualising
gliding, spinning, hovering, rising, falling. I
diving,
birds flying in our skies, diving in and out
imagined
lakes and forests and soaring high over mountain
of
I pondered how much of this world they have
peaks.
and what the world’s communities look like
seen,
above.”
from
main melodic idea is presented opposite, as
The
by the strings.
introduced
rhythm is established throughout the 6 minute
The
in various repetitions passed around sections of
work
orchestra. Macens uses the melodic motif’s pattern
the
However, she also breaks it up for a rising
continuously.
each example provided you can see how repeated
With
and rhythmic ideas add unity to a work. The
melodic
portfolio and try to develop your own motifs similar
your
Macens’. You could sketch out a few ideas yourself and
to
them on your instrument; whether that is a violin,
play
guitar or device!
clarinet,
Rhythm is a creative tool that you can use to combine
different genres of music and even layer ideas on top
of each other. Everything in rhythm stems from the
technique of
identifying which patterns
subdivision; align well together; making them complementary. From
African drumming to the rap of Alexander Hamilton,
patterns of semi-quavers (16ths) are a great place
to start.
ella-macens/flight-for-symphony-orchestra
Figure 9.42 16th-note patterns layered in various
with ghost notes (or )
acciaccaturas
subdivisions,
To perform the rhythms above, start slow and count
each 16th note or semi-quaver as 1e&a, 2e&a, 3e&a,
Ella Macens
4e&a. This will give you an understanding of our first
big rhythmic example: ‘In The Air Tonight’ drum solo
(Phil Collins): www.soundslice.com/slices/-mTcc
Notice that while there are many
(that
flam
a repeated rhythmic motif that unifies the entire phrase.
motif that can be heard as a distinctly different theme.
subtle variation and passing of the themes to different
instruments provides
Copy these examples into
balance .
Figure 9.43 Unifying grouping marked in blue
■
When you create something in the final assessment,
remember this example of using a small rhythmic
pattern to unify your work.
Music for the IB MYP 4&5: by Concept
258