Chapter 24 Music in America: Musical Theater Pop Music Forms OperettaSpoken dialogueLight musical numbersMany dance numbersAmusing, far-fetched plotsPopular on Broadway in 1800s, early 1900s * Popular OperettasGilbert & Sullivan- The Mikado, HMS Pinafore, The Pirates of PenzanceVictor Herbert- The Serenade, Babes in Toyland, Sweethearts Musical ComediesPopular theater picked up jazz accentsDemand for up-to-date, American stories and lyricsClosely tied to popular songs of the 1920s and 1930sThose written in Tin Pan Alley: N.Y. based collection of publishing/song writing offices. * Gershwin’s “Who Cares?” from Of Thee I Sing can be found on the Listen Companion DVD. George Gershwin (1898 to 1937)Born in New YorkQuit school at 16 to become a song writerBegan writing his own hit songs with brother IraWrote concert works fusing jazz and ClassicalRhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris, Catfish Row (from Porgy and Bess)Musicals- Strike Up the Band, Girl Crazy, Funny Face, Nice Work If You Can Get It * * The Musical after 1940Plots worked out with more careMusical numbers tied in logicallyRichard Rodgers and Oscar HammersteinOklahoma! (1943); The King and I (1951) * Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990)One of America’s most brilliant and versatile musiciansWrote classical symphonies, musicals, and film musicAcclaimed conductor, pianist, and authorWon Grammys, Emmys, and a Tony * Bernstein, West Side StoryUpdate of Romeo and JulietThe classical reaching out to the popular stylesStephen Sondheim, Jerome RobbinsCombines classical forms and techniques with 1950s jazz styles * Bernstein’s Thematic TransformationThree-note motive first appears as a cha-chaThen as a slow, questioning motive in the Meeting SceneNext as the motive for “Maria”Finally turns into the intro to “Cool” * Bernstein’s Thematic Transformation * West Side Story, “Cool”Big production number of Act IHighly charged, syncopated introRiff sings first two stanzas1950s street dialectDance sequence begins with fugueMusic gets more angry as Jets lose their coolStanza 2 of Riff’s song returns * Later MusicalsInfluence of rock revolutionHair, Grease, RentConnection to filmShowboat, Rent, West Side Story, Disney’s musicals for filmContinual reinventionInfluence of hip-hop: Hamilton * Key TermsOperettaMusical comedyMusicals Chapter 24 Music in America: Jazz and Beyond Secular Popular MusicStephen Collins FosterSongs popularized by Christie’s Minstrels“Camptown Races”, “Oh Susanna”Minstrel show: 19thc. variety show in the U.S. performed in blackface John Philip SousaMarine Corps bandmaster, known for marches: “The Stars and Stripes Forever” * African American MusicBoth parodied and acknowledged by minstrel showsNo one wrote down slaves’ musicCall-and-response procedures: -Descended from African traditionsSpirituals: religious folk songsEx. Wade in the Water * RagtimeA precursor of jazzA style of piano playing developed by ...

1. Chapter 24
Music in America:
Musical Theater
Pop Music Forms
OperettaSpoken dialogueLight musical numbersMany dance
numbersAmusing, far-fetched plotsPopular on Broadway in
1800s, early 1900s
*
Popular OperettasGilbert & Sullivan- The Mikado, HMS
Pinafore, The Pirates of PenzanceVictor Herbert- The Serenade,
Babes in Toyland, Sweethearts
Musical ComediesPopular theater picked up jazz
accentsDemand for up-to-date, American stories and
lyricsClosely tied to popular songs of the 1920s and 1930sThose
written in Tin Pan Alley: N.Y. based collection of
publishing/song writing offices.

2. *
Gershwin’s “Who Cares?” from Of Thee I Sing can be found on
the Listen Companion DVD.
George Gershwin (1898 to 1937)Born in New YorkQuit school
at 16 to become a song writerBegan writing his own hit songs
with brother IraWrote concert works fusing jazz and
ClassicalRhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris, Catfish Row
(from Porgy and Bess)Musicals- Strike Up the Band, Girl
Crazy, Funny Face, Nice Work If You Can Get It
*
*
The Musical after 1940Plots worked out with more careMusical
numbers tied in logicallyRichard Rodgers and Oscar
HammersteinOklahoma! (1943); The King and I (1951)
*
Leonard Bernstein
(1918–1990)One of America’s most brilliant and versatile
musiciansWrote classical symphonies, musicals, and film
musicAcclaimed conductor, pianist, and authorWon Grammys,
Emmys, and a Tony

3. *
Bernstein, West Side StoryUpdate of Romeo and JulietThe
classical reaching out to the popular stylesStephen Sondheim,
Jerome RobbinsCombines classical forms and techniques with
1950s jazz styles
*
Bernstein’s Thematic TransformationThree-note motive first
appears as a cha-chaThen as a slow, questioning motive in the
Meeting SceneNext as the motive for “Maria”Finally turns into
the intro to “Cool”
*
Bernstein’s Thematic Transformation
*

4. West Side Story, “Cool”Big production number of Act IHighly
charged, syncopated introRiff sings first two stanzas1950s
street dialectDance sequence begins with fugueMusic gets more
angry as Jets lose their coolStanza 2 of Riff’s song returns
*
Later MusicalsInfluence of rock revolutionHair, Grease,
RentConnection to filmShowboat, Rent, West Side Story,
Disney’s musicals for filmContinual reinventionInfluence of
hip-hop: Hamilton
*
Key TermsOperettaMusical comedyMusicals
Chapter 24
Music in America:
Jazz and Beyond
Secular Popular MusicStephen Collins FosterSongs popularized

5. by Christie’s Minstrels“Camptown Races”, “Oh
Susanna”Minstrel show: 19thc. variety show in the U.S.
performed in blackface John Philip SousaMarine Corps
bandmaster, known for marches: “The Stars and Stripes
Forever”
*
African American MusicBoth parodied and acknowledged by
minstrel showsNo one wrote down slaves’ musicCall-and-
response procedures:
-Descended from African traditionsSpirituals: religious
folk songsEx. Wade in the Water
*
RagtimeA precursor of jazzA style of piano playing developed
by African American musiciansLeft hand plays strictly on the
beatRight hand syncopates the rhythmScott Joplin (1868–
1917)Maple Leaf Rag (sold 1 million copies)
*
Scott Joplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag” can be found on the Listen
Companion DVD.

6. JazzPerformance style developed by black musicians around
1910Improvisation: ornaments and breaks played around a
melodyBreak: improv between phrasesSyncopation: accenting
“off-beats”
(instead of the main beat) Swing: moving notes based on a
triplet feel instead of a duple feel
*
New Orleans JazzThe first important center of jazz Early
players developed the art of collective improvisation
(“jamming”)Solo sections soon became a regular
featureRecordings helped disseminate to wider
audiencesRecommended book:The World That Made New
Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square by Ned Sublette
*
The BluesSpecial category of black folk songThemes of
loneliness, trouble, and depressionAlso humor, banter, and
hopeEmerged around 1900Major influence on early jazz
*

7. Typical Blues MelodyTwelve-bar bluesStanzas of 3 four-
measure phrasesFirst line of each stanza repeated (a a b
scheme)Singer improvises more and more stanzas
*
Sippie Wallace, “If You Ever Been Down” BluesInstrumental
introductionTwo blues stanzas with breaksTrumpet solo stanza,
supported by clarinetTwo more sung stanzas
*
Swing EraBig bands developed to reach larger
audiencesCarefully written-out arrangementsLimited
improvisationNovel orchestration, instrumental
effectsPopularity collapsed after WWII
*
Duke Ellington (1899–1974)Born in Washington, D.C.Began
playing piano in jazz bandsUnique combination: bandleader,
composer, and arrangerDeveloped international fameWrote

8. long, symphonic-style worksMany works molded to styles of his
sidemen
*
Ellington and Tizol,
Conga Brava
Longer a a b form heard three times1st chorus: a on trombone
with Latin beat, b with contrasting jazz beat2nd chorus: free
improvisation by tenor sax3rd chorus: full band, wild
syncopationsCoda: a only, same as beginning
*
Big Band InstrumentationSaxophones (5)Trombones (3-
4)Trumpets (4)PianoDouble BassDrumsetGuitar (optl.)
BebopSharp contrast with big bands Small combos (typically a
quintet)Trumpet, Saxophone, Piano, Bass,
DrumsetImprovisation and technical virtuosityRadical treatment
of harmonyDizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker
*

9. “The” Quintet
Charlie Parker (1920–1955)Early leader of Bebop with Dizzy
GillespieAlto saxophonist, nicknamed “Bird”Became a legend
in his lifetimeStruggled with personal demonsOn drugs from
age 15Uncontrollable eating and drinkingDied at 34
*
Parker and Davis, “Out of Nowhere”Popular song in 32-bar A
A′ formStarts with “straight” versionDavis trumpet soloParker
sax soloLast chorus like first, with brief codaSolos include
“double time” passages
*
Parker and Harris OrnithologyFaster tempo, typical of
bebopContrafact on chords of “How High the Moon”- new
melody over existing chord structureParker- Alto saxMiles
Davis- TrumpetLucky Thompson- Tenor saxAlso piano, bass,
guitar, drums

10. Jazz after BebopMany new styles emergedCool, free, modal,
Hard Bop, Afro-Cuban, electric, avant-gardeDiverse
leadersThelonious Monk, pianoMiles Davis, trumpetArt Blakey,
drumsetJohn Coltrane and Ornette Coleman, sax
*
Hard BopMoanin’ by Art Blakey and the Jazz MessengersDrum
set feel/pattern known as the “shuffle” beat. Adds ‘backbeat’
emphasis on the snare drum: beats 2 and 4.Catchier, simpler
melodies than Bebop
Miles Davis (1926–1991)One of the greatest jazz
innovatorsStarted with Charlie Parker and bebop musiciansStyle
evolved through many stagesPioneered cool jazz, modal jazz,
free jazz, and jazz-rock fusion
*
1st & 2nd Quintets“Straight No Chaser” from album Milestones
(1958)First quintet“Footprints” from album Miles Smiles
(1966)Second quintet: rhythmic innovations due to rhythm
sectionHerbie Hancock: piano, Ron Carter: bass, Tony
Williams: drums

11. Davis, Bitches BrewDavis’s most successful fusion albumUsed
a larger ensemble than usualConscious attempt to blend jazz and
rock
*
Bitches Brew excerptSolo excerpt from 27-minute trackBegins
with electric guitar and piano; ostinato on electric
bassMeditative, melancholy soloMore and more elaborate
patternsReaches free ostinato in high registerSinks down after
high trumpet squeal
*
Funky JazzMix of jazz song structures, improvisational solos
with rhythmic feel of funkFunk developed in late 60s by James
Brown and his contemporariesBridged gap between jazz and
newer popular stylesContinues to evolve todayOriginators-
Miles Davis, The MetersContemporaries- Galactic, Stanton
Moore Trio, Soulive, Lettuce
Key TermsMinstrel showCall and responseSpiritual

12. Key TermsJazzBreaksBeat syncopationBluesGospel
musicRagtimeBig bands SwingBebop