Best of the Rest: 7-29-09

1. Roger Bourland: Our favorite UCLA chairman has started a new project, music for a short film. He might get a REAL trumpeter! And read on how to compose good melodies when using a keyboard.

2. Adventures of Wang: Our favorite "quirky alien" has plans for how to recharge her batteries as a graduate student in music.

3. A View from the Podium: Our favorite conductor who divides time between Britain and Eastern Oregon and is named Kenneth Woods writes about the best CD store in Madison, WI.

4. Matt Van Brink: Our favorite composer/pianist/accordionist shares two new songs - "The Old Switcheroo" and "Lost".

5. The Gathering Note: Our favorite lawyer/freelance arts journalist named Zach Carstensen gives the history of his 2-year-old blog.

Tuesday TPS: Chords

Last week I explained the basic space of melodic pitches in Fred Lerdahl's Tonal Pitch Space. Today I will look at the chordal level of basic space. Inspired by Riemann's Klangs, Fred arranges chords by proximity in the circle of fifths and by the number of common tones. The circle of fifths is pervasive in tonal theory, Fred briefly mentions the fifth motion prevalent throughout tonal progressions, the psychoacoustic strength of the perfect fifth within the overtone series, and the ability to generate the diatonic scale through fifth motion as reasons for using the circle of fifths to measure chord distance. Each step along the diatonic circle of fifths, either clockwise or counterclockwise, is counted as one step removed in distance. So from our tonic chord of Eb in last week's example, we can move one step up to Bb major (V), two steps up to F minor (ii), or three steps up to C minor (vi). And we can move one step down from Eb to Ab major (IV), two steps down to D diminished (viio), or three steps down to G minor (iii). Note that this is the diatonic circle of fifths, so Ab descends a diminished fifth to D so we stay in the major scale of Eb.

Distance by fifths are only one half of the chord distance measurement. The other half is the number of common tones between the two chords being compared, with the idea that the fewer common tones, the more distant the chords. This isn't simply calculated by saying the two triads have one or two notes in common, but by looking at the number of common tones throughout the five levels of pitch space. Here is the tonic chord from last week:

Level a:

Eb

Eb

Level b:

Eb

Bb

Eb

Level c:

Eb

G

Bb

Eb

Level d:

Eb

F

G

Ab

Bb

C

D

Eb

Level e:

Eb

E

F

F#

G

Ab

A

Bb

B

C

C#

D

Eb

Now here is the Dominant chord, Bb major, with all the distinctive pitch classes bolded. Note that levels D and E are the same, but level C now shows the Bb triad, with the root and fifth of that chord at level B, and just the root at level A.

Level a:

Bb

Level b:

F

Bb

Level c:

F

Bb

D

Level d:

Eb

F

G

Ab

Bb

C

D

Eb

Level e:

Eb

E

F

F#

G

Ab

A

Bb

B

C

C#

D

Eb

So the total distance between the tonic Eb chord and the dominant Bb chord is 1 (step along the circle of fifths) + 4 (distinctive pitches) = 5. This will be the same distance for all tonic-dominant pairings. The summary of distances from the tonic to each of the other diatonic chords is:
I - ii: 8
I - III: 7
I - IV: 5
I - V: 5
I - vi: 7
I - viio: 8

These distances remain the same regardless of which chord comes first (it is a symmetric function). Distances between other chord pairs can also be calculated, but thankfully the relationships are transpositionally invariant. This means that if I - ii has a distance of 8, ii - iii will also have a distance of 8, as will every pair of sequential chords in the major tonality. So Fred can generalize that moving root motion by a diatonic step is a perceptual distance of 8, moving root motion by a diatonic third is a perceptual distance of 7, and moving root motion by a diatonic fourth is a perceptual distance of 5. Fred realizes this geometrically as a Chordal Space:

V	viio	ii	IV	vi
I	iii	V	viio	ii
IV	vi	I	iii	V
viio	ii	IV	vi	I
iii	V	viio	ii	IV

The horizontal axis is root motion by thirds, the vertical axis is root motion by fifth. Two dimensionally like this it keeps repeating over and over. It can be wrapped around to make a torus, a three-dimensional doughnut. One of Fred's main rules is to follow the shortest path when connecting two chords, and the length of this path demonstrates the perceptual distance in moving from the first chord to the second.

Thus far we have remained within a single key. Next week we will look at the regional level of TPS, to deal with secondary dominants and modulations.

For the Answers, turn to page 72

My last FriPod asks you to guess the songs based on obscure lyrics. Two of the eleven have been correctly identified by commenter IlJedui, #1 is "Rejoice Greatly" from Handel's Messiah (performed by Arleen Augér) and #5 is "Doom. A Sigh" by Istvan Marta, performed by the Kronos Quartet. I'll give the rest of the answers next Friday, but for those who can't wait, there are clues in the FriPod Clips to the left. They aren't in order, but you can treat them as Match the Numbers and Letters parts of a music history test. Otherwise, keep guessing in the comments. Googling the texts might help.

Top Classical Blogs, brought to you by Invesp.com

Technorati has gone haywire, leading me to not use it anymore for ranking, and AC Douglas had troubles with Google that led him to shut down his rankings of classical music blogs. Fortunately some pros, Invesp.com, have stepped in with a comprehensive ranking system based on a variety of stats, such as Feedburner RSS subscriptions, Yahoo links, Google PageRank, Alexa/Compete/Technorati ranks, # of visitors, etc. Invesp is an e-commerce consulting business. You may not like their results, and can complain to them about it, such as the inclusion of a photography site on the Classical Music Blog list (#19, Out of Focus). Plus I know some statistics are missing from my blog, apparently because it isn't listed on Compete.com, the main source of monthly visitors for Invesp.com. Frankly, I'm happy I won't get the complaints anymore. Unfortunately they only list the top 25, rather than the top 50, though others are listed in the single statistic categories. And Invesp.com only lists blogs they know about. So if you know of a classical music blog that you think should be in the list, let them know. They also maintain ranks of many other topics, such as science fiction and philosophy.

Here are the top 25 Classical Blogs as of today (they recalculate the statistics every day), with the change from my last Technorati ranking in parentheses. I don't have the links to the blogs, out of deference to Invesp.com. Follow the link to their ranking and then click through to the blogs of interest.

1. The Rest is Noise: Alex Ross, music critic (no change in rank from my last ranking)
2. Sequenza21: Jerry Bowles, new music and composers (+2)
3. La Cieca, James Jorden, opera (+6)
4. Wolf Trap Opera (never been on my lists)
5. NewMusicBox (the e-magazine, I've never included this because it has non-blog elements)
6. Opera Chic (-4)
7. Ionarts: Charles T. Downey, musicologist and critic (no change)
8. On An Overgrown Path: Bob Shingleton, producer (+3)
9. Jessica Duchen's classical music blog, critic and author (+1)
10. slipped disc, Norman Lebrecht, music critic (didn't make the list last time)
11. Mind the Gap: Molly Sheridan, music critic (was too new for my previous rankings)
12. Jason Heath's Double Bass Blog: (+19)
13. Opera Today (another e-magazine, even harder to call this a blog than NewMusicBox)
14. Dial "M" for Musicology, Phil Ford and Jonathan Bellman, musicologists (-1)
15. aworks: "new" american classical music, Robert Gable, enthusiast (-2)
16. The Collaborative Piano Blog: Chris Foley (+10)
17. mostly opera...: (-2)
18. BIS New Releases (not really a blog, the listing of Naxos new releases)
19. Out of Focus (not a music blog)
20. Musical Perceptions: me (+1)
21. Adaptistration, Drew McManus, consultant to the stars orchestras (-5)
22. finding my singing voice: Catherine K. Brown, vocalist (new to me)
23. The Rambler: Tim Rutherford-Johnson, musicologist and critic (and British!) (-6)
24. Jason Weinberger's blog: conductor and clarinetist (new to me)
25. The Omniscient Mussel: Marcia Adair, music critic (didn't make my last list)

There are some heavy hitters from my previous rankings who Invesp.com clearly don't know about, like Kyle Gann (PostClassic), and Greg Sandow. Some of the other highly ranked blogs from my previous lists are found in subcategories, like the number of pages indexed by Google and the number of incoming links. I don't know how Invesp.com weights the stats that kept them out of the top 25, especially AC Douglas (Sounds & Fury), Steve Smith (Night after Night), and Lisa Hirsch (the Iron Tongue of Midnight).

FriPod: Show Me the Lyrics

I decided to do a Shuffle of the iTunes (except now it's called iTunes DJ) and pick those randomized pieces that have actual lyrics. I will list only some obscure part of the lyrics and my reactions to the music, and let you guess the piece itself.

1. "He shall speak peace unto the heathen." This is probably a very easy one. I love the text painting, that still fits nicely into the standard da Capo aria form.

2. "Sed eligo quod video, collum iugo prebeo: [But I choose what I see, and submit my neck to the yoke:]" So lovely, the closing flute duet is just gorgeous.

3. "Machen tote Liebe Nicht wieder blühn. [Don't cause dead love to bloom again.]" This is a very sad song, yet it avoids being too mawkish, perhaps because it keeps modulating to major keys at the cadences. The piano accompaniment is so simple, yet perfect. It sets off the lyricism of the vocal part, and actually emphasizes the harmonic movement with its sparsity.

4. "O wie linde ruht es hier, [Dreaming, by the world forgot]". This is so gentle, almost the opposite of #3 in that the pianos have the lyricism and the vocal parts are very sparse at the beginning.

5. I'll just say that the lyrics are in Romanian, with lots of crying interspersed. This is a disturbing piece, though the strings and percussion are beautiful in commenting on crying and the singing.

6. "The heart out of the bosom/Was never given in vain;'Tis paid with sighs a plenty/And sold for endless rue" Another depressing song, though not nearly as much as #5. 'Tis very British.

7. "There are buildings as tall as Quoxwood trees!" This song is intentionally cheesy, to set up the twist that happens.

8. "Can it be that one day, off it goes on, that one day I simply stayed in," I swear this sounds like Oompa Loompas. Cool and literate Oompa Loompas.

9. "Everywhere me disappearing into him, like water into the clay of a new jar." It doesn't sound like a love song, except as one full of longing, these are people who want to disappear but aren't at the moment.

10. "Ma poi morta d'ogn'intorno, il tiranno e notte e giorno, fatta spettro agiterò. [But when I am dead, my ghost will, wherever he may be, torment the tyrant by night and by day.]" Like #1, but much more extreme in the shift of emotions. A little too self-pitying for me, but beautifully set.

11. "Her little hands were frozen with the cold." The music is very icy, yet human at the same time.

Everybody's got a blog!

Even my church organist! Seriously, David Sinden, who is the kick-ass Assistant Organist/Choirmaster at Christ Church Cathedral has a great blog, imaginatively titled "sinden.org/blog". Here is a very interesting post on the history of American organ symphonies. What I want to know is, why am I listed under Archenemies?

Best of the Rest: 7-22-09

Music 000001: Victor Grauer has a whole series of posts on the relationship between the musical traditions of the African Pygmies and Bushmen, and the implications on the development of music in various cultures. He is up to 12 posts on this topic thus far, starting here.

Feast of Music: Peter Matthews describes the musical connections of recently departed Walter Cronkite, including the Grateful Dead.

The gentlemen at the Detritus Review ponder what a music critic is, with the help of Anne Midgette (complete with Part II).

ThoughtLights: Dan B. describes how to procrastinate at the National Archives while doing research on George Antheil.

Horndog blog.com: Bruce Hembd gives us 10 ways to provoke a Horn Geek.

Critical Noise: Terry O'Gara has a rather lengthy essay on Music, Linguistics, and Network Theory.