Category Archives: Responses

The Heiress vs. Washington Square: 10/15/12

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Monday’s class opened with a discussion of the concert the class went to see on Sunday, 10/14, Cultures in Harmony.  The piece we zeroed in on was the third piece we heard that day, “Scottish”, by Felix Mendelssohn.  Dr. Kahan explained to us that Mendelssohn was a well-respected and highly sought – after composer in his day, during the Victorian Era in history.  His music spoke to the people of the time…it was emotional, but not too emotional, something I could understand after listening to one of his pieces.  In addition, Mendelssohn was very well – educated, and as a requirement of his education, took the Grand Tour, a tour all around Europe, during which he was introduced to the history, architecture, and cultural styles of many different countries within Europe.  Being a lover of music and interested in the orchestral and symphonic aspect of music, Mendelssohn took his experiences in Europe and turned them into music.  The piece we heard at the concert, “Scottish”, was Mendelssohn’s interpretation of Scottish culture and their way of life.  It was interesting to me to put into perspective that an artist’s work is not only an influence on a certain time period or group of people, but is a result of the time period he or she lives in and the people he or she interacts with.

After our introduction to Mendelssohn, we moved onto the main discussion of the class, that which concerned Washington Square by Henry James and its play counterpart, The Heiress.  We first examined the actual book and the script of the play and identified some of the similarities and differences between the two.  One of the main differences, something that I had always taken notice of and interest in, was that when reading a book, one can either infer or absolutely know (depending on the author’s style) the emotions and responses of a character within his or her mind.  We are made aware of his or her reactions to another character or a conversation they are having.  Personally, I love to read, and that was something I always enjoyed – being able to know a character fully and the ability to relate to them.  While I also enjoy seeing plays, if one does not know the background of the story he or she is seeing, it is not always possible to really know what is going on or a particular character’s reaction or personality.  While many of the conversations remain unchanged from Washington Square to The Heiress, it is not so easy to bring over the character’s personalities from the novel to the play.

We then watched clips from two different movie versions of the story, ironically enough, one named Washington Square from 1997 and the other named The Heiress from 1949.  Once again, there were similarities and differences.  I find the differences much more fascinating.  First of all, Catherine’s red crimson dress, which was such a vital aspect of the original story, was completely cut out of the Washington Square movie.  They also didn’t really stay true to the characters.  It seemed to me that in this movie version of the story, they tried to modernize the characters a bit, something that I usually enjoy, but in this particular story, just annoyed me.  Catherine was very perky, and Morris Townsend was just seemingly unintelligent and boyish.  I much preferred The Heiress version from 1949 that we saw clips from.  Catherine was much more poised and elegant and the director didn’t stray from particular story aspects like it seemed they did in Washington Square.  To me, analyzing the two versions is enjoyable and gives me a chance to evaluate how different people can interpret the same story.

I enjoyed reading the story of Washington Square and I look forward to seeing the Broadway production of The Heiress tomorrow night.

Stephanie Solanki, 10/15/12

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In today’s class, we opened by talking about zeitgeist. Mendelssohn was a composer at the same time as Beethoven, yet Beethoven is so much more famous than he is in this age. This is because Mendelssohn appealed to his time period. His music was influenced by the Victorian era, and his music influenced the Victorian era. I thought this was an interesting concept. Mendellsohn’s music was for that specific era, and so it didn’t become as famous at Beethoven’s because his music transcended time.

Felix Mendelssohn was a very educated individual. He was very wealthy. He was interested in composing orchestral music, and his father hired musicians to play his music so he could practice. He went on a grand tour of Europe; this was part of his education. He saw Scotland, and wrote the “Scottish Symphony.” He was a German man who took his idea of a Scottish dance and put it into a symphony. He imagined another culture by putting it into music.

We listened in class to Mendelssohn’s most famous music piece of all time. It is called the “Wedding March” from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” This was an incidental music for the play, which was written for a specific scene or between scenes. Dr. Kahan said that we don’t think about this piece as something that someone had to write down at one point in time; it is just a part of our culture. I will try now to look at popular music pieces differently, and look at each piece of music as something that someone created.

In Washington Square, James set back the novel 20 years before than at the time it was written. He chose to start the novel in 1850 because the Civil War was in 1861. There are no wars in 1850. It was a period of stability and economic prosperity. The Civil War altered society, and so it would had altered the arts. This goes back to the idea of zeitgeist. The novel is called Washington Square because the title is meant to evoke the calm nature of the setting, Washington Square Park.

We then compared the two movies Washington Square and The Heiress. In Washington Square, the director chose to cut the red dress that Catherine wore and switched it with a blue and yellow dress. I think that this is a terrible choice on the director’s part because the red dress was such an important part of the story. It shows how she looked older than she was, even though she was not trying to be flirtatious. In both versions, however, Catherine is portrayed as a very awkward and unusual young lady. Her father is also very mean and blunt in both versions. The two Morris’ were very different. In The Heiress, it seemed as if Morris had known of Catherine before. However in Washington Square, it seems like the two were meeting at the same time. He also seemed as if he was trying to “match her awkwardness,” as Naomi put it. I feel like both versions have their own strengths and weaknesses. I think that the newer version of the story imposes the modern age social constructs onto the characters of the novel.

I really cannot wait to see The Heiress on Wednesday. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and am looking forward on the onstage production of it. I am expecting the acting to be outstanding, considering the star-studded cast.

10/15/12 – Washington Square & The Heiress

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Today’s seminar class was for the most part brand new material for me. I never heard of Mendelssohn, but I was shocked to hear of all the wonderful contributions he made to the world of art. He was a brilliant man, which rubbed off on his children because they were consumed with a rigorous education schedule. Mendelssohn’s children had many tutors, music and gymnastic lessons, learned Greek, Latin, and arithmetic. While in Europe, he did the Grand Tour, which is to go all around Europe absorbing the culture as part of your education. Mendelssohn took ideas of what he believed the Scottish individuals portrayed and poured it into his symphony. We were privileged enough to hear one of his most famous works, “Wedding March,” from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Also, this brilliant man wrote incidental music, because he got caught up with writing music for Shakespeare. Because of Mendelssohn prodigious education, he knew five languages, and was constantly reading, making him fluent in Shakespeare.

Henry James, the author of Washington Square spent most of his life in Europe, and his point of view of the Native Americans was in fact, completely prejudice by his experiences in Europe. He thinks European culture is way better than American life, and developed a keen eye by constantly observing the human character. The narratives point of view is quite sarcastic, and ironic. In my opinion, Catherine, as described in the novel, looks like a plain yet pretty woman and solidly built. Catherine loves to spend her money on fancy clothes, which definitely isn’t approved by Dr. Sloper. Her father doesn’t like it because it shows that she is wearing her money as well as making her look older. I found it quite interesting as to why the novel was written in 1880, but Henry James set the action back thirty years. The reason for doing this was because it was before the Civil War, and economically, it was prosperous. The title, Washington Square, evokes a sense of calmness, and a feeling, that everything is good in the world.

Henry James makes fun of Catherine by saying that her back is a broad one, which could have carried a great deal. He never blatantly says something nice to her, which in a way upsets me. Catherine doesn’t wear expensive clothes to look better; she just likes the clothes and the way it feels on her body. Therefore, the reason she chose to wear a red dress was because her mother wore red, so it was Catherine’s way of connecting with her deceased mother.

Finally, towards the end of class, we compared both movies, which are Washington Square and the Heiress. There are some striking differences pertaining to both motion pictures. For example, Catherine is perkier in the movie Washington Square, whereas in the Heiress, she is more elegant and contained. Also, different people in both movies introduced Morris Townsend. This class was another one of those influential and uplifting sessions, teaching me a lot of something I hardly knew anything about.

Wednesday 10/10

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In Wednesday’s seminar, we spoke about the opera we had seen the previous week. Now that I had seen the opera and had established my own opinions of it, I was excited to see what everyone else thought of it, and if we had similar opinions and observations. Like me, a lot of students were impressed with the music and how the music and dialogue went hand in hand. We began further discussion of how music, even without lyrics, can evoke such feeling and emotion in a person. We learned about how different note arrangements and different instruments can really portray an entire story by themselves. For example, a low bass instrument can create an ominous atmosphere, while a strings section can create an airy and peaceful atmosphere. Also, a bassoon can add a comical, whimsical touch.

When Professor Sirotta came into class and played us the composition by Brahm, I wrote down my reaction to every instrument I heard. The first clarinet riff that came in had a very “sneaky” sort of feel to it, and the harmonizing clarinet that came in after it felt slightly off of the scale that the first one one following, which definitely added to the sneaky aspect i felt. Various emotions were portrayed quickly after each other. When all the instruments came in, the song became happy and consonant, contrasting from the dissonant notes played right before it. Brahm experimented with dissonance to create a stressful and suspenseful atmosphere. When the flute comes in playing what sounded like a harmonic minor/egyptian scale, it reminded me a lot of a snake charmer song. This lesson showed me how powerful every single instrument is in a musical piece.

 

10/10/12 Andrew Garafalo

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In class this Wednesday, we discussed our mixed impressions and opinions on the opera “Turandot”. I found myself to be in agreement with most of my classmates, that I enjoyed the music, stage display, and vocal capacity, but the language barrier limited my experience. The discussion of Lui’s role in the play was interesting. I learned it is a common theme of operas for woman to die without having too much impact on other characters. I found the dicussion about the quick exit of the orchestra to be amusing and relatable to when I used to play the sax in band for a long time.

During the second half of class we were visited by Prof. Sirotta. I really admired him for his intense passion for music. He seemed to get very caught up in it, and this made him more interesting to listen to. His recollection about his first musical experience was fascinating. To be able to remember something so long ago takes a very good memory and perhaps some ideal environmental memory ques. I wish I could remember my first musical experience. My parents did play a lot of Beatles for me as a kid but I can’t be too sure.

The process of creating his piece over many years on the computer, and using musical technology to create a symphony orchestra is pretty cool. Professor Sirotta’s discussion and demonstration of variation in music was also interesting and very relatable for me. As a guitarist, something I often do is take a riff I hear, play it several times, then make personal changes. The original chords are still used of course, and for the most part, the original melody can still be played over. The pieces by Brahm that he played for us were very good, and excellent examples of melodic variations. I particularly enjoyed the one with the timpani. I found myself tapping my foot, becomming engrossed in the music.

Corinna K. 10-10-12

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In class on Wednesday, we had a guest speaker who came in to talk to us about classical music and to also gave us a bit of an introduction for the philharmonic we will be attending this Sunday.   Before he came in, we had a discussion on the opera we had seen the previous week.  I enjoyed this part of the class because I was able to determine whether my peers had some of the same feelings or questions I had.  Also, I was able to get some of my questions answered.  Something I was glad to get clarified was Lui’s purpose of  the play.  When I raised this question in class, I was under the impression that Lui had no purpose due to the fact that nobody was paid  attention to her or seemed effected by her death.  Professor Kahan, along with some of my other classmates, opened my eyes to the possibility that she had a less obvius purpose.  The character of Lui existed to make Turandot’s heart melt and without her, Turandot would probably not have realized that she wanted to be with Calaf.  She also helped with the setting by communicating the view of servants/low class people in those days through her use of third person and her treatment in the play.

What I remember most about the second half of Wednesday’s class was how enthusiastic professor Sirotta was about what he was talking about.  The love and excitement he has for music and the subject/inspiration of his symphony truly amazed and inspired me.  I also enjoyed listening to his story about his first memory of music.  At first this didn’t seem very impressive, but I then attempted to recall my earliest music memory and was unsuccessful.  The fact that professor Sirotta was not only able to remember the song but practically every detail was actually very cool, and his decision to incorporate this memory into his present day work seemed nothing short of genius.  This, along with all the time and effort it took him to put together this symphony, makes me more than happy to show up and support professor Sirotta this Sunday.

Wednesday 10/10

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When Professor Sirotta played his piece for the class on Wednesday, I was reminded of the discussion we had a few minutes before about the cultural clichés that can be portrayed through music.  Just like Liu’s music in “Turandot” had a distinct chinese sound, Professor Sirotta’s piece painted a picture in my mind of the small European shtetls where the Jewish people lived.  The professor said that the words of Oyfn Pripotshok, the song on which his own piece is based, describes a Rabbi who is teaching young children the Hebrew alphabet.  The Rabbi warns the children that they will experience pain and exiles, and they must strengthen themselves by these letters.  The slow tune of the stringed instruments in “Fantasia Pripotshok” makes the piece sound like an old Jewish European song and seems to portray the culture of which the words of the song speak of.  Then, amongst the low, slow violin sounds, Sirotta includes transitions that that have a different sound from the rest of the song.  These periods of the piece incorporate instruments like the tambourine that do not sound like the Jewish European style.  These musical transitions might be symbolizing the Jewish exiles of which the Rabbi spoke of, where the Jews had to leave their shtetl homes for other places and other cultures.

Seminar October 10, 2012

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In class on Wednesday, October 10th, we talked about intervals, via a demonstration from Professor Kahan. We learned that an interval is the distance between notes. Seconds are dissonant, while thirds are used for harmonies. We also learned that fourths are used a lot in Chinese music, which was implemented in Turandot. In the opera, Puccini wrote two different styles of music. For Calaf’s parts, he wrote more Italian style music. However, for Liu’s parts, he implemented those fourths to create what he believed was a Chinese sound. I found it interesting learning about that after having seen such a good example of it live at the opera.

Later in the class, Professor Michael Sirotta came in to speak to us. One interesting thing he mentioned was his first musical memory. He told us about the first song he remembered hearing, and it got me thinking about what my first musical memory was. Honestly, though, I haven’t been able to remember it, but I found it fascinating that he was able to remember his. He then discussed his composition, Fantasia Pripetshok, and let us hear a short preview of it. I was truly impressed with his composition skills because of the fact that he was able to hear all of that in his head and transfer it onto paper as a musical score.

October 10, 2012

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In seminar class on Wednesday, we discussed our thoughts from the opera. Several people brought up the singing and the set design, however, no one brought up anything about the music that was played. Professor Kahan explained that subconsciously, we associate certain groupings of musical notes, called intervals, to certain cultures. For example, a “fourth interval” is commonly associated with the Oriental culture, as it sounds the closest to Chinese music. Throughout the opera Turandot, Puccini used a lot of fourths in the melody of Liu’s pieces. This is an example of using music to invoke different perceptions.

For the second half of class, Professor Sirotta came in to discuss his piece, which will be premiered by the Staten Island Philharmonic on Sunday. To begin his lecture, he asked us to think of the first piece of music we heard when we were children. For him, it was a song called “Oyfn Pripetshik.” He heard his grandfather sing this song when he was a child as his grandfather cleaned the eggs to be delivered. This song resurfaced in Professor Sirotta’s life a couple of years ago when he was asked by the JCC to teach a musical program for seniors. He wanted to find an old folk song with musical value that would resonate with the seniors.

“Oyfn Pripetshik” is a Yiddish folk song composed by Mark Warshowsky in the late 1800’s. Warshowsky was a lawyer in the Ukraine who had an affinity for his language. The song begins with a rabbi teaching young children the Hebrew alphabet around a fire. Later in the song, the rabbi tells the children, in a rough translation, “When you grow older children, you will know all too well of the tears that lie in every letter, more than time will tell. When you children will bear the exile and bravery is exhausted, may you derive strength from these letters, look at them again.” The strong heritage and history in this song makes it one of the most popular Jewish folk songs. It is often called the Second Jewish National Anthem.

Professor Sirotta then explained that composers enshrine the works of famous composers by taking an old piece of music and writing a new tune, creating a different variation of the same piece. Professor Kahan chimed in and said that this would often be a test of performers and composers ability, to see if they could take a famous and loved piece and make a newer or better piece. This is exactly what Professor Sirotta has done with “Oyfn Pripetshik.” While preserving the original melody, he added a brief introduction and a few variations. I look forward to hearing his completed piece performed by the Staten Island Philharmonic.

10/10

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On Wednesday’s class, we began by discussing our recent adventure to go see Turandot. One particular aspect of this discussion that interested me was the purpose of Liu. At first, I was unsure of why she was a part of the play, but then it made sense when we talked about it. Liu’s purpose was to be an example of what true love really was, and she melted the heart of Turandot so that Turandot and Calaf could live happily ever after. We also discussed the stereotypes in music. Certain types of music can be labeled as “Chinese” which is racist. I admit that when I listen to certain types of music, I relate them to different nationalities, which is wrong and ignorant of me to do.

Professor Sirotta came in to talk to us about music. Professor Sirotta is a well-known composer who just created his first symphonic orchestra piece that will very shortly be given its world premiere. The symphony is called Fantasia Pripetshok. In class he discussed with us his inspiration for his work, which I found very interesting. His inspiration was the first piece of music that he ever heard called OYFN PriPetshok, a Jewish folk song. He described to us how one day he played this piece and it reminded him of his first childhood memory of hearing music. I think that is an amazing feat to remember ones first memory of music and after putting some thought into it, I am disappointed to know that I can not think of a very first time that I heard music.

Just before class ended, Professor Sirotta played a small piece from his symphony. This was a fantastic piece. When I listened to it, I felt like I was going on a journey as the music underwent many transitions. I was very impressed by his piece and it made me more interested in going to see the Philharmonic on Sunday.