Germany Jahrgangsstufe 11 Music

Chapters: 4

1. Music and politics

Political music

Music and Politics: How Songs Carry Messages – Songs can carry political messages because they join melody, words and rhythm, and are easy to share and sing together. In the 1800s national anthems and workers' songs helped build nations and movements. In the 20th century folk, reggae, Afrobeat and rap gave voice to protest. Governments also use songs to praise themselves (propaganda) and sometimes ban songs they dislike (censorship). Devices such as a repeated chorus, call and response, a marching beat and plain words help crowds join in. Music also carries stereotypes, such as who should play which instrument, and these can be questioned.

Music and literature · Music and architecture · Music and sport · Music and visual art

Art Song: How Music Brings a Poem to Life – An art song is a composed setting of a poem for solo voice and (usually) piano, meant for the concert hall. It is called a Lied in German and a mélodie in French. Composers fit words to notes syllabically (one note per syllable) or melismatically (many notes on one syllable), follow the natural stress of the words, and use word painting so the music imitates meaning. The form follows the poem: strophic (same music every verse), modified strophic, or through-composed (new music as the story moves on). The piano is a partner that sets the scene and mood, with introduction, interludes and postlude. A group of songs that tells one story is a song cycle. Famous composers include Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Fauré and Debussy; Rabindranath Tagore's songs and the ghazal show similar close bonds of poem and melody in India.
The Golden Ratio – Cut a length into a big part a and a small part b so that whole ÷ a = a ÷ b. That shared ratio is the golden ratio φ (phi) = (1 + √5) ÷ 2 ≈ 1.618. A rectangle with sides in this ratio is a golden rectangle: cut off a square and the piece left is golden again. Ratios of neighbouring Fibonacci numbers get closer and closer to φ.

Creative music making

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Exploring a major musical work

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