1)There is a drone accompaniment in
this composition. Is it ever silent?
No.
2)The title of this piece is ‘The
Parrot’. Which aspect of the music do you think represents the parrot, and why?
I think it is the timbre that the instrument produces, which sounds like a parrot's voice.
3)Compare the rhythmic style of this
melody with that of the aruding jaw’s harp
The rhythm is very consistent in the aruding piece, swinging between three beats in a bar to four beats in a bar. It is continuous, with no rests, whereas this melody (the Greek folk dance) stays with the same time signature and thus even though it does not have any rests either, it feels more relentless, because it keeps playing much more similar rhythms repeatedly.
4)Contrast the texture of this
ensemble music with the texture of dance music from Greece.
The texture of the aruding music is homophonic, because the jaw's harp and drums both have the same rhythms throughout. The Greek piece is polyphonic, because the backing instruments play the tonic notes of the chords that are based on the melody, although they have a similar rhythm.
Afterthought 4
Similarities and differences between the Rihe panpipe and the Rope female chorus:
Similarities:
Start on exactly the same note
Polyphonic
Drone
Occasional high notes (head voice/squeaks)
Constant tempo
Three performers/instruments, two with interweaving melodic lines, and one drone
Consistent
Narrow range in melody
Definite ending
Breaks in the melody lines (rests)
| Microtonal
Differences:
Rihe is staccato throughout, Rope is legato throughout In Rihe, drone has a rhythm, not just one long, sustained note |
