general_report.pdf |
Let the "Welcome Back" parade begin because after a huge amount of time, I have finally returned to my blog - and I couldn't be more excited. After my eighteen month hiatus, I've come to the realization that I want to go to graduate school in the future - the very near future. I used to think that I wanted to go to school for Sacred Music and Music Theory, but those plans have changed and I now want to go for Sacred Music and Musicology. I love the musicological world and everything that this incredible subject deals with, especially music history. The best school where I could get an education for these two subjects and not be too far away from home is, without a doubt, The Florida State University. This past week, I had the incredible opportunity to visit FSU and fell in love with the campus, the programs, and, most importantly, the professors.
This first semester of the 2015-2016 academic year has definitely had its ups and downs. Incredible opportunities have arisen from this semester and some things from different areas of my life have tried to knock me down, however, I wouldn't change any of it. This semester has definitely shaped who I am as a person and I wouldn't change that for anything. People have come and gone in my life and, even though the it is painful having someone leave your life, it may be better for you as a person in the long-run. I'm so excited and happy to say that I finally get to see my girlfriend after being apart for three months and that is definitely going to be very exciting and happy for both of us.
Even though this semester has had its pros and cons, the positives have definitely outweighed the negatives. Composed in 1890, “Toccata en si mineur” ranks as Eugene Gigout’s most famous composition. Born and raised in France, Gigout was a student of Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns, one of the most famous French composers to have ever lived. Gigout was the head organist at a large church in Paris, L’Eglise Saint-Augustin from 1863 until his death in 1925, a total of 62 years. The two organs in the church that Gigout had the pleasure of playing each Sunday were actually two of the most famous organs of the time period. Being the two organs that were first powered by electricity, Gigout’s two organs were two of the most sought-out organs in all of France. People flocked to see and hear the great organ in the gallery of the church, which was built by Charles Barker, an employee of Cavaillé-Coll Organ Company. Gigout was mostly known as a famous organist, but his compositions are still very renowned. Before serving at L’Eglise Saint-Augustin, he graduated from Ecole Niedermeyer, where he also served on the faculty after graduating. In 1885, Gigout founded his own organ, composition, and improvisation school where he taught many students who eventually became extremely famous, including Fauré, Roussel, Boëllmann, and Messager. After the death of Felix Alexandre Guilmant in 1911, Gigout was appointed to be the professor of organ and composition at the Paris Conservatory of Music, where he served while he held his position at L’Eglise Saint-Augustin. Gigout’s “Toccata” incorporates many different styles of countless diverse composers, including the slender and rapid movement in the hands brought upon by J.S. Bach’s “Toccata und Fuge in D-Moll” and the lively and eccentric development of the piece, which is an outcome of the compositions of Saint-Saëns. The piece begins with a functional chord progression in the key of B minor, although a few retrogressions are introduced in measures 8 and 9. When the pedal enters, it serves as a foundation, which gives more structure to the chords that are beginning to become a theme of the piece. After the expansive V chord arpeggiation on page 15, the pedal enters with the main melody of the piece that was also outlined in the chords at the beginning of the piece. The next section, measures 119 to 130, consists of different chords that are outlined by the manuals and pedals leading to the modulations that eventually takes the piece into the key of D-flat major, which occurs in measure 131. In this next section, usually referred to as the “transition”, the piece modulates a few more times, before outlining a German augmented sixth chord, which functions as a pivot chord that modulates the piece back to B minor. Figure A (measures 153-157): The last chord in the example above is the enharmonic modulation back to the original key. The same chord is actually played in the first measure of the example, but in the key of D-flat major. Since the modulation is only to a key up a half-step, the German augmented sixth can also function as a V7. It functions as a German augmented sixth chord in B-flat minor by respelling the chord to be G-flat, B-flat, D-flat, and E, but is a V7 in B-minor by being spelled as F-sharp, A-sharp, C-sharp, and E. This respelling is what results in the modulation being enharmonic. The piece then repeats, in a sense, where the arpeggiation of the V7 precedes the pedal melody, which enters again in measure 165, but with a development of the phrase using passing tones to enhance the shape of the melodic line. In terms of performance, the most challenging two measures follow this section. They are measures 181 and 182 and function as a V chord and as a transition into the ending section of the piece. The following two examples are crucial to the subtle ending of the piece. Figure B (measures 185-189): Figure C (measures 200-204): Figure B contains part of the beginning of the ending phrase of the piece. In measures 186 and 187, Gigout starts to use a D-sharp rather than a D-natural. This results in the piece taking more of a major form and suggests that it may end in a major I chord. Figure C shows that Gigout is placing V7’s in this phrase to also suggest a major cadence at the end. The first measure in this example contains an E-natural instead of an E-sharp. This E-natural is not a lowered neighbor tone, as it is in most other spots similar to this one. Lowered neighbor tones greatly inhabit this work and can be found in just about every measure on the “and’s” of the beats. This spot is not a lowered neighbor though, because the E is naturalized, not sharped, so Gigout was definitely trying to suggest something. This also occurs again in the measure 204, but the G-double sharp is the lowered neighbor. Figure D (measures 210-215): Gigout concludes the piece with the same chord structure that occupies the main melodic section of the piece, but instead of breaking up the chords over a quantity of sixteenth notes, he just places large chords in the hands and a quick reminder of the tonic in the pedal. The tonic is definitely never lost as this piece progresses because every significant chord that is used, such as the iv, iio7, and i all contain the tonic of B-natural. This is shown in the final six measures of the piece, where the tonic is always played before the E-natural of the iv and ii06/5 chords. The piece then ends on the Picardy third, as Gigout suggested many times during the final phrase of the piece. This analysis has not largely affected my performance of “Toccata.” Gigout wrote this piece to be played very rapidly and the performance should not be affected by the chords that are shown. The performer has the option of accenting notes on this piece if they desire, but that does add in another level of difficulty for the piece. On organ, in order to accent a note, the organist must hold that one note longer than the normal specified length of the note written. This is normally called “pulsating.” It is difficult to do, but the transformation of the piece after doing this is incredible. After tackling this piece this semester, I can say that even though the analysis has not helped or hindered my performance, it has made memorization and actually learning “Toccata” so much easier. I was able to memorize by what chord came next and how it sounded in relation to the entire phrase. This was definitely the fastest that I have ever learned a piece of this difficulty and I cannot wait to experiment with this technique as I progress with organ later in life. Works Cited
Cummings, Robert. "Eugène Gigout | Biography | AllMusic." AllMusic. Complex Music, n.d. Web. 03 May 2015. <http://www.allmusic.com/artist/eug%C3%A8ne-gigout-mn0002167380/biography>. This week is definitely going to be one of the best weeks of my entire freshman year. Yes, I did move out of my dorm yesterday and yes, the school year did technically end with my last final exam on Friday, but I am still counting this week as a school week because I am on a learning experience trip with the musicians that I hold very near to my heart, my amazing studio. My studio is definitely one of the sassiest and highly held studios in the entire Hayes School of Music, but we have a right to be. The other organists that surround me are absolutely incredible musicians and have such high aspirations and goals that we have just earned so much respect in the music school over time. Our wonderful professor (or ring-leader), Dr. Joby Bell, is taking us to Houston, Texas for the week to see, play, and experience some of the most famous organs that have ever been built by one of the best organ builders in the United States, the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company, and many other instruments that are distinguished among members of the community.Our trip consists of connecting with friends and playing organs at Rice University, First Presbyterian Church, Houston Baptist University, and the incredible Aeolian Manor on the Bayou, where our final recital of the week will be held on Friday at 7:30 in the evening. I will try to post daily updates about the events that occurred on each day, but I may become too busy to do so. If this happens, I will definitely update at least a few times during the course of this week.
Today, we drove from Boone, NC to Mobile, AL. We stopped a few times for food and bathroom breaks and are currently staying in a hotel overnight and driving the rest of the way to Houston tomorrow. It took about 13 hours to complete this distance today and I am glad to be able to stretch out. Wish us safe travels tomorrow and I hope everyone has an enjoyable and productive week! Occasionally, I wake up in the mornings and ask myself one question. The question is simplistic, yet extremely difficult to answer. Sometimes, I don't even ask it because the memories are too daunting or I just don't want to remember the past at all on that day. The big question is: where was I a year ago today? It's quite funny, actually. My friends will be the first to tell you that I am the biggest supporter of moving on from the past to become a better person. On the other hand, the past is sometimes a necessary tool to help a person move forward and to become something better. I don't really like looking back on the past. It is a scary place and I don't really like going back there. I was a pretty popular person back home, but when I came to college, I realized that I only had about three friends that I was close to and that I could tell anything from back home. These three friends are actually my best friends from church and I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world. I am so glad I met these three people because I really didn't have any "best" friends in high school. My high school was a very interesting place. In a school where 32 kids were in your graduating class and that was the average class size, I saw everyone in my school every single day of the week. I saw my acquaintances and that was nice, but I was also forced to see the popular kids that really didn't care about me. I mean, I was the nerdy kid that liked to do well and who played organ. Who would care about me, right? Well, I found that answer and it was my teachers. They still check up on me to this day and I am so happy to have met them.
Focusing on the question at hand though, I am so happy at where I have come and who I have become in 365 days. My musical skills have improved tenfold and I am so happy to call Appalachian State University my home. I am blessed with so many wonderful friends here and all of them actually care about how I am doing and what my life is encompassing at any given time of the year. My relationships with my teachers have increased in college and I could not be more grateful for the guidance and leadership they give and show. I love everyone that I have met in the past year and I thank God everyday for the continued blessings that He has given me while studying at Appalachian. Over the past semester, I have been learning about some incredible topics in my Old Testament class at Appalachian, but the topic we covered today takes the cake. My teacher was discussing the topics of henotheism and monolatry, which are two very complex topics. Basically, both of these words mean pledging allegiance to one God and one God only. For seven years, I went to Catholic school. About a year ago, an interesting topic came up. I remembered talking about this topic because of these two words that our teacher had discussed in my class. The topic was nothing but infamous: religious pluralism. This "presenter," if you will, talked about religious pluralism at none other but a monthly meeting for Fellowship of Christian Athletes at the school I was attending. I had conflicting views with this person, but I never said anything because I was usually in the minority when arguing my point since I had a very liberal view on things and went to a conservative, Catholic high school. It became aware to me today that religious pluralism is alive and well today, but it was also very rampant in the Hebrew Bible. God even discussed this topic when giving the Ten Commandments. He stated, "You shall have no other gods before me." God knew that other deities probably had some version of existence to some other people, but He told His people that He always came first. I have been researching this topic very diligently online and the things I have found are incredible. The shaded view that the modern Christian society has on this subject is simply unacceptable. One website reads as follows: "What does the Bible teach about religious pluralism? First, the Bible acknowledges only one God (Deuteronomy 6:5). Therefore, religious pluralism is incompatible with biblical teaching since pluralism accepts multiple views of God or even multiple gods." The great thing about this is that Deuteronomy 6:5 has absolutely nothing to do with this topic! The verse reads, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." Does it say anything about other gods or deities? I don't think so. It does state, "Lord, your God," but this is only a possessive noun. This verse is simply stating that if you take the Christian God as your deity that you will follow, serve, and love (SIDE-POINT: I wish all Christians actually did these three things because I'm pretty sure God didn't want us judging others and not accepting those who may be different than us.), then you should love Him with everything you have. Now, the Jewish faith knows what they are talking about in this situation. Even though this next quote is from Wikipedia, it is still correct in the facts that it states. The Jewish faith holds a belief that they are God's chosen and holy people, but "this view, however, did not preclude a belief that God has a relationship with other peoples — rather, Judaism held that God had entered into a covenant with all humankind, and that Jews and non-Jews alike have a relationship with God. Each nation with its own unique relationship with God. Biblical references as well as rabbinic literature support this view: Moses refers to the 'God of the spirits of all flesh' (Numbers 27:16), and the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) also identifies prophets outside the community of Israel. Based on these statements, some rabbis theorized that, in the words of Nethanel ibn Fayyumi, a Yemenite Jewish theologian of the 12th century, 'God permitted to every people something he forbade to others...[and] God sends a prophet to every people according to their own language.'" Interesting. So, the religion that started our religion (Christianity) holds the view that other different religions, deities, and practices are just as good as theirs and even different religions can still go to Heaven. I definitely agree with the Jewish view here. I believe that all religions have a different view of God. Christians don't rule the world with how God is viewed and they definitely shouldn't think so. God can be present in all things that inhabit earth, so why can't others picture Him in a way that is more comfortable to them? Whether it is in the form of hundreds of thousands of gods, a peaceful prophet that walked the Earth, or as the Holy Trinity, God can be anything we want Him to be. It's incredible what things we, as Christians, can find in the Bible when we read it academically and not with a shaded view on what we want to hear. I'm really thankful to have received the chance to minor in such a invigorating and interesting topic.
Hey, everyone!
Well, as you can tell from my title, my name is Zach Bowyer. I'm your pretty average guy. I am a freshman at Appalachian State University majoring in Sacred Music and Organ Performance and minoring in Religious Studies. Besides playing organ, I love to spend my time listening to new music, travelling, taking pictures of everything that I can, and just spending quality time with my best friends. I hope that I can enlighten some of you and that maybe you all can do the same to me. I'll mostly just be posting a lot of what I do on here and what I think about modern societal issues. Until my next post, happy trails! |
Who Am I?Just your everyday organist with high hopes and a lot on his mind. |