Recording Listening Session in Class

 Gabrieli is famous for having written music for antiphonal brass. These piece are often grandiose in nature, and feature both the loud and soft dynamics of brass instruments. Syncopation is used often throughout to give stronger emphasis to ideas, as well as another main feature of Gabrieli's works: counterpoint. Voices often interact in a call and response fashion, which has a spectacular effect, especially when the two antiphonal groups are placed on either side of a church, creating a stereo effect. 

Caludio Merula was a composer from the late renaissance period. The piece we listened to is called Canzon a 5, and is a counterpoint heavy composition for 5 voices. Much like the Gabrieli, the voices all interact in a very specific way, weaving in and out of one another for a strong counterpoint effect. This particular recording is by the English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble, and the period instruments sound totally different from their modern counterparts. 

Next up, we heard a different piece recorded by the same ensemble, La Bignani. Again on the period instruments, which on both albums have been expertly played. Period instruments are often very hard to play, let alone play well as a result of their primitive construction. More of the same counterpoint technique is used throughout this one, which provides that characteristic renaissance sound. In both pieces, imitation is used before each phrase end, happening often enough to catch the listeners ear as a main feature. 

The next recordings are by Samuel Scheidt recorded by the American Brass Quintet. They are two movements from a larger work called the Battle Suite. Getting away from the period instruments, the American Brass Quintet is renowned for recording lots of great renaissance music, a lot of which they will often arrange for themselves. The playing is very excited, and sometimes might go a bit too far, but is exciting nonetheless. 

The next recording is also by the American Brass Quintet, and is much more melodic and slow. Titled Dovehouse Pavan and written by Ferrabosco, this piece hits the ear as a standard renaissance slow movement, with characteristic weaving in and out of differnet harmonies and some voice interaction, but this time the high voices seem to be having their own conversation, while the low voices chat with each other in between. 

The next album features recordings on the Cor de Chasse, a very odd sounding instrument. It doesn't have a very pleasant sound, giving the impression of an improperly stopped french horn. 

The next piece was recorded by the American Brass Quintet and friends, and features old civil war regiment music. A march style piece called Ellen Bayne Quickstep, it has some slight modifications from an original march form, but still presents much like one. This type of music would've been played by military regiment bands during war time to inspire and entertain the troops. 

The next piece was recorded by the Eastman Brass Quintet and is titled Galliard by Anthony Holborne. It has the same harmonic sound as many of the pervious tracks, being from the same time period. Many authentic cadences and short motivic ideas that fade into the next. The inner motion of the voices like in the past tracks, is quite active. Wherever your ear lands in the mix there is something to be heard from one of the instruments of the quintet. 

The last track is the second quintet by Jean Francois Bellon. This one sounds much younger than the pervious tracks, doing some non-renaissance things with melody and harmony. The style of accompaniment from the other voices is also much different, being less active to not distract from the melody or main idea of each section. This piece also differs from most of what we heard, as is it broken up into 3 movements. There have been some movements based we listened to such as the Battle Suite, but most of them (specifically the renaissance works) have been more individual works that are just part of a bigger collection, but with little motivic tie-together or anything that connects them.