Listening Blog #3

Listening Blog #3

The Banshee

American

Composer, Henry Cowell

Performed by Sonya Kumiko Lee

Piano

When researching about the role of context in music, I came upon this quote from a paper by an anonymous author.  It states,

"There is a growing body of work in the philosophy of music and musical aesthetics that has considered the various ways that music can be meaningful: music as representational (that is, musical depictions of persons, places, processes, or events); musical as quasi-linguistic reference (as when a musical figure underscores the presence of a character in a film or opera), and most especially, music as emotionally expressive." (n.d.)

I chose to  a piece that is representational.  The Banshee by Henry Cowell is thought to represent the scary and loud scream of the mythological creature the banshee.  According to Wikipedia.com, a Banshee heralds from the Irish culture and is a female spirit who tells the impending death of a relative with a loud shriek.  I have read other people’s opinions on this piece that say the sounds are actually meant to represent the pain of Cowell and of the members of his generation, but I have no facts to back that opinion.

I found it very interesting that Henry Cowell was an American composer yet he was one of the first to research other cultures to expand the western sound.  Musicsalesclassical.com states that, "Studies of the musical cultures of Africa, Java and North and South India enabled Cowell to stretch and redefine Western notions of melody and rhythm/ master of the gamelan and the theory of gamelan composition led to further explorations with exotic instruments and percussion." He stepped outside of the realm of normalized Western music to highlight other cultures.  The fact that a Banshee is an Irish myth helps further that idea.  This song is not only meaningful in the context of representing that creature, but also in representing an emotional response.

I use this song every other year in my 4th/5th grade combination classes in October.  My students always say that there is no way I can scare them.  Together we go over the myth of The Banshee and talk in detail about what instruments and other sounds could be used to represent that character.  I tell them I am going to play a song that represents the banshee.  The only thing they have to do is listen and try to identify the instrument and/or instruments they think they hear. Then I turn off all the lights and have them close their eyes.  I play the song with sound only as they sit or lay down.  Their reactions are amazing.  Even my strongest boy jumps when the first loud scratch on the piano string happens.  Afterwards we have a great discussion about string instruments, and the anatomy of a piano.  It is one of my favorite lessons.

Henry Cowell. (n.d.) Retrieved November 05, 2017, from http://www.musicsalesclassical.com/composer/short-bio/Henry-Cowell

Musical expression and musical meaning in context. (n.d.) Retrieved November 05, 2017, from http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=32072#continued

Banshee. (2017, November 02). Retrieved November 05, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banshee