Hoedown vs. Putnam

Hoedown by Copland uses percussion to represent familiar sounds; for example, there was a percussion instrument used to simulate the trotting of a horse. The xylophone was also used – this piece is simple, but made more intricate and interesting by its percussion. There was a great deal of repeated melody in this piece. The opening – a higher pitched phrase, followed by a lower pitched phrase – is repeated many times, as is a phrase in the middle of the piece. Also, Copland uses a good amount of quiet, not silence per se, but a contrast between quieter times and then more striking beats. About half way through the music, there seems to be a conversation between a small group, perhaps two people. Again, this is symbolized th

The second piece, by Charles Ives (in Cleveland by vonDohnanyi?), was very sporadic it seemed to me. The very first thing that I envisioned by Putnam’s “camp” was a military camp. But this camp was very disorganized and frantic right now. Perhaps something had happened, and their men had been split up, or something bad happened to the army as a whole and they just found out. It seemed as if the camp was in mayhem. This was accomplished through very experimental music (or at least experimental to me), and there was a great deal of percussion throughout the piece. There did seem to be some planning going on as well at the camp, as if the head commanders were debating what to make their next move. This piece used the contrast of quiet and of clatter, and in keeping with clatter, there was definitely not much repeated melody. This piece was very irregular, placing emphasis on off beats.

Again, when I researched this piece I found that I was very close to the idea that was behind it. I was just missing the little

Some topics in this essay:
Hoedown Copland, Ives Cleveland, American Revolution, Wild West, Putnam’s Camp, , Hoedown Rodeo, little boy, repeated melody piece, piece listened, pitched phrase, putnam’s camp, melody piece, repeated melody, flirty conversation, piece �,