Music Weekly - Rewind Wednesdays

Hello again and welcome to our Rewind Wednesdays!

 Rewind Wednesdays are when we go back into the roots and analyze a piece of music from different cultures. Various cultures are rich not only in terms of raw materials but also in the area of arts. In today's session, we will look at the similarities and differences in the musical elements of the four pieces of music.Today's pieces will be “Pista sa Nayon” and “Polka sa Nayon” from the Philippine Rondalla, and “Horse-steed rhythm" and “Horse-head fiddle solo” from a collection of Mongolian traditional music. The pieces of music from each culture are linked through their use of rondo form, application of texture and treatment of harmony.

Cultural Background

Rondalla Ensemble (Guanzo, np)

Before looking into the pieces of music, it is important to look at the context in which they were written. Philippine Rondalla music  was performed during the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. Rondalla is derived from the Spanish word 'ronda' meaning serenade ("What is a Rondalla?"). A rondalla is an ensemble that consists of stringed instruments, mainly guitars and other instruments similar to it. Because of this, there is a clear influence of western music within rondalla pieces (Santos). This is seen through the use of a western scale and use of triadic chords and chord symbols. The rondalla ensemble is composed of four different kinds of guitar: the Banduria, Octavina, classical guitar, and a bass guitar ("Kababayang Pilipino"). The Banduria and Octavina have more strings than a guitar and can be played similarly to a guitar, the difference, however, is that when playing a Banduria there is a certain amount of times a string can be plucked/strung. The banduria and octavina are also played by using western notations, while a guitar can be notated through a tablature. These four instruments are tuned to a western scale and therefore produce a more western sound, in comparison to that of Mongolian traditional music.

Horse-head fiddle (Pouhier) 

Yoo chin (Stoll)

Unlike a Rondalla ensemble, the ensemble for the Mongolian traditional music uses instruments that are local and have no connection to western music, therefore the tuning of the instruments is different. One of the main instruments of the Mongolian ensemble, present in the pieces, is the horse head fiddle. The horse-head fiddle (Morin khurr) is used in the ensemble in order to play polyphonic melodies, due to its ability to play a melody and a drone through bowing two-strings at once. This instrument is also used to imitate horse-sounds, which will be seen later in the general analysis of the music.

Most of Mongolian music is usually programmatic music that has an idea revolving around the concept of the beauty of nature (Baatarsuren). Having said that, the title of the Mongolian pieces that will be analysed is. “Horse steed rhythm”. The instruments imitate the rhythm of which a herd of horses and this is seen in the thrills played by the horse head fiddle. Similarly, both Philippine rondalla music and traditional Mongolian music are played at celebrations. However, unlike the Mongolian traditional music, Philippine rondalla music is not programmatic and is usually used for traditional group dances. Mongolian music as a piece that is presented to a crowd to listen to, in order to be reminded of nature and its beauty. Philippine rondalla music sometimes acts as an accompaniment for a group of performers to dance with during a festival or a celebration.

Musical Links:

As mentioned earlier there are three main musical links in which both the traditional Mongolian music and Philippine rondalla music use explicitly. Both of them use these three elements similarly and differently. Both types of traditional music use the rondo form, application of texture, and treatment of harmony and tonality similarly and differently.

Links #1 Rondo Form:

Both pieces of music use the rondo form similarly by having the piece come back to the first section. In both the “Horse-stead rhythm” and the Philippine Rondalla pieces, “Polka sa nayon” and “Pista sa nayon”, always return to the first section in the structure. This is seen in both the Rondalla pieces: wherein the repeat signs at the end of each section it goes back to section A. Specifically in bars 28, 37, and 54 in “Polka sa Nayon” where after it finished a different section, it goes back to section A.  The use of rondo form in the traditional Mongolian pieces could be influenced by the fact that the music played from both cultures are programmatic, therefore having a story that will lead to a resolution. This resolution is done by going back to section A where it is most familiar and is usually played livelier after a contrasting section. In repeating the section, it gives a sense of unity for the pieces by having a recurring section.

Even though the music from both different cultures use the rondo form similarly, they also use it differently. In contrast to the Philippine Rondalla pieces where they modulate on different sections, the Mongolian traditional music, “Horse-steed rhythm”, has changes in rhythm. The piece is played at allegro in 2/4 at part A, and then the tempo and rhythm change, becoming moderato and 4/4 when the piece goes to its second section, section B (Audio A). In comparison, both the Rondalla pieces stay in the same key, which could be because of the modulations that occur within the pieces. The two Rondalla pieces start at G major then modulate to C major. In the piece “Polka sa Nayon”, section A (bar 1-12) starts in G major then modulates at section B (bar30-37), to D major, and section C (bar 39-53), to a C major. This shows how the Rondalla pieces use the rondo form differently from the traditional Mongolian piece by modulating to different keys.

Shows modulation from G to D major

Link #2 Texture:

Other than the use of a rondo form, the Rondalla, and traditional Mongolian music also develops their texture both the similarly and differently. The main similarity in their development of texture is how the musical pieces from both cultures have a homophonic texture. Both pieces have a homophonic texture through the use of a pedal note that is played by one of the instruments in each respective ensemble. This is seen in the second piece of the Mongolian traditional music, “Horse Fiddle Solo” where the Ikh khuur acts a drone and plays a single note (Audio B). Similarly, in the introduction of ‘Polka sa Nayon” where the two bandurias play a pedal note that acts as a drone in bars 1-12. The music used in both cultures, also achieve creating an oblique motion The use of pedal notes and a drone help thickens the texture of a piece due to the consonance that is produced (bar 1-3 of “Polka sa Nayon”).

Homophonic Texture - done by using a pedal note

The difference in which both pieces create a homophonic texture is through the production of the harmonies. While the traditional Mongolian music uses a drone and has layers of accompaniment to produce a homophonic texture, both the rondalla pieces, “Polka sa Nayon” and “Pista sa Nayon”, use block triadic chords.  The traditional Mongolian pieces create harmony by making each musical instrument each play a different part to act as an accompaniment  (Audio C). Each instrument that plays in the "Horse-steed Rhythm" plays their own accompaniment, from having the Ikh khuur play a walking bass to having the Yoo chin play arpeggio.The use of block chords, played by the guitar, in addition to the other accompaniment parts played by the other instruments, create a thicker texture than the traditional Mongolian piece. Block chords are used throughout both of the rondalla pieces and compliment the harmonies played by the accompaniment as seen in bar 26-32 in the piece “Pista sa Nayon”. This allows for the other instruments the accompaniment in different note values in order to have different harmonies played for each beat. Having the guitar act as the foundation for the harmonies also allow the accompaniment to use other techniques such as syncopation simultaneously while playing the accompaniment in order to help in the development of the piece.

Use of block chords in the guitar

Link #3 Harmony:

The final point of comparison between the pieces of music from the two cultures is their treatment of harmony. As mentioned earlier both pieces have a sense of harmony, however, there are similarities and differences in which the treat harmony. The main similarity in the treatment of harmony between the music of each culture is the use of pedal notes. The drone played in the second Mongolian piece was the tonic of the scale and provided. The use of a drone, while using a pentatonic scale lead to both dissonance and consonance. The use of pedal notes is also used, as mentioned earlier, in the rondalla pieces. This leads to the production of harmony by playing the pedal notes a 5^th apart and having all of the instruments play notes that have a longer note value through the use of ties. This is seen in “Polka sa Nayon”, bars 1-9 where the two bandurias play a B and a G, while the other instruments play other notes, such as E, D, B, or G. These notes are played in order to avoid clashes, since most of the notes played by the other instruments are related by being the median of each note (eg: E and G & B and D). The chord progression usually goes from tonic to dominant, and in the middle of the piece, the subdominant and leading tones are also played in order to achieve variation in the treatment of harmony. 

Use of tonic and dominant 7th chords

Use of subdominant chords while ending the sections with a perfect cadence

Even though the pieces of music have a similar way of treating harmony there are different ways, in which the pieces from the two cultural backgrounds treat their harmony varies. The difference in their treatment of harmony is similar in their application of texture. The use of triadic chords with accompaniments provided by the other instruments in the rondalla pieces produced more harmony, while the traditional Mongolian pieces use a walking bass throughout the piece with the other instruments play the accompaniment. In comparison the Mongolian traditional pieces, the rondalla pieces use western chords. The use of triadic chords to produce more points of harmony, especially through the use of diminished chords. In “Pista sa Nayon” the guitars play a G# diminished chord (Bar 21), which is the subdominant in the D major scale. This shows the use of dissonance in the piece, which is then resolved by playing the tonic, a D major chord (Bar 22). Through playing these chords more harmonies are formed and creates a forward motion for the piece. Having a diminished chord gives rise to dissonance and contributes to the production of harmonies and helps develop the piece. In contrast to the use of block chords in rondalla music, the traditional Mongolian music relies on the bass as either a drone or a walking bass to be one of the sourced of harmony. Through the use of a pentatonic scale and a walking bass, harmonies were easily formed. As the melody is played by the horse-head fiddle the Yoochin plays arpeggios, while ikh khuur plays the walking bass. These three instruments form harmony through playing their respective note, this is seen directly at the beginning of the “Horse-stead Rhythm”  (Audio D). The syncopation in the rhythm sometimes match up the notes to have clashing sounds and therefore also creating dissonance however quickly resolved. These show how harmony is treated differently by the pieces of music within the two cultures.

Dissonance is created through the use of diminished chord

As can be seen music from different cultures have the same factors that make up a composition and implement these factors both similarly and differently. The similar use of the rondo form, application of texture, and the treatment of harmony, show how different cultures are linked even though they are separated geographically. 

As can be seen music from different cultures have the same factors that make up a composition and implement these factors both similarly and differently. The similar use of the rondo form, application of texture, and the treatment of harmony, show how different cultures are linked even though they are separated geographically. 

Works Cited

Baatarsuren, Barsbold. " Traditional music & songs." Discover Mongolia Travel Guide - Travel to Mongolia. N.p., Jan. 2004. Web. 22 Jan. 2017.
"Kababayang Pilipino - cultural performing arts group." Kababayang Pilipino - cultural performing arts group. Kababayang Pilipino, n.d. Web. 18 Jan. 2017.

Santos, J. Sonny. "Origin of the Rondalla." Origin of the Rondalla. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Jan. 2017.
"Traditional Instruments and Music of the Mongolia people - text in English." Traditional Instruments and Music of the Mongolia people - text in English. Face Music – FM Suisse, Dec. 1998. Web. 24 Jan. 2017.

"What is a Rondalla?" WiseGEEK. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Jan. 2017.
Images:
Guanzo, Vicente, Jr. Rondalla Section and Seating Arrangement. 2014. Manila. Http://pdf-ebooks.net/. Web. 18 Jan. 2017.
Pouhier, Eric. Sambuugiin Pürevjav of Altai Khairkhan. 2005. Wikipedia.org. Web. 18 Jan. 2017.
Stoll, Alex . A musician playing a yangqin. 2008. San Francisco. Flickr.com. Web. 18 Jan. 2017.
Transcriptions:
Catalan, Desiree. "Polka sa Nayon". Transcription of Musical score. 22, August 2016.
Catalan, Desiree. "Pista sa Nayon". Transcription of Musical score. 18, August 2016.
Discography

"Polka sa Nayon Audio." Youtube, uploaded by Chris Yankee, 30 September 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMEFyi2J3IY.
"Pista sa Nayon by San Isidro National High School Rondalla (practice)." Youtube, uploaded by Tianchie Socram, 12 July 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SPvD0RaZWc.
"Traditional Mongolian Music & Songs (Live Concert "Kharkhorum")." Youtube, uploaded by OTMT, 2 December 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eTrzI5-ong

Word count: 1986