Songs without words

Sun Apr 25 21:17:04 UTC 2010

The use of "Song Without Words" as a title for a short composition for
solo piano seems to have been Mendelssohn's invention.  The fact that
Mendelssohn felt compelled to add the qualification "Without Words" is
an admission that, by default, a "Song" in classical music is "With
Words" -- i.e. it features the human voice.

David

On Sun, Apr 25, 2010 at 12:00 PM, Garson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Songs without words
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The Ventures are a long-lived and very influential guitar-based
> instrumental group that had multiple hits in the 1960s. The Wikipedia
> entry for the group uses the term "song" many times to refer to
> instrumental pieces.
>
> When the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in
> 2008 the musician John Fogerty spoke about the instrumental hit "Walk
> Don't Run" and said, "That song kicked open a whole movement in Rock
> and Roll. … The sound of it became 'surf music' and the audacity of it
> empowered guitarists everywhere."
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ventures
>
> Larry Horn mentions the instrumental work "Theme from A Summer" in a
> comment above. Billboard magazine in 1969 contains an advertisement
> for a version of the piece recorded by The Ventures and the cut is
> referred to as a "hit song".
>
> Citation: 1969 June 7, Billboard magazine, Advertisement for The
> Ventures, Page 69, Nielsen Business Media, Inc.
>
>           "Theme From a Summer Place"
>                         The Ventures
>               Produced by Joe Saraceno
> The biggest selling instrumental group in the world!
>           Hit song No. 2 from their giant LP
>                      "Hawaii Five-O"
>
> http://books.google.com/books?id=jygEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22hit+song+no%22#v=snippet&
>
> Theme from A Summer by The Ventures is available for listening on YouTube.
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2u5xQ3-81c
>
> In 1970 Billboard magazine states that The Ventures will "sing the
> theme song" for a new television series. I have not heard this work,
> but I believe that it has no vocals. A Billboard story the next month
> says The Ventures have completed the task, i.e., "have cut the song
> for Liberty/UA".
>
> Citation: 1970 July 18, Billboard magazine, From the Music Capitals of
> the World: Film Facts, Page 32, Nielsen Business Media, Inc.
>
> FILM FACTS: The Ventures will sing the theme song for CBS-TV's new
> "Storefront Lawyers" series. Mort Stevens is the composer. He wrote
> "Hawaii Five-O," which was a hit for the group.
>
> http://books.google.com/books?id=cykEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22will+sing%22#v=snippet&q=%22will%20sing%22&f=false
>
> Citation: 1970 August 29, Billboard magazine, From the Music Capitals
> of the World: Los Angeles, Page 23, Nielsen Business Media, Inc.
>
> Montage Music, owned by National General Records, will publish "Theme
> From Store Front Lawyers," a new CBS-TV series. The Ventures have cut
> the song for Liberty/UA.
>
> http://books.google.com/books?id=likEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22The+Ventures%22#v=snippet&
>
> Benjamin Barrett uses the phrase "Songs without words" for the title
> of this thread. Michael Covarrubias mentions "a collection of
> Mendelssohn's piano compositions, 'songs  without words'" Robin
> Hamilton also discusses these works. A 1914 text claims that "Many
> pianoforte compositions are literally what Mendelssohn described some
> of his to be; namely, Songs without Words."
>
> Citation: 1914, First Year Analysis (Musical Form) by Thomas Tapper,
> Page 92, Arthur P. Schmidt.
>
> Many pianoforte compositions are literally what Mendelssohn described
> some of his to be; namely, Songs without Words. In these a distinct
> Song melody is so harmonized that, when skillfully performed, it gives
> one the impression of a Solo melody with accompaniment. But invariably
> in such instrumental "songs" there is a definite form balance
> established by the literal repeat of all, or of some portion, of the
> opening period - a factor that is rarely present in the best vocal
> compositions.
>
> http://books.google.com/books?id=myuVGEwVXnQC&q=%22instrumental+songs%22#v=snippet&
>
> Garson
>
> On Sun, Apr 25, 2010 at 9:48 AM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
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>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>> Subject:      Re: Songs without words
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> At 6:50 AM +0100 4/25/10, Robin Hamilton wrote:
>>>(I am old, admittedly not quite as old as Wilson, but dredging through the
>>>tattered remnants of my memory, I can barely recall a time when a *purely
>>>instrumental* recording achieved popular success in the UK.  That would be
>>>in the early sixties, with the Shadows, issued on a 45 rpm vinyl disk.  Yes,
>>>children, there was a time ...  And at that, the Shadows only made it into
>>>the Top 10 since they were Cliff Richards' backing group.)
>>>
>> The first such hit song without words I recall making it to the top
>> of the [cispondial] pops was Percy Faith's "Theme from A Summer
>> Place", back in the early 60s.
>>
>> LH
>>
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