A pioneer of Minimalism, Steve Reich is known as “the most original musical thinker of our time” according to The New Yorker. His contemporary musical style was contradictory to the serialism and aleatory styles of music of his time. That is the very component that is used as evidence that Reich is indeed “America’s greatest living composer.” Music is in his blood. Reich’s mother, the very June Sillman (later June Carroll), was a famous lyricist, singer, and actress. She is best known for her co-writing of a piece called “Monotonous” alongside Arthur Siegel. Both mother and son, June Carroll and Steve Reich, contain a similar conversational quality in the music they write/wrote. At a young age, Steve Reich took piano lessons and grew up listening …show more content…
If you’re not moved by the music, then everything else falls away. You’re not interested in the text, you’re not interested in how it is done, and you’re not interested in interviewing the composer and the rest of it,” says Steve Reich. In an interview, Reich was asked about the importance of the comprehension versus the emotion he was trying to evoke. I believe this statement clearly states his stance on music and composition. Reich’s philosophy rests on the fact that his purpose for music is to move you; that both the musician and his or her music becomes irrelevant if it isn’t making a statement, if it isn’t causing some kind of mental/auditory stimulation. Steve Reich’s philosophy is also defined by the gradual processes of music. “I want to be able to hear the process happening throughout the sounding music,” Reich further explains. In order to promote intricate listening to compositions, music processes should be gradual. This goes back to Reich’s first thought of meaningful music arises from its ability to move you. The music has to be heard and understood to be felt. A gradual process “sustains one 's attention” as perceived by Reich. “Music should consist of a compositional process and sounding music that are one and the same thing” and “structural devices should be open, rather than be hidden.” I believe these statements that Steve Reich makes about musc reveals that for one’s music to be wholly appreciated and for the musician to be taken seriously and to make contact impersonally, the composer must strive to appeal to the audience on a whole other level. One of which that elicits emotion and interpretation of the
Felsenfeld described his “passion for this ‘other’ kind of music felt like the height of rebellion: I was the lone Bolshevik in my army” (pg. 626). He further defined his description by stating how “[r]ebels sought to break the mold, to do something that was exclusively ‘theirs,’ to be weird by way of self-expression,” and compared this idea of a rebel to himself: “... since I [he] was the only one I knew listening to symphonies and concerti, operas and string quartets, I felt I was the weirdest of them all; …,” signifying that he feels much like a rebel in his own musical vibe (pg. 626). Taking this feeling of rebellious passion and amazement of classical music, Felsenfeld “... decided, with little prior experience or interest, to become a composer,” ultimately changing his way and mood of life for the better by working in a career with music that he most irresistibly loves and people who share similar feelings to his own in contrast to the work he took up in piano bars and community theater orchestra pits where the music he felt were utterly dull and lifeless (pg.
Classical music can be best summed by Mr. Dan Romano who said, “Music is the hardest kind of art. It doesn't hang up on a wall and wait to be stared at and enjoyed by passersby. It's communication. Its hours and hours being put into a work of art that may only last, in reality, for a few moments...but if done well and truly appreciated, it lasts in our hearts forever. That's art, speaking with your heart to the hearts of others.” Starting at a young age Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven have done just that with their musical compositions. Both musical composers changed the world of music and captivated the hearts of many. Their love of composing shared many similar traits, though their musical styles were much different.
Loesser’s music reflects American society including relationship practices as well as the heightened sense of nationalism throughout the Depression and the war. Loesser had just entered into Tin Pan Alley music when the depression hit. While the depression played a role economically it did not hinder the cultural advances because people looked to music as a source of entertainment. Due to the popular dances of the time courtship and romantic relationships were a vital part to maintain moral across the nation. Due to the lack of money flow people looked for cheap entertainment like listening to music, radio shows, playing sports, or dancing. These activities often involved partners and when mean were successful it made them more desirable. Throughout
John Schumann is one of the very few songwriters who has changed the way a nation thinks. John first
I want to discuss the function of music to combine intention and perception. I believe in the prehistoric, people sing or beat on the tough surface because they want to express their emotions, otherwise they have no reason to sing. Similarly, the composers also write the songs to express their feelings. Nevertheless, a piece of music which cannot trigger the change of feeling to audience cannot regarded as a musical sound. According to Thomas Schafer, "When people listen to music they usually try to attain specific goals. Those related to self-awareness and the regulation of mood and arousal are relatively important to them and those related to social relatedness less so"(12). From the research, Schafer get a conclusion that the music which can let people attain goals related to self-awareness and the regulation of mood and arousal will increase the strength of music preference(12). Hence, the function of music is to express the emotion and then influence the audience to let them have the same feeling as composers or performers. For example, Beethoven composed the famous Fate Symphony, or called Symphony No.5 in C major to show his determination to fight with the fate, for Beethoven the fate is the loss of his lover. While it is not the only purpose to write this symphony. The final goal is to move the
Music is loved by nearly everyone around the world; learning about composers and what they have been through can develop your understanding of music today. World War II certainly helped sculpt the face of music and of the composers of that time. The war affected German, American and French composers and musicians; causing them to write hateful music, or live with fear of writing any music at all.
Amy Beach was a very famous and influential composer and pianist from New Hampshire, United States. She fought long and hard to get to where she got in her lifetime. Back in the late 1800’s, it was hard for women to get noticed because they believe that their role in society was to stay at home and take care of the family. Amy Beach defeated all the odds of a female gender role in her lifetime. She became a role model for young girls wanting to become a composer or becoming anything they wanted to be, as long as they fought for it. She has made an enormous impact on music in America. The following paper will discuss Beach’s life, her struggles, her musical training, how her music was shaped by the society she lived in and famous compositions
... themes of individualism and alienation. The chief value of living with music lies in its power to give us an orientation in time. In doing so, it gives connotation to all those indefinable aspects of experience which nevertheless helps us make what we are.
...y believes musical text is far superior to purely instrumental text as having more ability to capture the human spirit and emotion. Yet despite his belief in superiority of musical text over instrumental music he does still find worth in symphonic music, particularly in the music of Beethoven. Wagner also goes on to state that while both forms of music are not on an equal level they both still are the ultimate embodiment of emotion and expression, and that each style of human expression through music is more powerful alone than with both forms together.
Music for Eighteen Musicians (MFEM) is a minimalist composition by Steve Reich written between 1974 and1976. Though this piece was a culmination of Reich’s previous minimalist work, it was also innovative in its elements of structure and harmony. Reich emphasizes this point in saying “there is more harmonic movement in the first five minutes of Music for Eighteen Musicians than in any complete work of mine to date.” It was also his first attempt at composing for a large ensemble building upon his frequent use of piano and pitched percussion with a violin, a cello and two clarinets. The context leading up to the composition of Music for Eighteen Musicians sheds light onto the reason why it was composed and in a greater sense why Minimalism as a whole was born.
...t that is what made it truly beautiful because it conveyed a picture. All of the pieces I heard made me think about the music itself, and wonder what the composer was picturing as he wrote.
Music is far more than the sum of its parts. It can be thought of in a highly mathematical sense, which leaves one in awe of the seemingly endless combinations of rhythm, tone and intervals that a good musician can produce. Admiring music in this way is a lot like admiring an intricate snowflake, or shapes in the clouds; it's beautiful, but at the same time very scientific, based on patterns. All of the aforementioned qualities of music have one thing in common: they can be defined with numeric, specific values. However, the greatest aspect of music lies elsewhere, and cannot be specifically defined with words. It is the reaction that each individual has when they are confronted with their favorite (or least favorite) kind of music.
My composer is known as an influential minimalist and has written a variety of works such as opera, musical theater, symphonies, chamber music, and film scores and much more. This composer’s identity is none other than Philip Glass. The major focus in this paper are to give a moderately brief background on Philip Glass, examining his style of music along with how others view it and describe one of Philip Glass’s musical pieces. The background or bio about Philip Glass has information primary associated with events surrounding his career. When we reach examining Philip Glass’s style of music, people’s opinions on his music and who he sounds similar too is discussed. The final part of paper basically discuss one of Philip Glass’s works and how it serves as an example to his other music.
The Nazi's had a number of names for jazz and swing music including fremdländisch (alien music), entartete musik (degenerate music), and Negermusik (Negro music). Their hatred and fear of Jazz stemmed from many sides, which included the nature of the music itself and those involved in its creation. In many ways, jazz music was diametrically opposed to the ideology of social control and order that Nazi Germany envisioned. Moreover, it used instruments and musical sounds that diverged from the legacy of folk and classical music in Germany.
Music: the art of organized noise. The blend of pitch and rhythm combined in different mediums and enjoyed by our ears. A very interpretive art, music isn’t very clearly constricted or defined by one definition. With so many varieties of music, it’s difficult to say what aspect is really the most important. Some people think music’s history and the appreciation of music are the most important aspects to take into consideration. Some think complex in rhythms and melodies make the best music. Some people devote their whole lives to studying one genre of music in order to fully understand how that genre works. While all of these aspects of music are important, none of them can truly be compared with each other on a fair playing field. Music of different genres, eras, and geographic backgrounds were written for different purposes, different people, and different settings. Still, there is still one overarching theme that applies to all forms of music new or old: the way the composer presents his or her creation. The performance and presentation of a work of music is like the icing on the top of a cake. The cake may be the best you’ve ever tasted, but if the icing on the outside doesn’t look appealing or doesn’t taste good, chances are you’ll take a different piece of cake with better looking frosting next time. The performance of music is what appeals most to people. With live performance, an artist must “sell” his or her creation. They must put smile on their face and convey to the audience that this is their music and through the music explain why it’s awesome. They must persevere through whatever the stage, the audience, and their surroundings give them and put on a good show. In today’s popular music though, this aspect of showma...