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Classical music's effect on society
Essay on evolution of art
Classical music's effect on society
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George Crumb's Vox Balaenae
George Crumb?s Vox Balaenae , or voice of the whale , is anything but normal. For example , all the musicians must play electrified instruments and wear black masks. According to Crumb , ? The masks , by effacing a sense of human projection , will symbolize the powerful forces of nature (nature dehumanized). Crumb also recommended using deep-blue lighting for the stage in order to enhance the theatrical effect. One has to wonder what kind of music would require such elaborate performance preparations. As expected , the music of Vox Balaenae is as eccentric as the performance preparations. At first view of the score , the viewer is flooded with a flurry of notes and very strange annotation. The first thing that should come to mind is , ?How does Vox Balaenae work??
One idea to keep in mind is the inspiration behind Vox Balaenae. Crumb was ispired to write ?Voice of the Whale? after hearing the sounds of whales singing underwater. Vox Blanaenae represents sounds of nature , rather than therfor I feel that I believe that an analysis of Vox Balaenae should be done from a greater distance with less complex analytical tools. The piece is an overview of the begining of time through the end of time. Crumb makes this very clear by naming each of the variations after archeologial periods of time, Each movement represents a step in the evolutionary process , therfor the musical evolution should be observed and listened to in a similar manner. Crumb very appropiatly chose the form of theme and variation to bring the evolution of nature to music. Theme and variation requires that a theme , such as the Sea Theme , must pass on some element of itself to its variations. This mirrors the idea that at the begining of time there was one single ?thing? , and everything else flowed from it. This was Crumb?s goal, and if you listen to the piece , he achieves it. The observation of the Sea Theme and the first two variations provides excellent examples of what Crumb was doing. There are several important aspects of Vox Balaenae that makes it very cohesive and effective.
One of the most important aspects of Vox Balaenae is the overall texture.
One way that the author develops the theme is with the use of similes. Murakami writes: “A wave like a huge snake…”(362). This quote is describing the huge wave that is about to strike the beach. The purpose of this simile is to make the wave seem alive
So when I found out about this assignment, late-July, due to the fact that I was not there for the last two days, I looked for his name on the list. I found his name, and the first thought that came to mind was his ever-famous piece, “The Planets”. Having known that Holst did not like to be recognized by this piece alone, I decided to educate myself in a different piece. When I first listened to Hammersmith, I was immediately drawn to the song because of the ostinato and the contrasting keys in the beginning. I continued to listen to the song, and I fell in love. I knew that this song was one I wanted to write about. The song was put on replay and every time I listened, I paid attention to each and every single element of the song. I found that Holst tends to have that effect on his listeners because every time you listen, you find something new. I began my research and found the backstory to this piece. Holst tells a story about his “two worlds”; the calmness that an unconcerned river brings and a boisterous, bustling city. Already, I knew that this was going to be an interesting piece to write about because of the contrasting
John Hollander’s poem, “By the Sound,” emulates the description Strand and Boland set forth to classify a villanelle poem. Besides following the strict structural guidelines of the villanelle, the content of “By the Sound” also follows the villanelle standard. Strand and Boland explain, “…the form refuses to tell a story. It circles around and around, refusing to go forward in any kind of linear development” (8). When “By the Sound” is examined in regards to a story, the poem’s linear development does not get beyond the setting. …” The poem starts: “Dawn rolled up slowly what the night unwound” (Hollander 1). The reader learns the time of the poem’s story is dawn. The last line of the first stanza provides place: “That was when I was living by the sound” (3). It establishes time and place in the first stanza, but like the circular motion of a villanelle, each stanza never moves beyond morning time at the sound but only conveys a little more about “dawn.” The first stanza comments on the sound of dawn with “…gulls shrieked violently…” (2). The second stanza explains the ref...
Many forms of popular culture today are inspired by themes, characters, and other references in various types of classical literature. John Denver’s song “Calypso” parallels with a number of the themes in Homer’s the Odyssey. The Odyssey’s themes involving Odysseus’ journey back home and the aid of gods and goddesses directly influence “Calypso.”
There are several symbols in the story that help to emphasize that point. One powerful one is the boat. It is small and alone on the ocean, with only the occasional patch of seaweed or a seagull or two to keep it company. The waves themselves are the ups and downs of life. At any moment, a ‘wave’ can come and swamp you, leaving you stranded without a clue what to do, and more just keep coming. Just as in life, “…after successfully surmounting one wave you discover that there is another behind it just as important and just as nervously anxious to do something effective in the way of swamping boats.” Line 9.
The entity of the chorus, which serves as the narrator of the play, still holds true to that function as a camera crew and news reporte...
Music and literature are constantly evolving with each new release, but how ground breaking are these pieces compared to its contemporaries? Miles Davis and Jorge Luis Borges have contemplated and answered this question frequently. Rather than add on to a previous style, these two took the future of their genres into their own hands. In Davis’s “Kind of Blue” as well as Borges’s “The Garden of Forking Paths,” old ideas are completely abandoned and new, inventive styles flourish. Not only do these two play with the content of their work, but they also explore different styles and means of composition. Both Davis and Borges experiment with new innovative ideas and concepts in their works successfully creating a unique style of their own.
Honestly I really enjoyed the art style used in the comics, especially in Dirty Laundry, since the two distinct styles made it erratic and visually stimulating. Honestly, I was not really sure what was going on in the comic, or an over-arching point to the various disconnected stories. In this comic it was a bit harder to see the male chauvinism that Mark Estren emphasizes are in much of Robert Crumb’s work. This is mainly because I am unsure of who is creating the storyline or scenes that could qualify as sexist, since Aline Kominsky proclaims in the beginning of the comic that she “thought up the most depraved panel where he pushes [her] head into the vomit” (2). Additionally, it seems as though Kominsky is not necessarily always objectified,
Pamela Z, although trained in classical performance, wanted to find a way to perform contemporary music. In order to perform contemporary music, Pamela Z bought a delay unit and began creating loops using her voice. Z was able to think about her voice in the areas of texture and rhythm, the influence of outside texts, and how she could vary her vocal technique. One of Pamela Z’s most notable pieces that integrates the unusual elements of looping and layer is Gaijin. Gaijin is the Japanese word for foreigner and this piece came about when Z was living in Japan. This interdisciplinary piece involves electroacoustic texts, screens of large projects and traditional Japanese dance. Gaijin features Pamela Z as the primary performer. She uses her voice, processors, and samples to create her vocal musical. While she is performing, she connected to a machine called a body synth. A body synth is a control that transmits body movement, gestures, and other physical efforts into sounds. Pamela Z created a whole-body performance experience. Pamela Z successfully demonstrated that one does not need a story and can have highly unique elements, and still have a piece that moves many
The book is divided into four chapters: 1) Humanly Organized Sound, 2) Music in Society and Culture, 3) Culture and Society in Music, and 4) Soundly Organized Humanity. In chapter one, Blacking discusses the analysis of sound. He begins by describing music as humanly organized sound. His overarching theme is that “the function of tones in relation to each other cannot be explained adequately as part of a closed system” (30). In other words, music can’t be analyzed simply by one set of rules. This is because every single culture has a different system that they use to structure and compose their music. In order to adequately analyze a society’s music we have to study their “system.” We must learn what music means to them. Then, and only then, can we accurately and completely analyze what a particular type or piece of music means to a particular society and culture.
A strong relationship between the music and the text can be seen throughout the melodic line, particularly in measures 22-23; 26; 32-33; and 36 as the soloist sings the word “ah!” This word is particularly emotive and in fact does not even act as a word, but rather something closer to a sigh. The music reflects this by placing multiple notes on one syllable, stretching it melismatically to mimic the drawn-out and lethargic nature of sighing. Additionally, each instance of “ah!” involves an arching line within the melody (this is particularly evident in measures 26 and 36), which further solidifies the resemblance to sighing (an act that involves a “swell” of breath). The idea of sighing occurs in many instances throughout this piece, even acting outside of the melodic line. The string accompaniment contains occasional slurs, and these slurs usually occur on a strong beat moving to a weak beat (e.g. see both violin parts in measure 9). This adds to the...
The story’s theme is related to the reader by the use of color imagery, cynicism, human brotherhood, and the terrible beauty and savagery of nature. The symbols used to impart this theme to the reader and range from the obvious to the subtle. The obvious symbols include the time from the sinking to arrival on shore as a voyage of self-discovery, the four survivors in the dinghy as a microcosm of society, the shark as nature’s random destroyer of life, the sky personified as mysterious and unfathomable and the sea as mundane and easily comprehended by humans. The more subtle symbols include the cigars as representative of the crew and survivors, the oiler as the required sacrifice to nature’s indifference, and the dying legionnaire as an example of how to face death for the correspondent.
...chestral introduction with an imperfect cadence. A strong rhythmic ¾ allegro passage, with sequences and descending scales is played by the orchestra, with timpani and cymbals. The music modulates, and a short, quiet woodwind passage is then alternated with an orchestral passage with dotted rhythms, creating a `terraced dynamics' effect. Part B begins with a major clarinet melody accompanied by pizzicato strings. A minor flute sequence follows, and is followed by a repetition of the oboe melody. A string sequence is then played, imitated by the oboe. There is a crescendo, then the rhythmic orchestral melody returns, alternated with a short flute passage. There are suspensions, descending scales and a crescendo, followed by a strong rhythmic passage with the timpani playing on the beat. Imperfect cadences are played, before the piece finishes with a perfect cadence.
Every musical system around the world is a complex cultural phenomenon. The culture underlie a series of concepts which impart the musical system into the other basic cultural activities of the society. It is then defined and conceptualized by the society at large and then ingrained in the cultural phenomena. Thus, in order to fully understand a specific music of a particular culture, we must examine it in its cultural context along its musicological context.
Throughout this semester we have discussed an array of musical periods ranging from the Middle Ages and Renaissance to more recent modern times. As music progressed through time certain concepts such as melody, harmony, and texture changed along with the introduction of different instruments. In the early phases of music it was more directed toward religious ceremonies, but as time went on it became integrated into everyday life. Even though musical dynamics seem to change as the years go on, it has never failed to create some form of emotional response such as laughter or sadness.