Music Essay Essay Example

Music Essay Essay Example Music Essay Essay Music Essay Essay Name: Tutor: Course: Date: Music Essay Twentieth-Century Art Music John Cage Sonata V This piece of music has a rhythmic flow. The rhythmic flow is created by the instrument, which is played by a single performer. The recording by Cage entitled, Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano shows the variation of tone in this piece of music, through prolonging notes. The prolonging of notes is achieved by the author, through using breves. Breves are the longest notes in that are used in the creation of music. In addition, some parts of the music have high pitches, in order to symbolize the climax of the piece. Pitch is a property of sound that describes its frequency. However, some parts of the music piece have low pitches. The performer uses low pitches, in order to reduce the tension of the music piece. Commonly, performers of this genre of music use the variation of pitch in order to create a story that makes sense to the audience. Debussy- La Mer (Valery Gergiev, London Symphony Orchestra) This piece of music is an orchestral version. An orchestra is a collection of instruments that are played in a rhythmical manner, by various performers. According to the clip by Debussy entitled, La Mer: Jeux; Pre?lude A? L’apre?s-Midi D’une Faune, the music in this piece begins with a low and sluggish pitch, which rises gradually. This creates a form of introduction to the audience, allowing them to create a story in their minds. Various sections within the piece are differentiated by short pauses. This is done by the use of quavers. Quavers are short notes that are used in the creation of music. It is evident that low tone music is played on the background. This helps to maintain the mood of the audience while introducing a new section of the piece. In addition, it creates a smooth transition to the following sections of the music. Climax points in the piece are shown by a sudden rise in the tone and pitch of the music. Climax points are the sections in a piece, where the emotions and feelings of the audience are highest. In addition, there are sudden changes in rhythm from fast to slow within the piece. The performers have succeeded in maintaining a constant flow of the music despite these changes. Furthermore, these changes are used to show the occurrence of dramatic and action scenes in the music. This helps the audience to deduce a story from the music. Unlike the first piece, this music has many artists playing different instruments. It is assumed that maintaining the rhythm in this music is more difficult as compared to the first piece. However, the performers have maintained uniformity and coordination throughout the piece. This assists the performers to have an efficient transition of sections within the piece. Additionally, the music also has a single conductor, in order to minimize confusion among the group of performers. Joffrey Ballet 1989 Rite of Spring (3 of 3) The music in this piece begins with a slightly high pitch. This is used by the performers to get the attention of the audience. Moreover, this form of introduction gives the audience an idea of the nature of the performance. The meaning of the music in this piece is simplified using choreographers. In this case, choreographers are people who use systematic steps of body movements, in order to illustrate the story a piece of music. The use of choreographers gives reality to the performance. In addition, they add entertainment to the piece of music. The choreographers’ actions are determined by the change of the tone, pitch and pace of the music. This implies that they should be able to coordinate with the music effectively, in order to maintain a good flow. According to the clip by Ballet entitled, The Search for Nijinsky’s Rite of Spring: Paa Sporet Af Nijinsky’s Le Sacre Du Printemps, the choreographers are dressed specific costumes. This helps the audience to identify the cultural origin of the piece of music. Moreover, the costumes add color to the performance, and this makes it enjoyable for the audience to watch. The performance has various climax and action points. These points are shown by the change in pitch of the music. Consequently, this change helps to vary the mood of the audience according to the performance. John Cage – 4’33This piece of performance involves the use of orchestral actions only to communicate with the audience. The conductor and the performers do not use any form of sound. This orchestral performance allows the audience to understand and interpret the message in different ways. This performance is difficult to understand. However, the intention of the conductor is to help the audience to meditate on the sound produced by the movements of the performance. This allows them to interpret the sound that is produced, in a different way. The purpose of the conductor is to coordinate the movements of the performers. In this performance, three movements allow the audience to interpret the actions. Additionally, it enables the audience to formulate their own stories about the performance. The recording by Cage entitled, The 25-Year Retrospective Concert of Music of John Cage shows how the movements of the performers is synchronized with the actions of the conductor. The Impact of Cultural Events on the Development of Music The development of music in the 20th century can be attributed to social and cultural events during this era. Events such as Christmas, weddings and funerals have led to the introduction of new musical rhythms. Moreover, these social and cultural events have influenced the arrangement of songs into different genres. An event like Christmas has brought up the use of carols. Carols are songs that are sung during Christmas holidays. The rhythm and tone of the carols show a joyous mood, which is the nature of Christmas holidays. Religious events like attending church services have led to the introduction of hymns, as another genre of music. Hymns are songs, whose purpose is to worship and praise the Lord. The tone of hymns puts the audience in a prayerful mood. The illustrations reveal that the social and economic cultures influence the tones that are used to sing some songs. These tones determine the mood of the event in which the song is being performed. The Reaction of the Audience The audience in the 20th century mostly reacted to the sound of the music during this era. Various communities of people attended musical concerts that reflected their cultural backgrounds, through sound. The variation of sound enabled the audience to react differently to the message that was being portrayed by the performers. The basic elements of sound help the audience to understand and interpret the story efficiently. The variation of sound in any piece of music during this era, allowed the audience to determine the mood of the performers. In addition, it helped to relate the mood to the personal lives of the audience. The audience reacts to high and low pitches of a piece of music, in order to show their emotions. Therefore, the intention of performers during this era was to activate the emotions of the audience, by using music. Ballet Joffrey, Nureyev, Rudolf, Waslaw Nijinsky, Nicholas Roerich, Millicent Hodson, Thomas Grimm, Judy Kinberg, Holly Brubach, Allan Lewis, and Igor Stravinsky. The Search for Nijinsky’s Rite of Spring: Paa Sporet Af Nijinsky’s Le Sacre Du Printemps. New York, NY: WNET, 1989. Sound recording Cage, John, and Julie Steinberg. Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano. Berkeley, CA: Music Arts, 2004. Web. 26 July 2013. Cage, John. The 25-Year Retrospective Concert of Music of John Cage: Recorded in Performance at Town Hall, New York, May 15, 1958. Mainz: Wergo-Schallplatten, 1994. Sound recording. Debussy, Claude, Valerii? Gergiev, Claude Debussy, Claude Debussy, and Claude Debussy. La Mer: Jeux; Pre?lude A? L’apre?s-Midi D’une Faune. London: LSO Live, 2011. Sound recording.