In Sergei Prokofiev’s piece “Dance of the Knights,” when the main melody is played, there is a very strong rhythm that is produced by the two-tone bass sounds of the tuba and double bass, which are playing the same notes in synchronization. The low notes and loudness add power and authority to the piece. The snare drum is also used as part of the rhythm during transitions in the main melody.

For the quieter parts of the song, an instrument that provides a background rhythm is the tambourine that is repeatedly tapped. This provides a milder “backbone” for the sounds of the lighter instruments that may be overpowered by loud percussion or deep bass notes.

Joey Alexander’s journey as a rising jazz prodigy made for a captivating story. Although I don’t often listen to jazz music, I can appreciate the great talent it takes to have to continually improvise throughout a performance. One can say that jazz musicians are always “composing as they go.” When there is a performer who adds special flair to every improvisation, there is something to be said about that performer’s talent for it–such talent wouldn’t be common due to the fact that few are naturally more musically talented than others and have been cultivating this talent over a longer period of time. I believe talent can be measured, although it may not always be obvious at first. Talent is a combination of creativity, practice, and the ability to integrate past experiences and knowledge into one’s work. One of the qualities that makes each of us unique is the talent that we possess in certain areas that are different from the talents of others.

Often people who are extremely musically talented are savants, so it was interesting to see how he seemed like a very normal 12-year-old. His ability seems to be an innate ear for knowing which notes would be appropriate to play and being able to perform intricate and fast improvisations. I have met many talented and smart people throughout my lifetime, without a doubt. Although I can’t recall meeting someone quite as talented as Joey is, I know how much practice and mental energy goes into endeavors such as music, writing, and even math and science, and I appreciate and respect people who have that dedication to their art.

In pages 210-212 of “Listen to This” by Mark Evan Bonds, Mozart’s background in music was examined as well as his travels throughout Europe. Mozart, an Austrian composer, led an extraordinary life as his musical genius allowed him to produce music prolifically and without as much difficulty as other composers since he could compose music in his mind without having to correct it much. He started composing at the age of 5. His father, also a musician, recognized Mozart’s musical genius and cultivated it by traveling around Europe with Mozart to expose him to different styles of music.

On the website brainpickings.org, I learned the story of how Mozart was able to meet Joseph Hayden over his travels and form a deep friendship with him. Mozart looked up to Hayden as a mentor, and he composed six string quartets dedicated to Hayden. After Mozart’s death at the age of 35, Hayden remarked that “posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years” (Source).

Mozart’s sister was also a prodigy who displayed great talent in her youth, but she slipped into obscurity due to her refusal to pursue composing further, probably because a combination of a lack of her father’s support and the culture at the time which focused solely on male composers.

A piece by Mozart that I enjoy listening to is the Turkish March, or the Rondo Alla Turca. It is lively, happy, and very fast. It takes a lot of talent to play, how much more to compose it!

I enjoyed both Musetta’s Waltz and Seasons of Love from Rent, but enjoyed the second example a bit more because I felt it was easier to relate to with its “modern” style and lyrics that I could hear clearly and that expressed (what I felt was) deeper meaning. The vibrato in Musetta’s Waltz was full and well-rounded. I tried slowing down the video to 0.25 speed, and when I did that, I could clearly hear the fluctuating pitch. It reminded me of a sine wave, “waving” up and down for each note. Most of the time, it ranged from the highest note, the one that determined the perceived pitch of the note, to two semitones lower, fluctuating between these two extremes.

In Seasons of Love, I didn’t hear any distinct vibrato at first since all the singers were singing in unison together. Then, in the solos where the woman sang, I couldn’t hear vibrato at all times but I could hear it “switch on” at the end of the notes she dragged out. It was more of a “lighter” vibrato than that in Musetta’s Waltz, and when I slowed it down to 0.25 speed, it sounded like it fluctuated from the perceived note down to just one semitone lower, which explains the “lighter” sound of the vibrato since the pitch didn’t go up and down as much.

I have often noticed vibrato in songs I listen to, and the kind of vibrato I prefer to listen to is the “lighter” kind, such as the kind often used in musicals and certain popular songs. I can occasionally listen to songs with heavy vibrato, such as opera, but I easily tire of them because I find them harder to relate to. The reason I am often aware of vibrato in music is because I will often judge the singer’s talent based on whether or not the singer has vibrato, or, if not, some sort of “power” in his/her voice.

The song I chose to analyze in this blog is “The Game is On,” the theme song for the BBC TV series Sherlock, composed by David Arnold and Michael Price. This song has an overall jumpy and active sound to it, expressed through the unique sound of the hammered dulcimer. At first, I thought that the instrument playing the predominant melody in the first part of this song was some kind of harpsichord, so I was not aware of the existence of this instrument until I started researching for this assignment! I really enjoyed the “zingy” sound of it the past, and it brought me great satisfaction to discover this interesting instrument.

This instrument really takes over the timbre for this song, adding a “sparkle” to it with a sound that sounds like a fusion of the harpsichord and guitar. At first, the song starts out with the signature, straightforward melody of the theme, played by the dulcimer and accentuated by a two-time rhythm by the double bass. This first part is quiet, a “shadow” of the main melody, then there is a quiet and “light” transition that leads into the mid-volume main melody, which is repeated, the second time louder. After that, there is a stretch of time where violins are played rapidly and quietly to build up the suspense, followed by a variation of the theme melody played quietly. The brass instruments usher in a long stretch of the dulcimer being lightly played and violins playing very distant sound in the background, and the music slowly, little by little, swells in volume. This ushers in the mid-volume stringed instruments playing notes in rapid, five-stroke bursts, and the strings get louder in volume until they taper off when the song finishes.

I feel the times that the music slowly “swells” and grows louder to be the most suspenseful, since it seems to indicate that something is going to happen at the climax.

The timbre changes multiple times throughout this song, with areas where the brass instruments, dulcimer, and the string instruments take over. I feel that when the brass instruments play the main melody, there is more of an element of humor. When the dulcimer takes over, there is a more “baroque,” delicate, and mysterious sound. I feel the stringed instruments come into the scene as a “filler” and are almost always in the background, and they add drama to the overall tone.

The piece of music I will be examining in this blog post is I Love the Night by Blue Öyster Cult. It is a rock ballad, with a mystical, melancholy vibe and correspondingly mysterious lyrics.

The mood of this song is set by the E-minor key that the verse is in. A hall reverb effect with an intense “trailing” sound was used as the guitar amp preset, which added an “echo” quality. Short, melodic riffs were used throughout the piece, adding delicacy and detail. Although I’m not entirely sure of the meaning behind the lyrics, it seems to be the story of a man who finds a female spirit or imaginary being after a breakup and finding solace and love with her. I suppose it is up to the listener to decide whether she is real or not!

There are multiple examples of text painting in this song. In the phrase, “Last night her kiss told me it was over,” “over” was sung in a descending tone with each syllable, indicating the end of the relationship.

“The further I went on / I felt a spreading calm” was sung with higher notes in the second phrase to indicate an improvement in his mood.

When it reaches the phrase “I— love the night” sung by the “Lady in White” at the beginning of the chorus, the high note that it starts off on, stretching the word “I” into three syllables, lends a confident, affirmative tone to the unusual remark. The chorus is also in the G-major key, the closely related key to the E-minor of the verses, and it has a “happier” tone than that of the verses, indicating the elevated mood.

I enjoyed listening to “Il est bel et bon” from the Renaissance period. “The Cricket” was fine, and I could appreciate the creativity in it. However, I didn’t really care much for its sound. I enjoyed “Il est bel et bon” because of the interesting contrasts of high and low male voices in its texture. The sound of the French language was also pleasant to my ears.

I thought The Cricket was nice, but I could relate to it less than I could with “Il est bel et bon.” I thought that the part where their voices alternated between high and low pitches to imitate a cricket’s chirping was slightly annoying. I suppose that because of my own subjective opinion, though, and perhaps it is because a cricket’s chirping is, in some way, annoying too! I tend to have some strong opinions and “whims” when it comes to what sounds good to my ears, and they don’t always make sense, but that’s what “musical taste” is all about.

The word painting did help me get that both songs weren’t serious. Both songs had an upbeat, cheerful sound to them to match their subject matter.

The language for both songs may have been a barrier, but since I was given that context of what it meant, I could feel that set the energy and mood, and I could “get” the meaning of the songs while listening to them with the English explanations in mind.

Seeing the singers sing definitely helped me enjoy the overall experience of listening to the music more. I’m very much a visual person, and seeing where the music comes from, be it a human or an instrument, brings me both auditory and visual stimulation that fleshes out the experience of listening to music.

The piece of music I chose to analyze for my musical analysis essay was “Dance of the Knights,” musical number 13 of Sergei Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo and Juliet.

The main melody has a dark, imposing, and ominous tone to it. It seemed intentionally loud and “shocking,” and would be something I would expect to hear in a dramatic scene with a villain’s entry.

Later, there are multiple secondary melodies that have a lighter, more peaceful tone to them. One melody had an elegant, mellow tone to it before it transitioned back into the heavier main theme. Another melody, played with the flute, starts off with a mysterious, dreamy tone to it. It reminded me of a walk along a dewy, evening garden path. It then transitions into a “happy,” light melody.

I felt that the overall feel of the song was “nocturnal,” and reminded me of darkness or nighttime.

The piece’s texture was mostly homophonic, with a predominant melody played by one instrument/series of instruments with supporting background music. There were some transition areas that sounded polyphonic.

I thought the tune to the Eagle Dance was interesting, although I personally wouldn’t listen to it just for fun since it is so foreign to my ears. It’s not that it sounded terrible; I just wasn’t used to it.

The vocal quality was monophonic, and had a “chanting” flow to it with the repeated vocalized units. I feel that religious songs tend to involve chants spoken in unison, such as in Buddhist and Catholic rituals. Perhaps the reason this is so is because the believers have a desire to unite as one under their spoken praise and affirmation of precepts.

It is definitely not the kind of vocal sound I would expect when listening to recorded pieces of modern music. Seeing the video with the dancing helped me to appreciate the music more, as the rhythm of the distinct beat was designed to time the fluttering of the “eagles'” wings and stepping of their feet.

Bobby McFerrin’s improvisation was very captivating. The way he used his hand thumping rhythmically on his chest as a form of percussion produced a pleasing, mellow “beat” as the background of his vocalizations. To my ears, this technique added a unique, organic tone to his singing. His vocalizations had a instrumental quality to it at times.

The vocalizations were different from the ones used in the Eagle Dance in that they were much more varied in pronunciation and pitch, and involved more complex melodic combinations of notes. This added interest and unpredictability. The music had a calming and “satisfying” vibe to it, and I could relate to it better than I could with the Eagle Dance.

I really enjoyed listening to the excerpt from the “Play of Virtues.” Although I am largely ignorant of the history of this kind of music, I used to enjoy listening to Gregorian chants, which are also monophonic and were used as sacred music, on YouTube for concentration while doing homework. So, I am familiar with the sound. Now that I’m reminded of how much I enjoyed them, I would like to learn about and listen to more of this kind of music. This music has a very mystical and sacred sound to it, and I have always thought that it sounded like angels singing.

In the video where the concert was playing Princess Leia’s theme from Star Wars, melody was pretty much always present throughout the piece, as it was a homophonic piece with one type of instrument playing the predominant melody and background strands that supported it. The melody was ethereal and light when a woodwind instrument took the main part, and it made me think of nature and refreshing “natural” things, like green, pastoral landscapes and flowing water. The French horn had a similar effect on influencing my mental imagery. There was also an element of mystery to the overall sound. When brass instruments played the main melody, the tone was majestic and ceremonial, especially when the brass and percussion instruments came in together and the background music swelled.

The “Imperial March,” Darth Vader’s theme song, had a distinctly different tone than that of Princess Leia’s theme. While the Princess’s theme was more delicate with a sad and wistful sound to it, the Imperial March was ominous and dark in tone, which was emphasized with the sound of the cello and double bass. It also had an element of regal authority, which was especially apparent when the trombones and trumpets played the main melody. The snare drum and other percussion instruments gave it the active sound of a dynamic march, hence the title of the song.

The two soundtracks from Star Wars don’t necessarily have a greater impact on me than the excerpt of Hildegard’s music, although they do have a different effect on me because of the different moods they set. The soundtracks have a dramatic, theatrical quality to them while Hildegard’s music has a more mystical and primal sound to it. I enjoyed and was affected by both equally.

I can appreciate and am comfortable with listening to Hildegard’s music because of the timeless beauty of choral voices singing in unison that is solemn and uplifting, and it continues to have these qualities even in this modern age. It is one of the proofs that music is a universal and timeless language that can affect people throughout the centuries, no matter how old it is.