Music Essays
Music is significant because it takes years of practice to perfect and offers numerous meanings. The Washington Post put together an investigation to decide if good music can be recognized on its own by disguising a famous musician, Joshua Bell, in a public area. The Washington Post attempted to predict people would stop by to listen and would contribute payments. Joshua Bell agreed to play a few of the best works on the best violin. Throughout analysis of this article, I discovered people lack the ability to observe, Joshua Bell is a good violinist, music is underappreciated, and John Picarello’s reaction was pure.
Ironically, Joshua Bell couldn’t seem to attract anyone’s attention except a handful of people while playing the violin. I was devastated to learn that someone as talented as Joshua Bell went unrecognized. This suggests numerous things about the peoples’ personality: people tend to disregard musicians playing in a public area, music holds different values for people, and that people may simply be too focused on their task to notice the music. Yet another reason may depend on personality, people having different opinions on what is considered good, or different music styles.
Joshua Bell continued to play through the occasional glares and looks people gave. It illustrated how important music was to him, and he resumed to play without letting thoughts and opinions of other people bother him. Although Joshua Bell could not persuade people to hear his music, this does not indicate he is bad at the violin. To my shock, it simply demonstrates how musicians are overlooked despite the raw talent and how people are overrun in their own lives. Joshua Bell is so passionate about music that he continued to play the violin as if he were performing at a formal concert, regardless of people’s reactions. A defining moment for Joshua Bell was when he still played the violin as if people enjoyed it as much as he did.
Music goes beyond than what is heard. While some may take music for granted, it often goes unnoticed of what it takes to make such intricate sounds. Musicians must have raw talent, spend years practicing, and must perform in front of large crowds in the hopes of being noticed. This suggests that people would appreciate the art of music if it is understood what goes into making it. Music appeals to different people in various ways. Meaning that people consider different genres of music good.
John Picarello’s reaction was unlike any other because he was not one to scurry by. His response was genuine as he did not care who the musician was and understood how extraordinary this music was. Instead, he wanted to acknowledge outstanding music, which suggested a good ear for music. I would have responded to the musician similarly to how John Picarello did. Shyly throwing in a few bucks, getting lost in the music, and valuing the music for what it is.
Since people have their own agendas and expectations for music, it obstructs their ability to sense worthy music. Therefore, making it harder to truly define an appropriate reaction.
In closing, the article illustrated that people do not notice musicians playing in public on a daily basis. This can be concluded that people are focused on getting to work, uneducated in music, or tuning the music out to live without a guilty conscience. Joshua Bell was mistaken for an average musician therefore, demonstrating how often musicians are overlooked. I was surprised to find out that there wasn’t a bigger outcome from, but Joshua Bell did manage to grab a few people’s attention throughout his performance.
Music, much like most of what human beings have declared to be a form of art, has gone through thousands of years of evolution that it now no longer resembles much of what its pioneers intended to be. Indeed, the definition of music in itself along with Its performance and significance may vary according to […]
Each period in the history of music and humanities has its own distinctive style, closely linked to the society from which it originates. The 19th and 20th centuries saw significant events like two world wars and technological advancements. These advancements included inventions such as the telephone, television, electronic light, computers, cassette tapes, synthesizers, and CDs. […]
There are almost as many different types of music as there are people. From the simple harmonies chanted in monasteries before even the five-lined staff was invented to songs of modern pop culture and everything in between, music has been a huge part of life for as long as people can remember. There’s music for […]
Renaissance and Baroque Periods Music has changed dramatically over the centuries. Beginning in the Middle Ages, from 400 to 1475, music took the form of the so-called Gregorian chant. Tools were used very rarely at that time. Since the songs during this period were either troubadour or disturbing, there was no real harmony in these […]
The two music pieces chosen for this exercise are JS Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto 4 (First Movement – Allegro) and Joseph Haydn’s London Symphony (No.104 First Movement). These two pieces were chosen on account of the sharp differences between them in terms of style, texture, genre, period, etc. For example, Bach’s piece is written for a […]
I attended an opera by Mozart titled Cosi Fan Tutte with my grandparents. It was in Houston Tx. at the Houston Grand Opera House September 22 from 7:00-10:30. The performers were Elizabeth Futral as Fiordiligi, Uliana Alexyuk as Dorabella, Jason Graae as Don Alfonso, Joseph Kaiser as Ferrando, Liam Bonner as Guglielmo, Dannielle DuBose as […]
Leonard Bernstein was born as Louis Bernstein in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He was the son of Ukrainian Jewish parents who were Jennie and Samuel Joseph Bernstein; His father was a supplies wholesaler from Rovno, which is now Ukraine. Despite of his family name, he was not related to film composer Elmer Bernstein. His family spent summers […]
The music of the so-called Hispanized lowland Christian, and village peoples of Luzon, Visayas, Mindoro, and Palawan. Their culture is essentially Southeast Asian, fused with a strong animistic core, though with elements of Latin culture (Mexican, Italian or Hispanic). The lowland folk are composed mostly of farmers, fishermen, artisans, vendors and traders, and common folk. […]
I attended Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons concert on Sunday April 17, 2011 at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church performed by the SCC chamber orchestra. Vivaldi was a baroque composer and the Four Seasons is considered to be a great masterwork in all Western Art. The Four Seasons is a series of four concertos; […]
On April 23rd, 2011, I went to Simon Sun’s concert at Presbyterian Church, Williamsburg. Simon Sun is a senior at the College of William and Mary majoring in Neuroscience and music. He has played piano for almost seventeen years and was a finalist in the Young Artists International Piano Competition. I was so impressed by […]
A child prodigy is a person who shows his/her extraordinary abilities in early age. These children usually are very good at different things; however, especially their amazing skills in a certain area make them be prodigies. For example, Abigail Sin, a Singaporean young pianist, is also very good at math. Nevertheless, she won in international […]
Mozart’s K 333 Sonata in B-flat Major was composed in November 1783. It was written in Vienna while Mozart was there for a period. He wrote this in his “early phase” while he was in Vienna. This sonata was not really written into a group of sonatas, but could be grouped with the other nine […]
The Life and Story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart better known as just Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was baptised January 27, 1756 in Salzburg on Getreidegasse street in the ninth house, which at the time was a part of the Holy Roman Empire but is now Austria. He was born to Leopold […]
1. When the topic of classical music arises, Beethoven often comes to mind first. Could you explain this common connection? Likewise, in discussions about “rock music,” who do you think of as the prime artist and what is your rationale for this selection? 2. In the 19th century, art songs or “lied” underwent significant evolution, […]
Nel cor piu non mi sento Brillar la gioventu; Cagion del mio tormento, Amor, sei colpa tu. Mi pizzichi, mi stuzzichi, Mi pungichi, mi mastichi; Che cosa e Questo ahime? Pieta, pieta, pieta! Amore e un certo che, Che disperar mi fa. Nel Cor Piu Non Mi Sento. Giovanni Paisiello was the most popular comic […]
I had an opportunity to attend a concert by the University Symphony Orchestra. The university orchestra was the only performer of the day. And it performed “An Evening of Handel, Schubert, and Haydn” on 0ctober 4th. The concert was held at the school’s Boss Recital room. The look of the architecture of the room is […]
From as early as the 17th century, all the way up until the 21st century, there have been revolutionary changes all over the globe. Countless advances in technology, philosophy, and art have changed the way people live forever. In a world where technology has gone from telegrams to handheld computers, the fact that the musical […]
The medium of music involves the transmission of tone, which is the audible sound that travels through the air and reaches an audience. This tone can be produced by various instruments or by the human voice and possesses qualities such as timbre, pitch, duration, and intensity. Timbre refers to the distinct quality or color of […]
At the beginning of the piece its supposed to be played quite softly, my sheet music says ‘mezzo piano. The piece gets louder and louder in a gradual crescendo and then roughly two minutes through (depending on how slowly or quickly you play it) there is a diminuendo, which is emphasized by the change from […]
Denis Smalley has suggested that the two most important musical developments in the 20th Century are the domains of the ‘electro-acoustic’ and the ‘vernacular’. To what extent is his assumption correct? This piece will demonstrate an understanding of the developments in 20th century music, with a detailed view on the path and expansion of electro-acoustic […]
Sam Cooke’s A Change is gonna come is criticised by some to have not fulfilled its objective as to do with racism; I do believe its impact was wide and is being felt up to date. While racism is still a vice that can be felt on wide range its … A Day in the […]
There is no exact date of birth and baptism of the famous composer Henry Purcell. According to one historical source, he was born in 1658, and the other determines this date as the year 1659. His famous father Henry Purcell died in 1664, and his uncle Thomas Purcell began to educate the young composer. The […]
