I know many people can't stand opera, I'm one of them. However, there are some great operas out there. I won't force you to listen to them, since its also torture to me; but there are a couple of pieces of opera that I do like, and those I would like to share. One's by Vivaldi and the other is by Mozart, so where should we start? I choose Vivaldi, okay?
I really don't know what this particular movement is from, thats if it even is part of samething in the first place, all I know is that its a famous piece by Antonio Vivaldi. It's called andante, which is a tempo marking slower than allegro. It is Italian for "at walking pace". When I first head this piece, I didn't even notice that it was an opera. That is why I wanted you to listen to this first, before the Mozart. Its really a lovely piece, it has no lyrics and it is not sung using the very highest of notes, one of the reasons many people dislike opera.
Find the song among the samples of music at the left of this page and listen to it. Did you change your mind about opera? It isn't scary or annoying is it? If you notice something about this piece, is that the human voice is used more as an instument than anything else. As a matter of fact, during the days when instuments were first invented, musicians and the people who built the instuments were trying to invent an instument which came as close to the human voice as possible. The piece also has alot of violin in it so if the voice was bothering you too much then just focus on the violin. This is a youtube link of another version of andante, being played of the violin, cello, and mandolin without human voice, this arrangement is equally beautiful.
The second piece, Queen of the Night by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, is a little annoying at first I'm afraid. Bear with me however, as I find it very interesting and facinating once you get over its "annoyingness". I even heard this piece in a children's movie my cousins were watching, so I'm guessing its one of the best choices of opera a person could listen to. It is also one of the hardest arias to sing; an aria is a piece wrotten for one voice and an orchestra accompanying it. So again, I'll ask you to point your cursor at the left of the page and play Queen of the Night. And please, dont turn it off as soon as you turn it on, give it a chance. I know you'd want to. Try to listen to it, or atleast just wait until 0:43, something interesting happens here. Like it yet? I love this part of the opera. Hear the short, staccato notes she sings? She uses her voice as an instrument, more than just a way to sing lyrics like in today's songs.
Composers such as Mozart obviously saw the beauty in the human voice and wrote compositions that involved ways to show off the natural human voice. There is also another place in the song, similar to this part, at 2:03, watch out for that too. I'd ask you to listen to this link of you'd like, it is a young boy who sang this incredibly hard piece. You could also find this specific part of the opera here.
Forget the recording studios, isn't the natural human voice just great?
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Beethoven's Fifth Symphony
Today you will listen to probably the most famous symphony of all time. Beethoven's fifth symphony; specifically, the first movement of that symphony. If you've read my previous post, you would know that a symphony is generally made of four movements; if you haven't, I would strongly suggest that you go back and read my previous post "The Symphony".
Now that I've made sure that you've read my post on Mozart's Symphony 40, click on the play button and listen to it again. You don't have to listen to the entire movement, just listen to it long enough to remind yourself of it. Now play the symphony below it, Beethoven's 5th Symphony. What is the first thing you notice? The first noticable thing about this symphony is that it is a very dark piece, unlike Mozart's symphony which sounds very sophisticated and maybe even happy. You should know that Mozart was a generally "happy" composer, most of his compositions seem happy. The opposite is true for Beethoven, who was a tormented musician, and signs of that are clearly heard throught his pieces.
Like Mozart's Symphony 40, and most other symphonies, Beethoven's 5th symphony starts off with a movement is sonata form. Exposition - Development - Recapitulation. That is all I am going to say about that. You are free to compare this movement with Mozart's first movement of Symphony 40, you would find many similarities in the forms of the two pieces. As I said, they are both in sonata form.
Beethoven was already 60% deaf by the year 1801, and he started composing his 5th symphony in 1804. Beethoven spent four whole years perfecting this symphony. His frustration with his increasing deafness is evident in throughout the piece's dark mood. And even after the long time he spend in its composition, people were not at all impressed with his symphony. It wasn't seen as the masterpiece it is until long after its first performance. The first movement, has the tempo markings "Allegro con brio". As we already know, allegro means fast and lively. Con brio means with spirit, so the movement is meant to performed "fast and with spirit".
So yeah, I don't know what else to say. Watch out for the "Dit-Dit-Dit-DAAH" theme, its the first thing you hear in the movement, and also the last. This theme is now EVERYWHERE, used for everything. It just shows you how famous this symphony is. The theme is called "fate knocking on your door", for some reason. It is quite ppossible that Beethoven gave it that name.
If you want to see this movement performed by an orchestra, click here.
If you want to download Beethoven's 5th Symphony, Allegro con brio , click here.
Now go be happy, you know the most famous symphony ever.
Now that I've made sure that you've read my post on Mozart's Symphony 40, click on the play button and listen to it again. You don't have to listen to the entire movement, just listen to it long enough to remind yourself of it. Now play the symphony below it, Beethoven's 5th Symphony. What is the first thing you notice? The first noticable thing about this symphony is that it is a very dark piece, unlike Mozart's symphony which sounds very sophisticated and maybe even happy. You should know that Mozart was a generally "happy" composer, most of his compositions seem happy. The opposite is true for Beethoven, who was a tormented musician, and signs of that are clearly heard throught his pieces.
Like Mozart's Symphony 40, and most other symphonies, Beethoven's 5th symphony starts off with a movement is sonata form. Exposition - Development - Recapitulation. That is all I am going to say about that. You are free to compare this movement with Mozart's first movement of Symphony 40, you would find many similarities in the forms of the two pieces. As I said, they are both in sonata form.
Beethoven was already 60% deaf by the year 1801, and he started composing his 5th symphony in 1804. Beethoven spent four whole years perfecting this symphony. His frustration with his increasing deafness is evident in throughout the piece's dark mood. And even after the long time he spend in its composition, people were not at all impressed with his symphony. It wasn't seen as the masterpiece it is until long after its first performance. The first movement, has the tempo markings "Allegro con brio". As we already know, allegro means fast and lively. Con brio means with spirit, so the movement is meant to performed "fast and with spirit".
So yeah, I don't know what else to say. Watch out for the "Dit-Dit-Dit-DAAH" theme, its the first thing you hear in the movement, and also the last. This theme is now EVERYWHERE, used for everything. It just shows you how famous this symphony is. The theme is called "fate knocking on your door", for some reason. It is quite ppossible that Beethoven gave it that name.
If you want to see this movement performed by an orchestra, click here.
If you want to download Beethoven's 5th Symphony, Allegro con brio , click here.
Now go be happy, you know the most famous symphony ever.
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