In the comments: Briefly mention any moment that stood out to you from the listening.
8 thoughts on “Assignment – Friday, Sept. 27”
Elizabeth White
The passage in the overture that starts around 6:50 really stood out to me. I found the juxtaposition of the sweet, carefree melody in the clarinets with the low e-flat in the horns to be very eerie, and I thought the effect was quite unique.
The rhythm in the Act II Finale was really interesting. I found myself banging my head back and forth at multiple points. It seemed unlike much of the music we’ve listened to up to this point.
In the overture, around 2:45 the cellos begin to play a wonderful expressive, melancholy line accompanied by string tremolos with diminished and minor harmonies (this section is in c minor). Then at 3:17, at the climax of the phrase, there is a change in harmony to D-flat major, which is very beautiful and unexpected. In my head I anticipated an f minor chord (which would function as iv in the key), but the impact of the neapolitan was much more dramatic.
In the Finale at 14 min The texture seemed perfect for the scene, really helping give suspense and an almost dream like quality before the flood of music that comes soon after.
The beginning of act II before the chorus comes in really sets a vivid image and mood to the piece. It’s mysterious and scary and conjures strong imagery. Then when the Chorus does come in, and they do those forte major 6th jumps up until about 3 minutes when everything stops and then there is a bell and nothing else for a while. I just think it’s very well done and thought out it’s the opposite of predictable yet there are themes to hold on to and repetitive motifs while maintaining the somber mood!
The music all develops at it’s own natural pace; no melody is forced into a strict entry and presentation. The overture begins with a long period of non-decript of single-line melodic content in a minor tonality and before finally giving way to presentation of the melody in major by the horns. At the end of the overture, he let’s the piece completely dwindle in dynamics and ochestration before bringing the entire group together for a powerful conclusion. It very much reflects the way a person’s emotional states might develop and oscillate between high and low points.
at the beginning of the act2, I found it interested that Weber used thunder sound and all the diminished chords with female singers singing major 6th sliding up, to create the ambiguous and nervous atmosphere of the scene.
8 thoughts on “Assignment – Friday, Sept. 27”