Music Module 6. Assignment

MUSC 1100 Prélude à L’Après-midi d’un faune (Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun), by Claude Debussy This song has a very delicate, eerie sound to it when you listen to it. The piece has a definite slower tempo as opposed to a faster one. However, the piece tends to pick up and become much louder and lively toward the middle. It has a tendency to oscillate, fluctuating in both tempo speed and loudness and softness. The piece's form seems to shift throughout to maintain the attention of the listener. In this piece, the harmony part is easily distinguished from the melody part due to their relative emphasis. A Survivor from Warsaw , Op.46, by Arnold Schoenberg This musical composition has a lot of extra noise to give it an interesting texture and a loud sound when listening to it. Furthermore, the story this piece aims to tell is told through words in addition to the music itself. This piece exhibits musical elements even though it sounds more like something you would hear read aloud from a storybook recording. There are moments when it sounds a little spooky, like in a horror film, with the narrator yelling and screaming at you. This artwork undoubtedly captures the depth of feeling that this single Warsaw survivor was experiencing. How Similar Are These Pieces? The fact that these pieces alternate between being loud and soft is one way in which they are similar. The goal of each piece's composer is to maintain the attention of the listener, so they employ strategies like varying tempo and form throughout. It is definitely a good idea to switch things up rather than leave them unchanged throughout, as a piece can quickly become monotonous if there isn't even a small variation. These two pieces are similar in that they both use music to tell a story, and the composers employ musical strategies to keep the audience interested and engaged throughout the composition. How Are These Pieces Different? One way that these two pieces differ from each other is that one contains words, while the other does not. The intended narrative of Debussy's Prélude à L’Après-midi d’un faune (Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun) is conveyed solely through musical sounds and instruments. On the other hand, Schoenberg employs those in addition to the words of the real person the story is about in A Survivor from Warsaw, Op. 46. The lengths of these two pieces also differ from one another. The length of Debussy's composition is marginally greater than that of Schoenberg's. Is this something I would listen to on my own, in my opinion? Why Not and Why Not Why? I don't think I would really listen to either of these songs on my own for enjoyment. Don't get me wrong, I think these are amazing songs, but they just don't seem like my kind. I prefer more lively music that I can jam out to in the car and other similar things, so I'm not really into the classical vibe. Songs like these really don't allow me to do that. As I've previously indicated, these kinds of songs aren't really my thing, but they do make decent background music for concentration and other similar tasks.