Music

Music

Part A

In the song ‘La Donna e Mobile’ by Pavarotti (1851), the music is immediately introduced, with its theme being severally repeated. The song lacks a simultaneous occurrence in pitches, cords, and frequency, which is collectively referred to as harmony. This creates an impression to the listener that the music has either stopped or is incomplete. Texture may vary depending on the character and number of instruments or parts playing concurrently, which could be tempo, voices playing, rhythm, and harmony used. In this case, the texture of the song is light, with minimal instruments playing in the background. The melody is a disjunct evident from the halts the singer makes during the song. A disjunct is used in a song to segment a song and alert the audience of new verse in the song. The song, ‘La Donna e Mobile’ depicts a disjunct that covers a wide range as a way of capturing the attention of the audience. As the song comes to an end, the harmony changes slightly to introduce a new voice tone that takes the song through to the end. The use of instruments goes well with the period it was composed, which was in the 1850s. This is because live instruments are used compared to electronically used instruments or software created instruments that are currently used. The song ‘La Donna e Mobile’ by Pavarotti (1851) creates images of passionate love between couples, and this brings an image of Paris, especially when the instruments are played before the introduction of the male voice..

In contrast to ‘La Donna e Mobile,’ the song by Modest (1874) is harmonious until the end, with no pauses in the middle of the song. It can, therefore, be classified as a conjunct with a narrow range. Conjunct can be used to show continuity in a song as well as maintain the rhythm, pitch, and instrumental balance. The song’s rhythm is almost constant, with a few changes in pitch and rhythm. However, the song also captures the attention of the listener by having high pitched instruments and a light texture. According to the instruments and tone used in this song, the idea of patriotism comes to mind because the song is similar to a national anthem in my mind. However, the song brings images of art galleries, monuments, and statues of famous people that lived in the middle ages. Such images draw out mixed emotions, some being that of a patriotic side. The main emotion that is drawn in me is the feeling of patriotism towards the artists that existed in the middle ages. This emotion is aroused by the instrumentals played in the song as they depict a peaceful and colorful environment.

Part B

Use of soundtracks in a film aid in capturing the attention of viewers and bring out the mood of the film in the audience and create anticipation. A film without a soundtrack is likely to be monotonous in mood and probably boring. Also, a wrong soundtrack would bring out the wrong emotions in the audience, contrary to what the film is trying to express. Soundtracks that blend well with a film could be confused as being specifically made for the film. It is, therefore, crucial for filmmakers to select specific soundtracks to blend in with scenes in a film. A film doesn’t need to have one theme song that runs in the entire film as different scenes can carry different emotions. Cartoons have been my favorite since childhood, and as a filmmaker, I would consider making a cartoon movie. The song by Grieg (n.d) is comic according to my imagination. For this reason, I would choose a scene where a cartoon character of a princess who has befriended a local man and is focused on establishing a relationship with the man. Despite the challenges they go through, such as the man being arrested for the princess to forget him and having the princess go away for a long time for them to stay apart and forget the ridiculous affair according to the parents of the princess, the two find themselves together. The final scene in the film shows the princess and her man playing around in the garden after struggling to remain together despite the circumstances around them, such as the opposition of their unity by their parents. The scene features the man and princess dancing around with other animal characters such as birds and pets around them. The music also takes the viewers 5 years later, where they are married and live together in a humble hut. The music brings out the feeling of satisfaction after the struggle is over. In my film, the music will be placed at the end, to sum up, the film, giving the viewers a sense of satisfaction. The music, in my opinion, carries an emotion of happiness and appreciation to the viewers who had not seen the hope of the characters finally being together. With its relaxed, harmonious, and relatively constant tone, the song by Grieg would be the best option for such a scene in the film.

References

Grieg, Edvard. Peer Gynt Suite no. 1, Op 46

Modest, Mussorgsky. (1874). Pictures at an Exhibition.

Pavarotti, Luciano. (1851) La Donna E Mobile.