Mozart vs. Stravinsky
Mozart
The Mozart piece Eine Kleine Nachtmusik is piece of music that was composed in around 1787 for a chamber assembly by Mozart himself. From what I have heard it is an assembly of a number of instruments and in specific two viola, cello, and violins and it has a non-compulsory double bass, nonetheless it is usually executed by string orchestras.
The piece of music first starts with a lot of psych. This gives one an adrenaline rush as the violins rise aggressively in like a rocket like theme. It later on changes from being aggressive to being graceful. This brings the calmness in a person as the gracefulness is repeated over a certain time.
After sometime, I noticed that it brings in some kind of romance like theme. This is where one feels tender and intimate. In the second movement my attention was gotten as the piece took a form that is similar to A-B-A-C-A. This movement brings about a rhythm where every section starts at the medium with an upbeat that is double.
Then there is a third movement, which is marked by an allegretto, trio, and minuet.
The last movement of this piece well is very lively and it is marked by an allegro tempo with the key being G major again. Here the violins are played in a rush, it rises then comes down gently, and it finally finishes with a medium tone.
The artist’s intentions as per what I have heard is to like give the audience a moment of hypeness that like mixes together with lowness that repeats itself over the whole piece. The piece makes one feel ecstatic and slightly low at the same time. However, I think he wanted the audience to experience something peaceful as the violins are mostly played gracefully.
Stravinsky
This piece of music is very unique as compared to other pieces. It starts with a high bassoon as the melody that introduces the piece. The bassoon is actually greater than what a normal bassoon would go and then it descends in the next 30 minutes. The tones then change and become sudden with the violins presenting short tones that are low sustained. It then changes to high violins.
The strings now suddenly enter repeating sounds that are dissonant and are accompanied by horns. This brings out the irregular accents of the note. The bassoons repeat themselves in a melody that is fragmented but this breaks abruptly by horns.
Well in this piece many things happen at once in the music layers. Trumpets, horns, flutes, strings, and violins are all being played at the same time. The artists uses polyrhythms which means that he uses two rhythms that are different and this makes it different from the piece of music by Mozart which only has one rhythm in play.
In this piece the artist uses dissonance in a masterful and extensive way. This as a result creates energy and color. He does get become too technical in this piece and therefore there is a consonance harmony that is stable in a way. The sound is enjoyable when you hear it. The dissonance is unstable unlike the consonance. It makes one feel like they are they are almost to fall into something. The sounds are more of barbaric, jarring, difficult, and dissonant. The artist well intends to use the dissonance to make you feel like you are at the edge, furthermore increasing the power and tension that draws one more into these sound. Well this piece of music also is different from the one of Mozart since it does not express some form of romance and peacefulness but rather violence.
This form of music represents a change in the social and artistic aspects of the people of that century. It was from Mozart’s love and peace to Stravinsky’s violence, hateful, and on the edge feeling that people portrayed during those times.
Works Cited
Harris, Robert. What to listen for in Mozart. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001. Print.
Hill, Peter. Stravinsky, the rite of spring. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. Print.
