“My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” Album by Kanye West

Kanye has released an album after disappearing for a while, and it has lived up to the suspense. It is safe for Kanye fanatics to proclaim ‘Kanye is back’ after veering off his brand with 808s and Heartbreak. The album is a signature of Kanye sampling genius; it is RZA’esque....

Ballet Genre Marginalization of People of Color

Ballet dance traces its origins to the fifteenth century, during the Italian Renaissance. The genre has since evolved into a popular concert dance in many countries such as Russia, France, United Kingdom, and the United States (“Dance Resources”). Each country integrates its culture into the dance, which has led to...

Messages in Bob Dylan’s Songs and Performances

Bob Dylan is one of the most unique and influential musicians of the 20th century, particularly in the 1960s. Born as Robert Allen Zimmerman in 1941, Bob Dylan created a new music style and is still regarded as the greatest songwriter and a prominent figure in popular culture more than...

Inti Illimani’s “El Aparecido” and Mapfumo’s “Nyarai” Songs

Songs “El Aparecido” and “Nyarai (Be Ashamed)” are examples of how the citizens of South America and Zimbabwe demonstrate their response to political and social changes. In “Nyarai,” traditional musical features are an 8-beat melodic cycle, the polyphonic interplay of bass and guitars, improvisation, and insistent articulation by percussionists (Schechter...

Music Industry: A Revenue Plan for a Release

The music industry has an incredibly elaborated system since it includes multiple stakeholders. Moreover, within the last decade, its structure has undergone significant changes, and this rapid transformation demonstrated how innovations could ruin the existing sector of the industry. The mixture of audio technologies with computing technologies turned music into...

“The Clarinet” by Anthony McGill and Anna Polonsky

Introduction Although a concert cannot be regarded as an everyday routine event that requires an appraisal, the critical review of an attended concert may be highly beneficial for a better understanding of music. To create an appropriate analysis of any performance, a listener will inevitably concentrate on the general atmosphere,...

Analysis of the First Movement of the “Fifth Symphony”

In Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, a motto-resembling four-note rhythm starts the first movement. It creates a rhythm for tapping rather than a music melody, and its unsolved form gives the impression of an unanswered question. The sentiment conveyed by the C minor key within this motto in the first movement often...

How Music Affects Juveniles

Introduction Music has remained a common source of advice and entertainment to millions of listeners across the globe. Individuals can rely on it to explore emotions, emerging ideas, and trends in their respective societies. Some young people identify music as a sign of expression and rely on it to acquire...

Singin’ in the Rain as an Example of Soundtrack Dissonance

Introduction Every movie is associated with a specific piece of music in the viewers’ minds. It may play during the pivotal moment in the film, signify a character’s appearance, or warn the spectators that something nefarious is about to occur. A soundtrack is a powerful tool for setting up the...

François-Xavier Roth and Tabea Zimmermann

Introduction François-Xavier Roth’s and Tabea Zimmermann’s performance at Berliner Philharmoniker was focused on Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Symphony in D major, Wq 183 no. 1. The instruments employed were violas, and the orchestra was performing Der Schwanendreher of Paul Hindemith. Tabea Zimmermann was also highly culturally influenced by Hindemith’s musical...

Hip-Hop in the Bronx and Link to Gentrification

Introduction Hip-hop is usually associated with economically depressed and predominantly African American (Black) neighborhoods. The art form originated in Bronx County, in the City of New York during the 1970s (Knight). From the beginning, it has been masked by mystery, and this is because the genre started on the fringes...

Comparing and Contrasting Sheryl Crow and Hootie and the Blowfish

No matter what genres are used to express an artistic intent, at its core, all music seems to appeal to the same emotions and experiences. Therefore, the artists that could seem barely comparable at first appear to have a lot in common at second glance, as the overview of music...

Analyzing Lyrics of “Yellow” Song by Coldplay

“Yellow”: A Turning Point Originally from London, Coldplay started their journey in 1997. Their really talented music was noticed very quickly, and the first three albums of the team exploded. Now Coldplay is considered perhaps the brightest and most promising new wave Britpop band from England. Moreover, the team’s popularity...

Vietnamese Folklore Music of “Then”

The chanting of “Then”, also known as the “melody of god”, is a reflection of the religious life and spiritual activities of the Tay, Nung, and Thai ethnic groups from the mountain provinces of Northern Vietnam. Over time, UNESCO experts have proved that this music carries universal values that go...

Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s Concert in March 2020

Ladysmith Black Mambazo is the worldwide famous African male choral group with more than fifty years of performance history. In 2020, the singers were forced to cancel their tour due to the pandemic and death of the group’s founder, Joseph Shabalala (Ladysmith Black Mambazo). However, Ladysmith Black Mambazo gave one...

Impressionism and Symbolism in Music

In Claude Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun” the opening melody is played by the flute. Throughout the whole piece, the parts of the woodwind section – especially flute, oboe, and clarinet – are very prominent and lead the melody. String section also plays a major role, coming...

The Idea of Robert Frost’s Poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay”

The poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost is only nine lines long, but the author discusses complex topics through it. In early spring, the golden buds appear on the trees, but soon their color fades. Then flowers bloom, but they also soon turn into fallen leaves, reminiscent of...

Program Music. Bedrich Smetana and Hector Berlioz

Program music is one of the key features of the Romantic Musical Style, which brings more depth and context to the performance. It is important to note that it opens a new window of opportunities to enrich instrumental music by providing a meaningful connotation. The given analysis will primarily focus...

“Follow the Leader” by Eric B. & Rakim

Introduction “Follow the Leader” is a hip-hop song by an American rap duo Eric B. & Rakim, the stage names of Eric Barrier and William Griffin. Released in 1988, the song was critically acclaimed and is still considered among the most prominent and influential compositions produced by the rap duo....

Textual Analysis of the Song “Police” by Suprême Ntm

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the song “Police” written and performed by a French hip-hop band Suprême NTM. It is dedicated to the problem of police brutality, racism, and the imbalance of justice based on the contrast between authoritative personalities and ordinary citizens. The performance of the...

Controversies About How to Interpret Music

The question of how to interpret the music of the past is a matter of perpetual controversy. Should performers play in a way that recreates the music as the composer would have heard it, or should they adjust to modern conventions? One point of view, represented by longtime New Yorker...

Music Appreciation: A “Great” Composer

  The Baroque The classical era Which historical period? The Baroque period represents Western music composed between 1600 and 1750, following the Renaissance and leading up to the classical era. The term is borrowed from the Portuguese language and means an oddly shaped pearl. The music during this period was...

Sir Arnold Malcolm, the Composer

Sir Arnold Malcolm is a well-known 20th-century English musician, conductor, and composer. He was born in 1921, and at the age of twelve, he started to learn how to play the trumpet. Before beginning his career in 1941, he managed to enroll in the Royal College of Music, where he...

Music as a Reflection of History Since the 1960s

Music is inextricably connected to the context within which it is produced, with the inter-relationships between music, culture, and society being studied extensively throughout the decades. In cultural customs, music is among the core features of social celebrations, such as weddings. In social life, music serves as a tool for...

Sonny’s Blues: Midterm by James Baldwin

The given assessment will focus on James Baldwin’s “Sonny’ Blues,” and the essay question on what this work reveals about issues like reality, imagination, truth, morals, values, relationships, gender roles, and power structures. This particular piece of writing primarily focuses on family values, brotherly relationships, and addictions. The story demonstrates...

The Strain Theory in the Mobb Deep’s Song “Survival of the Fittest”

Robert Merton’s Strain Theory is a sociological and criminological theory that states that social structures may force people to commit a crime. There are five modes of adapting to strain that an individual can pursue: conformity, ritualism, innovation, retreatism, and rebellion, the last three of which are associated with criminal...

Landfill Philharmonic Project

Music is an expensive hobby, especially if one wants to play real instruments instead of using software applications that imitate them. However, it is also a beneficial one, starting with developing a refined taste and leading to a bright future. The price issue seems to have been resolved by the...

A Night at the Opera: Similarities and Differences

  “E Lucevan le stelle”(Puccini) “Habanera”(Bizet) “News has a kind of mystery”(Adams) DiscussSimilarities and Differences Tempo (slow, medium, fast, dance-like?) The tempo is slow and changing to medium. The tempo is medium. The tempo is medium and changing to fast. In these three songs, the tempo is always different –...

Ian Curtis and the Decline of Western Civilization

In my opinion, Ian Curtis’ words “No language, just sound, that’s all we need to know” do not correspond as much to the fact that the general public in the U.S. lacks the scientific knowledge, as they actually reveal the essence of author’s subconscious anxieties, related post-industrial living. At the...

Johann Sebastian Bach as an Example of a Talented Person

The image above by Marshal and Emery depicts Johann Sebastian Bach, one of the world’s most famous composers. While he is known for his exceptional artwork, Bach’s life was full of exciting facts that did not directly relate to music. Firstly, not many people know that Bach was married twice...

Technology Influence on the Art of Dance

At the beginning of the XX century, great artists like Kazimir Malevich reinvented visual art, as it was believed there were no other directions it could evolve to in a conventional manner. It is doubtful that contemporary art has given up the idea of the importance of the form and...

The YouTube Broadway Jazz Class

Bob Fosse’s dance style was introduced in the class, and its key features are isolations of body parts, numerous gestures, and turned-in movements. The famous song “All That Jazz” from the musical Chicago largely contributed to the understanding of Fosse’s style. Furthermore, I discovered many new moves, which are easy...

Biography of Johann Sebastian Bach

The magnificent German composer who wrote his works during the Baroque era, Johann Sebastian Bach, has been respected for centuries for his stylistic innovations and musical complexities. He had an impressive musical pedigree and served as organist in the early 18th century, producing such famous compositions as “Toccata and Fugue...

Music Elements Manipulation

The process of music work creation requires a great deal of effort in terms of conveying the primary composer’s idea through some basic music elements like harmony, tone, dynamics, rhythm, etc. Music composition as a notion is closely correlated with the paradigm of human emotive response to the environment. Thus,...

Contemporary Russian Folk Music

Among European folk music traditions, Russian folk music is the one with the most complex and exciting history. Having survived the centuries-long ban on instruments and the authoritarian cultural policy of the Soviet times, it now aims to find its place in modern popular culture while retaining its traditional spirit....

Arsen Petrosyan’s Live Duduk Concert in Yerevan

Arsen Petrosyan’s live duduk concert took place in 2016 in Yerevan, Armenia. His contribution to the popularization of Armenian folk music can hardly be overestimated. Perhaps that is why he is often called the keeper of his people’s musical heritage. Having once chosen one of the most mysterious musical instruments,...

Case Law Analysis: Intellectual Property

The following is a presentation of a legal case most relevant to the current operations of the Wixen Music Publishing company. Though the case of White-Smith Music Publisher Co. v. Apollo Co was tried in 1908, its outcome still affects the music industry. Apollo Co, a mechanical piano manufacturer, was...

Chris Anderson: Digitization of Music

In an influential article titled The Long Tail that was published in 2004, Chris Anderson asserts that we should forget about making about making a few mega hits in the charts. He claims that the future of entertainment lies in the niche markets that are not captured by the much...

Rap Artistry and Production Concept

Introduction My career of choice is rap artistry and production; while this may not be the traditional answer you would get when asking someone what they want to be when they grow up, this has been my dream for a few years now. Rap has been an integral part of...

Live Musical Performances and Concerts’ Analysis

Introduction Music can awaken a wide range of emotions of both the amateur and the sophisticated listener. Live musical performance expands a person’s emotional range and may even go beyond that reaching those unknown types of feelings that people have not yet given a name. That is why I watched...

Madonna as a Controversial Artist of the 20th Century

One of the prominent controversial artworks of the 20th century related to sexual revolution and women empowerment is a song called Like a Virgin performed by Madonna in 1984. The name of the song alone led to the establishment of versatile conversations and arguments in the conservative American society of...

Rapalje Band’s Musical Performance in Castlefield

In 2017, the Castlefield world music festival was held, and “Rapalje” carried the audience to the abyss of the Celtic folk again. Typically, the attendance at their concerts is repeatedly the same, but this festival attracted many new faces. After this concert, the number of “Rapalje’s” fans is likely to...

Cover Versions and The Music of the Beatles

Cover Versions African American contributions have an important place in the history of music. By fusing different techniques which originated in Africa with their unique vocal abilities, black Americans provided the world with jazz, blues, hip-hop, and other notable genres of music. While a part of the population enjoyed these...

Laura Pergolizzi Live Concert Review

Introduction What is one thing that Rihanna, Backstreet Boys, Christina Aguilera, Cher, Leona Lewis, and Celine Dion have in common? It is a piece of the heart of a music phenomenon Laura Pergolizzi, also known as LP, who wrote their hits. A successful, prolific songwriter, she took over the world...

Playing Music and Its Benefits for Health

Nowadays, when there is a large choice of various hobbies, it may be uneasy to take up one. People usually consider all benefits that a particular pastime could bring them before pursuing it. To my mind, music-making is the practice that not only brings pleasure to the player and the...

42nd Street Musical by Stewart and Bramble

If you want to learn about some secrets of show business, you need to watch the brilliant musical 42nd Street. This musical was written by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble in 1980. The production under consideration was performed by the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts in 2013...

Colombian Singer J. Balvin

Colombian singer Jose Alvaro Osorio Balvin became famous all over the world as J Balvin and broke many musical records. During the 16 years of his career, he has released seven discs, sold 35 million copies of singles and 4 million copies of albums (Katler). Besides, the singer has become...

Live Concert of Arctic Monkeys in Glasgow

The incredible performance of Arctic Monkeys in the heart of Glasgow was a phenomenal success among Scottish spectators. The band performed 20 musical compositions as part of the TRNSMT Festival at the historical site where protests and demonstrations once took place. The spotlights behind the drummer, Matt Gelders, and the...

Opinion About Classical Music

Nowadays, classical music loses its popularity among the wide public, which is explained by the fact that it becomes obsolete in the conditions of the modern-day world. Today, people tend to be guided by different cadences, tempos, and they have a different pace. The calm and hasteless nature of classical...

Social Stratification in the Music Art

Selected Songs Music, movies, and novels are powerful tools that artists use to address most of the issues affecting their societies and attract attention of policymakers. The crafted messages become new ideas for overcoming the challenges many citizens experience in their lives. The first song for this analysis is “Same...

“Free to Be”: A Jazz Concert Review

The concert ‘Free to Be’ revolves around freedom, its joys, and its sorrows. The big band arrangement does the hard bop justice and sounds American to the core. The concert asks the listener to consider what freedom means to them and the people around them, and what it took to...

Music Listening Journal Blog: Song Review

Life So Right “Life So Right” is a song written and performed by a talented young woman from Holland, Mariska Baars. She has been singing since 2002 under the pseudonym “Soccer Committee.” Almost all of her songs, including “Life So Right” belong to the genre of lowercase. This music genre...

Cher’s Live Performance “Dressed to Kill Tour” at the BB&T Center

Introduction Lately, live music events have become very popular and almost every artist is striving to give their audience value for their money. The current demand for live music events seems to overwhelming the industry players. All the same, it is evident that live music gives the audience more thrill...

Music of the African Diaspora

Introduction Africans are unique people with distinctive traditions embedded in literary works such as music. Olaudah Equiano’s narrative sheds some light on the cultural heritage of the African diaspora, including music that developed from that period. From the narrative, one can learn how three genres of music – spiritual, gospel,...

Protest Music in the 1960s

Since ancient times, music has been an essential component of any culture. While it has always allowed people to share their feelings and connect with others, creating melodies and signing are the ways the world population goes through specific life events. With the help of music individuals celebrate personal achievements,...

Musical Instrument Families and Ensembles

Instrument families It is important to note that several instrument families possess unique characteristics. In the case of country music, the most used one is the strings family, which includes dobro, banjo, or autoharp. Similarly, rock also belongs to the strings family, such as bass and guitars. However, jazz mostly...

Classical Symphonic Music Analysis Event

History proves that classical symphonic music is almost immortal, which speaks of its significant cultural component. For this essay, I watched and analyzed four video recordings of musical performances. They are united by the classical character of compositions and features. The purpose of this paper is to review the videos...

The Newport Jazz Festival

Newport Jazz Festival is a grand musical occasion held every summer in Rhode Island. It was initially established as the first annual American jazz festival starting to attract notable jazz musicians, including Billie Holiday, Dave Brubeck, and Ella Fitzgerald. The line-up for the 1998 Newport Jazz Festival included Diana Krall,...

EMI Music: Company Analysis

Introduction EMI Music is one of the largest and trusted sound recording studios in the world. In general, this is the synonym of reliable cooperation, high-quality services, and trust of the clients, hence, the reputation of the company is high enough. As for the competitive environment of the company, there...

Difference Between Hearing and Listening to Music

Music has a unique way of conveying feelings, emotions, and even stories, regardless of the country and language of a person who listens to it. Various techniques and methods allow a composer to transfer mood and feeling so that the listener can perceive and understand it. However, most people hear...

The Passenger Opera Analysis

The Passenger by the composer Mieczysław Weinberg is the opera based on the autobiographical book of the same name by the Polish writer Zofia Posmysz. The libretto was written by the Russian music critic Alexander Medvedev. The opera has been praised by critics for its stunning music, and at the...

Electronic Music in Film: Leitmotifs and Melody

With the rise in the mainstream popularity of electronic music, it quickly worked its way into the cinema. Although less creative moviemakers view electronic music only as the background noise and the ploy for attracting the attention of modern audiences, most movie directors incorporate electronic music in movies thoughtfully. Due...

Wolfson Campus Opera Ensemble Presents Pippin

Many people would agree that musicals are a wonderful way to spend their free time, and enjoy a relaxing atmosphere full of joy and bright emotions. Not long ago I had a chance to feel the truthfulness of the above-mentioned saying as I to visited “Pippin” musical by the Miami...

Hip-Hop Influence on American Popular Culture

The sphere of hip-hop influence on American popular culture is constantly extending, involving new forces and new interpretations. Previously hip hop was considered to be exclusively the culture of the oppressed and marginalized Afro-Americans, but at the present moment the racial and social boundaries are defied and such prominent hip...

Adolescent Music: Cultural, Moral and Political Messages

Introduction The two songs that I have selected are classified under the hip-hop genre of music. This is a genre that came about as a result of the hip-hop culture. It can be described by four major stylistic elements that define it, and those are rapping, deejaying or scratching, sampling...

Evolution of Rock and Roll in Radio

Rock and roll is a music genre that emerged during the close of 1940s and the dawn of early 1950s in the southern region of the United States (Aquila 46). The originators of rock and roll combined blues of African American origin, country music, gospel music and jazz to come...

Comparison of ‘Supermassive Black Hole’ and ‘Hit my Heart’

Introduction Music is an art. Listening to the music one may be captured in the absolutely new world where emotions and feelings have covered the whole space. Different music styles create absolutely different pictures in the human mind, but the reaction to the music is in most cases the same;...

Hawaiian Dance: Hula Dance Styles

Introduction Hula is the Hawaiian dance type that is accompanied by a chant or a song as the other best alternative. The Polynesians developed this form of dance in the Hawaiian Islands when they settled there. The accompanying song is known as “mele” and Hula dance dramatizes it (Tater, 1993)....

How Music Reinforces Stereotypes?

The contemporary entertainment world is mostly covered by music from renown artists all over the world such as Michael Jackson, Ja Rule, 50 Cent, Rihanna, Shakira, Celline Dion among others. Places of entertainment such as the discotheques or clubs play the role airing music from these artists to listeners. Moreover,...

“White Spirituals in the Southern Uplands” by George Pullen Jackson

The study of the origin and development of music is naturally accompanied by the study of historic conditions and sociological ground for the development of music. Since there is great variety of musical genres that serve certain aims and are performed by certain people or groups of people on some...

Instrumental Suite in the Baroque Period

Introduction A suite is a musical instrumental masterpiece that consists of a series of changing movements or a series of dances of related keys or it’s a collection of pieces related to each other. In addition, instrumentals refer to a kind of music produced by the use of musical instruments...

Hip-Hop and Commercial Culture Relationship

It is doubtless, that the present-day culture became commodified, being oriented on the mass market. It is almost impossible for the cultural workers to resist the temptation to be driven by the corporate interests only. To preserve the universal value of the hip hop generation cultural heritage, it is necessary...

Hip-Hop Musical Impact on the World

Introduction Hip-hop is a musical genre and part of a wider culture of hip-hop. The hip-hop culture has several hallmarks to its characteristics; they include rapping, emceeing, freestyling, scratching among other attributes. Its origin can be traced back to rapping in 1970 Southern side of Bronx, New York. Rapping is...

The Sprawl and the Redevelopment Plan for Times Square

The video The Sprawl is showing us how change is not always good. All the music by Sonic Youth and Arcade Fire in this group of songs under this category of urban sprawl are really about the same thing. Each of the songs is about different aspects of the takeover...

Pogues’ “If I Should Fall From the Grace of God” Review

Britain has always been a complex entity of four distinct unique national identities with individual peculiarities, customs and traditions. As far as Ireland is concerned, it has its own separate identity that is embodied in Irish music which is an inseparable part of Irish culture. One of the representatives of...

Appalachian Music: About Music Tradition

Abstract The modern music industries highly rely on the old-time forms of songs since the modern music is made up of the traditional instruments and modern instruments that can all be found stored in the modern piano that can be used to add flavor to music. The old-time music of...

The Music Industry Versus the Internet: Mp3 and Other Cyber Wars

Introduction Some issues need to be discussed in relation to MP3 and other Cyber related wars. Music is a foremost fabric that reaches its audience through many forms. Nonetheless, Mp3 is one of the forms. However, there are debatable concerns about consumption, distribution, revolution, copyright, promotion, and economic perceptive from...

Bob Fosse of Broadway Fame

Born in Chicago, Illinois, on June 23rd, 1927, Bob Fosse grew to become the “most influential man in jazz” (Dance Help Inc.). At the height of his career, he was a theater choreographer, screen writer, film director and director. During his career, “he won eight unparalleled Tony awards for choreography”...

The Story of Christian Music

With a composer’s ear, the author tried to document the expression of faith and joy for a community. As he dealt with a vast subject, he has drawn boundaries to limit the discussion. What will appeal the most to the readers is the ways the Christian Community found during the...

Beethoven and the City of Bonn

There were a lot of people who were called geniuses in different spheres of human activity. When music is concerned, probably, the first name that leaps into one’s mind is Ludwig Van Beethoven, a composer, and pianist whose works and memory have been living for many centuries already. Such prominent...

“Frederic Chopin: A Guide to Research” by W. Smialek

Introduction Music is one of the finest art forms that the mankind has ever created. It allows people express their emotions and reflect the whole beauty of the surrounding world. However, research in music would be impossible without another art form – literature. In this paper, I will present the...

The College Concert: Mozart, Piazzola and Beethoven

Every concert is an opportunity for talented musicians to demonstrate their understanding and interpretation of certain musical pieces. The task becomes especially complicated when works dating from different styles and epochs are combined in one concert, since it requires careful selection of the pieces providing sufficient diversity without excessive dissimilarity....

Elvis Presley’s Influence on Music

Elvis Aaron Presley an immensely talented American artist gained extreme popularity at a point in time as a vocalist, actor, and musician. His popularity made him frequently known just as “Elvis” amongst his huge fan base. Titles such as “The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll” and “The King” (Marsh, 176)...

Development of Harpsichord and Piano

Harpsichords are keyboard instruments with strings played by plucking mechanisms whereas pianos are keyboard instruments whose sounds are produced when struck by hummers controlled by the keyboard. Over the years, the refinement of the instruments has involved many technologies for instance; the making of strings, hammers, plucking mechanisms, action wires,...

Pablo Picasso’s “The Three Dancers” Painting

At the beginning of the 20th century, the machine age and the perfection of the photograph had reduced the prestige of art as a unique form of expression. In reaction to the concept that art offered no greater means of expression than the simple representation of the external world, artists...

Parallel Worlds: Country-And-Western and Rap Music

The historical changes of the USA outlined the emergence of many styles in music. It was because of the versatile nature of the American population. Nonetheless, some styles in music were presupposed to bear the notion of its original shaping because of some distinctive features maintained throughout the historical cut....

Thelonius Monk: Musical Genius

Jazz music is commonly thought of as naturally arising from the plantations of the South as black people gained their freedom and turned their sorrowful songs into celebration. Even then, they knew something about music that science is just now discovering – it has healing properties that can surpass other...

The Developing of Keyboard Sonatas Through the Works of Joseph Haydn

Music is an important part of human life. People listen to music for different purposes. Some people find calmness and relax with the music, others are excited with it, some people listen to the music to find the answers to their questions, and the rest just enjoy good melodies and...

Music of the Baroque Period: What is a Baroque Concerto?

Introduction Baroque is often used to describe the style of music which is composed during the era that coincides with the period of Baroque art. There are still a lot of arguments when it comes to the principles of baroque music especially its contribution to the Baroque period. One highlight...

Antonio Vivaldi and Robert Schumann: Comparison

Antonio Vivaldi Little has been documented about the childhood of the famed Baroch composer Antonio Vivaldi. It is believed that he was born to a professional violinist father on March 4, 1678. For unknown reasons, Vivaldi chose to join the clergy and be ordained as a priest in 1703. It...

Understanding Soundscapes and Composition Process

Introduction A soundscape is defined as either a collection of sound or a particular sound that emanates from a certain environment. In a number of instances, this may involve performance of that sound. It may also be necessary to record it is so as to create a certain sensation that...

Performing Arts. Minton’s Playhouse Jazz Club

Introduction Jazz music is commonly thought of as naturally arising from the plantations of the South as black people gained their freedom and turned their sorrowful songs into celebration. However, this isn’t exactly how jazz got its start. It is true that jazz came into being as a musical genre...

The Vienna Philharmonic Summer Night Concert 2009

Music is the other world, where people think about nothing but the sounds they hear, feel nothing, but the surrounding atmosphere and see nothing, as music fulfills all the soul and person can percept nothing else. Classical music is absolutely different from modern music as classical music is immortal, a...

Filmi: Indian Music Unique Element

Music is a form of art created via the medium of sound and comprised of an variety of components which include pitch (harmony, melody), rhythm (meter, tempo) and sonic qualities such as texture and timber. Culture and social context are the essentials that determine or constitute how music is defined,...

“The Sound of Music” Opera Review

Introduction The world of beautiful is larger when it is accompanied with the art of music and its implementation in opera. The concerts provide a spectator with an appropriate aesthetic pleasure maintained in the manner of singing and performing events on the scene. More efforts are made to make a...

Jazz Music: Comparison to Music in Previous Eras

Introduction Music as a form of art has been heard by different people and cultures all over the world in different genres and languages. Jazz is a musical art of American origin that dates back to the twentieth century from an influence of European and American music traditions. It uses...

The Roots of Turkish Music: The Sound of Ney and Sufism

Abstract Music has always played an essential role for humanity. Since the early times, people tried to derive sounds of anything possible, and create music, that had sacred meaning, helped to relax, accompanied people during their work etc. Sufi music, and the sounds of Ney in the Islamic cultures were...

Arthur Bliss: An English Composer’s Life and Work

Biography Sir Arthur Bliss was until the time of his death a well respected and prominent English composer of the queen’s music. He was born as the eldest son on 2 August, 1891 in England. His mother was British but his father was of American origin that was by then...

Favorite Instrument on the Web: The Guitar

History and/or Manufacturers Guitars were invented in Spain, by the people of Malaga around the 15th century. Initially, it was a very small instrument with four pairs of strings each pair called a “course”. Two significant changes were made to the guitar in the Baroque period – double strings were...

Music Industry and Information Technology

Introduction For starters, the word ‘music’ can be defined as an art form involving organized sounds and silence, expressed in terms of pitch, quality, and rhythm. Since time immemorial, music has been used as the medium of choice by many to “calm the soul of the wounded beast’, as it...

Teaching Music in the Middle Schools

When signing up members into the intermediate choir, there are a number of vital aspects, which should be put into consideration. These are the aspects that will determine the level of commitment and the quality of the choruses from the choir members. It is crucial to look at the interest...

Popular Music. “West Side Story” Musical

When West Side Story burst upon the Broadway stage in 1957 it was the most unique musical of its time, bringing together a wide array of musical genres with different cultural roots to enhance a modern version of Romeo and Juliet with wonderfully blended orchestration and an inspired choreography. Following...

Hui main/Hec dies, 13th century by Motet

The motet Hui main/Hec dies represents the early medieval music and shows a unique combination of the musical; a palette of the period and the text. It is important to note that in this motet each voice has its own sharply marked characteristics. In the motet, the tenor melody is...

French Popular Music, Barbara (French Singer)

Barbara becomes an icon of French culture, music, and the movie industry. In her lyrics and performance, she speaks about social and cultural problems, love and passion, etc. It is possible to say that the qualities of Barbara’s styles are not typically feminine because she speaks about social and personal...

Jazz and Politics: “The History of Jazz”

Jazz is an American musical art that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities as there was the connection of African and European music traditions. With the emaciation of slaves, there were new opportunities that were cared to African Americans in that they were allowed...

Marvin Gaye “What’s Going on” Album’s History

Introduction Marvin Gaye was born in Washington, D.C., on April 2, 1939 and he died on April 1, 1984 he used to sing as a child in church (Turner S, 1998 p.12). His father was a Pentecostal church minister and hence Marvin Gaye grew up listening to the music of...

Louis Spohr, a Conductor of the Nineteenth Century

Louis Spohr was a prolific German composer, violinist, and conductor at the beginning of the early nineteenth century (Weyer M, 1980). He was born in Brunswick in 1784 in Germany. Louis Spohr was considered to be one of the finest composers of his time. His parents were also musicians; his...

Violin Virtuoso Extraordinaire Vs. Yi-Jia Hou Concert

The current essay provides a critical account of two performances of classical music which I visited during the course. Based on the advice of my friends and information that I borrowed from various resources the first concert of classic music that I visited was the Violin Virtuoso Extraordinaire concert which...

Evolution of the Piano: From Clavichord to Modern Digital

The piano can be directly linked to two instruments οf centuries past. The first is the clavichord, a box-like structure in which strings are stretched and struck by metal blades to produce notes and pitches. The clavichord could be manipulated to produce different chords, but even at its best, it...

Frederic Chopin’s Analytical Biography

Frederic Chopin was one of the renowned musicians. His composing style was very effective in the music world (Samson, 1994). Initially, he did many experiments to compose techniques of piano playing which later on brought revolutionary changes in music and well esteemed by all. He had a good-looking and polite...

Conductor’s Preparation for Rehearsal

One of the essential attributes of a good conductor is not so much a conductor’s wand as a highly developed musical ear. The conductor should be able to separate the individual tones and chords in the polyphony of sounds, as well as be able to summarize them all together when...

Ermias “Nipsey Hussle” Asghedom and His “Crenshaw”

Rapping plays a significant role in US culture because it has a huge number of fans. In their texts, artists tend to reflect on the current issues and contemporary situation in the country. Sometimes, rappers become well-known for their contribution to the local neighborhoods. Nipsey Hussle was not only one...

“Evoking Sound: Fundamentals of Choral Conducting” by Jordan

James Jordan, in his book Evoking Sounds, Fundamentals of Choral Conducting 2nd edition, gives an overview of how music creators can allow their music to “speak” to the right audiences. In chapter 23, the author explains that there are four main phases that have to be considered when creating memorable...

Advanced Choral Conducting Techniques: Lessons from Jordan’s Fundamentals

Basics for choral conductors working with instrumentalists include such aspects as verbal and gestural communication, using the baton, articulation, and bowing. Verbally, the conductor is recommended to address instrumentalists in the same fashion he or she would attend a choir. The best course of action in terms of tuning the...

Studying Orchestral Scores by a Conductor

Introduction Studying the orchestral score is the very first stage of the conductor’s training before rehearsal. Merely reading the score without analyzing the parts does not cover the entire range of artistic meanings embedded in the composition. In the process of preparing, the conductor should pay serious attention to the...

Castrati Singers: History, Impact, and Modern Perspectives

Abstract This paper focuses on the study of a castrato’s phenomenon from the perspective of the history of music. To better understand the role castrati singers played in opera, along with the impact of castration, the nature of their singing and bodily effects are explored. The prohibition of male voices...

New York Jazz Festival: Diverse Talents & Authentic Jazz Experience

The New York Jazz Festival was an authentic experience of musical expression. Incorporating the elements of different cultures, the festival featured an extraordinarily diverse and immensely talented band. The performance was directed by Tim Jackson, who led the band consisting of artists that had already established themselves as prominent jazz...

The Role of Klezmer Music in Preserving Jewish Cultural Heritage

Introduction The Jewish culture is unique, which is reflected in the Klezmer music tradition. This genre emerged in the 9th century, and during the 16th and 17th centuries, klezmer musicians were widely known as musicians playing at weddings. After the Second World War, this genre was forgotten by the general...

The History of Charlie Parker

Charlie Parker was one of the outstanding jazz musicians, who brought the unique rhythms and performance into the world of jazz. However, his uniqueness caused him many troubles as he was a heroin addict and mentally ill. Events that led to the addiction, his place of origin, and details of...

Laura Pausini: Live Music Event Critique

In this paper, I will present my analysis and reaction to the live concert of Laura Pausini, which took place in Miami on July 26, 2018. The event started at 8:00 PM at James L. Knight Center and lasted for a couple of hours. It was dedicated to Laura’s new...

Swing Dance in History and Modern Trends

Introduction The history of swing dancing had its roots in the distant past when the culture of African Africans and Europeans intertwined, and society felt an irresistible desire to erase boundaries between traditional and street choreography. The philosophy of swing is simple and attractive – it is an opportunity to...

Music Listening: “Say a Little Prayer“ Song by Bacharach & David

“I Say a Little Prayer” is written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. The genre of the song is pop, but it can be called soul too. The song is about a woman praying for her husband who is fighting in Vietnam. It is very lovely and romantic, and the...

“Memphis” Musical Theatre Production

The musical “Memphis” is a story depicting a disc-jockey (DJ ) who preferred music that was associated with the African-Americans, and thus his vision was unpopular among other DJs or radio producers. The central theme of this plot and the idea for this story is based on the real-life story...

Mozart’s Requiem Mass: Exploring Music History

Introduction Requiem is the last uncompleted work of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the prominent composer, and a funeral mass written in the canonical Latin text. The writing was finished by the disciple of Mozart, mainly by Franz Xaver Süssmayer. Requiem is one of Mozart’s most famous works, the creation history of...

Frederic Chopin and His “Minute Waltz”

Historical Background Chopin was born in the Grand Duchy of Warsaw in 1810, and this territory became a part of the Kingdom of Poland five years after his birth (Bellman & Goldberg, 2017). A son of an immigrant and a Polish aristocrat, Chopin attended the University of Warsaw (Bellman &...

The Seven T’s at Seventy: Charles Ferguson’s 70th Birthday Concert

A music concert that I attended was entitled The Seven T’s at Seventy and was dedicated to the 70th birthday of Charles Ferguson, a lecturer at California Institute of the Arts, who was also a solo performer during the show. The concert took place on January 19, 2019, in the...

Grunge Rock History in the United States

Grunge rock is a pop culture phenomenon, an alternative rock style that combines the best of hardcore punk and heavy metal. It is characterized by loud, hoarse vocals, with personal anguish, sometimes there is slight aggression and mild propaganda of suicidal tendencies. Thanks to its eccentricity, rudeness, the richness of...

Musical Culture and Internet Influence

Introduction The role of music in the structure of the spiritual life of a modern person is quite large, and musical culture as a whole becomes a significant factor in the formation of universal human values ​​among people. Music can be represented as a certain symbolic system, musical culture as...

John Philip Sousa: the Marine and Bandmaster

John Philip Sousa, a known American composer, was born on November 6, 1854, in Washington, DC, in a family of former European residents. The legacy of this famous bandmaster is among the greatest national treasures of the United States. In the history of America, this remarkable figure is known as...

The Standard Modern Symphony Orchestra: Instruments and Families

What type of musical line is the most recognizable, memorable one that you are most likely to leave the concert whistling? Melody is the most recognizable type of musical line because it is a combination of musical tones (pitch and rhythm) perceived by a listener as a single entity, so...

American Hard Rock in Relation to Society

Historical background of rock music The American hard rock can be traced from the 1940s. Its history is pegged on the development of the rock and roll and country music. The inception of the music has no clear origin, but it has grown through the fusing of different types of...

“Seussical the Musical” Theater Play Critique

Seussical is a brilliant musical for kids and perhaps even adults who cherish the writings of Dr. Seuss. The production intertwines the plots of several stories to create a magical world full of fantastic creatures and breathtaking adventures of the Cat, Horton the Elephant, and his small friend Jojo (“Seussical...

Music in the Movie “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”

Introduction: The Essential Details Movie title: The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Composer: Jon Brioni Music styles: Pop, soft rock (“Everybody’s Got to Learn Sometime”), psychedelic pop (“Light&Day”), art rock (“Mr. Blue Sky”), filmi songs (background music), trip-hop, electronic, indie (“A Dream upon Waking”). When the Music Is an...

A Rock Concert by Kansas

The Concert by Kansas Recently, on the evening of Friday, February 19, I attended a rock concert by Kansas. Kansas is an American rock band that gained its popularity as early as in the 1970s, and is still active today, albeit it had a short break in 1984-1985. The band...

20th-Century Music: Prokofiev, Respighi, Orff’s Works

Introduction Music has always been a sensitive mirror of major social processes, attitudes, and trends. So was the case in the twentieth century, when the tendency to the scientific perception of the world, employment of technology, and progressing mechanization of life characterized contemporary society. At the same time, composers did...

Research Techniques for Effective Communication with Vocal Performers

Introduction Attention-Grabbing Idea People can communicate in absolutely different ways: some people prefer to use signs, many people like to gesticulate to attract attention, and the vast majority of people use vocal cues to underline their intentions. Vocalist communication is one of those interesting types of communication that requires certain...

E-Concert Report: Analysis of Early and Baroque Music Performance and Impact

Introduction The epoch of Baroque, which took over one and a half centuries from the early 1600s to the 1750s, was a majestic period for all branches of art. Its bizarre pompous luxury found reflection not only in architecture but also in other arts, such as music. The main genres...

Classical vs Romantic: Mozart and Mussorgsky’s Timeless Works

Introduction Works of Classical and Romantic music possess a special charm to music lovers. On the one hand, the intellectual, rational, and orderly époque of Classicism, which spanned approximately seven decades from 1750, produced impeccable models of such genres of symphony and concerto. On the other hand, the emotional, intuitive,...

Wolfgang Mozart and Lorenzo Da Ponte: the Winning Duo

Abstract A leading and most efficient composer of operatic music and plays, Mozart is a genius since his childhood. His mastery extended over a hundred plays and operas. He was assisted by his librettists in his success. One of the most noted librettist is Da Ponte. While Ponte’s work on...

Belly Dance and Western Culture

Shay Antony and Barbara Sellers-Young. “Belly Dance: Orientalism-Exoticism-Self-Exoticism.” Dance Research Journal. Vol. 35, No. 1 (2003), pp. 13-37. The article traces the origins of belly dance and the culture spread through a “vast region extending from the Atlantic Ocean in North Africa and the Balkans in the west to the...

The 66th International Music Festival in Prague

Introduction Prague is the capital city of the Czech Republic, a country in central Europe bordered by Poland, Germany, Austria, and Slovakia. Prague also doubles up as the largest city in this landlocked country, and is a very dynamic city by day and at night, especially during festivals. Towards the...

Las Vegas: The City of a Thousand Lights and Elvis Presley

Introduction Las Vegas, which translates from Spanish as «fertile valleys», is a world center of entertainment for every taste. Since the second half of the twentieth century, Las Vegas seems to be «the city of a thousand lights», and one of the greatest centers of show business development. Elvis Presley...

Music Reproduction in the Future

Introduction/Thesis statement Nowadays, it represents a commonplace practice to discuss the significance of music in conjunction with how the aesthetic medium in question affected the course of humanity’s historical progress. Such an analytical approach does appear to make much sense. After all, there can be only a few doubts that...

Impact of Set Design and Costumes in a Children’s Musical

Seussical is a spectacular musical for kids, which is based on the books of Dr. Seuss. The plots of several stories intricately intertwine in order to create a totally unprecedented magical world full of fantastic creatures and breathtaking adventures of the Cat, Horton the Elephant, and his small friend Jojo....

Exploring Gangstagrass: The Fusion of Bluegrass and Hip-Hop

Gangstagrass is a bluegrass/hip-hop band that mixes elements of traditional bluegrass music with hip-hop beats to stress the thematic similarity of lyrics in both genres. In the band’s song Long Hard Times To Come, the following lyrics are recited by the guest hip-hop performer TONE-z: “Hook the car up–hit the...

The Portrayal of Death in Lullabies

Lullabies and Death Lullabies constitute a significant part of such cultural phenomenon as nursery rhymes. Therefore, people rarely consider them to have any serious and substitutional sense or any sense at all. However, it should be stated that nursery rhymes, and lullabies as well, can have very disturbing underlying meanings....

Prelude in E Minor by Frédéric Chopin

The principle of unity and variety can be applied to various musical works. This paper is aimed at discussing the way in which this principle can used to discuss Frédéric Chopin’s Prelude in E minor. It is critical to focus on such aspects as dynamics, timbre, and musical ideas included...

Cultural Shifts: The Impact of Trap Music on Latin American Women

Introduction Being an art form, music, in general, and songs, in particular, serve as not only the means of self-expression but also as the tool for representing a range of social issues. The elaborate use of sound techniques, the choice of words, and the expressivity of a singer allow expressing...

Hillsong United: A Journey of Faith and Music

The Rise of Opera The first opera appeared in Italy, in Florence at the turn of XVI – XVII centuries. It was composed by the members of a small company the admirers of ancient art. They entered the history of music as the Florentine Camerata (Italian “camerata” – company). They...