Active Listening of Songs that were Intended

At first, I found this assignment easy, but it is a hard one, especially since I am not so good at listening. I found it hard to find the impressions of the songs that were assigned. These are my impressions of what I got from these songs. For the first song Alleluia o’ virga mediatrix, when the singing goes down and slow, it gives me a sense of relaxation, but when it goes to the higher notes, it gives some suspense.

This melody is presented alone, which is monophonic. There are no instruments in the background. I also can hear the singer taking pauses to take a breath which I believe it’s called a cadence. I feel the composer used all these impressions in this song to create a harmonic melody to make others feel this sense of relaxation and calmness. Giving us a well-made sacred song.

For the String Quartet, I found a lot of impressions for this song. I feel the volume for this song could be soft since there are not a lot of high notes. I did feel the harmony in this song. There weren’t many instruments. There were only violins, viola, and a cello which I believe there were moving in perfect sync, which is also known as the string quartet, which is made up of four people. I couldn’t find the leader of the group; it does have around three cadences where there were in-between pauses of the cello from the viola and violins. I believe the composer used all this to create a perfect symphony where it gives that feeling of harmony, peace, and concentration, which is why I feel this symphony is one of my favorites.

The afternoon of the faun was very interesting but also very creepy. At the beginning of the song, I believed it was a very similar song to those used in fairy tale movies, but as it keeps going, it goes toward suspense, then it will keep it going through a pattern such as ( A-B-A), whose form would be ternary. Also, its volume would be softness toward loudness. I was able to distinguish a clarinet which it would be called timbre. There is also a cadence towards the end, which made me believe it was going to finish, but it was incomplete because it turned downward. Then, in the end, it gives you complete rest, which ends. The composer in this composition can make people feel relaxed, but it gives this suspense and a sense where he makes people believe it will soon end, but he keeps on going. I believe he mixed this impression to keep people awake and to keep leaving them wondering more.

Mr.Tamborine shows a lot of rhyming. Its volume could be loudness. I feel this can be included in the pattern quadruple; it does show a lot of cadence from the very beginning till the end. I feel that this can be homophonic because there is only one harmonic accompaniment which that would be the piano. The tempo can be vivacity which is lively but with suspension. All this was mixed to give these people suspension but also for them to see that it was exciting. This composition was the hardest for me since it didn’t last too long, and it was harder to find the impressions.

I can’t really make music, but if I did, I would choose a song that would represent me. Therefore, these impressions that I learned can help to find that perfect beat or melody to make people like it and find it catchy. To add that spice and make sure that I love it and for other people also love it the same way I do. I’m pretty sure being a composer is also hard. It is just not about composing. You must find that perfect rhythm, make sure it is approved by others, and add more to it in case there’s something else missing. Therefore, all these terms to music are important to those people and me.

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