Preview

Overture To The Magic Flute Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
524 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Overture To The Magic Flute Analysis
After attending the concert, the piece of work I would like to talk in most detail about was "Overture to the Magic Flute" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791). Mozart was a child prodigy, was able to play the piano at 4 and composing his own music at 5. As Professor Chapman stated, "When he was older, he could just write music while talking to friends without testing it. He was able to hear the piece entirely in his head." The piece being focused on was an opera he composed, and not just any, one of his more famous. What will be discussed is the feel of the piece's form composed and some details pertaining to its creation such as instruments, meter, tempo and measures that were noticeable. Also, the general feel I received from the …show more content…
It started out with an up beat, happy feeling in the introduction. Although it started slow, it began to pick up as it moves along in the major scale. There was use of many classical instruments, such as the oboe and flute, and in the lower bass regions, a bassoon maybe. In the middle of the opera, it slips into a minor scale in sort of a fugal fashion, but keeps the same theme as before in the major scale. It then again, goes back into the major scale and has its conclusion there. Since in a major key, this suggests that maybe the opera could have actually ended on a good note. To one listening, the melody sounded as though there was a movement of drama, followed by a movement of mythical sound. It is a common trait to have contrasting themes in this type of music. The meter of this piece is 4/4 with changing tempos as the song goes on. The tempo starts slow, but half way through the measure of the major scale, it picks up gradually to a fast tempo into the measure of the minor scale. It then slips into the measure of major scale again and the tempo slows down until the grand conclusion. The piece demonstrates an orchestral sound through the use of many of the classical instruments. This is not disturbing in any sense since the piece was created during the Classical period where many other works of art around this period had the same form style and form. The timbre was

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The first piece written by Lowell Liebermann, Sonata for Flute and Harp, Op. 56 was a vibrant piece music dealing mostly with chromaticism at its center. The harp slowly and gradually moves in a crescendo with an almost synonymous sound to a suspense movie. The flute on the other hand, acts as the amplifying instrument that amplifies the tension created by the harp. Similarly, David Kechley’s piece, Available Light: Midwinter Musings for Flute and Harp possesses almost the same characteristics as Liebermann’s piece with an exemption of a calm and soothing reflective 3rd movement, the Lyric Transformation. The 1st and 2nd movement, Frenetic Reflection and Cold Fusion desperately dives into an even more chromaticism while still…

    • 256 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The first movement of the composition begins with a solo from only the strings family. A soft, consistent melody is played and the violin dominates the other instruments in this piece. The tone color at the beginning of this piece is relatively light which symbolizes the characteristics of a nuturing mother. As expected from a classical piece, the dynamics of the piece suddenly change, and there is a slight crescendo in the piece during the following measures of the composition. The tempo of the composition grows quicker in pace which portrays another chapter in the story, signalizng another movement of the piece. A violinist them performs a solo that plays alot that is also quick, yet play alot on the concept of pitch. It can be heard that the violin goes from very low ranges to fairly high range in pitch to emphasize the great amount of emotion in the piece.…

    • 560 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Machaunt's Mass

    • 327 Words
    • 2 Pages

    If time is taken to listen to the piece repeatedly, it becomes clearer that the tone is not dull but soothing and nourishing to the soul. The piece was written not for the common individuals of the time but the musically elite. It is a complex piece with great depth.…

    • 327 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The in class concert with three performances that I attended on 15th of February was an very interesting experience for me as I have not been to a classical music concerts that often. The first piece, Oxycotton, was performed by Tim Sanchez using the marimba. The second one, Acht Stucke, was performed by Samantha Post using the flute. Nicholas Gledhill using the horn performed the third piece, Blues and Variations for Monk. The last piece, Misty, was performed by CSU Graduate Brass Quintet. In this paper, I am going to write about the performances that I heard and about the different music elements that they used in each performance.…

    • 459 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The same tune would get caught in your ear, then it was moving you faster or slower; as well as that tune getting louder or softer at appropriate intervals coinciding with the dramas taking place. I also noticed a few woodwind and harp solos during the brighter, happier moments of the performance. The use of castanets and tambourines also caught my eyes and ears. Of course, there was tremendous use of varying the pitch and tempo as well as how loud or soft the music was. Again this is all to enhance how the emotion was conveyed to the audience. Additionally, a piece that stuck out in my head as I left (mainly because I’ve never really noticed or caught on to it until after learning this in one of our class sections) was toward the end when a solo played for a period of time and then that instrument was joined by all the other instruments—playing the same thing—in consistent pleasing…

    • 817 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The orchestras played this piece to create a great closing to the concert. The conductor made a great decision to arrange this song to be at the end giving almost a sense of closure. The addition of the percussionist again helped give the piece the nice lifted feeling, as well as help the orchestra stay together; however the dynamic contrast between the four sections was rather light.The use of a snare drum drastically changed this piece, it feels more like a slow waltz. The little use of dynamics, however, kept the melody from popping out as much as it should have. In the beginning of the piece everybody played the notes with space between then; however towards the end, a few of orchestra members played the notes smoothly and connected whereas the rest of the orchestra played the notes spaced. The intonation and a steady tempo was retained throughout the performance which gave this piece a focused tone. The violins and violas did an excellent job using full bows, but the cellos needed to use long bows so they can create a deep, rich, and crisp sound. This piece made the audience feel excited and eager to hear more because many of the audience members recognized this…

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Before the concert started, while waiting for everyone to settle down in their seat, the players were doing a little rehearsal, it was a dissonance mixture of sound from every instrument. When it was show time, the conductors gave everyone a little greeting before proceeded to the first piece, American Fanfare by James M.…

    • 1016 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Concert Critique

    • 1353 Words
    • 6 Pages

    It was Monday, November 17 cold and snowy outside Ophelia Paris Concert Hall, Truman State University but inside it was all warmth and light as Elaine AuBuchon started the Double Reed Recital. Having not been to any actual classical music concert, I was excited to hear the talent that we have in our campus. I took it upon myself to go with an open mind, without having any previous predispositions that would affect my reaction to the concert. I just wanted to go in there, not knowing anything about the concert, and see what I hear in the music. This concert was open to anyone and free admission. The program presented a variety of styles…

    • 1353 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The first half of the program included two pieces, Piano Quartet in E-flat major, K. 493 composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Die Gebüsche composed by Franz Schubert. The most impressive piece for me was the first one. It was a chamber music from classical period. This concerto-like quartet had three movements, which gave us an echoing through the performance. There was a material between piano and strings that changes along the piece. The first movement was a sonata-form Allegro. A bright and genial opening establishes the major tone of the entire piece. This sonata-allegro also had a lot of narrow leaps which allows me feel lively. The second movement Larghetto was like a rapt dialogue between piano and strings. It started with solo piano. Then, it has a downcast and made me fell leisure. The third movement Allegretto was the finale of the piece, which has a moderately paced rondo. The characteristics of classical music include symmetrical, balanced phrases melody, dance rhythms, diatonic, tonic-dominant harmony, multimovement sonata-allegro form and homophonic. The violin tonic-dominant and the form of homophonic allowed me ensure that the piece is composed in Classical ear, but not from Baroque…

    • 581 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fall Choral Concert Essay

    • 524 Words
    • 3 Pages

    This is an amazing energetic piece by the presented of these instruments: piano, cowbell, timpani, maracas, voices (soprano, alto, tenor, and bass). The tempo throughout the piece are rallentando and fast tempos. The piece sounded strong, powerful, harmonizing in between the instrument, but also chilling at the sacred movement where it got slow and a bit softer. Overall, the dynamics where mezzo forte, forte, tenuto, crescendo, and sforzando. The word that have been repeated the most throughout the piece was “silliza” with a loud (forte) by the voices singing. I have enjoyed this piece and love it because it sounds really energetic, strong, happy, fun, and exciting. In my opinion, this is an good ending song where all the choirs get to sing together before the concert…

    • 524 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The composer wanted to create a memorable Leitmotifs. The music makes me think of a drama that I can picture many of the actions taking place just by listening to the music.…

    • 462 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I heard “William Tell Overture” composed by Gioachino Rossini. In order to understand in detail of this music, I need to research a little bit about this music and the composer. In the several websites for music, Gioachino Rossini was Italian composer and he wrote 39 operas and sacred music and chamber music. But his best well known music is “William Tell Overture” which is composed in 1829 and led to the nickname “The Italian Mozart” in 18th classic era.…

    • 332 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Duet Papagena/Papageno is a duet from Act 1 in the Opera Magic Flute that was written by W.A. Mozart in 1791. It starts in a 2/4 time sang allegretto. It starts with an ostinato ‘pa pa pa’ by the two voices while the orchestra blends in harmony. Staccato is used to give it a joyful, jumpy and light feel to the music. The instruments that have been employed have bright timbres and include violins and oboe; there is also prominent use of the panpipe which makes the piece quite expressive. The voices have a call and response technique while occasionally singing together in harmony. The piece is set on G major, which is a bright key to sing on. The melody of the song is folk-like; the rhythm is bouncy, carefree and dance-like. Listening to…

    • 313 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Wolfgang Mozart was a composer during the classical period who composed over 600 pieces. Every since a youngster, Mozart showed that he was going to grow up to be a fine musician, writing his first composition when he was barely 6 years old. His work was very influential to other composers, but coming up he was influenced by other composers we have learned about in Music 101 such as Haydn and Bach. Mozart wrote many masterpieces, but the one we will be focusing on today is his Le Nozze di Figaro or The Marriage of Figaro. The play was composed and written by Mozart. The Marriage of Figaro was an opera buffa meaning that the main point of the play was for comedy and to make the audience laugh. This play was unique compared to other opera buffas…

    • 341 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Furthurmore, musicologist, Donald Francis Tovey stated the classical style instrumental music and theater music in the classical period in his essay regarding the Leonore overtures. In particular, he claimed that less dramatic music is appropriate for the theater music, and theater music never use the overpowered overture like Leonore No. 3 overture. In addition, he stated regarding Leonore No. 3 overture that it obstructed to concentrate the drama since it is more dramatic than opera music. In the romantic period, Hector Berlioz reviewed the Beethoven’s opera, and four overtures and evaluated that Leonore No. 3 overture is not an appropriate one to introduce characters or materials for the opera since it truly seems like symphonic masterpiece.…

    • 140 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays