“Ode to Joy” by Ludwig van Beethoven
" Ode to Joy" is the final movement of 9th symphony by Beethoven, and it also the his last symphony. He spent seven years to compose this symphony without the ability to hear. The symphony was a very creatively written at the time because it uses chorus and solo voices which it never been done before. It was considered as masterpiece at the time. It was highly praised because its simplicity. The reaction to the music community is humongous, because the fact that Beethoven was completely deaf and still produce this masterpiece. Also a lot of music composers continue Beethoven's work after his death. "Ode to Joy" was originally a poem by Friedrich Schiller, and Beethoven used it in the final movement. He started thinking about putting this in poet to his song, and he finally achieved it. It later on adopted as the National Anthem of Europe.
Classical Music in Movie Industry
Beethoven - Symphony No. 7 in A Major
A movie without classical music is like cereal without milk. Music plays big role in movies today especially Classical music. The movie, The King's Speech, is a biographical film about the British King George VI. George VI became the king of Britain as Britain went to war with Germany in WWII. This movie talked about how George VI overcome his stammer and boardcast his first war time speech. The movie used the symphony composed by Beethoven in the last scene when George VI delivered his speech. It's equvilent to the king's journey. Symphony No.7 has a very depressed mood at the beginning and it represented the King's struggle. As the symphony reaches climax, it give us a feeling when George VI had finally overcome the challenge. The 7th symphony was used in many movies and shows. Classical music was used almost too much in movie industry, but as audience we should appreciate those classical songs that made a movie enjoyable.
Instrument of Classical Music - Violin
Violin is an wooden string instrument invented in 16th century used in variety of music genre, though it frequently appears in western classical music. Violin is the most important and popular music instrument in orchestra and classical music. It produces the highest sounding of all instruments. It has four main advantages and reasons that made it stand out from all music instruments. Since violin is the highest sounding of string instruments, typical classical orchestra has twenty violins. Violin and other string instruments does not blow with air like woodwind do, it can play long melodies without stopping. It's easy to produce various vibratos with one finger. Also there's one more reason why violin is so popular that not everyone knows: it mimics human voice very well because the high pitch and various sound it can produce. There is an example of the instrument(Meditation from Thais: violin & piano duet).
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Reflection
Choosing classical music as my topic is hard, but I also learned a lot about it. The part that made it hard, it's because the historical background. In order to understand classical music, you need to understand the historical background. Since classical music is very different from modern music, so it very hard to understand it. Although the topic is hard, I found it pretty fascinating. I learned that how music instruments work and how they are arranged in a orchestra. I learned interesting fact about violin and why it's so popular. The violin section is the most fascinating becasue I will never think about and never know why violins are so popular. Second is the the history about classical era and romantic era. I am the guy that hated history and humanity classes but this is very cool because classical era invented chorus, and it uses in every songs today. I listen to pop songs mostly in radio station so I can relate. Also romantic era and Beethoven's story just hooked on my. This is my very very first time doing a weebly website and it very different from writing an essay. And I'm afraid to do it because I'm unfamiliar with building a website and my music genre. I have to do a lot of research in order to type down something. Unlike writing and essay, I can just over come my self-judgement and having ability to generate a lot of contents. But on the weebly website it's a different story. I found myself getting stuck typing the text. And I have to go back and research more.
Citation
Nelson, David. "The Unique Story of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony - In Mozart's Footsteps - Uncommon Musical Travel." In Mozart's Footsteps - Uncommon Musical Travel. N.p., 02 Aug. 2012. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.
"Violin." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Nov. 2014. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.
"Welcome to Naxos Records." History of Classical Music - Eras. Naxos Music Group, Jan.-Feb. 2012. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.
Sachs, Emily. "Beethoven – Symphony No. 4 and Symphony No. 5." Emilys Music Dump. N.p., 17 July 2013. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.
Hohstadt, Lowell. "What Is "Classical Music"?" Lowell Hohstadt. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.
"Violin." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Nov. 2014. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.
"Welcome to Naxos Records." History of Classical Music - Eras. Naxos Music Group, Jan.-Feb. 2012. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.
Sachs, Emily. "Beethoven – Symphony No. 4 and Symphony No. 5." Emilys Music Dump. N.p., 17 July 2013. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.
Hohstadt, Lowell. "What Is "Classical Music"?" Lowell Hohstadt. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.