In Wednesday’s seminar, we spoke about the opera we had seen the previous week. Now that I had seen the opera and had established my own opinions of it, I was excited to see what everyone else thought of it, and if we had similar opinions and observations. Like me, a lot of students were impressed with the music and how the music and dialogue went hand in hand. We began further discussion of how music, even without lyrics, can evoke such feeling and emotion in a person. We learned about how different note arrangements and different instruments can really portray an entire story by themselves. For example, a low bass instrument can create an ominous atmosphere, while a strings section can create an airy and peaceful atmosphere. Also, a bassoon can add a comical, whimsical touch.

When Professor Sirotta came into class and played us the composition by Brahm, I wrote down my reaction to every instrument I heard. The first clarinet riff that came in had a very “sneaky” sort of feel to it, and the harmonizing clarinet that came in after it felt slightly off of the scale that the first one one following, which definitely added to the sneaky aspect i felt. Various emotions were portrayed quickly after each other. When all the instruments came in, the song became happy and consonant, contrasting from the dissonant notes played right before it. Brahm experimented with dissonance to create a stressful and suspenseful atmosphere. When the flute comes in playing what sounded like a harmonic minor/egyptian scale, it reminded me a lot of a snake charmer song. This lesson showed me how powerful every single instrument is in a musical piece.