Our assignment for Monday’s seminar class was to read Crossing Brooklyn Ferry by Walt Whitman and express our various feelings in a blog post. First off, when I first was introduced to this poem, in high school, I remember it to be a lot shorter in length; I guess that was because my class and I only read an excerpt from the entire piece of work. However, when I began to read it again, I immediately started to vividly remember the various discussions and connections we made with this poem and the concept of life. It seems to me that repetition of words was used frequently because I think it enabled the reader to grasp the full concept of what the speaker is trying to portray. By using the same word again within a stanza, I felt a different emotion than one without repetition.

At first glance, it seems to be a story of what a man sees and thinks, while aboard the ferry on his way home from work. However, once I was finished dissecting the poem in its entirety, I came to the realization that the meaning, is in fact much deeper than what meets the eye. Mr. Whitman categorizes everyone in a very similar manner, particularly those who use the ferry as a form of transportation. For example, in stanza four he said, “These and all else were to me the same as they are to you,” which directly relates to the idea that we all go about our daily processes in nearly the same way. We, as passengers aboard the ferry have sat where people before us have sat, and people after us, will sit where we have sat. All humans are connected physically, and spiritually. Walt uses the ferry as one example that displays his belief.

This poem definitely made me start to think how similar the basis of my life is with everyone else. We all experience hardships and tribulations, whether we look at humans before our time or what is to come. In stanza three, it reads, “Just as any of you is one of a living crowd, I was one of a crowd.” This very quote strengthens his ideals, for we may feel sometimes distant from everyone else, but in fact we are all one, and operate in a similar fashion.

I think this poem in a way relates to Ways of Seeing by John Berger because we notice everyone aboard the ferry but don’t actually see them for who they are and what they represent. By delving deeper, we come to the realization that all humans are related in some way, and not until you “see” it, will you understand where Walt Whitman is coming from. This poem opened up my eyes to a different way of thinking, and I am developing a new fondness for poetry.

Today’s seminar class was for the most part brand new material for me. I never heard of Mendelssohn, but I was shocked to hear of all the wonderful contributions he made to the world of art. He was a brilliant man, which rubbed off on his children because they were consumed with a rigorous education schedule. Mendelssohn’s children had many tutors, music and gymnastic lessons, learned Greek, Latin, and arithmetic. While in Europe, he did the Grand Tour, which is to go all around Europe absorbing the culture as part of your education. Mendelssohn took ideas of what he believed the Scottish individuals portrayed and poured it into his symphony. We were privileged enough to hear one of his most famous works, “Wedding March,” from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Also, this brilliant man wrote incidental music, because he got caught up with writing music for Shakespeare. Because of Mendelssohn prodigious education, he knew five languages, and was constantly reading, making him fluent in Shakespeare.

Henry James, the author of Washington Square spent most of his life in Europe, and his point of view of the Native Americans was in fact, completely prejudice by his experiences in Europe. He thinks European culture is way better than American life, and developed a keen eye by constantly observing the human character. The narratives point of view is quite sarcastic, and ironic. In my opinion, Catherine, as described in the novel, looks like a plain yet pretty woman and solidly built. Catherine loves to spend her money on fancy clothes, which definitely isn’t approved by Dr. Sloper. Her father doesn’t like it because it shows that she is wearing her money as well as making her look older. I found it quite interesting as to why the novel was written in 1880, but Henry James set the action back thirty years. The reason for doing this was because it was before the Civil War, and economically, it was prosperous. The title, Washington Square, evokes a sense of calmness, and a feeling, that everything is good in the world.

Henry James makes fun of Catherine by saying that her back is a broad one, which could have carried a great deal. He never blatantly says something nice to her, which in a way upsets me. Catherine doesn’t wear expensive clothes to look better; she just likes the clothes and the way it feels on her body. Therefore, the reason she chose to wear a red dress was because her mother wore red, so it was Catherine’s way of connecting with her deceased mother.

Finally, towards the end of class, we compared both movies, which are Washington Square and the Heiress. There are some striking differences pertaining to both motion pictures. For example, Catherine is perkier in the movie Washington Square, whereas in the Heiress, she is more elegant and contained. Also, different people in both movies introduced Morris Townsend. This class was another one of those influential and uplifting sessions, teaching me a lot of something I hardly knew anything about.

To be perfectly honest, before this class today, I knew little to nothing about opera and all that it entails. From the beginning of the class until the end, it was an entire learning experience for me. For starters, I quickly grasped the fact that the four most influential opera composers included: Mozart, Verdi, Wagner, and Puccini. The lowest voice for a man is the bass and through the evolution of opera, which began nearly four hundred years ago, it became a combination of the artistic approach and the concept of “showing off” in the way that the audience wants to hear those high notes. For example, Mozart wrote dozen of operas and particularly, four of them are famous, each of them ridiculing the aristocracy.  I find that rather comical because I think it takes a great deal of skill to use a form of art to make fun of the upper class so eloquently and gracefully. There are two types of sung music. The first one is recitative, which by definition is a music narration because the notes go along with the particular voice. The other is an aria, which is the main part of music, and the singer expresses one emotion, thought, or idea. The main tune of the opera is sung twice and the second time, the singer adds more notes as a way of showing off.  We listened to an aria by Don Giovanni, and it was a funny drama consisting of comedy mostly about the idea of rape and was discussed in a light-hearted manner. After that, we began to listen to Barbiere Di Siviglia by Rossini. This particular piece has a baritone, which is voice above the bass. Also, synonymous to the work performed by Mozart, Rossini was a stand up to the aristocracy to Pre-French Revolution literary movement. In good aria, I learned that the singer says one idea or notion but repeats it in numerous different ways. Another thing, I became accustomed to in this class was, a librettist, which works with the composer, has to understand how voice works, and build a character/plot. In opera, all Shakespearean poetry turns in kinds of arias, and little synopses are given about what Shakespeare wrote.

Soon, we listened to aria from Othello by Verdi that is composed of a dramatic baritone in which the top of the voice is used more and it relates better with the character. Unknown by me, the King of the High Seas is the composer Pavarotti, and women in opera have for some strange reason a high death rate. Finally, there are many more voices for women than men, such as: alto, mezzo-soprano, soprano, dramatic, lyrical, spinto, light lyric soprano, coloratura, and finally soubrette. All of these are used frequently in operas composed by women. Today’s class was quite influential and I am satisfied that it came before our trip to the opera because now I will be able to apply this new knowledge to the opera itself. I have a new liking for this particular art form mainly because of the intricacy behind the various voices as well as the overall persona embodied by the men and women on stage.

In the beginning of Seminar today, we first discussed the four basic elements of music. They are rhythm, melody, harmony, and timbre/texture. The only one that left me a little perplexed was timbre, which by definition means the character or quality of a musical sound or voice. After the foundation of music was laid out, we delved deeper and explained the fact that music without text leaves meaning to the imagination. When the context isn’t provided for the listener better known as the audience, it’s up to one’s bountiful imagination to put two and two together, and come up with the deeper meaning behind it all. All four elements of music work together, but in some pieces one of the four will strike you the most, making it more prominent than the others.

I think that sometimes the notes of the song sound just like what its like when it’s sung. Melodies evoke a sense of feeling that can range from happy to sad and cheerful to gloomy. For example, West Side Story is a modern take on Romeo and Juliet. It takes place in the upper West Side of New York City, which in the 1960s was controlled by lots of gangs, and bestowed the name “ghetto.” We soon transitioned and listened to various works by the composer Johann Sebastian Bach. I brought up the point that different sounds evoke a wide range of emotions. If the composer plays louder, I think it hints at the fact a climax is present. Johann Bach’s first praeludium, I think depicted emotions of calmness, and the notion of bittersweet. His second praeludium was a little different in the way that it evoked emotions such as: darkness, suspense, franticness, and dystopia. I think it’s kind of ironic that the rhythm, cords, and melody can all be the same but get different emotions because of the variant configuration of elements. One of the last works we listened to was The Rite of Spring by Stravinsky. In this case, I think timbre matters because if it’s high or low, it’ll evoke different emotions; in this particular one timbre got really loud and intense symbolizing the climax. In fact, this music was written for a ballet. This particular class has definitely taught me not only the basic elements of music, but the concept that the way you see something can be completely different in the way another person views it, even though its played the exact same way. This idea relates back to Ways of Seeing, perception is everything!