In Aaron Copeland’s What to Listen for in Music, he discusses the three planes involved in listening to music and different themes that are present in a composer’s piece. Before reading the first three chapters of Copeland’s book, I only focused on the sensuous plane when listening to music. I never really cared for a deeper meaning behind a song; as long it made me drift away from daily responsibilities I would listen to it and not give it a second thought. After listening to Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, I agree with Copeland that this piece is “easier to understand” compared to Beethoven’s (14). Tchaikovsky’s piece begins slow, but transitions to a steady tune that is lively and intense. I would consider it to be more predictable than Beethoven’s piece because it seems to follow the same pattern of sounds throughout. I do not know much about music, but I agree with Copeland when he states that a meaning and theme can be easily found in Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. On the other hand, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony took me on a roller coaster ride. The abrupt transitions make the piece truly unpredictable, going from extremely intense to subdued in the blink of an eye. I admit that the animated musical bar graph played a large part in my opinion since it made me pay attention to every little change that occurred in the piece. I was able to see what the music looked like, but was still surprised by the way the instruments clashed together. The dynamic structure of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony is what differentiates it from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, and makes it an unpredictable experience.
