A Procession Winding Around Me

The music influences some people in different ways. Some live the lifestyle meaning dress or look alike, and others think and interact in everyday life to the music they listen to. In reality, music shapes the character and the general feeling of people. It is designed in different ways to fit different groups of individuals and to deliver specific messages intended by the musician.

In never used to listen to music before and the reason was just simple. We were brought up from a humble background where listening to radio news was just a nightmare, leave alone listening to music. I used to see my neighbor`s small radio which was placed mostly on the rack outside his house during day time so that his children could not get hold of it and `spoil`  as he used to say. I was not able to hear any single word from that small two dry celled radio whenever I tried to. My neighbor always argued that loud volume could lead to a fast exhaustion of his dry cell batteries. The music “Dona Nobis Pacem” by Ralph Vaughan Willams is very emotional music. Which is composed of different music instrument that is played at different intervals to enhance the message delivering and create the situation livelily. Tones are varied in a way y that they can match the speed of the instrument thus creating a sense of harmony and creation of rhythmic effects. Made me think not about the music but my past life.What I experienced a long time ago was just recalled as if it did happen the other day and not long ago. In front of my eyes, all sad parts of my life were passing like I was choosing photos from computer to print in physical form. The music moved me. I felt despair and lack of moral support. I had not imagined message of such kind.As the music begins the feeling of sorrow overwhelms me. I felt somehow tired and motionless 00.05-00.08. As the choir continues, I start to look at my personal life and how can do to set myself free from the bondage of difficult life. A life that is full of problems and without any person who can give help to the challenges I face every day. As the choir continues, music instruments are being heard which creates some form of restoration and a bit entertaining 00.31-00.09. Immediately as the choir begins to sing the first stanza, my heart starts to beat a bit faster which increase with the rising of the instrument sound and the tone of the choir.

There is no doubt that the entire music has demonstrated unique elements of music. At the beginning of the music, the song is welcomed in a soft way through moderate hand claps. The aspect of tone color is captured between 00.47-00.52 (Miller, 2015).Music instruments demonstrate different sounds that can be easily detected by the audience. At a glance. They are designed logically to reinforce the message that is being passed. These instruments too they are played at intervals making the song more entertaining and inclusive of the audience in one way or the other. The choir comprises of many members which can be linked to the number of people who are suffering across the world. The viola begins with a little pitch that rises slowly as the choir raises the tone. Suddenly, there is an alternation of the violas voice with the cellos that brings in strong background voice. The background voice is clearly heard as it alternates with the soft tone in the violas. This sound creates an environment of entertainment to the audience which further attracts the sense of inclusiveness of the public the progress of the song. The sounds generated in the song indicate a homophonic texture. This is because the music instruments produce competing voices that are supported by one another. Voices of two different instruments are heard not only in the first part but also as the music continue. The voice variation kept reminding me on how many times have been inconvenienced and how I  have strained to help myself out of the trap.

 It made me think more about my past and touched my feelings like I did committed crime.(01:20 - 02:15) At some point my feelings calms when music slowed down and then again it puts pressure on me, in other words, while I am thinking about some memory at slow motion of the music, and when it picks up it brings, even more, feelings where it made me think why I did not make use of  conscious, however knowing that everything will be better in the future still this music leaves some kinda marks behind where I dig the same spot. Meaning I think same memories over and over.

Thinking the past made me feel sorry for myself and at some point the music made me think, either I would have to live with the pain where I am at right now. (03:10 – 04:00) However, right after dynamic picked up and made me think like I am trying to change or have some effect on the future and how hard it is to come back from where I am. Which gave me some kind hope that I will, and I can do it and change my future to the brighter side. This was in the middle of the music. This music is very hard to understand, meaning thinking negative made me feel very bad, and at some point, I tried to thing positive, but still, it had some kind negativity. (04:00 – 06:00)

This music has a slow tempo that allows the choir to respond effectively with the instruments. The slow creates little outlines in my heart. It made me to re -examine my past, present life and where am heading to. It reminded me the time when I used to go to school empty stomach where nobody was ready to rescue me from such economic challenge.The tone variation creates a situation of restless as the choir sings.  The difference that is being made by the music instrument further creates the essence of eager to know the next word that the choir will utter.  The beats of the drums the make the situation alive. Even though some words are not being heard clearly, still the audience can derive the meaning of the song. And he or she will get moved and joined in the choir. The beats relieved my pain that has experienced, and the message assured me that there if a bright future despite the nasty moment have endured.As such the beats allow the audience to feel the harmony of the song and the feeling of inclusiveness is being enhanced.

It is no surprise that the entire music generates a sadistic feeling to the audience. This implies that even besides listening to actual words of the music but one can conclude it as a major contributor of sorrow and a deep feeling of some regret over the nasty experience ever. That is why it erupted a sad moment of my past life. However, the dynamic changes from soft to high 02.55-03.00 thus producing a crescendo music. At this moment, the listener can feel a little bit relaxed by observing how the choir conducts with the backup from the instruments which are professionally played in a varying and coordinated manner.

The rhythm of this song has an irregular pulse (LEWIS, 1896). This implies that it is not maintained but rather varies from one point to another. For instance, the rhythm between 00.50-00.53 is quite different from the 04.31.The aspect of rhythm is affected by the tempo that is not steady based on the type of music. At some point, the tempo seems to be slow such as in the beginning and rises abruptly at some point such as the fast tempo at 04.28. The variation of tempo, in this case, can be evaluated based on the observation of the hands of the conductor in the choir as well as the speed at which the violas and cellos are played. Whenever the tempo slows down, the hands of the conductor act accordingly where they are lowered and when the tempo increases even the speed of conducting the choir raises the tone, and he is being packed up by the rising of the hands.

 At the end of the music, it made feel me like think about my past, I am completely losing myself, and everything is changing to the worst side. I cannot do anything to change it or no other way to come out (no outlet) from where I am. Everything gets worst and worst, it like I was sinking in the mud where my legs were already in mud, but I still rest of my body was out so it should not be so hard to survive, but the music just changed my attitude. I used to know that am the only person who is disadvantaged economically.  Have come to realize that many individuals are suffering more than I do am not alone. There are other friends outside who are undergoing the same experience. Listening to this music from the beginning I felt very sad. Immediately when the song is over, the choir is being appreciated with claps from the audience.  This made me recover from my disturbing thoughts that I will forever suffer.  I felt that am renewed and am the person, not the person I used to be at the onset of the song. Am changed for the better side of life. I  have endured pain. I  have gone through a difficult situation which I thought was to be my end. But the door still opened. I believe to have a certain purpose why am still existing. Am sure will change despite the nasty lifestyle have been living. I still have bright future though it has not come and I don’t know when it will come. God will take care of my life.

            I am the type of person that like kind slow and fast music mixed. I listen to music to think and have better thoughts or motivate and direct myself to something that I do not want to do. I am not so interested in music, since I wasn`t I would not expect music can lead to something very emotional and reminding pain or happiness. Lately, I used it to have some patients and not to make any more mistakes, just to remind myself where I was and where I am now. I was writing my essay with music playing over and over, but this music made a big impact on me like I was kind lost even writing this essay. I had so many thoughts that I could not put them in order and write them on the paper.

            The pitch is of the music is one of the essential aspects that creates harmony to the listener. It can be concluded that the entire song has many instances of a high and low pitch from instruments. The alternation of the pitch brings in the sense of harmony. For instance, violas tend to be high at certain points and produces low pitch while balancing with the background voice from cellos. This is a core aspect of the entire music composition. The harmony in the song is strong in the sense that it changes the mood of a person to feel sad. This issue is brought about by the notes of the instruments and tempo that brings out the overall effect. That is why I had a somber mood after listening to the music. The entire music has been essential since it has enabled me to evaluate the basic elements that are incorporated in music.

            The concert was good but it was not enjoyable. This is consequently because of the images that we were being shown. The song itself was good, the choir had organized itself properly, it sang in such a way that one could think they had been experiencing the situation. Moreover, the tone of the choir was so good, that I enjoyed the way they sang as they began (Van 2014). They seemed to have done a lot of rehearsals, since they were well dressed for the concert, thus making it easier for the audience to be able to understand the way the performance will be even before stepping on the stage.

However, the mood of the concert was somber, a thing which made me to feel as if I was in a burial ceremony. Most people were touched by the images, since they had not experienced such events ever before. In addition, some people also became very emotional, with others crying. My perception of the concert was different from what I was experiencing. First and foremost, I thought it was going to be a very lively concert, which everybody was going to like (Van 2014). Conversely, it turned out to be a concert which turned the audience into a somber mood. The images of the soldiers, made most people to fill as if the ending was not going to be good. When I fast saw the images of the soldiers, I knew there were going to be a number of casualties being experienced. This was true since there a lot of people who fell victim of the war, with most of them dying very cruel deaths.

I paid attention to the performance as it began, knowing that I was going to enjoy it, however, this changed moments after I saw the number of people who were killed. This made it so hard for me to be able to concentrate, thus different images started forming in my mind, making me to remember the past deaths of my relative who participated in the Afghanistan war (Van 2014). Most people became emotional simply because they remembered what had happened to either their relatives or friends leading to their deaths. This was therefore not a good scene even though the choir was singing very well, it made so hard for me to be able to concentrate, and found myself crying due to the thoughts that I had.

The thoughts that I had distracted my concentration making me to realize that I was in the concert when the performance came to an end (Van 2014). This concert therefore made me to dislike such performances, even though I liked the way the choir had composed the song. In addition, this made me to hate songs of such a style, and whenever I listen to a song with such a style, I tend to become emotional. I will never listen to a song of such a style, simply because it will only make me to remember the past events which I do not want to remember at all. I would rather listen to that song, but if it is done in a different style and by a different choir. This is so because of the memories that I tend to get when listening to songs of such a style.

Reference

Jeffrey Van. (2014). SJSU Concert Choir. A Procession Winding Around. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCVkK8ppCjk&t=180s