Week #5 The State of Things.
As I listen and study Beethoven more and more his impact is becoming even more substantial than I once previously thought. Of course he is one of the greats, one of the masters, but to dig into a score and listen makes this fact apparent even more. Where am I in the state of this course (in this instance where am I in the state of everything!)? I feel a little lost at the moment and I guess this post will be a culmination of topics. First off I would like to begin talking about my individual project. I am going to look at the Op.135 String Quartet. After listening to many of the later string quartets this one stuck out. It is incredibly interesting and I have no doubt Beethoven's physical (deafness) and mental states had an effect on the piece. I will look at the entire piece as a whole as I have been told. At first I wanted to analyze the first and second movements, but found out that the String Quartets movements are overlapping and can be considered as four pieces of a whole. Beethoven uses so many significant compositional devices through the first and second movements alone that it attracted me to this work instantly.
Reflecting back on the First Symphony I must say it really opened my eyes. Score after score, piece after piece I find myself shuffling though composers and their various intents messages, compositional tidbits that make a piece interesting. The first movement (the one I looked at in our group and the most throughout the class so far) has a deceptive beginning, nonetheless leading into these interesting themes ... (Yeah where was I going with this!!!!!)
One of the most amazing experiences I have had so far in this class is my experience with the Kreutzer Sonata. The first few times I listened to the piece I found myself having a hard time listening to it. It wasn't the fact that I did or did not like it, it was more our less wrapping my head around the piece. Maybe it was the environment I was in or whatever was effecting my sound scape at the time but I had a really hard time listening to it, for whatever reason I do not know. I listened to it oh 5 or 6 times at first on my own and such and it never set an impression on me musically. Yes it is technical and virtuosic but thats all I heard. Then in class with the score in front of me I finally broke through.
Reflecting back on the First Symphony I must say it really opened my eyes. Score after score, piece after piece I find myself shuffling though composers and their various intents messages, compositional tidbits that make a piece interesting. The first movement (the one I looked at in our group and the most throughout the class so far) has a deceptive beginning, nonetheless leading into these interesting themes ... (Yeah where was I going with this!!!!!)
One of the most amazing experiences I have had so far in this class is my experience with the Kreutzer Sonata. The first few times I listened to the piece I found myself having a hard time listening to it. It wasn't the fact that I did or did not like it, it was more our less wrapping my head around the piece. Maybe it was the environment I was in or whatever was effecting my sound scape at the time but I had a really hard time listening to it, for whatever reason I do not know. I listened to it oh 5 or 6 times at first on my own and such and it never set an impression on me musically. Yes it is technical and virtuosic but thats all I heard. Then in class with the score in front of me I finally broke through.
