Today, in class, we looked at a song composed by Arvo Part which goes through the genealogy of the Bible. I have never studied the genealogy of the Bible and have never realized how long it truly is. The book of Genesis explains the descendants of Adam & Eve in relation to Abraham. The New… Continue reading Genealogy of the Bible & Arvo Part

This week we continued by learning about John Rutter and Arvo Part.  Both of which are still living composers and are more modern than those we have previously talked and learned about in class.  John Rutter is more a contemporary composer whose works have been more popular with the general public.  He has set quite… Continue reading Arvo Part and John Rutter

We talked about a musician named Arnold Schoenberg, who experimented new ways to create music. We learned about one of his opera pieces, Moses und Aron. How does he explore this musically? Moses will start a tone row but doesn’t finish. It is like it’s grasping for this abstract truth. Aron represents a contrast or… Continue reading Arnold Schoenberg

We’ve been looking at many children’s songs that in some way relate to the Bible. We each found songs for children that talked about the Bible, and shared them on zoom. This was a fun activity to do for class. I thought it was interesting how we each found a bible verse that related to… Continue reading Children songs related to the Bible

The idea of music being restricted initially came as a surprise to me. Granted, I don’t have the experience of creating music, however, I always thought music had always been free to the producer. The idea of Schoenberg discovering freedom when it comes to music must have been exhilarating and promising to what the future… Continue reading Schoenberg’s Twelve Tones

I thought that an interesting concept from class today was the idea that in certain time periods, a musical creation can be groundbreaking for its era. Today classical music seems very familiar and old to us, but at one point in time, this style was perhaps “hip” and boundary breaking. The idea that music “goes… Continue reading Evolution of Music

Our topic of conversation in class today was all about more unconventional melodies, scales, and methods of creating a piece of music. I will admit, today’s class did not include some of my favorite music we’ve listened to, it was definitely necessary to learn about. Music is a beautiful thing, and you can never create… Continue reading The Concept of Freeing Music

What is music for? Music communicates emotion, promotes healing and happiness, provides an escape from reality, and so much more. So, what happens when composers push musical “rules” beyond their limits? We can see the consequences of this through observing some works from Arnold Schoenberg. Schoenberg’s earliest atonal pieces seemed very dull and unorganized. In… Continue reading Escaping Tonality

In our class discussion today, we talked about how horror movies would not be the same at all if the traditional 3 chord music was being played in a suspenseful scene. The music without a tonal center is what makes horror movies scary. I was intrigued by this and I was wondering what the reasoning… Continue reading Psychology & Biology

Arnold Schoenberg used a very free approach to music. Even though his music is not really catchy or memorable, he certainly had a large impact on other musicians as many have decided to explore this path in writing music, as well. He sings almost as a declaration rather than songs we typically hear. Schoenberg’s musical… Continue reading Arnold Schoenberg’s Musical Impact