![]() ![]() The melody's effect is rather indirect: the evocation of being out of doors at night in the plain and hearing the shepherd play his melody. The effect on the listener is not primarily the esthetic effect of the melody. ![]() For instance, a pastoral flute and its melody are portrayed in The Night's Music from Out of Doors. Melodies are portrayed in the music, rather than being a direct means of (self-)expression. ![]() Evocations of the mood of night and spaciousness.Milan Kundera, in commenting on Bartók's expansion of art music with natural sounds, writes "sounds of nature inspire Bartók to melodic motives of a rare strangeness". Also the term nature music is sometimes used. The direct imitations of natural sounds, mostly of nocturnal animals.This sound portrayal includes:Ī cicada, Tibicen linnei, of which the sound features in night music An example of Bartók's focus on sound quality are the minute directions on how the percussion instruments in the Sonata for two pianos and percussion have to be played. Sound portrayal as opposed to traditional melody and harmony.Instead of an attempt at defining, a list of characteristics of 'Night music' is more useful. Mostly, subjective and far-fetched descriptions are available: "quiet, blurred cluster-chords and imitations of the twittering of birds and croaking of nocturnal creatures", "In an atmosphere of hushed expectancy, a tapestry is woven of the tiny sounds of nocturnal animals and insects." More concrete is "Eerie dissonances providing a backdrop to sounds of nature and lonely melodies". This is quite subjective and self-referential. From an audience point of view "'Night Music' consists of those works or passages which convey to the listener the sounds of nature at night". Most of the works in Night music style do not carry a title. Bartók did not say or explain much about this style, but he approved of the term and used it himself. It is characterized by "eerie dissonances providing a backdrop to sounds of nature and lonely melodies." Characteristics Īs with many musical styles, it is not possible to make a satisfying let alone indisputable definition of Night music. Night music is a musical style of the Hungarian composer Béla Bartók which he used mostly in slow movements of multi-movement ensemble or orchestra compositions in his mature period. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |