#classical – If Mermaids Wore Suspenders

Ludwig van Beethoven: Mind control

How else could he have ignited the fierce battle that took place between Brahms and Wagner? They were both so obsessed with pursuing Beethoven’s legacy that they must have been under his power.

But before you go thinking he’s a supervillain like Loki, he also wrote some pretty different music that stretched the boundaries of what was acceptable at that time, and everyone loved it. We still love it today. So he used his powers for good, too (wait…could we still be under his superhuman influence??).

W.A. Mozart: Super speed Continue reading “Did You Know That Classical Composers Were Superheroes?” →

Music

Valley of the Bells

July 30, 2015July 30, 2015 Aubrey Leaman

In classical music, there’s a good chance that you’ll hear the opening music return at the end. It might be: A) literally repeated note for note or B) altered in some way (but let’s keep this second type under the “repetition” umbrella, too, for simplicity’s sake).

TIME OUT for a delicious food analogy:

Opening and closing music = outer donut Middle music = custard filling

Okay, so why do composers repeat the opening music?

Well for one thing, I think music sounds differently each time it comes back, even if it’s repeated note for note. It’s like when
you go on vacation. You start out at home, go someplace else for a while, and then return home. I don’t know about you, but home always feels different by the time I get back (sometimes in a good way and sometimes in a not so good way if I really enjoyed the vacation).

Continue reading “Valley of the Bells” →