To close out this Passion thread, let’s talk about one of my current favorite artists: Quevedo. Pedro Luis Domínguez Quevedo, performing under Quevedo, is a 21 year old Spanish singer who is currently dominating the charts in Spain and climbing in the world of Latin music. As a teen, he entered the scene with freestyle rap and began to build a local name for himself. From Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, Quevedo pays respect to his city in almost every song, singing the syllables “LPGC you know.” After starting his career in 2020, he now has millions of listeners around the globe and continues to gain popularity in the Latin world.

Quevedo’s rise to fame was undeniably his summer 2022 collaboration with Argentine producer Bizzarrap (also mentioned in PAS1 with Shakira). In a three minute song titled “Quevedo: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol.52,” Quevedo’s new style and voice combined with Bizarrap’s acclaimed production won over the hearts of listeners throughout Spain, Latin America, and the world, reaching the number one spot in 8 countries. More commonly referred to as “Quédate,” the first lines of the chorus, the song quickly became the Song of the Summer, with instrumentation and themes that completely match the late summer night scenes of Spain. The combination of sexual and romantic themes expressed in the song give it the perfect vibe for an audience around Quevedo’s own age.

Most notable about Quevedo’s style is his skill in both rap and singing. In producing this hiphop style with Latin influences, he puts a very modern, cosmopolitan taste into his songs. Specializing in freestyle rap, his rap verses always contain a smooth flow with a perfect amount of variation in tone. Quevedo’s voice is unique and contains special qualities that attract an audience with ease. Whether it be the low pitch, the rounded tone, or the colloquial delivery, his voice is incredibly captivating and matches the themes of his music.

image from loffmusic

Recently releasing his first album in January, Quevedo establishes his position within the musical world again. The 16 track album titled “DONDE QUIERO ESTAR” compiles several of his more recent singles with new tracks and interludes that show a more personal side of the musician. First released as a single in 2022, just weeks after his collaboration with Bizarrap, “Sin Señal” with Ovy on the Drums is a similar style and theme, expressing the party scene in Spain, this time with more Latin and reggaeton influences. This song actually introduced me to Quevedo, and I quickly began listening to his other tracks.

Another one of my favorites is “Playa del Inglés,” a collaboration with Puerto Rican rapper Myke Towers. While incredibly explicit in lyrics, the orchestration of this piece is captivating and elevates both artists’ voices and rap styles. The pushing, technological background combined with the longing nature of Quevedo’s voice creates a unique musical environment and really proves how much of a summer sense his music is influenced by.

The closing track “Donde Quiero Estar” gives a more personal look into Quevedo’s ambitions and achievements. In the powerful line “estoy donde quería estar, no donde  quiero estar” (I’m where I wanted to be, not where I want to be), Quevedo closes his debut album by making it clear that his future in music will be bright. He also expresses a very emotional theme, unlike his first singles, and connects himself to the audience as a real person, not just an artistic figure.

As Quevedo’s career continues to grow, remember his name with this blog post, and I hope you’ve enjoyed this journey of Latin music and beyond with me!

image from https://www.billboard.com

By now, we’ve all heard of Bad Bunny at some point or another. The Latino trap and reggaeton artist is the biggest musical artist in the world right now, constantly holding top streaming rates and soaring to the top of the charts. Hailing from Puerto Rico, Bad Bunny (sometimes referred to as Benito by fans) plays a large role in the growing popularity of Latin music in non-Spanish speaking countries. His music is fresh, filled with captivating melodies and sound effects, and his vocal abilities range from soulful singing to rap.

His career started very small and local, performing as a child in his small city in Puerto Rico, then eventually publishing and recording music on SoundCloud in 2013. By 2016, he was releasing singles from labels, quickly climbing up the Latin charts. His breakthrough moment came in 2018, though, in a collaboration with American rapper Cardi B and fellow Latin artist J Balvin in the hit song “I Like It.” This song introduced the American charts to Bad Bunny, and his popularity has only grown since.

In 2022, he released his hit album “Un Verano Sin Ti” (A Summer Without You), and it immediately become a staple on the charts and to the population. The album is generally very upbeat, giving the Trap Latino feel, with Bad Bunny and featured artists’ vocals and raps adding to the urban feel. Released in the beginning of summer, just like the title implies, the songs all contain that classic beachy element. His clever choice of electronic effects and percussive instruments combines a traditional Latin sound with a modern trap beat, making him a pioneer to this new cosmopolitan style of music.

image from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Un_Verano_Sin_Ti

Un Verano Sin Ti features 23 songs, generally centered around the theme of love and fun as a young person in today’s world. There are several collaborative songs in the album, most notably featuring rapper Chencho Corleone, singer Rauw Alejandro, and the group Bomba Estéreo. The album has several hit songs in it, including “Tití Me Preguntó,” which many consider the song of the summer. It’s composition is almost as if there are two songs in one. It starts as a very club-like trap tune but about halfway through breaks down into a more vocal piece, filled with new layers and themes. It starts with the artist flaunting his attention from women, and in the second section, he sings a warning to not trust him, as he has a tendency to break hearts. The vocal textures grows throughout this second section, and the song fades with an instrumental sequence.

With such amazing vocals and visuals, Bad Bunny’s popularity grows easily, and his listeners diversify by the day. His fan range spreads wide, with even young children singing his lyrics throughout the world.

His success is still rapidly growing, and it’s hard to say if what we’re seeing now is his prime or if he has much more potential in his career. But it’s evident that Bad Bunny has become an icon to the entire world for his work in Latin music and representation.

Image from vulture.com

Released in 2021, Disney’s animation Encanto became an immediate hit and fan favorite. It presented themes that united groups of people and showed new perspectives on the meaning of family. Along with the great success of the film itself, its soundtrack has also received recognition and praise among the audience. Today, we’ll take a break from some of the classic Latin chart toppers and look at this banda sonora (soundtrack) that’s filled with gems.

For some context, let’s start by recognizing some key elements that made Encanto so memorable. Aside from the loving, relatable characters, there were careful decisions made with the cultural aspects of the movie. With the idea coming from Gabriel García Márquez’s novel Cien Años de Soledad, the sense of magical realism, an abstract genre of Hispanic literature, needed to be present within the music. Careful selection of Latin American percussion instruments and techniques along with technological elements was done in order to embody the spirit of magic in Colombia, where the film takes place in.

The original songs in the soundtrack were written by the renowned Lin Manuel Miranda, who brought senses of musical theatre into the pieces, which is evident upon listening. The genius of Manuel Miranda also chose to combine various Latin genres into his writing, including elements of reggaeton, traditional instruments, pop, salsa, and bachata. This careful work with different Latin American themes gives Encanto’s soundtrack a unique theme, especially when compared to other Disney films.

Now, let’s take a deeper look into my favorite from the soundtrack! As lovely and familiar as the English version is, listening to the soundtrack in Spanish, even with no background in the language, provides a different feel. It’s almost like a deeper connection, and it further connects the music to the voice.

The mellow, calming, and melancholic song of “Dos Oruguitas” (Two Caterpillars) is easily my favorite from the entire soundtrack, due both to its effect on me as the listener and its stylistic elements. Being performed only in Spanish in both the Spanish and English versions adds to the idea that music has no lingual barriers; the voice holds the emotion that makes this song so special and impactful. The message of the song revolves around two caterpillars that grow up together, but when they grow into butterflies, they need to split in order to create more miracles and their own futures. It lies in perfectly with a specific scene from the movie and brings me to tears each listen.

Musically, the song can be seen as a musical theatre piece, a pop song, and a lullaby. It’s performed by Colombian singer Sebastián Yatra, who’s known for both his sensual reggaeton hits and his powerful ballads, such as this song. In “Dos Oruguitas,” he steadily builds emotion throughout the song, with the last verses being the loudest and most powerful. He sings the piece in a story-telling voice, which allows the listener to hear it in a concentrated tone, focusing on the voice in alliance with the lyrics.

To support this voice, the instruments also give the setting a place within the song. The guitar plays in both traditional and popular style, while keeping the soft traditional tone. This careful choice creates a typical Latin sound and reflects the mellow theme throughout the song. The plucks and strums keep the tempo moving, but more importantly, they aide the voice in creating emotion and a melancholy feeling. More percussive instruments are added as the song continues, making it sound like a Latin ballad as opposed to a vocal solo. While obviously a pretty song, “Dos Oruguitas” is also a stylistic wonder, and its careful works make it such a loveable and memorable piece.

There’s always those classic songs in your mind anthology that you are never able to let go of. For me, one of those is Nicky Jam’s Hasta el Amanecer (Until the Dawn). First released in 2016, it quickly topped the Latin charts. Strangely enough, I actually first heard the song from a cover in 2017, but still, it immediately grew into a favorite. Years later, I could still listen to it everyday.

Image from spotify.com

Nicky Jam, a Latino American artist, has had a rather varied career, starting as a rapper back in the 90s. While born in Massachusetts, he moved to Puerto Rico at 10 years old, and it was only then where he started speaking Spanish. As a teenager, he gained recognition as an artist there but soon faced a plethora of substance abuse. Eventually, the artist recovered and restarted his career in Colombia, where he took up singing, and it was this voice that brought him international success.

Hasta el Amanecer is a reggaeton romantic song, featuring both Nicky Jam’s singing and rapping skills. The song’s layout is rather simple, with the central chorus repeating six times. The emotional appeal is brought through Nicky Jam’s voice, characterized as soft and sultry. As the pitch goes up, he pushes his voice to add more volume, and the lyrics match easily with his tone.

The song’s story revolves around meeting a stranger and immediately falling in love. He sings that while he doesn’t know the girl’s name or where she’s from, he knows that he loves her and wants her to stay until the dawn. This theme of falling in love with a stranger was rather common in ’10s Latin music, and it’s easy to see why. While the musical key is minor, the satisfying ascension and cadences fit perfectly with the story in the lyrics, ending in a soundingly successful ending.

While the chorus does repeat multiple, it doesn’t feel repetitive. Five of the six repetitions do feature the same melody, but different harmonies are added each time. By adding more volume and voices as the song continues, Nicky Jam builds up the sound before eventually calming it. The third and sixth repetition feature a doubled voice, with the background serving as a harmony to the main melody. The fourth repetition of the chorus also serves as the bridge in the song. While the lyrics remain the same, the pitches are changed to a more wide range that accompanies the tone rise and fall.

Throughout the song, adlibs are used, both in the rap and singing, to provide more depth to the sound and add harmonies. By putting his own voice as the harmony, Nicky Jam establishes a calm tone of reggae. The background instrumental accompany the vocal harmonies, with light percussion serving as the tempo keeper.

The song has received a variety of music awards, and a look into its craftsmanship can explain why along with a listen to the song itself. It’s a soft and pretty song, built from a careful construction of musical techniques and interpretations. Take a listen; it may turn into many!

It’s official. Shakira has made a comeback to the world of music (that’s what the title says). Having been in the industry since 1990, Shakira has ruled the genres ranging from Latin Pop, Pop, Reggaeton, and Rock. With a growing interest in Latin music, I’m excited to take this semester and explore more of this genre and others from around the world. The singer hails from Colombia, but her music in both Spanish and English has gained worldwide recognition. And it is certain that her popularity only continues to grow. On January 11th, she shook the world once again through a collaboration with Argentine producer Bizarrap.

Image from spotify.com

Titled “Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” the song sounds like another fun pop song, and it’s the powerful Spanish lyrics that make it the internet phenomenon it is. In short, the track is a complete diss at her ex-partner, Piqué. The two were in a relationship since 2011 and had 2 sons until it was revealed last summer that the former soccer player had a mistress. When it was revealed that Shakira would be collaborating with Bizarrap, it was quickly understood that the song would likely be a diss at Piqué, in the style of many other of the Bzrp Music Sessions.

The song is very airy in its flow, but she makes no hesitation into immediately referencing the infidelity. The chorus repeats the phrase “una loba como yo no está pa’ tipos como tú,” meaning “a she-wolf like me is not for guys like you,” serving as a reference to one of her older albums, She Wolf, and literally saying she was too good for him. That might just be the nicest line as well, as she proceeds to discreetly say exactly who the song is about.

The second verse features a clever rhyme scheme, with each line ending with the sound -que, a common verbal ending in Spanish. She says how she won’t return to him and understands that the media criticizing him is deserved, ending the sequence with the verse “Yo solo hago música, perdón que te salpique” (I just make music, sorry if it splashes you). Here, through the word salpique, she mentions Piqué by name through splitting the word into sal-pique with a splashing sound between. It also serves a double meaning in that sense, with sal pique meaning leave Piqué. But it doesn’t just end there.

Through another careful selection of words, she manages to even name-drop his mistress, 22 year old Clara Chía. The lyrics say “tiene nombre de persona buena / claramente no es como suena,” meaning she has the name of a good person, but clearly it’s not as it sounds. She again splits a word, this time claramente into clara-mente and makes it clear she feels no remorse for either of the pair.

She continues the diss on Clara in the next verse, with the lines “yo valgo por dos de 22 / cambiaste un Ferrari por un Twingo / cambiaste un Rolex por un Casio” (I’m worth 2 of 22 / you traded a Ferrari for a Twingo / you traded a Rolex for a Casio). In referencing his mistress’s age, she also alludes to February 22nd (2/22), the birthday Shakira and Piqué share. She recognizes her own self-worth through the metaphors of a Ferrari and Rolex and compares his mistress to the cheaper brands, Twingo and Casio, essentially saying she is just a cheaper, lesser version of Shakira. 

While the lines may seem petty, they also show Shakira’s great creativity in song writing and her comeback from a rough situation. In just one week, the song has amassed over 150 million streams, showing Shakira’s global success and letting the world know the truth about Piqué.

Last Scene album cover

Here’s the post I’ve been waiting to write: Chen, his album, and his voice. For a little background information, Chen (Jongdae Kim) debuted in the then Korean-Chinese boy group EXO in 2012 as the group’s main vocalist and has been active in the industry ever since. He began singing in solo soundtrack recordings shortly after and is still highly dedicated to that style and industry. In 2019, he made his official solo debut with the melancholy album April, and a flower. That year, he released another album Dear my dear with 11/12 songs taking top 20 places on Korea’s 2019 male soloist charts. In early 2020, he announced his marriage and the birth of his daughter, which sadly caused many delusional fans to boycott his music for some time. Later that year, he went on a 1.5 year hiatus due to Korea’s military requirement, returning to the industry in summer 2022 with a soundtrack feature in the K-drama Doctor Lawyer.

Chen released his third solo album this past Monday morning, titled Last Scene. While I am very biased to his music, I was blown away from the first listen of the album, especially after him not releasing music for such a long time. The voice was perfect. The tone was perfect. The performance was perfect. And mostly, the musical composition and album structure was perfect. Being that this a short album from my long-time favorite artist, let’s look into all 6 songs!

http://https://youtu.be/tUEraaV5inc

The album opens with the title track Last Scene, referring to the ending of a relationship between two lovers. It’s pretty evident that Chen has a few common themes throughout all his discography: breakups, memories, and the occasional acoustic uplift. Kind of ironic considering his own marriage and children, but Chen manages to place all the correct emotion into his recordings of these songs that talk of a couple’s final moment. In the music video for Last Scene, he sings while the video recalls memories of a relationship that is coming to an end. Featuring Squid Game actor Haesoo Park (Player 218) as the protagonist, the lyrics follow the scenes, with the balance between music and video remaining stabilized throughout the development of the plot.

The next track is Photograph, a similarly soft and reflective piece with lots of piano accompaniment. The first time I heard the song I was actually a little shocked due to the low register it begins in. While I was aware of the vocalist’s abilities to sing in such a deep range, he is more well known for his tenor range and skill in belting and holding high notes. As the song continued, it rested more within the range he is most famous for, but nevertheless, it was able to convey the true extent of his range and advanced vocal abilities.

Differing the most from the theme of the album has to be track three, Traveler. Backed by acoustic guitar instrumentals and percussion, it’s a happier song speaking of the beauty of seeing new views with a lover. With some lyrics in English, it’s more typical of the K-pop style that he performed with EXO. The soft vocals and major tones give it a light tone, and his self-harmonization provide layers to the composition.

Closely similar in vocal texture and acoustic support to the previous song is the easy-going I Don’t Even Mind. The chorus repeats the phrase “I don’t even mind” with each repetition following a different note progression, rising the pitches up and then bringing them back down. It’s also the perfect contrast to the next track in the album, strategically placed for dramatization and memorability.

That track would be the beautifully composed Reminisce. The longest song of the album, it nears five minutes as another melancholic ballad, but this time more dramatic and impactful. While cringy to say, I have to admit, the first time I heard this song my jaw dropped. My mind opened. My soul ascended. My ears surrendered to the music. Being the fifth track on the album, I already had high hopes from my experience with I’ll be there, the fifth track from his debut album. I find the two to be similar in so many ways: theme, musical progression, and memorability. The song begins soft, then the chorus hits, and Chen’s well-known powerful vocals come in, pushing out notes with an insane emotional presence, and reaching such high notes that it both surprises and soothes the mind. It’s again about the ending of a relationship, a beautiful ending, and he reflects this idea with his soft, vibrating vocals accompanied by electric guitar elements, piano, and percussion. It’s a true power ballad, my favorite of his genres. The push from a low pitch start of the chorus to the soaring mixed voice pitches truly heal the soul and have been causing me to listen on repeat for these past 3 days.

Chen, as pictured in Last Scene

To conclude, the final track in the mini album is the soft piano-backed Your Shelter, serving almost as a lullaby and contrasting in power from the previous song. It’s the perfect end to a soft, but powerful, album filled with stories of various stages in a relationship. The calm and thoughtful vocal tone puts the listener to ease, but it also convinces them to return and listen again, that this musical experience doesn’t have to be a one-time activity.

A beautiful vocalist with beautiful songs that hold beautiful messages. Last Scene is a work that truly reflects Chen’s growth through his career and highlights all his vocal capabilities and talent. And it’s exactly what I’ll spend the remainder of 2022 listening to.

images from spotify.com, song links from spotify.com, “Last Scene” video from youtube.com

Image from https://www.broadwayinchicago.com/show/anastasia-2022/

Who hasn’t been fascinated with the conspiracies of the Romanov family’s murders at some point? The story of the Grand Duchess Anastasia has been so greatly debated within popular culture that an animated movie and later musical were made. They tell the story of the Grand Duchess escaping the murders, but then suffering amnesia, where she takes on the life of a poor orphan named Anja in St. Petersburg. The movie centers around Anja seeking to find her grandmother in Paris with her love interest being the smuggler Dmitri and a mystical Rasputin as the villain. The broadway musical keeps many aspects from the movie, with the general theme being the same, but realizes it by having a Russian communist named Gleb serve as the villain instead of Rasputin. The conflict becomes much more realistic and with such a wide, beautiful soundtrack, easily hits on the emotion of the listeners. Throughout the musical, she travels from St. Petersburg to Paris, in hopes of finding her grandmother.

Image from https://americantheatreguild.com/thousandoaks/shows/anastasia/

With 25 singing songs and over 40 compositions, it’s hard to talk about each song’s connection to the story and its own elements in just one post. Two years ago, I played in the pit orchestra when my high school performed this musical, and I’m now quite familiar with the score behind the songs. So what are my favorite songs from the show?

The classic A Rumor in St. Petersburg was one song originally in the movie and adapted to also serve in the musical. It’s in the beginning of the show, a scene where Russians, led by lead characters Dmitri and Vlad, complain about the poor conditions of St. Petersburg and talk about the possibility of the Grand Duchess Anastasia still being alive. It starts with a message from Gleb, speaking of the new Communist regime, then shifts to Dmitri’s displease towards the new St. Petersburg. It’s an upbeat ensemble piece, with smooth harmonies between soprano and bass vocals, combined with short dialogue from Dmitri and Vlad. The reason behind why I love the piece is more so related to the subtle orchestra in the background. With emphasis on the off-beats and staccato notes, it was so fun to play with the vocals on stage.

Image from https://playbill.com/article/max-von-essen-to-play-final-performance-in-broadways-anastasia

Now, why did they choose to change the villain? The addition of Gleb adds another aspect to the story and allows for better understanding of the time context. Gleb is the son of the man that had killed the Romanovs, and he expresses his duty to his father (killing Anastasia) through the new song The Neva Flows. A very minor and reflective song, it establishes Gleb’s importance to the revised story and his reasoning for finding Anastasia. His other solo is the beautifully written Still, where he sings of Anastasia and how hard it is for him to kill her. Powerful tenor vocals with connections to muted brass and minor strings set the somber emotion of Gleb’s character. In the reprise of the two, Gleb meets with Anastasia at the climax of the story, where he must make the choice to kill her. It becomes a dialogue between the two, with some vocal support from the ensemble, where Gleb sings with anger and passion.

Image from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasia_(musical)

Perhaps the most beautiful piece though is A Crowd of Thousands, another added piece, which is supported by soft winds, piano, and strings that play both alongside and in background to the vocals. It’s a duet between Dmitri and Anja, where they realize she is in fact the Grand Duchess and serves as one of the most romantic moments in the musical. Both vocalists perform with incredible passion and emotion, adding to the effect of this tear-jerker.

While classics such as Once Upon a December and Journey to the Past are still wonderful in the musical, it’s the additional songs that make the soundtrack and plot so much more beautiful and emotional. Anastasia’s story always intrigued me, and this musical seriously added another passion. Are you ready to listen to the recordings now?

(all song links from spotify.com, images individually linked)

Perfect timing for an album release, I must say. That’s right, I’ve had the same 20 songs on repeat all this week. Released just last Friday, Taylor Swift’s latest Starry Night takes the form of her album, Midnights, especially the 3am package. The memorable Midnights mayhem began as the clock struck 12 on the 21st, and gained even more momentum at 3am that same day, when 7 additional tracks were released. The album starts with the synthetic Lavender Haze, with classic Taylor vocals and lyrics. Perhaps most similar to her previous album sounds, this track sets the scheme for the following songs, which become more reflective and personal. I immediately fell for this song; the combination of breathy vocals, rebellious lyrics, and a strong bridge made it just incredibly intriguing and inspiring.

Some of my other favorite tracks in this album include the reflective Maroon and the clever Karma. While the two tracks differ heavily from each other, both are filled with soft, fulfilling harmonies and witty lyrics. Maroon tells of a love story, a good memory, and relates the emotions to the color. While not as strong as red, Maroon gives off a softer and more charismatic reflection that easily touches the hearts of listeners. Much faster in tempo and lyricism, Karma is a fun, fast, and familiar song, with lyrical comparisons as expected of a Taylor Swift revenge song. Despite not being nearly as harsh as the entire Reputation album, it sets her power in a metaphorical relationship and is already being seen in internet trends.

http://https://youtu.be/b1kbLwvqugk

But of course, we can’t discuss Midnights without recognizing the title track Anti-Hero. With lyrics reflecting Taylor Swift’s own experiences in the industry, she also employs her famous juxtaposition of emotional lyrics with upbeat rhythms and background instrumentals. It’s easy to overlook many of the creative measures she uses throughout the verses in the piece, but in her lyrical genius, she writes situations that serve as metaphors for her own character and experiences. The controversial chorus, “It’s me, Hi, I’m the problem it’s me,” is a clear reflection on Swift’s own mental health and how the industry often sets her as a villain. Having been active since 2006, she’s faced much hate from the press, peers, and performance critics. Lots of listeners have regarded the chorus as being cringy or annoying, but these criticisms prove her message of struggling with criticism. In my opinion, the song presents a beautiful reflection but can be undermined by the exciting instrumentals.

My personal favorite track from the album, though, has to be Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve. Speculated to be another Dear John, the lyrics are very personal and several references trace the memories back to Swift’s former relationship with John Mayer. Through powerful vocals and a brilliant, beautiful bridge, she reflects on her younger self and expresses regret directly and through metaphors. She tells of how broken she was after that relationship with a repeated chorus that modulates from the tonic key to the dominant in the last verse, which emphasizes the emotion and pain expressed through her voice. Though it’s only been out for less than one week, Taylor Swift’s Midnights serves as a fulfillment to fans and to herself through stylized, sympathetic songs. 

song links from youtube.com

images from wikipedia.org

A Symphonic Orchestra

That’s right; it’s classical music week! But first, let’s define what classical music really is in the scope of all genres. It’s pretty common to regard classical music as the genre containing orchestral and string sounds; anything that seems like what an orchestra might play for a concert. However, within all of musical history, true classical music only covers a small era. It’s strong influence on 18th century European culture and future composition is what allows for this title to generally cover so many different pieces. Lasting from about 1750 to 1820, classical only covers several decades, but the musical developments and compositions from the period seriously changed the course of musical performance for centuries to come. Concurrent with the Enlightenment era in European history, this time period in music reflected the ideas of experimentation and the courtly culture of entertainment.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

One composer of the era was Wolfang Amadeus Mozart, who composed over 800 works for various instruments and genres. He’s regarded as somewhat successful of a composer, with his works still being played and interpreted to this day. While not immediately recognizable to most listeners, pieces such as Eine kleine Nachtmusik, Requiem, The Marriage of Figaro, and the Magic Flute are commonly used in soundtracks of movies and television shows. Their central themes are very memorable among listeners and have become commonly associated with various moods and scenes within media. Many of Mozart’s piano compositions have gone on to be featured in different baby lullaby compilations, and some automatically connect his music to a memory of childhood. With that, the value of classical music in developing children’s minds has also been a growing interest, with many parents playing classical works for their babies to both calm them down and allow them to grow intelligent. Whether the latter part works or not is debatable, but it is undeniable just how important works such as Piano Sonata No. 11 and Wiegenlied in our connections to the childhood. Mozart’s impact on babies’ development may be somewhat powerful, but perhaps more important are his contributions to the orchestral world.

Having played several of his compositions throughout my years in orchestra, my favorite is absolutely Symphony No. 25 in g minor! With a powerful opening theme that repeats throughout the entire 8 minute 1st movement, many of the sections also revolve around these chordal progressions, with variations in rhythm and melody. In separate orchestras, I have played both the first and second violin parts and find both to be intriguing. In a composition with so many different instrument parts, it’s wondrous how Mozart was able to allow for all sections to play the theme at some point and didn’t just use the orchestra as backing to a violin solo. With all of my musical learning, it would be an understatement to say that Mozart only influenced me within his own compositions. While the surrounding Baroque and Romantic periods have more of my favorite pieces, it is undeniable that the classical era was incredibly meaningful to my own musical growth and society’s timeless love of orchestral performance.

links to music from youtube.com

images from wikipedia.org

Listen to the music you reflect, but don’t reflect the music you listen to. In all cases, absolutely not, but this philosophy is important at times when you realize just how large of an influence music has on our personalities and values. Yet, it is further important to recognize that people also choose to listen to music that doesn’t reflect their own state. The emergence of “sad girl tunes” playlists show that listeners like music in which they relate personally to the lyrics. Perhaps after a breakup, in a mood of down-bad-ed-ness, or overwhelmed from life events, people like turning to music whose lyrics reflect themself, forming a necessary bond between song and listener that allows for musical satisfaction. Consider the popularity of Taylor Swift among teenage girls (and probably every other demographic too): she often sang of events that this audience related to. As previously noted in Fearless, her themes on relationships and the teenage experience found their way into the top of the charts and thousands of playlists, still used to this day. Growing in popularity at the same time as Taylor Swift though is Lana Del Rey, who undoubtedly sings of completely different themes (far more mature and illegal compared to the joviality of Taylor).

Image from en.wikipedia.org

Released on January 27th, 2012 and reissued in a Paradise Edition later that year, Lana Del Rey’s major label debut album Born to Die is a prime example that you shouldn’t always reflect the music you listen to. Filled with the sensitive motifs of sex, drugs, money, the American identity, dependency, and older men; it shouldn’t necessarily be one’s goal to relate to these songs. Often related to toxic relationships rooted in flawed power dynamics and various illegalities, the artistic interpretation of this album comes from the listener’s own experience. Being so controversial and sensitive in its themes, not everyone will find this album so enjoyable, especially not people who prefer relating to the music they listen to. Songs like Off To The Races, Million Dollar Man, and Lolita clearly reflect the overall combination lust and abuse that the album centers on, but perhaps these darker themes are even why listeners enjoy Lana Del Rey’s music. Their inability to relate to her music makes her appeal greater, being something different, something undesirable (hopefully). From a more theoretical perspective, it may be Lana’s smooth vocals, minor chords, and background strings that attract listeners. Songs like Born to Die and Blue Velvet use an orchestral development in the background, which differs heavily from the synthetic sound favored in modern popular music.

While a majority of the album does pertain to these sensitive (even triggering) themes, there are also songs that more listeners can relate to. The melancholy Summertime Sadness and lamenting Video Games turn to the wider accepted themes of pain caused from being in love. Even though they still remain in the same tone and musical elements as the rest of the album, the motifs are more tolerable, being more similar to the structure of other pop songs. Reflecting heavily on a sound of New York City and the early-mid 1900s, the bass and vocal tone sets an image that strays from the present. But in the end, it’s everyone’s personal preference of whether to listen to music they relate to or not. It may even be wiser to say all music is available for you to enjoy, but you may not be available to enjoy all music. 

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