Eine Kleine Nachtmusik - The Allegro and a Discussion of Interpretation - Research Paper Example

 Discussing the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart requires the ability to discuss the joy of music. Mozart was a young composer, having died at a young age leaving all of his music written when he was in the spring of his life. The piece Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, especially the Allegro, provides a perfect example of the joy that comes from the delicate and powerful complexity of the music that was created by Mozart. As a composer of extreme longevity in the appreciation of his audience, he created music that provides profound experiences for both players and listeners. The Allegro is especially creative as it very clearly plays with the listening, tickling their ears in unique and expressive ways. An emotional piece, it is also a teasing piece of work that provides a clear guidance to the listener. The work is always in control of the room, the players declarative as they carefully articulate interpretations that range from slowly, and carefully rendered tempos to energetic and calculatingly strong tempos that race through til the triumphant end. The Allegro from the work by Mozart entitled Eine Kleine Nachtmusik is a complex work that can be experienced through a variety of interpretations that all end with a strong and declarative emotional statement. Eine Kleine Nachtmusik is translated as ‘a little night music’, which is not to mean a small amount of music to be played at night, but that the piece is a short nocturne. It is most likely that the ‘title’ is actually just a reference notation by Mozart and had not been intended as the title. The piece was originally supposed to or did contain five sections, an allegro, minuet, trio, romance and finale, but the minuet and trio have been lost or were never written as they are unknown in modern music (Zaslaw and Cowdery 250). The work is often played in orchestral repertoires and has not lost its importance within modern contexts. The piece begins with a statement of musicality in which the downbeats are struck hard, the first and third beats in the music in 4/4 time having emphasis and power, a quarter note striking on the first and third, with an eight setting up that third note emphasis. The second half of the phrase consists of four eighth notes running along the first and second beats with a note on the third, with the fourth beat without a note. This run is the basis upon which the Allegro is built, a running set of stately emphasis on which the work is created. The runs of music provide options in the way in which they are played, the different interpretations using tempo and a range of soft and light in order to create the emotional color of the work. The playfulness of the work appears in all interpretations, the composition creating a sense of anticipation through the piece that pays off with dynamic interludes through which it almost seems as if a statement is being made about the environment that the music is creating. There is a sense of story within the work, the piece creating set-ups and pay-offs throughout as the trills elaborate upon the feelings that are portrayed throughout. The piece can be interpreted more for its stately expressions or emphasize a sense of almost childlike innocence depending on how the conductor chooses to reveal the essence of the work. In listening to multiple versions of the work, one can begin to understand how the interpretation will affect the mood and emotional balance of the piece as it is translated through the levels of sound, the tempo, and the use of the hand in relationship to the bow. The bow in orchestral music is a powerful tool through which music can be interpreted. The pressure used to press against the string determines how the music will be expressed. A light pressure makes the string sing, while a heavy pressure will create a more rich tone. The way in which the members of orchestras play the Allegro provides differences in the way in which it can be experienced. In the first example which is provided by Fasculan on Youtube, the bow is used lightly, quickly sliding over the string in such a way as to create a sense of frivolity. In the second example that is used for this paper uploaded by Mespassions, the bow bites into the string, creating a harder edge to the work. Through artful uses of the bow and differing interpretations, the Allegro becomes a new experience as it is heard through two different forms of the piece. Comparing two versions of the work provides context for understanding how a brilliant piece of music can be heard in very distinctly different ways when played in two different interpretations. Listening to the energetic interpretation of French, unnamed orchestra provides a romp that is delightful and surprising (Fasculan). A more lethargic, yet stately version provided by a different example shows that the interpretation of the music is as important as the complexity of its composition (Mespassions). Where one piece playfully and lightly progresses through the music, the other strikes the downbeats more powerfully and slowly, creating a more stately and serious version of the work. The two examples are very different in the way that they explore the piece, providing an interesting contrast in style and interpretation. In listening to the work uploaded by Fasculan, the orchestra dances through the composition until the piece satisfactorily ends. The first section of the piece is played powerfully with the slight, but quick bite of the string creating a sense of energy that is transcendent. The next section is played sweetly, with a sense of drawing back, the music softer and more delicate as the pace is kept at an even quick tempo. The strings are smoothly played, no sense of the bite from the first section remaining as it almost plays at being pastoral. Quickly, however, the piece turns back into the energetic romp that was first introduced, sending the listener into the journey of the rest of the piece. The players provide a sense of style to the work through the way in which they play the piece. The precision of the cellos is clearly heard under the high pitched voice of the violin, the violas quickly playing under the emphasized foreground of the violins. The violin is played with interesting and complex use of the bow, the upstroke popping up the string as the draw of the bow plays a finish to the delicacy of the upward stroke. The music has a distinctive swing from very powerful expressions to lighter and more delicate expressions of the emotional underpinning of the music. The members of the orchestra create the emotional swings through phrases that are light and airy, contrasted by heavier and more distinctive tones. The second version of the work uploaded into Youtube by Mespassions is a heavier and statelier version of the work. There is the feeling that the story has a sense of sadness as the phrases build and then drop into a sense of desperation. The phrases that feel like answers to the anticipation that is built through the French version feel more like explanations. It is interesting to hear the slight sadness that is a running undertone in this version that is not present in the first version. A longer draw on some of the notes creates a sense of sorrow that is very different in the overall analysis of the two interpretations. The bow use is heavier and the bite on the string is deeper in this version. Technique is very different between the two examples of the work. In the version played by the French orchestra, the bow is used sharply, the sixteenth notes played as the bow pops off the string and each one distinct and perfectly rendered. In the version uploaded by Mespassions, the sixteenths sound to be scrubbed, the bow moving close to the string and without the popping technique that makes the first version so distinct. While both are expertly played, the methods of creating the music are very different in how the bow is used and how the interpretation is emotionally expressed. The first version of the work evokes a sense of utter joy and wildness, a sense of nature in the imagery that is evoked. The second version has a sadness that almost seems like an argument between two lovers. The peaks and lows creating an exchange in which winning or losing is not the end result, but a sense of despair undermining the experience. The two interpretations create very different sets of imagery, two entirely different stories coming from the use of the technique applied to the instruments as well as how tempo and sound level is created. The two versions show how it is more than the composition that is responsible for how a piece is heard by an audience. In listening to two very different versions of the same work, it is clear that music is a collaboration between director, player, and composer, all coming together to create a certain sens of emotional engagement with the audience. The piece of music composed by Mozart titled Eine Kleine Nachtmusik: Allegro is a work of genius that has a rich complexity that comes across as a light and airy piece of work. The work is challenging for the player as choices must be made about how to play the quick paced phrases, providing for interpretation of how the music will be heard. The first version of the work that was listened to creates a sense of energetic playfulness, anticipation in certain phrases answered joyfully in the following phrases. In the second version that was heard, the piece is more somber and has a sense of sadness that affects the imagery that is created while listening to the works. The use of the bow by the musicians is very different, creating a more intimate version of the work, although not as fun to listen to by the audience. In hearing the two works, the more energetic and playful version is more fulfilling with the more lethargic version creating dragged down overall experience. Works Cited Fasculan. Mozart “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” Allegro. Youtube. 19 May 2007. Web. 26 July 2012. Mespassions. Mozart “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. Youtube. 22 October 2008. Web. 26 Zaslaw, Neal, and William Cowdery. The Compleat Mozart: A Guide to the Musical Works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. New York: Mozart Bicentennial at Lincoln Center, 1990. Print. Read More