December 20th, 2021
I have zero education in music, but I greatly enjoy it. My music collection on my Mac could run continuously for ten days without repeating anything — I do not exaggerate. It’s heavy on classical and 60s rock, but also includes some Scott Joplin, some Philip Glass, some Uakti, and a few other odds and ends. I’ve been listening to music like this for decades, but I can’t tell a sharp note from a flat note. I just barely comprehend the notion of scales. So if you know anything about music, my observations here will probably make no sense, or perhaps will seem disgustingly pedestrian.
Circles
Some note sequences seem like circles to me. Here’s an example from the Pastorale:
The flutes in this segment from Tchaikovsky’s Waltz of the Flowers execute what seem to me to be circles:
Strain
Some bits of music strike me as denoting intense muscular or psychological strain. Here, for example, is a bit from the 1812 Overture:
That highest note, and the third note afterwards, seem full of strain to me. Here’s another example from the third movement of the Pastorale:
Again, the highest notes seem to denote strain to me. Lastly, here’s something from Philip Glass that’s full of strain:
Perhaps these “strain notes” are flat notes; I don’t know. But they are certainly striking.
Finality
Next we have something more obvious: notes at the end of a piece that denote finality. Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony provides a truly “classic” example of the finality expressed by the final “down” note:
But Beethoven wasn’t the first to do this. Here’s Vivaldi’s Concerto for Diverse Instruments:
Notice that the final “down” note isn’t as far “down” as Beethoven’s final down note; Vivaldi’s piece isn’t meant to be as deadly serious as Beethoven’s. But this usage was not confined to classical music; here’s Elvis Presley:
“Up” Note Endings
But there are also “up” note endings that denote happiness. My favorite example comes from the Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun”:
But Beethoven did it, too:
So did Mozart:
“Up and Down” Note Endings
To really confuse things, we have endings that are primarily “up note” endings, but append a weak “down note”, such as this one from the musical “Camelot”:
Or this “up down up down” from the Hungarian Rhapsody:
What does it all mean? I don’t know.
Addendum, December 31st, 2021: Most musical pieces seem to end with a down note, but I did find these examples with lots up terminal up notes:
Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition
Promenade down
The Gnome up
Promenade (2nd) down
The Old Castle up
Promenade (3rd) down
Tuileries (Children's Quarrel after Games) up
Cattle down
Promenade (4th) down
Ballet of Unhatched Chicks up
"Samuel" Goldenberg and “Schmuÿle" down
Promenade (5th) down
Limoges. The Market (The Great News) up
Catacombs (Roman Tomb) – With the Dead in a Dead Language up
The Hut on Fowl's Legs (Baba Yaga) up
The Bogatyr Gates (In the Capital in Kiev) down
Saint-Saens, Carnival of the Animals
Introduction et marche royale du lion (Introduction and Royal March of the Lion) up
Poules et coqs (Hens and Roosters) down
Hémiones (animaux véloces) (Wild Asses: Swift Animals) down
Tortues (Tortoises) up
L’éléphant (The Elephant) down
Kangourous (Kangaroos) up
Aquarium up
Personnages à longues oreilles (Personages with Long Ears) down
Le coucou au fond des bois (The Cuckoo in the Depths of the Woods) up
Volière (Aviary) up
Pianistes (Pianists) up
Fossiles (Fossils) up
Le cygne (The Swan) up
Final (Finale) down
