Often called Brahm's Lullaby, the actual title of this piece is Wiegenlied, Op. 49, No. 4. The song was published in 1868 and was written to celebrate the birth of a son to a friend of Brahms.
Using the elements of music that you learned about in Unit 1, describe this Brahms piece.
Post your critique by Sunday, October 7th, 2007 at 11:59 pm
7 comments:
The song "Lullaby" by Brahms is a song that has tempo described as andante (a walking pace). Also, The vocalist uses changing dynamics throughout the piece. Although, the dynamics aren't of a wide range, but of a narrower one. I may be wrong, but the song did sound like heterophony. The accompaniment didn't sound like harmony, and that is why I chose that. The vocalist also didn't seem to have an extensive range and neither did the accompaniment. The song as a whole had a pretty steady pace throughout with only a ritardando at the end. I also noticed that this particular song had some repetition of the melody. This satisfied the listener need for the familiar.
I agree with Nicole- "Lullaby" had a tempo of andante. The vocalist used crescendos on the notes which were held, although the song seemed to stay between piano and mezzo piano. “Lullaby” seems to be in binary form when referring to the lyrics, because there is an opening (the first verse) and a closure (the second verse), although there is no return to the opening section. I thought the piano accompaniment didn’t have an extensive range, although the vocalist did. In the first verse/section, there was a dissonance after the second line, and then is resolved two lines later, making the listener feel peaceful and fulfilled. I think the piece may be homophonic, because the vocalist has the major place in the song, while the piano is a lesser accompaniment.
"Lullaby" by Brahms sustains a steady, andante pace throughout the piece, as mentioned before. I agree with Presley on the fact that the song is homophony because the singer took the melody, while the piano played simple harmonizing chords at pianissimo for accompaniment. The dynamics hovered around mezzopiano and grew to a mezzforte-forte on the held notes, giving the steady pace of the song some movement. Also, the phrases took a wavelike shape with ascending and descending intervals. The majority of the intervals were conjunct, while the held notes reached up over a larger interval. Repetition occurred through the main phrases, adding to the serene and even pace of the song.
I agree with Presley and Cassie in that "Lullaby" does have a homophonic texture. However, I disagree that overall, the song stays between piano and mezzo piano. I think the vocalist is definitely singing at mezzo forte, with crescendos and decrescendos within that. Also, the vocalist's voice control is extraordinary, and her consonants are very clear and precise. The melody's range is wide and, as Cassie said, very wavelike. The beat is steady with several reoccurring accented beats, which give the song a stronger and more powerful meaning.
Brahm's Lullaby is a monophonic piece accompanied by the piano. It's melody changes slowly at a tempo called andante, it has a medium range, a wavelike shape, and mostly conjunct type of movements (the only big leaps are in the middle, the second verse). There is repititon in the melody creating an almost hypnotizing effect on the listener as a lullaby should. The voice is soft but full and uses a lot of vibrato to give the sound texture, as well as crescendos and decrescendos. All of these effects add up to create soothing music that could definitely put someone to sleep :)
I agree that "Lullaby" is a homopony. The accompaniment stays wihin two keys and uses harmonic chords, thus emphsizing the vocalist. The singer's part seems to have quite a bit of syncopation. I think the song has a 6/8 meter. As to Hannah's comment i say she's right--it's at more of a mezzo forte that tapers at the decrescendos. The phrases are very wave-like, as Cassie mentions, due to the use of arpeggios. But there are also some octave jumps that punctuate the patterns of thirds and fifths, causing the song to build. I don't agree with Presley's statement that the piece doesn't return to the opening phrase. Although the lyrics aren't the same, the original underlying melody repeats itself. The composition's andante tempo is consistent throughout until the ritardando at the end. It gradually eases the listener to a conclusion, just as if they have fallen asleep.
The song "Lullaby" has a sextuple mter meaning it has six beats and the beats one and four have accents. The tempo of the song is andante as stated before, which really helps the purpose of the song being a lullaby because a lullaby is supposed to be slow and soothing. This slow tempo fullfills that purpose. I think that the intervals of the songs are conjuct because they move close to each other. The song has many dynamic variations throughout it. The song starts at mezzo piano and then crescendos to a mezzo forte and stays there then come back to mezzo piano. The end of the phrases is usually a dcrescendo giving it a sense of completion. The song ends with piano too and the las note is held and it slowly decrescendoswith indiactes that the song is finished.
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