Concerts Across Time
Music is one of the art forms that have stood the test of time. Music composition was something of value even in Baroque era and since then; new styles have kept cropping up as music remains appreciated in different generations. The Baroque era is period that ran from 1600 to 1850 and was marked by many composers that influenced on the music industry. This paper therefore compares some of the Baroque era concerts, passacagilio and Chaconne by Jeane-Baptiste Lully to the modern era concert, Be without you by Mary J. Blige.
Lully is one of the Baroque era musicians that left an impact on the music industry. He was a French born musician and is considered the chief master of the French baroque music style (Heyer 12). In his composition, he used basso continuo as his driving force in his music. On the other hand, Blige is a modern musician as well as composer and actress who has also influenced the music industry through her styles as exhibited through her concerts (Blige 1).
Watching these concerts, there is a clear manifestation of the determination and the talent the artists have. I must acknowledge that the music by both artists was interesting, emotional as well as entertaining. Lully’s music was accompanied by natural instrument and orchestra making it interesting to listen to. Likewise, Blige’s vocals and sounds appealed to my ears.
After watching these concerts, I must say I enjoyed them thoroughly. I also recognized the fact that they had some differences as well as similarities. Some of the differences between these two concerts are that is that Lully’s composition was more powerful land lively. The movements were a bit faster and its emotional character was clearly manifested in the sad movements. The music also had lively ballet accompanied with rapid rhythm that was based on other dances types such as sarabandes, gavottes, and menuets. His instruments consisted of five voices of strings such as dessus, tille, haute-contre, and basse de viole. His instruments also included the flute, guitar, theorbo, archulute, bassoom, harpsichord, organ, recorder among other percussion instruments (Sadie and Rosow 7). Modern music such as Be without you by Blige has slow movements with a systematic rhythm. In this music, the vocals are given greater emphasis. It is appealing to listen to as it is consoling and comforting. Its instrumental accompaniments are limited to the keyboard. Digital technology is used a lot in creating the tones and the sounds. The dances in music are slow motion compared to the music in the baroque era as manifest from the Lully compositions.
Some of the similarities in these two types of music concerts is that they all convey a message to the audience. The authors are communicating with their audiences as well as providing entertainment. In the song Be without you for instance, Blige is expressing her love and desire to meet her lover. She finds it hard and unbelievable to be without the love of her heart and therefore through the song she is expressing her desire to meet the love of her heart. She is promising to stick with him even if other people talks about their relationships negatively. This therefore, is helping people to love one another and to stick to one another amidst challenges. The music was also accompanied by rhythms that help to make the music interesting to listen to. Furthermore, the two artists have dancers.
The concerts during the two periods were important. However, there were some notable differences in the organization or the form of the two concerts. For instance, in the baroque era, concerts were organized by the wealth people and were mainly played in occasions (Couvreur 43). Some of the concerts were played in the churches and as such lacked formal organization. On the other hand, modern concerts are like an event. They are commonly organized in different places of relaxation such as restaurants and hotels. The concerts are announced through different media channels and people are required to pay for the same. The tickets are bought to grant a person permission to attend. Some of the tickets are costly and this, therefore deter many people that cannot afford from attending such concerts.
In baroque era, people who were wealthy and belonged to a certain class attended the concerts unlike nowadays where any person of a given status is able to attend them. This revolution has been experienced in current music industry.
People attend concerts for different reasons. One of the reasons is to be entertained. Music helps people to relax and break the monotony of their daily occupations as well as help reduce their stress. They therefore, attend concerts to get gratitude and feel happy. Some people attend these concerts to socialize with others and learn new ideas from other people. Others attend to pass time and to get familiar with the artists.
New technology has greatly influenced the music industry in this modern industry. The music produced is of a high quality. It has also decreased the time of production as recording is facilitated; the internet has allowed people to access to new music within a short period of time across the globe.
In conclusion, it is clear that music in the two eras is still important and influential. Despite the differences, there are similarities such as both genres convey a key message to the audience. Technology has impacted on music industry as new kinds of music are cropping up with their quality improved.
Works Cited
Couvreur, Manuel. Jean-Baptiste Lully, Musique et dramaturgie au service du prince ([Brussels] Marc Voker, (1992).
Heyer, John. Lully Studies. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, (2000).
Mary, Blige. Be without you. (2005). Retrieved from: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XNaPX6MKlU
Sadie, Stanley and Rosow, Lois. “Lully, Jean-Baptiste”. The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. London: Macmillan, (1992).
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