Harmony And Discord: Music And The Transformati...

The power of music is transformative. The moment we hear a sound, sing a song, chant a mantra or play a note we are transported into a different world: a world of transcendence, a world of compassion, of unity, beauty and generosity, a world of healing and harmony, a world beyond division and discord, a world of freedom and peace.

Consonance, or harmony, refers to complementary sounds in music. If you hear two or more consonant notes together or in a musical progression, you'll most likely find the combination of sounds pleasant to the ear, like the chord, or group of notes, shown in this scale:

In the 20th Century, there was a push to elevate music to the same level as science. Many composers began to explore atonal music as they moved away from composing music that played on the emotions and instead, composed music that was more like compositional puzzles. An example is Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone compositions in which he repeated the same order of pitches repeatedly. In these cases, the harmony was incidentally created if it actually existed. More often, the compositional process produced unresolved dissonance.

Let's review what we've discussed. Dissonance is a sound created when two discordant notes are played in unison. It stands in contrast to consonance, or harmony. Dissonance is always a matter of degree, rather than an all-or-nothing component of a musical composition. Classical composers like Bach, Beethoven, and Chopin and pop composers and groups such as Bernard Herrmann, Kansas, Nirvana, and John Williams employ the use of dissonance in order to build tension. Avant-garde composers also use dissonance for expressive purposes.

We can all set a similar tone within our own thinking. God, who is all-harmonious, is expressed in the law of harmony, and just as musicians tune their instruments, we can tune in to this divine law, which is here, operating, and available for all to understand. No matter what discordant situation we may face, prayer tunes our ear to better understand God, Soul, who is our true source, and thereby brings out more of the divine reality in our experience.

Performed by seven dancers and four musicians, Everywhere All the Time is an interdisciplinary performance work that includes choreography and direction by Seán Curran, a set and visual design by the late Diana Balmori, and musical direction and compositions by David Skidmore. A creative endeavor connecting dance, music, art, and architecture, the production is inspired by themes of tension and the interplay of harmony and discord in our natural world. New York City-based contemporary dance ensemble Seán Curran Company and Chicago-based Third Coast Percussion are premiering Everywhere All the Time at University of Alabama's Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center in fall 2018 before touring the work to New York City, Chicago, and throughout the U.S. in a program celebrating Seán Curran Company's twentieth anniversary. Following the tour, Balmori's set pieces are available for exhibition at institutions such as museums, libraries, performing arts centers, and universities.

MUS 102(F): Introduction to Music Theory LEC - .The course presents an introduction to the materials and structures of music. Through a variety of applied and theoretical exercises and projects, students will develop an understanding of the elements of music (e.g. pitch, scales, triads, rhythm, meter, and their notation) and explore their combination and interaction in the larger-scale organization of works of classical, jazz and popular music (i.e. harmony, counterpoint, form, rhetoric). Practical musicianship skills will be developed through singing, keyboard, and rhythmic exercises.

MUS 143(F): The Symphony LEC - This course traces the European symphonic tradition from the late eighteenth century through the mid-twentieth century, focusing on works by Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Berlioz, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms, Dvorak, Mahler, Strauss, and Shostakovich. We will examine developments in musical form and harmony, social contexts for listening, and contemporary aesthetic debates about the nature of genius, the idea of musical tradition, and the narrative capacity of instrumental music.

Are required of music majors and recommended for students (including those not intending to major in music) with a high level of previous training. In these intensive courses, which involve lectures, conference meetings, and musicianship/ear training skills labs, students explore the materials, structures and procedures of tonal music. Students receive extensive practice in ear training, sight-singing, keyboard harmony, and dictation, and develop both an intellectual and aural understanding of music through analysis, arranging, and composition exercises. [Note: Since placement directly into MUS 104 is dependent on a placement exam administered during First Days, students are advised to pre-register for MUS 103, and to drop MUS103 only if placed into MUS 104.] Students with significant previous musical training (through performance activities or high school courses in music history, literature, or history) are also welcome in upper-level music courses; the Music Department encourages students to move along as fast as their talent and training allows. 200-level courses offer students the opportunity to explore a range of musical topics in greater depth than 100-level courses. Most 200-level courses have no prerequisites but require the ability to read music, and are usually open to all students who can do so, regardless of class year. 200-level tutorials and writing intensive courses have no prerequisites and generally do not require the ability to read music, but the workload and more advanced approach to the subject matter make these courses best suited to sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Certain courses may require familiarity with the fundamentals of music theory or permission of the instructor, as indicated in the complete course descriptions included in the Online Catalog and Course Bulletin. 200-level courses for the academic year 22-23 that are open to first year students include:

MUSIC 119 Introduction to Music Theory and Musicianship (3) A&HBasic elements of music theory: introduction to acoustics, major and minor scales, triads and seventh chords, keys, four-part writing, functional harmony, modes, simple forms, and jazz notation. Offered: A.View course details in MyPlan: MUSIC 119

[3.7] In the seventh song, as a striking contrast, the protagonist, now traveling on the Rhine, peacefully contemplates the play of water. The vocal line, which follows the strophic arrangement of the poem, blends seamlessly into a self-sufficient lyrical piano piece, reminiscent of a suave barcarole. As the speaker paints a romantic idyll, poetry and music seem to be in perfect harmony. But the apparent integration of the poetry and music is illusory--just like the surface of the water. It does not at all reflect the gradual change of mood that leads in the last stanza to an analogy between the beloved and the river's bright surface but deadly depth:

[3.10] Nowhere, perhaps, is this look more poignant than in vision of pastness becoming presence, or distance becoming nearness, during the fourth stanza, when the music returns to the first song. Only now, in a final transformation of the dream motif, both musical personae and the voice of poetry come together, suggesting--unequivocally--how the dream of requited love might be fulfilled. Only now, the non-syncopated double gesture B4-E5 leads directly to an F#5 on the downbeat that is supported by the tonic harmony (see Example 3f [DjVu] [GIF] and Example 8 [DjVu] [GIF]). Only now the desire for love, first articulated in the incongruence between poetry and music in the first occurrence of the dream motif, which initiated and sustained the narrative desire throughout the cycle, is--momentarily--resolved in the emphatic declaration to the "sweet love in distant land." Taking back all the bitterness for a brief instant, this declaration is a paradigmatic example of Romantic transcendence: no less a dream than during the first song, but it is a dream that articulates its attainment--one that the beloved should read, would hear, and might understand. 781b155fdc