Music and drama continue to interact in interesting ways in the 19th century. Choose one piece of dramatic music that we studied in this unit, such as a segment of an opera. If you can find a YouTube video, this can help you to see how the music and action work together. As you describe the music refer to at least three three fundamental elements of music (melody, rhythm, texture, harmony), using important terms introduced in chapters 1 and 5 of your textbook. Make sure to connect your description of the musical style to the drama that music helps portray. As you are writing about it, think about the idea of word painting:
How do the musical elements help to tell the story?
What can you gather about the emotions of the section from the sound of the music?
Think about pacing (fast, slow, medium),
mode or key (major? minor?),
particular emotions (happy? sad? angry?),
and the shape of the melody - does it rise? fall? twist around?
Your initial post for this discussion should be 150-250 words in length and completely answer the question.
Sample Solution