Hungarian Dance No. 5

Understanding two legends:

An analysis of the musical experience from Bach and Brahms

“Air in G String” and “Hungarian Dance No.5”

Kezaram Tharmasegaram

1001538302

Mr. William Bowen

VPMA93H3F

November 24, 2014

Music is often thought of as an organization of sounds resonating though time and space. Yet, why do I gravitate toward certain types of music when they are just sounds? The sole cause of this phenomenon is due to the manipulation of these sounds which transform something of irrelevance to something majestic. Both Johannes Sebastian Bach and Johannes Brahms were musicians who idolized music as communication, a learning tool and a way of life, but imperatively a manipulator. Two examples of their manipulations

Bach’s “Air in G String” has an unusual A1A2B1B2C1D1C2D2 pattern and when compared with Bach’s other suites, this piece is especially slow. The polyphonic nature of the piece helps to create a conversation of string instruments which is more prominent in the first half of the verse. In my view, the polyphony gives the perception of multiple voices while generating a sense of syncopation. The arrangement from Bach was originally in D major but the transposition to C Major for “Air in G String” leads to a more heartfelt melancholic piece. Moreover, like most of his pieces, this piece too has symmetrical arrangement and repetition perhaps in my opinion to ease into the next variation. Bach plays with the delay of suspended notes to give a more satisfying resolution by varying the intervening pitches in

Bach’s “Air in G String” has a melody that screams a divine experience unfolding, something beautiful yet tragic. This tune is something that can be associated to religion and presents itself as being larger than life or devotion to an ideal being. First and foremost, in this piece, the second violin has melodic fragments which answer phrases of the main melody giving an effect of antiphony. The combination of these fragments illustrates a dissonance where the pitches do not belong to the harmonic moment. Interestingly, I felt that the first strong cadence ending the first section acted as a force that changed the melody which was not resolved, almost like turning off a tap but there are still droplets of water left. Finally, Bach used a “walking bass line” referring to the descending low pitch beats accompanying the melody. This bass line gave the piece a sense of direction and at times sounded very similar to an accompanying bass guitar from jazz/blues