Music and the Society

 

Music and the Society

How Does Music Serve the Society?

 

Olympic Opening Ceremony (1984: Los Angeles)

Image source: https://hips.hearstapps.com/toc.h-cdn.co/assets/16/30/1024x684/1984-summer-olympics.jpg?resize=980:*

 

Welcome to my final blog for this music class! I have been enjoying learning and appreciating music more since the beginning of the musical journey with our instructor Ms. Kljaich and the class. For this blog, I am going to discuss the functions of music to our society, or how does music serve our society? In our daily life, music is almost everywhere. Major life events cannot be the same without music, such as graduation, wedding, festivals, parties, and funerals. World events and ceremonies must have music to proceed, such as Olympics and inauguration of presidents. Music is pervasive, fundamental, entertaining, therapeutic, and uplifting.

 

Music Brings Us Together

People of different cultures, beliefs, ages, and social classes could be brought together by music. “What is truly grand about music is that it transcends all of the political, social, and religious boundaries that otherwise separate us,” written by Terry Neal, one of the winners in MENC’s Collegiate Essay Contest (1986). It is amazing to see how people come together through music in international or national events. In this post, I choose two musical works that have brought people together and continuously bring people together. One is “Olympic Fanfare and Theme” commissioned by the 23^rd Olympics in Los Angeles, and the other is a popular worship/love song “I Will Follow Him (You)” from the 1960's mostly in the western world. They are two examples of how music brings us together.

 

Music Analysis for Sample Works

The first international Olympiad was held in Athens, Greece in 1896. The Olympic games have been the largest sports game in the world to bring nations together. They are symbols of human togetherness through open competition. Music always plays an important role in such events, including opening and closing ceremonies and award ceremonies, for instance, the national anthems of gold medal winners are played for each award ceremony.

Olympic Fanfare and Theme was composed by American artist John Williams for the 23^rd Olympiad. John Williams is one of the greatest composers in the United States. He has composed scores for many famous films, including Star Wars, Superman, Jurassic park, and Harry Potter films, etc. Williams conducted this work at the opening ceremony at the Los Angeles Coliseum on July 28, 1984. The quality of original video recording on YouTube is not appealing to me, so I choose the performance by BBC Symphony Orchestra to present this work.

  

Olympic Fanfare and Theme – John Williams

Composed by US musician John Williams and commissioned by the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, administered by: PEDL,Warner Chappell - Jiří Bělohlávek conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall in 2012.

 

As a famous composer, John Williams was asked to compose for the Olympics in Los Angeles. He was inspired by the spirit of the athletes and created this masterpiece. “A wonderful thing about the Olympics is that young athletes strain their guts to find and produce their best efforts. The human spirit stretching to prove itself is also typical of what musicians attempt to achieve in a symphonic effort,” Williams told The New York Times. This masterpiece has achieved his intention to express human’s spirit of cooperation and striving for heroic achievement.

 According to johnwilliams.org (2021), instrumental requirements for this work include flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, trumpets, trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (piano, snare, field drum, cymbals, bass drum, suspended cymbal, chimes, glockenspiel, vibraphone, and triangle), harp, and other strings. Its meter is 4/4. The opening fanfare is my most favorite segment, which has an ABAB form with changing dynamics. The brass, especially the vigorous trumpets open the prelude of a great event with loud and clear texture. Later, the brass leads to a quiet snare drum followed by strings and horns to the noble Olympic theme, representing honor and glory brought by success of all nations. The volume picks up at the end, declaring triumph and glory in a united spirit. I like the background sound of drums setting the tempo and the beat of the brass and strings, like the performance of an army band. This masterpiece reminds me of Star War music, full of magnificent power and strength.

 

I will Follow Him - André Rieu (2013)

André Rieu and his Johann Strauss Orchestra performing "I Will Follow Him" live in Maastricht, Netherland. Taken from the DVD "André Rieu - Under the Stars - Live in Maastricht V".

The second work I present is a pop song since 1963 performed by American singer Little Peggy March. “I Will Follow Him” was first recorded as an instrumental titled “Chariot” by Frank Pourcel in 1961. The music was written by French musicians Frank Pourcel and Paul Mauriat and adapted by American songwriter Arthur Altman. Its English lyrics were written by American songwriter Norman Gimbel. American singer Ricky Nelson changed the word “him” to “you” and recorded “I Will Follow You” in 1963. This work has many versions, such as French, English, Italian, and German editions, and it was among the top hits in many European, American, African, and Asian countries. This song was also featured in the 1992 film Sister Act, performed by the nuns’ chorus for the Pope.

The above video clip I use is from a live concert performed by Dutch musician André Rieu and his Johann Strauss Orchestra in Maastricht of Netherland in 2013. Johann Strauss Orchestra is a pops orchestra founded in 1987. It is famous for performing classical works and interacting with the audiences with humors. I was attracted by its lively performance and interactions between the performers and thousands of audiences. Again, you can see from this work that music brings people together across continents, countries, and languages.

Why is this song so successful? First, its typical 4/4 meter and moderato tempo make it easy to catch. My two daughters (age 12 & 10) were able to hum the tune and sing it on their own after listening for a few times. Second, its lyrics are utterly beautiful and simple, talking about the greatest topic “true love” in the human world. Here are some lines:

“I will follow him
Follow him, wherever he may go
There isn't an ocean too deep
A mountain so high it can keep me away
I must follow him
Ever since he touched my hand I knew
That near him I always must be
And nothing can keep him from me
He is my destiny”

Please click the link for the full version of lyrics: https://genius.com/Peggy-march-i-will-follow-him-lyrics

The lyrics starts with an intro, then verse 1 followed by a chorus, verse 1 and repeating the chorus. Afterwards, verse 3 which is a repeat of verse 2 kicks in and then ends with a short outro. There are lots of rhyming and simple repeating of words in this song, which makes it easy to catch and follow. The performance of André Rieu and his Johann Strauss Orchestra apply the magic of tempo, dynamic and harmonic texture of vocals. I enjoy the female tenor vocal leading the verse. It starts with soft piano as an intro. The first part of the performance sounds like typical church worship, which is slow and tender emotion-eliciting. After the forte-piano bridge, the tempo speeds up with louder dynamic which creates more freedom, energy, and liveliness. It ends with lots of high pitch vibrato, pushing the performance and interactions with audiences to a climax, such a beautiful work brought people together in joy!

Some Final Thoughts

People say that love has no language, and I think music is a universal language, which transcends all human emotions and feelings. Music makes us unique as mankind, and it brings us together and makes us stronger in a big society that has no boundaries.

Lastly, I want to thank my music class instructor Ms. Lisa Kljiach for her systematic and structured teaching and guidance through the course. I am also thankful to my fellow classmates, from whom I have learned different pieces of music, musicians, and instruments. I must admit that I spent lots of hours listening, watching, researching, and writing for this course, and I am rewarded through the learning itself. As shared in my first post, I haven been enjoying music since my childhood. However, I never got systematic learning on western music until taking this class. No matter what I do, I will continue loving music, enjoying music, and using music in my life, but with more professional knowledge and deeper understanding 😊

 

Sources:

Freer, Patrick K. “Music Brings Us Together: Winners in MENC’s Collegiate Essay Contest.” Music Faculty Publications. Georgia State University, 1986. Web. 20 Apr. 2021. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=music_facpub

“Olympic Fanfare and Theme.” Johnwilliams.org., 1995-2011. Web. 19 Apr. 2021. https://www.johnwilliams.org/compositions/concert/olympic-fanfare-and-theme

“John Williams.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Apr. 2021. Web. 20 Apr. 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Williams

“I Will Follow Him.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Apr. 2021. Web. 21 Apr. 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Will_Follow_Him