Author Archives: nmbarbermnu

Eric Whitacre’s “Sleep” is all about harmony formed through the choir parts. The tone of the piece is completely set up by the harmonies. The message of the song is dark and eerie; the message gets conveyed heavily through the chords made through the different choir parts singing. Tension is created in some chords whenContinue reading “Blog Assignment #12”

While watching this interview and reading about Joey Alexander, I was amazed by his natural abilities. I think talents like this can not be learned after a certain extent, it has to be natural and inside already. Joey is so different than other kids because of his sheer talent and his abilities to embellish andContinue reading “Blog Assignment #11”

I have enjoyed all of Mozart’s pieces that I have listened too so far and I am amazed at how much talent he possessed at such a young age! Mozart began writing his compositions at the age of six, this is mind boggling to me because I have worked in a kindergarten classrooms with sixContinue reading “Blog Assignment #10”

As a singer, I know that vibrato is a hard technique to master. So I can appreciate both styles. However, I do prefer the Broadway straight tone opposed to the opera style vibrato. Vibrato can easily turn into a warble and the intonation can be off and while that didn’t happen during the opera piece,Continue reading “Blog Assignment #9”

Eric Whitacre’s “Sleep” features many dynamic changes throughout the song. The song itself describes the different stages of sleep and the journey to a state of deep sleep; or as some speculate, death. In the opening phrases, the dynamic level is soft but slowly becomes more forte, it is almost as if sleep is slowlyContinue reading “Blog Assignment #8”

“Sleep” by Eric Whitacre is a amazing example of text painting and word- music relationship. The song is in a minor key which reflects the ambiguous and heavy nature of the text. The lyrics were written by Whitacre’s good friend and the song is said to be about the state between consciousness and total sleep;Continue reading “Blog Assignment #7”

Although my personal preference is not to listen to either of these songs (The Cricket and Il est bel et bon) I can appreciate them. The way that these examples show text painting are specifically special and help me to understand the relationship between words and music more thoroughly. Even though these songs are notContinue reading “Blog Assignment #6”

The piece of music I chose is called “Sleep” by Eric Whitacre. I chose this piece of music because I have been in a choir that performed it and I love the chords and the word- music relationship that Whitacre was able to create. The version I picked is the choir without any accompaniment. EvenContinue reading “Blog Assignment #5”

Although the Eagle Dance and Bobby McFerrin’s performance are not necessarily something I would normally listen to, I can appreciate the significant meaning that the Eagle Dance has to the people listening. And as a singer, I can imagine how difficult the style of music that McFerrin performs is. In the Eagle Dance; the versionContinue reading “Blog Assignment #4”

I appreciate the musical abilities of both Louis Moreau Gottschalk and the performers in the group South City Voices but I do prefer the performance of the Star Spangled Banner by South City Voices over the performance by Gottschalk. As someone who has sang in numerous choirs and groups over many years, I know how difficultContinue reading “Blog Assignment #2”