Rosa Parks
It all started with an in-class discussion about Their Eyes Were Watching God and if Janie really felt complete and fufilled in the end of the novel. Nathaniel said that he didn't feel that way because Tea Cake died and she lost her love etc etc and then I interjected, saying that sometimes you can feel complete without feeling the "going off into sunset with prince charming happily ever after" scenario, of course exxagerating. Then I tried to allegorize it by mentioning music and how the final chord can sometimes be minor or diminished to give a more faltery ending. It is still complete, but it isn't nearly as grand and pure as a major chord. It leaves the listener bittersweet... satisfied but with a bitter aftertaste. In this example I used A Movement for Rosa Parks, a piece I listened to at the National Concert Band Festival at Indianapolis my freshman year.
It starts off with a distant cry of Rosa Parks, played by a flute player. As this long 11 minute piece unfolds, you feel like you are enduring the civil rights movement yourself, filled at times with despair, anxiety, anger, oppression, FEAR. But at the end, the flute player comes back through all of these mixed emotions and still gives a dove of hope to the audience. Then - out of nowhere - some low conflicting chords loom over the flute's innocent voice and the crowd gets goosebumps knowing that this issue is still alive today, making a beautiful tranquility of unity into brooding sadness for the tribulations ahead to this day.
So Mrs. Sheppard suggests I bring in the cd tomorrow, and I actually remember to do so. So tonight I finished copying it and listened to it a couple of times. Through tears I can confidently say that classical music moves me the most. The problem with society is that people want something so simple and pedestrian. Pop music, anything that gives an easy-to-understand message. People are just too lazy to open up some advanced literature and listen to it. Also, the dominating force of peer pressure pervades all aspects of living, and forces people to listen to more quotidian music, like rap, pop, country, rock.
Don't get me wrong, I love to rock out on some Styx, get old skool to some Run DMC, and get tranquil through some smooth jazz, but nothing is NEARLY as multifaceted as classical music is. It is so advanced that the common listener has to listen carefully to understand the slight nuances and unravel its secrets. But that takes LISTENING, and of course, as Americans, listening to music is stupid. You don't listen to music, you want something that comes out and grabs you with a sexy voice in tight clothing or in a joint for you to light up with.
But people listen to what they like, and not all people like classical music. But I just can't think of anything up to par in today's society that is as advanced as it. I am sure there are some bands out there, (Bela Fleck uses so many progressions and unique time signatures) but when will the mainstream come out with something that isn't so shallow? Ok, that's all I have for my rant ^.^