Hallelujah

After reading “The Bacchae of Euripides” written by Euripides really opened my eyes with the interpretation of the beautifully written stanza above. I had discovered that the main focus and the way the way it was writhen reminded me of a tragedy. This really caught my eye because of all the tragedy’s I have read in the past like many of Shakespeare’s famous plays including Romeo and Juliet. Not only did I enjoy reading it but I also enjoyed it being performed in the YouTube video. I really enjoyed reading this passage from “The Bacchae of Euripides” because the theme that we have to discuss involving nature vs culture is very prevalent throughout the passage. I also really enjoyed this passage because there are numerous images and mental pictures

     Monteverdi combines styles and forms of music here to create a true masterpiece. Even though I have not studied composers very much you can get a feeling of true accomplishment by listening to this piece. AS a whole piece it flows well. The instruments accompany the voices well and the piece is fun tp listen to.

Throughout time poems, books, and other forms of literature have been made to entertain and relax. However, songs are often said to not be poems or literature at all, more so do not show poetic merit. Hallelujah is one song that is a poem that shows poetic merit. Even though Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen is a song, it deserves poetic merit because it contains many types of figurative language, allows many to come up with a theme or a thematic statement from the lyrics of the songs, and also references many allusions from the Bible to other religious beliefs.

During the time of Euripides, approximately the second half of the fifth century B.C., it was a period of immense cultural crisis and political convulsion (Arrowsmith 350). Euripides, like many other of his contemporaries, used the whole machinery of the theater as a way of thinking about their world (Arrowsmith 349). His interest in particular was the analysis of culture and relationship between culture and the individual. Euripides used his characters as a function to shape the ideas of the play (Arrowsmith 359).

Overall I actually enjoyed the piece more than I thought I would. It had a nice tempo that allowed listeners to be engaged and even when the volume dropped the violins played a softer texture as if they were inviting you to listen closer and pay more attention. Generally, the theme was also joyful which I took notice of and enjoyed. Lastly, I didn’t notice any musical mistakes, and thought the piece was well played.

The Hymn to Dionysus gives readers a general idea of who Dionysus is and what he is capable of, but a further dimension is added to his character after reading the Bacchae. The Bacchae shows readers that Dionysus is a force of nature and determined to establish himself. Euripides only adds to the intensity of Dionysus and the play in general by making him completely unrepentant for what he’s done and giving the mortals particularly harsh punishments for committing relatively insignificant acts. In the Hymn to Dionysus, he is kidnapped by pirates and uses his capture to reveal his divinity to the pirates, who are mortals.

In the intro of the song he samples Chris Tomlin’s “How Great Is Our God.” By including such a recognizable song and chorus, he was able to attract other listeners to spread his message. Chance then goes on to say, “Magnify, magnify, lift it on high, spit it Spotify to qualify a spot on His side”. Here he is making a biblical reference to Psalms 69:30 which states that “I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving”. Essentially by giving God thanks, he lets his fans and others know just how grateful he is. He is humble and expresses his gratitude by using biblical hermeneutics and through

The final beginning choir song, which was the one with them combined, was very fun. It was quick and upbeat. This had a good balance of each part. It, similar to other songs, had a few voices sticking out at the very end of the song. Over all they did a very good with each and every song they

The orchestra and the cello compliment each other seamlessly and in a way the I have never heard before. It’s a perfect match and the piece wouldn’t be the same without both of them in unmitigated harmony. For example, the cello may be playing softly and slow, then out of nowhere, the orchestra surprises the audience with loud, but simple tones. I believe that this is where the passion from the piece is divulged. The accompaniment is almost always grand and if I may, reminds me very much of a Beethoven like sound.

Throughout the concert, five pieces were performed by two different choirs. The first three being a small group without interments and the second a large group accompanied by a small chamber orchestra. The first group, the chamber choir performed three pieces from

In the play he demonstrates that “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,” and hated his people for mistreating women and mostly treating foreign women different. Euripides both shows that man is both rational and irrational without reason, and that irrational can bring disaster when it gets out of control. Euripides, the upper class of all the classes were the only ones represented on stage and worthy of concentration. Though he was into traditional drama, he had different ways to represent them, and said them in a language that was much easier to understand for not so intelligent people, where everyone can understand. He used many everyday expressions, The fi

those of the other two great masters. His art, it has been said, is tamer than theirs, and

The tone in the beginning to measure 14 was exceptional. Every part could specifically be heard really well. There sounded like there was a certain kind of confidence that was super evident. Measures 18- 21 the lower part was very authentic to the style of the piece and the other instruments were accommodating. At the key change (m. 26) all the harmony and melody parts came together and it was glorious.

The use of the word ‘Burthensome’ in this extract highlights Euripides lack of motivation to create a chorus that would fully engage with the audience and become an integral part of the plot. The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word as ‘of the nature of a burden; onerous, cumbersome, oppressive, troublesome, wearisome.’. This infers that according to Euripides the chorus is not there to aid the audience, or represent the audience in any way. It is there purely because it would have been sacrilege, on his part to exclude them. As the chorus are a fundamental part of Greek Tragedies.

However, the high notes in the tenor part on measures 113-114, singing an octave from G3 to G4, could be challenging for amateur singers as this is a high pitch that requires a soft dynamic. The author suggests that the conductor use a falsetto voice or simply assign only the Tenor I to sing. For soprano, the highest note is G5 in this movement. The most challenging section would be measure 83, singing the repeating G5 and then moving down by a half step to F-sharp5. This could create intonation problems for amateur singers. In this section, the basses are holding the D4 for three beats, which could be a challenge for amateur singers as well. The author would suggest the conductor not to sing this part too heavily although it is marked as forte in the score.