Grades are due soon; we have 17 days until graduation (The biggest life changing moment for me) senior prom is coming up as well as AP exams and finals. I haven’t even decided on a topic for my AP English paper and I’m stuck at my desk trying to cramp in my blogs within this week! There is too much stress for me to handle during this time of the year. What all happened to senior year being the easiest year?
I haven’t done this at all but for the first time I will be blogging about music. Yep. Music is what gets me through my homework, helps me study, and gets me motivation as I finish this last year of high school. Plus I didn’t have any time to whip out a new book and read. For this blog post, I will be explaining how music is shown throughout literature and its impact on many authors. Don’t get me wrong, I do like modern rap, hip hop, and country, but what we listen to is for fun. The music in this blog has significant meaning, connects with literature, focuses on the classical, romantic, and Baroquean period, and is the master piece of famous composers who spend most of their lifetime perfecting the work.
Music can be seen as a common theme in literature. The music in many works often leads up to the tone and creates the mood the author or writer is trying to convey. For example, when you listen to Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, the first thing that comes to your mind is an eerie and dark place. Sounds like Dracula or Halloween? Music in movies (Especially horror or romance) creates suspense and keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. Same goes with literature. Although we can’t physically hear the music, it is shown through the text and author’s word choice.
Poetry is a form of music in a way. The rhyme and structure is almost exactly the same. Ballads, hymns, lyrical poems, and psalms are all types of poetry that incorporates music in it. William Shakespeare’s sonnet 128 was known for its musical theme. The poem describes a young lad, probably Shakespeare, who watches and envies his lovely woman play the virginal (Similar to a piano). He is captivated by its melody and gets lost in the music. It’s quite amusing when he said that the keys stood up and kissed her hands while he stands there and watches. My guess is that he really wants to play the instrument and focuses more on the music rather than the beautiful lady playing it.
Music like the Moonlight Sonata can be linked with many poems focusing on the importance of beauty and darkness such as A Hymn to the Night by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It emphasizes less on the negative aspects of darkness but the peaceful and tranquil qualities. A lover is mysterious but caring.
Music is in everything from literature to pop culture and movies. Without music, life would be dull, movies won’t be as interesting, and an important part of literature will disappear.
