William Grant Still's Mother and Child
Helen M.
Music 101
Professor Coppola
11 May 2010
William Grant Still's Mother and Child Composed in 1943 by William Grant Still is Mother and Child, a beautiful classical piece that consists primarily of string instruments with brass undertones. While listening to this piece, one can almost imagine themself on a picnic with their mother, as the song unfolds a story that most depicts the loving bond between a mother and her child as each measure of the piece progresses. This makes the piece instrumental with hints of program music, where a story is being told. Being that it is of the Classical Style period, Mother and Child utilizes a standardized orchestra, containing instruments from the strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion families. Unlike Baroque style music, the texture of this composition is mainly homophonic, whereas Baroque style demonstrated mainly polyphonic textures. Within each movement of this arrangement, Mother and Child exemplifies the balanced and symmetrical qualities that is often found in classical works. The first movement of the composition begins with a solo from only the strings family. A soft, consistent melody is played and the violin dominates the other instruments in this piece. The tone color at the beginning of this piece is relatively light which symbolizes the characteristics of a nuturing mother. As expected from a classical piece, the dynamics of the piece suddenly change, and there is a slight crescendo in the piece during the following measures of the composition. The tempo of the composition grows quicker in pace which portrays another chapter in the story, signalizng another movement of the piece. A violinist them performs a solo that plays alot that is also quick, yet play alot on the concept of pitch. It can be heard that the violin goes from very low ranges to fairly high range in pitch to emphasize the great amount of emotion in the piece. Mother and Child is a harmophonic piece, where the violin dominates
Music 101
Professor Coppola
11 May 2010
William Grant Still's Mother and Child Composed in 1943 by William Grant Still is Mother and Child, a beautiful classical piece that consists primarily of string instruments with brass undertones. While listening to this piece, one can almost imagine themself on a picnic with their mother, as the song unfolds a story that most depicts the loving bond between a mother and her child as each measure of the piece progresses. This makes the piece instrumental with hints of program music, where a story is being told. Being that it is of the Classical Style period, Mother and Child utilizes a standardized orchestra, containing instruments from the strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion families. Unlike Baroque style music, the texture of this composition is mainly homophonic, whereas Baroque style demonstrated mainly polyphonic textures. Within each movement of this arrangement, Mother and Child exemplifies the balanced and symmetrical qualities that is often found in classical works. The first movement of the composition begins with a solo from only the strings family. A soft, consistent melody is played and the violin dominates the other instruments in this piece. The tone color at the beginning of this piece is relatively light which symbolizes the characteristics of a nuturing mother. As expected from a classical piece, the dynamics of the piece suddenly change, and there is a slight crescendo in the piece during the following measures of the composition. The tempo of the composition grows quicker in pace which portrays another chapter in the story, signalizng another movement of the piece. A violinist them performs a solo that plays alot that is also quick, yet play alot on the concept of pitch. It can be heard that the violin goes from very low ranges to fairly high range in pitch to emphasize the great amount of emotion in the piece. Mother and Child is a harmophonic piece, where the violin dominates