The sign of the four

What do you see in the image above? That's four bassoons together. Tarakari makes efforts to 'save the bassoon', as you may like to read here.

Today we observe how instruments of the same family sound in conflict and harmony. So if four bassoons go on a date and converse, they sound like how Antonio Vivaldi tells us in his concerto featuring four bassoons. Flit your eyes from one player to the other and take in the sound and mood.



But why the number four? We will eventually get introduced to duos and trios and other such terms. Let's just start with the four.

Many moods in a melody

Image Courtesy

In the first three minutes of today's piece, you will get introduced to variety, massive variety.

Le festin d'Esope by Charles Valentin-Alkan is a singular theme surrounded by various styles. Moods of love and hate and anger around the same tune. You will identify this tune very early, and you will recognise it again as the music plays along. This process will sharpen your ear to sound.

You will see how the same child can be adorned in different clothes.
What this will do for you is help you identify in music, a main tune, and understand how 'things' play around it. You will even wait for the main tune to come back after the playing is done.
In time, you will understand the moods.

Music and mood

Winter, by Alexei Savrasov

Mood is consistency.
And often that.

Often, music sends you to some thought. Then, as the music plays, you are lost in that thought.

I use Alfred Schnittke's 'Story of an unknown actor' to drive home this thought. It is scored for a film of the same name. [Music at end of article, you may play now and read further].

Alfred was a Russian classical composer who used his talents in films. And the music he made