Music: As Feeling

Music has an effect on people that sometimes they cannot describe themselves. Someone driving down the road with their radio on might shush the other people in the car because their favorite song is on. People will listen to the same song over and over again because it is giving them a feeling that they like to have. It’s hard to not feel something when music is being played. Music as a feeling has become part of our daily lives with something as simple as television commercials. The “jingles” that come on between our favorite shows try to set a mood for viewers in a matter of seconds. In a commercial for a vacation the music will make you feel relaxed and calm. Music is able to set a mood for people that wouldn’t work with just words.
In a movie, music is an essential part to any scene, it sets the mood and gives the audience a chance to really connect and feel what the characters are going through. Music does not only capture a mood for the audience, it creates a feeling that dialogue could not express. Often times the music is more powerful than anything somebody can say.
Even in the “Letter Scene” video that Renee Fleming sings, there is feeling shown not only through the expression on Renee Fleming’s face, but also in the music. As the music gets louder and softer and the pitches change, you can feel through the music the struggle that she is having, the love and excitement she is feeling. The song is in an entirely different language and you can still feel what she is feeling, just by how the music is presented.
Music, outside of movies and songs with lyrics, can give people different feelings. People can connect to certain sounds differently than others. Certain harmonies or melodies can trigger different senses for different people. In Gustav Holst’s Venus, I felt like it was from a scene of a hero coming back from battle victorious, greeting all the people, reassuring them they are safe. Other people might interpret it differently; however I believe that Holst created a sound that gives off a feeling of peace. How people interpret that peace will be different, but the idea is still there.
For a composer to know exactly what melodies and harmonies go together to create that feeling of peace or relaxation or even fear seems amazing to me. To be able to create music that will get an entire audience to experience the same feeling is an amazing task to complete in my opinion. Someone can try and explain their feelings over and over again and still are not understood; however, music can easily express that feeling without words or a lot of explanation. To be able to turn on a song and have a feeling expressed just how you wanted it is a wonderful outlet to have.