Prompt 5

Theodore Kim
V00960161
Music 116
Dr. Patrick Boyle
October 25, 2020

Prompt 5

My ‘repeated listening’ experience of “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, I” was insightful! While the piece lost its novelty overtime, I gained a new understanding of it that made it more enjoyable in other ways.

Before this activity, I only had a vague idea of the nuances of the piece. I could most strongly identify the melody, but my recollection of the other parts was somewhat foggy. The experience encouraged me to examine the rhythms, articulations, and each part in closer detail, and one at a time.

While examining the rhythm, I gave it full attention, and focused less on the pitches than I normally do. I discovered an unfamiliar joy in simply following the various rhythms. I may not have ‘downloaded’ every rhythm of every part, but my sense of the rhythmic variety among the parts, and the way they interacted was expanded.

When I hummed the melody of the piece to myself before this activity, I often invented my own articulations. There may be a place for that, but I didn’t have a great idea of the original articulations of the piece. I developed an ear that is more sensitive to facets of articulation, such as legato, detachment, and dynamic accents.

I became more aware of the uniqueness of each part because of the ‘repeated listening’ exercise. My prior inexperience with the piece led me to have tunnel vision on the melody. Once I gave each part my full attention, I enjoyed them just as much as any other.

The ‘repeated listening’ exercise pushed me beyond my normal listening habits. At most, I would listen to a piece with great concentration once or twice. This experience revealed that there is more to gain from pieces by listening to them several times in a row, without distraction. I will certainly use this strategy the next time I seek to absorb a piece in fuller detail!