Allemande by Yo-Yo Ma Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Allemande by Yo-Yo Ma - Essay Example I think this piece really highlights the ability of the cello, which has an amazing range and can carry a melody extraordinarily well, and I think that Yo Yo Ma plays it with aplumb. Probably my favorite song in this entire playlist. Adagio Sosenuto by Daniel Barenboim This piece is performed on solo piano, a work with significant romantic overtones that recall the original composer, Ludwig van Beethoven. It has a very slow tempo, which builds towards subtle mini-climaxes throughout which peak the emotion without ever going over the top. It is clearly in a minor key, and is incredibly invocative of sadness and melancholy. The song is driven throughout by a repeated three note riff that has only minor variations throughout, and then is punctuated by all the other music performed, bringing it into incredibly sharp focus. The music has a hesitancy to it, which makes it feel that every note has to push through a barrier before it is allowed to be heard by the audience, and that though ea ch note is soft it has a force to it that allowed it to break through the hesitation. The variations of the three note riff that flows throughout the composition gives the piece an interest that persists throughout and allows it to capture an audience’s interest and keep it focused on this song for long periods of time. I think this is an amazing song and is incredibly compelling. Its best feature is probably its emotional power, which creates an incredible amount of feeling in the listener, removing them from the time and space of the experience and into a more emotionally compatible one. Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson This is a pop song with overtones of several other genres. One of the major genres that it recalls is funk, especially through being carried by a bass line, though it is incredibly danceable with a fast, four-four tempo that would keep people moving while listening to it. The instrumentation can be hard to make out, because a lot of it sounds like it might either be synthesized or heavily processed prior to being heard, but as is fitting for a funk-influenced song, the most prominent instruments are bass, staccato guitar and drum kit, with Michael Jackson’s amazingly distinct and interesting voice layered on top. This song seems to have several vocal tracks, especially in the chorus where it sounds like Michael Jackson harmonizes with himself. His signature falsetto is used to great effect, heightening the emotional appeal of the climax of the song, along with samples of real-world sounds (such as police sirens) heightening the stressful narrative the song carries forward. Despite having mostly repetitive music, this song is able to build a rich soundscape with a wide variety of textures. Viva La Vida by Coldplay This is a orchestral pop-rock hybrid song. This song is defined largely by its incredible amount of forward momentum, provided largely by short bursts of cello and bass drum that strike every beat of this four-four so ng. This forward momentum is carried further by perpetually adding more instruments on top of one another as the song progresses. It starts with a simple cello, then adds a bass drum to that to complete the main, almost train-like forward thrust of the song. Organ, piano, violin, viola, and even timpani are all then added on top of this as the song progr

Shold gun be legal or illegal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Shold gun be legal or illegal - Essay Example ties, global warming, health care, gay marriage, stem cell research and many other politically motivating subjects have ignited emotional ideological battles. Gun ownership ranks high among these political ideologies and to attempt to ban all guns would make these feelings even stronger. To make the case for upholding the widely perceived ‘right’ to bear arms by allowing rifles and shotguns of a certain length while banning handguns and assault rifles seems the sensible solution and a fight that could be won. This tactic has proven effective in other countries such as Britain and many other European nations. Those countries that ban handgun use have a much lower homicide rate than does the U.S. (Reynolds, Caruth, 1992). The concept that the easy access to firearms has an important impact on the homicide rates in this country is supported by the preponderance of the evidence. Nearly two thirds of all homicides taking place in the United States involve a firearm. Yet, chan ges in handgun laws were seen to have little to no impact on crime rates. This is not surprising based on fact that most violent criminals do not obtain their firearms through licensed sources (Wright & Rossi, 1994). Other programs, such as gun buy-back programs have been proven to be similarly ineffective for a variety of reasons including intention for use, ease of replacement and probability of use for crime. Earlier gun control policies enacted in 1976 and 1982 had similar disappointing results. Concealed weapons laws have actually been shown to have a positive effect on crime rates, that is, they contribute to an escalation in crime (Loftin, McDowall, Weirsema and Cottey, 1991). Laws that attempt to control handgun ownership for law-abiding citizens do not work and have been shown to actually... Gun enthusiasts, as they are politely referred, mimic the concept that more guns will lead to less violence, that if everyone were carrying a gun, criminals would be too scared to commit crimes. The more is less philosophy. This doesn’t square with reasonable logic or the facts. â€Å"Whenever you have more guns in a society, you’re going to have more gun violence, period†. The State of Texas is known, quite deservedly, as having an open policy regarding guns. Texas citizens are allowed to carry concealed handguns once completing licensing requirements. Then Governor, George W. Bush signed a law that specifically permits Texans to carry guns in church, the most sacredly peaceful of all places. In 2002, the Violence Policy Center conducted a study regarding concealed guns in Texas and found that, among other disturbing revelations, from 1996 to 2001, â€Å"concealed handgun license holders in Texas were arrested for weapon-related offenses at a rate 81 percent hi gher than that of the state’s general population aged 21 and older†. Lawmakers in Texas responded immediately to this situation by passing legislation that forbids the release of gun-related information.