Berloiz creates a musical atmosphere in his Symphonie Fantastique through the use of musical elements rather than melody. The atmosphere that Berloiz creates in the beginning of his Symphonie Fantastique is one that is very erie. When listening to it, one might expect a villain to suddenly enter the room or some sort of trickery to be taking place. The way Berloiz creates this atmosphere is through the use of staccato notes out of the tonic. In the first 20 seconds, the piece starts off with a very high pitched screech. This tone is not at all pleasing to the ear and it immediately brings a sense of tension to the piece. The reason the pitch is not pleasing is because it is out of the tonic. This makes the intro of the piece very tense
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Although the horns attempt to be throwing off the melodic harmony and it at first appears polyphonic, a closer listening can determine that the horns are playing the same as the strings they just decide to interrupt and play over the strings. All of the instruments for the most part are playing the same melodic line just at different intensities. The ears are focused on one voice at a time and are not jumping around so it is homophonic. This piece also relates closely from the fugue from the baroque period. It relates because each new set of instruments that enters in this section presents the theme and plays something similar to the preceding line. The music has a celebratory quality when the strings are playing their fast paced but legato sound. The strings sound very happy and are almost jumping for joy. They flow and do not pierce the ear. Conversely, the music has a dark and ominous quality in the timbre of the loud horns. The loud horns pierce the flowing strings and blast the ears with doom. In terms of the program of this piece, the music perfectly represents it. In the program, this music is meant to portray the funeral of the man. He sees himself at his funeral during the sabbath. This is why the bells are ringing and why the music is very sad. It is music for a funeral but yet it is also sometimes festive. The reason it is festive at times is because the man sees his beloved appear at the sabbath of his
Although the horns attempt to be throwing off the melodic harmony and it at first appears polyphonic, a closer listening can determine that the horns are playing the same as the strings they just decide to interrupt and play over the strings. All of the instruments for the most part are playing the same melodic line just at different intensities. The ears are focused on one voice at a time and are not jumping around so it is homophonic. This piece also relates closely from the fugue from the baroque period. It relates because each new set of instruments that enters in this section presents the theme and plays something similar to the preceding line. The music has a celebratory quality when the strings are playing their fast paced but legato sound. The strings sound very happy and are almost jumping for joy. They flow and do not pierce the ear. Conversely, the music has a dark and ominous quality in the timbre of the loud horns. The loud horns pierce the flowing strings and blast the ears with doom. In terms of the program of this piece, the music perfectly represents it. In the program, this music is meant to portray the funeral of the man. He sees himself at his funeral during the sabbath. This is why the bells are ringing and why the music is very sad. It is music for a funeral but yet it is also sometimes festive. The reason it is festive at times is because the man sees his beloved appear at the sabbath of his