Vase, Bottle, And Swan Lake Comparison

Author Lailah Gifty Akita once said, “You have to look closely to see clearly.” This assertion resembles the nature of both the visual and performing arts. In order for one to see the depths of any piece of art, one must assess it carefully. Examining Henri Matisse’s painting, Vase, Bottle, and Fruit, Van Halen’s song “Jump,” and Swan Lake, they appear to be three distinctly different pieces of art, however analyzing these pieces thoroughly, one can see the many similarities between the three. Resembling Van Halen’s song which is composed of notes, pitches, and beats, Vase, Bottle, and Fruit is composed of colors, shapes, and lines and Swan Lake is comprised of footwork, gestures, and pirouettes. Similar to rhythm in music and dance, Matisse’s …show more content…
First, the harmony consists of a repeated eleven chord group, which is played through most of the song. This repetition is called an ostinato. Throughout a majority of the song, the rhythm is comprised of a bass drum beat with extravagant riffs included between the lines. Next, the melody is a combination of singing and shouting. Commonly, there are numerous repeated notes at the start of the line with a downward formula at the end of the line when the words are sung. The timbre is prominent in the electric keyboard. The keyboard plays the ostinato through most of the song. However, the drum, lead and bass guitars, and the male vocalist also contributes to the timbre. Continuing, “Jump” is a syllabic piece of music, meaning there is roughly one note per syllable. The texture is homophonic, indicating that it has one key melody accompanied by other various notes, which is mostly over the ostinato harmonies and bass. “Jump” begins with the harmonic ostinato played four times. The first time over a single bass note, the second is presented by four descending drum beats, the third with a bass guitar pattern and a drum, and the fourth with the chords moved up and changed marginally. The background harmony for the A section is this ostinato, whereas section B has distinctive harmonies. The vocalist enters in section A of the music. Each text line in section A is four measures long with four beats each, totally eight bars. Section B is similar as it is also composed of eight bars. This count, in AABA form, is called 32-bar pop song form. However, Van Halen only does this form once. The second time, the form is ABA. This is followed by a spontaneous solo for both the keyboard and guitar. At this point, the ostinato is discarded but