Word painting - Citizendia

Word painting (also known as tone painting or text painting) is the musical technique of having the music mimic the literal meaning of a song. For example, ascending scales would accompany lyrics about going up; slow, dark music would accompany lyrics about death. Death is the termination of the biological functions that define living Organisms It refers both to a specific

Composers began experimenting with word painting in Italian madrigals of the 16th and 17th centuries. The Culture of Italy can be found in the Roman ruins remaining in much of the country the precepts of the Roman Catholic Church, the spirit of the A madrigal is a type of Secular vocal music composition written during the Renaissance and early Baroque eras Word painting flourished well into the Baroque music period. Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which were in widespread use between approximately 1600 and 1750. One well known example occurs in Handel's Messiah, where a tenor aria contains Handel's setting of the text:

Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill made low; the crooked straight, and the rough places plain. Messiah ( HWV 56 is an Oratorio by George Frideric Handel based on a Libretto by Charles Jennens. The tenor is the highest male voice within the Modal register, just above the Baritone voice This article is about the musical term "aria" For other meanings or uses of the word see Aria (disambiguation. (Isaiah 40:4)

In Handel's melody, the word "valley" ends on a low note, "exalted" is a rising figure; "mountain" forms a peak in the melody, and "hill" a smaller one, while "low" is another low note. The Book of Isaiah ( Hebrew: Sefer Y'sha'yah ספר ישעיה is a book of the Bible traditionally attributed to the Prophet Isaiah, who lived "Crooked" is sung to a rapid figure of four different notes, while "straight" is sung on a single note, and in "the rough places plain," "the rough places" is sung over short, separate notes whereas the final word "plain" is extended over several measures in a series of long notes. This can be seen in the following example:

A modern example of word painting from the late 20th century occurs in the song "Friends in Low Places" by Garth Brooks. " Friends in Low Places " is a song released by American Country music artist Garth Brooks. Troyal Garth Brooks, known professionally as Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American Country music Singer-songwriter. During the chorus, Brooks sings the word "low" on a low note. Similarly, on The Who's album Tommy, the song "Smash the Mirror" contains the line

Can you hear me? Or do I surmise

That you feel me? Can you feel my temper

Rise, rise, rise, rise, rise, rise, rise, rise, rise, rise, rise, rise, rise. The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964. The primary lineup consisted of guitarist Pete Townshend . . .

Each repetition of 'rise' is a half-step higher than the last, making this a clear example of word-painting. A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest Musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music and it is considered the

On occasion, a composer may employ the opposite technique for a humorous effect. In the Broadway musical Once Upon a Mattress, Mary Rodgers has the lead character, Princess Winnifred, belt a brash show tune about her shyness called Shy. Broadway theater, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 39 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located Once Upon a Mattress is a musical Comedy that opened Off-Broadway on May 11, 1959, and then moved to Broadway Mary Rodgers (born January 11, 1931) is an American Composer of musicals an author of children's books and the daughter of Broadway Belting (or vocal belting) refers to a specific technique of Singing by which a singer uses a high-intensity sound to convey heightened emotional states

Sources

Sadie, Stanley. Word Painting. Carter, Tim. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Second edition, vol. 27.
How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, Part 1, Disc 6, Robert Greenberg, San Francisco Conservatory of Music

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See also