Almost (Sweet Music) is a song rooted in jazz -it references some of the biggest hits and best names in the genre as Hozier sings about learning to love again. It is no surprise, therefore, that rhythm plays a big part in the song. The introduction of the song starts off with snapping, only to grow more complicated as the notes speed up and a bass drum is introduced. Throughout verse one, the rhythm remains constant: two beats from the bass drum, three claps, two beats from the bass drum again. It only grows more and more complicated as the song reaches the chorus. The second verse sounds similar to the first, but there is more clapping used both before and after the bass drum. During the bridge, the bass drum is used sparingly, with the clapping carrying the quick beat; the third verse is almost a combination of verses one and two when it comes to rhythm. Hozier uses the underlying rhythm of Almost (Sweet Music) to pay homage to the jazz genre he grew up on while making his own, unique piece of overcoming heartbreak.

Hearing Joey’s story and seeing him perform was not just impressive but inspiring. His ability to improvise is not uncommon, but completely unique; it comes from an innate ability and hours upon hours of hard work. Talent isn’t something you can measure or compare; it varies from individual to individual. Joey was able to command a stage full of experienced musicians and capture and audience’s attention while never receiving any official training and while being twelve years old; most adults could not accomplish what he did. I haven’t met anyone in my life so far who could pull off something like this, but I do know that there are extraordinary individuals like Joey out there, all with unique and inspiring talents to share with the world.

Almost (Sweet Music) Form:

Introduction (Guitar, snapping)

Theme (Clapping, higher octave with guitar)

Verse 1 (Drums, vocals, guitar, clapping)

Verse ending (Organ introduction)

Chorus (I wouldn’t know where to start, Sweet Music playing In The Dark etc.)

Verse 2

Verse Ending (Different lyrics, same melody)

Chorus

Bridge (Guitar, vocals. Eventual introduction of choir)

Verse 3

Chorus (Choir, Backup vocals, original theme)

The famous Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart lived such an accomplished life that he is still well-known today. Raised with his sister, Maria Anna, from a young age to study music, Mozart’s musical career began at age three. He was able to produce his own compositions by age five and was able to play multiple instruments. His fame only continued to skyrocket the older he grew, as he continued to publish works such as The Marriage of Figaro, The Magic Flute, and Die Entführung, to name but a few. He played for kings and emperors throughout his life, but still managed to suffer from financial troubles. Mozart died at age 35, but managed to accomplish more than most people do in such a short time.

The piece I found was Piano Sonata No. 11. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP9KWQ8hAYk

The facts I found on: https://www.biography.com/musician/wolfgang-mozart and https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wolfgang-Amadeus-Mozart

My favorite out of the pair of songs is Seasons of Love because of the nostalgia associated with the song and the harmony sounds more natural. The vibrato in that piece in particular is very obvious; the chorus, high, and low notes all had some amount of vibrato involved. In Muzetta’s Waltz, almost every note had vibrato -not unusual, since it is from an opera. In my own piece, Almost (Sweet Music), there is less vibrato to be found than in the other two pieces, but some can be found mainly in the choir found in the second half of the song and whenever Hozier sings in the bridge. It isn’t as obvious as the choir or in the other two pieces, but when he sings along with the choir and shortly after, there are a few instances where he sings with vibrato.

In Almost (Sweet Music), dynamics are, for the most part, the same throughout the piece. The beginning of the song starts off relatively quiet with just the guitar and clapping before Hozier begins singing; the introduction of a voice causes the dynamics to leap up. It mellows out during the bridge, but when the chorus starts, they return back to loud. Hozier is not afraid of letting the dynamics jump around in the later half of the song, going from calm and quiet to loud and impactful as he sings about finding joy after an almost all consuming heartbreak. The way he uses dynamics make the song all the more impressive and more interesting to listen to.

The timbre of Almost (Sweet Music) are as varied as the dynamics. Hozier is accompanied by a guitar, drums, a bass, back-up singers, and eventually a choir as the song continues. His own range is impressive, being able to bounce back and forth from low and high notes with ease. The underlying melody of the song mostly remains at the same pitch -somewhere around the middle- with occasional jumps when he wants to make a point, with the new introduction of a new instrument, or as the song closes. Someone listening to this piece leaves it feeling as if they themselves are rediscovering the joy of a mended heart because of the way Hozier blends together his fantastic range and multiple instruments to make the music pack a punch.

In Hozier’s Almost (Sweet Music), there are a few examples of the music matching the lyrics with text painting. The end of the first verse contains the lyrics “the same kind of music haunts her bedroom,” while the underlying music takes on a nostalgic, haunting tone with an organ playing. The song continues with this tone, making the listener think of the pain following a breakup whenever Hozier mentions the word “you.” It’s only when the song reaches its conclusion does the nostalgic and bitter sound of the organ be replaced by a choir, just as Hozier sings about how he is moving on with a new woman, showing that happiness can be found even in the midst of heartbreak.

The two Renaissance songs, The Cricket and Il est bel et bon, were not my favorite pieces out of all the ones we have listened to. I think the combination of the language barrier and the polyphonic texture made of just voices made it hard to enjoy either of them. I had some advantage with Il est bel et bon since I took a few years of French in high school, but even then it was hard to understand what was going on. Having a translation of what was being sung helped me understand the humor of the pieces, but again, it wasn’t my favorite; the humor didn’t match with mine, making it difficult to find what was being sung about funny. Being able to watch the singers perform made it easier to appreciate the music, but again, the language barrier and the differences in humor made it hard to enjoy both The Cricket and Il est bel et bon.

My piece of music is Almost (Sweet Music) by Hozier off his most recent album Wasteland, Baby! Hozier is an artist known to incorporate blues, jazz, R&B, and worship music into his songs. In the song, a little bit of all of them can be seen. The melody remains mostly consistent throughout the piece; Hozier is known to have conjunct motion throughout the chorus, while in verses and bridges he uses disjunct motion. In Almost (Sweet Music), he jumps from singing low to belting high notes as the beat changes or more instruments are introduced into the harmony. When it is just him singing, he remains consistent in his intervals until he needs to make a point or the verse changes.

The instruments have their own voice in this piece, almost as important as Hozier’s. In the beginning, his melody is accompanied by percussion from clapping and drums; the guitar has its own melody -shorter than his, but distinct. The guitar’s melody grows longer and more distinct as the chorus starts; Hozier is accompanied by backup voices, an organ, drums, clapping, and another melody sung by him underneath the original. With so many pieces, it is very easy to have clashing melodies, but Hozier makes it work so that Almost (Sweet Music) sounds as if all of its different melodies come together as one in the end.

The texture of the piece is, not surprisingly, mainly polyphonic. While there are some instances of homophonic texture occurring within the piece (e.g. in the first few seconds, Hozier singing with the backup voices, etc.) overall the song is polyphonic. Since there are so many different pieces to Almost (Sweet Music) this comes as no surprise. But Hozier manages to bring them all together to create a song both fun and cheerful while nostalgic and bittersweet.

I actually ended up liking the Eagle Dance example. Although it checks every box for every part of music I don’t like, I think the fact that it means something important to a group of people made me end up appreciating it more than I expected. The vocal quality had little variation, both in pitch and lyrics. It isn’t the kind of thing we would expect to be playing on the radio, since they are singing without any sort of “meaning” in the lyrics, the tempo is too fast for casual listening, and the cultural significance can be lost without context. It helps immensely to see the dancers perform during this song, since it changes the song from being simple chanting with a drumbeat to an act belonging to a community that has been practiced for generations.

Moving onto Bobby McFerrin’s performance, I felt less connected to this piece, but felt more impressed by the talent and skill required to pull it off. He managed to keep an audience of thousands engaged and participating without any instruments accompanying him nor actual lyrics. The vocables in this song were somewhat similar to the ones in Eagle Dance, but what makes them unique in McFerrin’s performance is the fact of their variance. He does not keep using the same vocables from start to finish, but keeps coming up with new ones throughout his performance. In Eagle Dance, the lyrics felt as if they had meaning coming from the history behind the type of music. In McFerrin’s performance, the lyrics felt as if they had meaning coming from his creativity and talent. Out of the pair of them, I feel as if I ended up liking McFerrin’s piece more. While Eagle Dance surprised me, there is simply no topping captivating a stadium full of people with your voice alone.