River Flows in You Musical Analysis Essay Example For Students

River Flows in You Musical Analysis Essay You a piano piece composed and performed by Hiram (Lee-Our-Ma), a New Age artist. It is part of his second album First Love which was marketed in 2001. In accordance to this, River Flows is popular for weddings and was also used the pop film Twilight. Piano, the instrument Hiram first played, is the only instrument used to play the piece. As heard in the recording, River Flows in You, begins with an andante tempo. The tempo gradually heightens up as the song progresses. It gives contrast to he piece that is still light and soft to the ears of listeners. Despite of the varieties in tempo the piece still concludes with andante. The way Hiram ended his piece gives a sense of satisfaction and content to the listener for it made the song sound complete and natural. Every phrase is played in a crescendo- decrescendo way. River Flows in You given variety in tempo and dynamic brings about the theme of the music: romance. The introduction sounds pure and soft, simple yet captivating. Its theme can already be felt and emphasized at the beginning. Its base becomes the heart of the song; every other note revolving around it. The pieces key is in the A Major with a 5/4 time signature. River Flows features finger positions indicated in numbers. In the musical score, the piece uses fermata and grace notes. The positioning of the fermata notes bring about the needed rest or breathing since the piece generally sounds fast-paced. On the other hand, grace notes add interesting resonance in River Flows in You. Aside from these, the musical score also indicated the finger positioning of the instrumentalist. Its rhythm and base of the song is played by the left hand, seen in the F-cleft, is consistent all throughout. The rhythm though is not easy to identify if one does not listen closely to it. This is due to the fact that the piece has a lot of overlapping sounds and notes. When listened to as a whole, River Flows in You genuinely sounds as if it is a river flowing. The variety n speed gives the listener a sense of being within the currents of the water.