Williams: Theme From Jurassic Park Analysis

The orchestra piece John Wiliams and Vienna Philharmonic- Williams: Theme from “Jurassic Park” shows many examples of the different elements of music including rhythm, pitch, timbre, form, texture, volume, articulation and the instruments used in the piece. These elements are shown all throughout the performance of the piece. This piece fits the definition of music for dictionaries but does it fit my definition of music. My definition of music is sounds either prerecorded or not used to make melodies are harmonies using instruments, animals, or day to day sounds. This piece does fit my definition of music as it is non recorded instruments used to make melodies and harmonies throughout the piece.   

First we are going to talk about the rhythm of the piece. The rhythm of a song or piece of music is the pattern of on and off beats exhibited by any sound as time passes. The rhythm changes multiple times over the course of the song constantly switching between faster and slower tempos. At the beginning the rhythm is slow but at 1:21 the tempo picks up and stays the same till 1:27. At 1:27 the tempo again slows down for a split second and picks back up. The tempo changes again at 2:51 and goes a little bit faster. At 3:09 the tempo again slows down, and again changes at 5:20. 

The pitch of music is the highness or lowness of sound. This is controlled by the frequency of the soundwaves coming from the instrument or from any sound. Higher frequency waves have higher sounds and lower frequency waves have lower sounds. The pitch of the song changes a good amount throughout the piece. The changing in between the instruments plays into this effect as different instruments have only a certain range that they can reach. The pitch starts off low and rises at 0:30 as the instrument is changed from a french horn to a flute. The pitch lowers again at 0:49 as the song moves into the chorus. And the pitch rises at 4:58. 

The volume of a piece of music is the loudness or softness of a sound. This element of music is also determined by sound waves. The larger the amplitude the higher the volume of the sound, the lower the amplitude the softer the sound will be. The words we use to describe the changing of the volume are crescendo and decrescendo. Crescendo means getting louder and decrescendo means getting softer. During the beginning of the song the volume starts low, at 1:21 there is a crescendo as the song again moves into the chorus. The song then decrescendos at 2:37. 

The articulation of a song is how pitches are begus, sustained, and released and is driven by the change in the dynamic level. Pitches either have no sustain which is called staccato, or they are gently connected and have a great amount of sustain which is called legato . There are plenty of examples of this during the performance. At the beginning of the song the notes held out and connected which would be legato. At 2:22 the notes are short which would be staccato. There is legato again at 2:44, and staccato again at 5:43. 

The timbre of a song describes the sound quality. At the beginning of the song due to the lower notes the piece sounds a little dark but brightens and sounds more happy at 0:30. The sound continues to sound bright. There is only one time where it sounds a little strained and that is at 4:52 

The texture of a song concerns the contents of and interactions between various layers or voices in a musical work. The different terms we use to describe texture are monophonic, homophonic, polyphonic and heterophonic. Monophonic is the music having a single melody, performed either by a soloist or in unison with no accompaniment. Homophonic is when you add accompaniment that is a secondary melody. Polyphonic is every voice is independent but equally important and there is no distinction between melody and harmony. Heterophonic is multiple instruments or voices each perform a unique version of the same melody, such that unison is not achieved. Some examples in this piece were homophonic at both 4:24 and 4:49. Another example was an example of monophonic at 4:39. 

The form of a piece of music is the manner in which the music unfolds over time. Words we use to describe form are, repetitive, variation, and contrast. There are many forms of repetition in the form of the song. The verse before the chorus and the chorus is played throughout most of the performance but there is variation at 2:05 to 2:18. There is also contrast at 2:51 to 3:05. There is also variation from 3:26 to 3:31. 

The instruments used in this piece include the french horn featured at the beginning middle of the piece. The flute, oboe, harp, violin, chello, drums and the xylophone. The variety of instruments really make the piece whole and sound fantastic just like the infamous jurassic park theme song we love to this day. 

All of the elements of music were able to be found in this one piece of music. There were plenty of examples of rhythm, pitch, volume, articulation, timbre, texture, and form. The different elements of music combined in this piece of music make the theme song that we all know.