Upon reflection, I found this to be true. Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich all have been infiltrating my iTunes "Classical: Symphony" playlist over the last two weeks.
Why is this? Why is it that changes in the weather draw me to certain music? Is this a unique feature of "me?"
No, I do not believe this to be so. How else do we account for "Songs of the Season" on my cable's music channels, or for "Holiday music" as a genre? Doesn't Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" play on this concept?
The question of the week is...
Why do we like certain music certain times of the year? Give me an answer and a few examples of music YOU like at certain points of the year.
I think we tend to listen to certain music during certain times of the year because our mood changes as the season changes or a holiday is near. When Christmas comes our moods change with the weather and so do many of the things we associate with. Such as television shows and fashion. Along with those our music taste changes as we try to get into the holiday’s spirit along with society. Like, this summer in mid May Katy Perry’s “California Gurls” came out which is a fun up beat song about summer. This song really made me get excited for summer and truly was my summer jam. The song is catchy and prepares a person to get ready for summer and make it through finals. I just think as time changes we change and music is a starting point for us to get excited about the new holiday or season.
ReplyDeleteEmily Steger 5/6
With each season that passes, the whole world changes itself to get accustomed to each season. Here in the U.S., we all get in the mood for the holiday's and our actions and attitudes change as well. Our environmental surrounding also affects our mood. For example, in the Northeast rain is much more common and suicide rates are some of the highest in the country. This shift in mood tells me that seasons push us to shift in the music that we prefer to listen to in each season. When winter comes, and with the switch from marching band to concert band, I tend to listen to more symphonic music. As summer comes around, I listen to more contemporary music that seems to represents my temporary freedom from many responsibilities that school puts on me.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that the weather effects the toem of music that is played during each season; in winter, the cold is rejected and warmth is the focus for many. This is just so in music- the peices that are cheery and make one feel happy or at home, which is generally warm, become dominant. The same goes for summer, where the heat can become overwhelming, especially in Texas, and a craving for water and coolness is prominent. This is continued through mucis that is 'cool' and fun which can distract one from the heat. Overall, it is our natural environment, and how we adapt to it that causes our changes in culture, and thus music.
ReplyDelete-Kat
I believe that the change in the music that we listen to for each season is a reflection of the environment that we see around us. For example in summer the songs that play on the radio reflect more freedom, while at around christmastime on the stations that play carols you don't get much of a variety in carols. Yes, there are artists that will write their own but the standard is just another remake of an old christmas song. I find that for me as it gets colder I want to hear more songs about snow and winter happiness but I blame that on the fact that we don't get a true winter here in Texas. In summer I like to hear songs about summertime, even though we get plenty of summer-esque weather. All in all, I think it's a reflection of how we want the world to be at the current time, summer-y in the summer and winter-y in the winter.
ReplyDeleteRebecca Gilson
1/2
I think the reason we listen to different times of music at different times of the year is to comfort us and associate us with the new season. For example I listen to more pop at the beginning of the school year than any other time because it reminds me of school and my friends and listening to the radio every morning. Also I listen to more country during the summer because my dad used to play country during the day and the only time I was home to listen to it was during the summer. Even if it’s not the same songs, the style of music can relate us to other times when we listened to that music and remind us of good times.
ReplyDeleteAnnalee Alston
1/2
I think that the type of music we listen to doesn't mean anything about the actual difference in the outside world at the time we like to listen to it anymore, but we have become accustomed to listening to it at that specific time of year. For example, if, instead of the song 'Sleigh Ride,' there was a song to the exact tune with similar lyrics, but instead about summer themes, it would be really weierd to listen to it during Christmas time- however, since it happens to be about winter, it's really weird to listen to that song in the middle of July. (I love Christmas carols at any time of year, but it tends to annoy other people sometimes.) Other reasons people listen to specific music at specific times is that perhaps they listen to it for a purpose. Like, I listen to the Run Lola Run soundtrack more often during the school week, because it helps me concentrate while doing homework. So, as opposed to listening to certain music because it's a reflection of the environment, I think it's because we grow accustomed to it at that time, so it becomes associated with that time.
ReplyDelete~Kerry Anderson, 1/2
We listen to music which we are used to listening at certain points of the years. Christmas songs, even though I don’t celebrate Christmas give me a nice feeling inside. It is because I am used to hearing these songs whenever my cousins or grandparents come over Winter Break. These songs invoke those good memories. I remember in 8th grade in Kealing, the song “Viva La Vida” came out during the school year and whenever I hear that song, it always makes me think about the fun times at Kealing. All the songs we hear, I feel go into our little memory box of special events and periods of time that occurred during then. The songs we come to remember are the ones we are then accustomed to later on in the same season. For example, the Christmas songs about snow and the spirit of Christmas are the songs that I am accustomed to during the winter period and the break. This is why it invokes the memories of winter season; because I am always hearing those songs on the radio on TV permanently enforcing it into my mind.
ReplyDeleteAshvin Roharia
Period 1/2
Music does not change with the season. What changes is the style which we prefer (I will refer to classical music, where, as far as I know, style matters much more). We prefer and enjoy different styles of music with different seasons. For instance, I enjoy German (Austria and Czech counts as German) music more in the summer, and this is where I listen to lots of Dvorak and Beethoven and Brahms, as well as English and French music, so also penetrating are Vaughan Williams and Faure. In winter though, like Mr Odum, I much prefer heavy Russian music, especially Rachmaninov. I don't believe I've listened to German stuff very much lately, whereas I've had Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto on thrice for the past month. Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto has also been up rather often of late. I think that it is the style of music, a contrast between the comparative lightness of German, French, and English music and the relative darkness of Russian music, that creates a variable preference throughout the year. Regardless of this, though, music is music no matter what the season. I will listen to the Emperor Concerto in dead winter (in fact, I will have to, many times), as will I listen to Pictures at an Exhibition in the middle of August. I simply won't listen to them nearly as often.
ReplyDeleteOur surroundings invoke in each of us a set of emotions, and the result of these emotions often manifests itself in our music choices. Now, our surroundings can be many different things, from the environment outside (season), to whether or not school is in session.
ReplyDeleteThe emotions we feel from our environment can be defferent from person to person. One may enjoy the freedom of summer, while another may findthe monotony of summer days boring.
Personally, the first semester of the school year typically has me listening to lots of hip hop, while during the second semester I listen to a lot of acoustic music. he second semester can be pretty stressful and the low guitar is kind of calming.
Thomas Massad, Odum 1/2
At certain times of the year, we will feel as if we lack a certain something, a feeling or an object. And this lacking stems from the traditions that have been placed on over time. For example, I notice that in the winter, specific types of love songs frequently bombard radio stations. There's always a song about wanting someone for Christmas or the warmth being next to the person you care about. I can see the logic of it, winter is normally associated with cold and death and having someone you love near you would be nice. As for the summer, songs of summer flings tend to populate the stations (it's so ironic how winter love lasts longer and sounds more true than summer). So to sum up, music do not change with the seasons, the style does.
ReplyDeleteKim Pham
Period 5/6
I think ever since the invention of cinema where music could be freely juxtaposed with images we have given songs more meaning then they have ever had before. It's the reason that whenever the wealthy are shown in a film, Vivaldi's "Spring" is blasted through the speakers. But why do we like certain songs during certain times of the year? We like to listen to songs that can relate to in the present. We like to feel a connection to the artist of the songs. California Girl's was a popular song in the summer, and I can promise you that by the time winter rolls around it will be off of 96.7's 10 song playlist. Also, have you ever listened to "Moonlight Sonata" at noon? It feels alot different than if you listen to it at night.
ReplyDeletePaul Holmes
Period 1/2
I believe that our taste in music changes with the season because of the weather. As the air turns cold and I am forced to bring out my warm jackets, I find myself listening to slower and sometimes sadder music in order to fit the mood of the season. During the winter months, I typically become lazier and enjoy moving at a slower pace. So rather than listen to the upbeat country music that I often listen to in the summer, I play classical music to maintain the same mood.
ReplyDeleteEmily Tubbs
1st/2nd
When winter comes around, it makes everone feel different in one way or another. Winter even has its own smell when it first arrives. Until the mention of this blogpost, I never really paid attention the music I listen to at different times of the year. After I got to thinking about it, I definitely noticed a difference. Summer is practically the only time that I listen to male artists and bands. For spring, fall, and winter, I seem to mainly play songs with females. The mood they create with their songs usually fit better with the feel of the season. I don't know if this is a coincidence, but it's definitely strange.
ReplyDelete- Zoe O., 1/2
The answer to this is composed of a few layers of things. I think the root of the answer is in certain things you enjoy according to the season, which corresponds to what activities are season specific. For example, one might enjoy biking only in the cold weather. Then, onto the music itself, there is what we think of when we first hear the music. Finally, if the things we think of relate to something enjoyable in that season, then the music is more enjoyable in that season.
ReplyDelete-Dillon Emberson
Period 5/6
I think that we have certain emotional connotations for every season, with the concepts of each season changing from person to person. When we find something such as a song that resonates with that feeling of what a season is like, then that makes us enjoy both the season and the music more. As such, we tend to seek out that particular type of music as each season comes around.
ReplyDeleteSam Shook, period 1/2
I think we like to listen to music to give us a change of pace and mood. Before the so called "modern person," ever season meant a different job and routine. Spring was planting, summer working the fields, Autumn was harvest, and winter was mostly hunting and gathering. There was a different routine for each season but people now are more affected by modern soundings than by the seasons. So we change our music, our behavior(Christmas is the season of giving), the way we spend our time and how we react to people to define each season differently and change our routine. As for me, i like to listen to more up beat and happy songs during late fall and winter. This does include christmas songs in december, and i think thats basically why the genera of Christmas and christmas pop came about to define the season for us. I like to listen to more happy songs because even though it doesn't get very cold, it still is accompanied by a change in temperature and i don't like listing to "unhappy" songs when its cold out (also we've just sort of been trained to get happy about holidays and especially Christmas). And so in the summer and spring i listen to less up beat music. Allowing me to define different seasons of the year though music.
ReplyDelete-Blair Creedle Reynolds
Periods 1 & 2
I always listen to metal rock, like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Sword, and Alice in Chains. I listen to the same music year round, but I think that in the winter I listen to slightly slower punk and metal, like Bad Religion, Motley Crue, Misfits, and Sublime (Not punk, but still great). I listen to music when I run and go to the gym. In the winter, the cold weather makes running slower, and music with a slower beat matches the seasonal pace.
ReplyDeleteCody Pfund Pulliam
1/2
I think the music I listen to depends less on the season and more on the mood I'm in. However, different seasons have the ability to create different moods. Whenever I'm feeling lazy and relaxed in the summer, I like to listen to slower songs. I also find that in the winter I prefer to listen to the same music I listen to in the summer, probably because I wish it was summer. During the spring and the fall, when I'm always really busy, I like to listen to music I can sing along to or music I can dance to. Whenever I'm in a really good mood I prefer to listen to whatever I'm listening to very loud, and when I'm in a terrible mood I tend to keep the volume down.
ReplyDelete-Luisa Venegoni 5/6
We listen to different types of music throughout the year because of the different stages that the year holds. For LASA students, there are the 'beginning of school', 'winter vacation', 'spring break', 'end of school' and 'halfway through summer vacation' stages. In each of these stages, our minds have different priorities and some stages can be more stressful than others. To counteract this stress, I tend to listen to more ‘chaotic’ music because it reminds me that my life isn’t as hectic as it could be. I have also noticed that when I am going to be sitting in a car for a long time I like to listen to music with loud bass beats, such as “The New Style” by the Beastie Boys, because it distracts me from the monotony of staying in the car.
ReplyDeletePerhaps listening to slower music around winter makes for a more peaceful and mellow attitude which is just what one needs when they’re going to be spending 2 weeks straight with their family. But in the summer everyone is spending it hanging out with friends so the radio is on and is set to music that most everyone knows. This causes the music to be associated with fun times so people like the Top 40 through the summer months but get tired of it as the year progresses.
-Kayley Treichel 1/2
In the Christmas and holiday season, people expect certain things when they walk into a mall as part of the typical experience. Along with gift-giving, time off from school, holiday dinners and getting together with family, many people expect Christmas carols as part of their holiday experience. I for one vastly disagree with the idea of Christmas carols before December because I'm simply not ready to listen to them yet. However, once it gets colder outside and the holidays approach, I'll start to crave the carols and songs that go along with my experience every year.
ReplyDeleteOther songs are only fit for certain occasions. For example, even though I greatly enjoyed the 2010 World Cup theme songs "Waka Waka" and "Waving Flag", I don't enjoy listening to those songs quite as much as I did during the World Cup. Even though they were extremely powerful and moving songs when combined with the experience of the World Cup, after the event they don't carry the same weight and they aren't as enjoyable to listen to.
Finally, the weather can greatly influence song choice. The rainy, wet, and cold winter here in Austin is good for more somber music, while during the spring and summer I have a taste for lighter, upbeat and cheerful music.
I think that it isnt quite much the weather or season, but the fact that the majority was taught to remember or to listen these songs because they are mostly referenced or played on the radio in the time of season that the majority believed it belonged to. Obvious examples would be "Carol of the Bells" America decided it would be a great song to have during christmas, so nowaday we only listen to it during christmas or else it may be forgotten until next year.
ReplyDeleteDaniel Maldonado (5/6)
As winter approaches and it gets darker, I tend to be much more tired and therefore find myself listening to more acoustic and laid back music. Conversely, when it is summer, I find myself listening to more upbeat music. However, there are exceptions to this like if it snowed I would be very excited and would listen to more upbeat music. Because of this, I feel that the kind of music we listen to depends on our mood and follows seasonal trends only in relation to our "mood" of the season.
ReplyDeleteWe listen to certain music at certain times of the year because music is a method of complementing our attitudes. During certain times of the year (or certain times of the day) people will feel depressed, excited, furious etc. For instance, during the winter I become just a bit more depressed. I would rather have something complement my attitude rather than oppose it. For example, when you are angry you don't want someone trying to make you calm down.You want someone to raise their pitchfork with you and say, 'Yes I can see exactly why you're angry. Furthermore, you have every right to be angry'. Music is a perfect complement. Music can express emotion through numerous mechanisms such as pace, tone, and lyrics. Unlike quality pieces of art, music is dynamic, cheap, and portable. You can always depend on the fact that there is a song for everything. Music is the person you wish existed that agrees with everything you think no matter how absurd. Personally, I listen to ZZ Top during the summer when I want something to make me feel happy. I find that during spring, ever since I watched The Graduate with Robert De Niro, I can't help but listen to Simon & Garfunkel. That music has a certain freshness to it. Furthermore, it makes me think of new beginnings. (I'm sure you've seen the movie and therefore know what I mean)
ReplyDelete-Matt Goodman
Changes in the weather bring changes to a person's emotions. This change in emotion creates different tastes of music throughout the year. During the spring, there is sunny, vibrant weather, which makes me want to listen to cheerful, happy music. During the winter, it is cold and sometimes gloomy, and this creates a more depressing mood since we do not get to see the sun as frequently. It is not only the weather that affects us, but the events that go along with the weather. In high school, during the winter, we find ourselves turning in projects and transitioning to finals which is a very stressful time period. I like to listen to sad music during the winter because it is an expression of my feelings during the time. I don't listen to American music as much as I do Indian music, so these references may not make much sense. In the winter, I find myself listening to "Ya Rabba" from the film "Salaam-E-Ishq" and "Tujhe Yaad Na Meri Aayi" from the film "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai." These sad songs are a method of releasing the stress felt during the winter weather accompanied by finals. During the spring, the weather becomes warmer and the colors outside start to become brighter, which warrants a happier sense of music. During this time, I find myself listening to happier Indian songs (which are strangely more romantic) such as "Tum Paas Aaye" from "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" and "Yeh Ladka Hai Allah" from "Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham."
ReplyDelete-Abdulkarim Bora, Period 1/2
I would say that the reason we like different music at different times of the year is because that's the way we've all been conditioned. For instance, every year my family listens to songs by Vince Guaraldi of "Peanuts" fame, most specifically the Christmas selections. And since we listen to them every year, I might find myself going on Youtube and finding a rendition of "Linus and Lucy" or some other notable work. We probably do this because it's what we're used to. It might remind us of what we did when we were little or what we did when we were in good company. So the music we were listening to in the background could serve as, in a way, a subconscious door to our memories. So it could be that music brings back good memories that we like to keep alive by keeping something from those memories alive as well, like music we heard in the background at the time of the event, or it could just be that's what we're used to and we just want to feel secure in a routine sense.
ReplyDeleteAlec Brown
-1/2 period
While I think the main reason we listen to specific music at certain times of year, especially the holidays, has to do with its content and tradition associated about it (songs like Irving Berlin's "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas"), I do believe that some music has a personality that complements our own during the seasons. As much as a cliche as it may be, with regards to the prompt, Vivaldi's Four Seasons do really sound like the four seasons. The characteristics of the seasons are portrayed trough the instrumentation in the compositions, from the cold harshness of winter, to summer thunderstorms, to the accumulating death and decay of autumn. It is hard to explain how one can hear this in the song, but that is exactly the point that I am getting at: People have an innate ability to observe and communicate subtle, yet universal nuances in all matter of mediums. This is because, and perhaps more so for people with acute sensory observations like myself, people connect certain sights, sounds, smells, tastes etc. with past experiences. Have you ever smelled a cleaning product and been transported back to your preschool, that incidentally must have used the same product, or to laundry done at your grandmother's house? If you have not, then I might be a bit mad, or you may be a bit unobservant. I for one think of winter when I listen to John Williams' Air and Simple Gifts because it was composed for and first played at President Obama's Inauguration in January of 2009. I happened to be present on that very cold and important occasion, so my mind has made an inseparable connection between the two. I find myself pining for marching band music in August and September when I can smell Juniper and Fall Elm in the air because I have connected the beginning of UT football season with the preemptive wave of fall allergens that precede cooler weather by a couple of months. What I believe these sensory preferences serve to do is provide a change and freshness in life that mirror that of the changing weather. Even if our seasonal perceptions are based simply on what we have been taught by society to crave, it makes them no less enjoyable and hearing the sounds of winter no less exciting.
ReplyDelete-Zach Nirenberg 5th/6th
I believe that music, and other cultural staples, are considered seasonal for two reasons. The first is that things that are "seasonal" and the correct way to acknowledge them are a cultural construct, meaning that we celebrate seasons in certain ways with specific types of music, decorations, actions, etc. because of what our culture defines as the appropriate thing.
ReplyDeleteThe second reason ties in with the aformentioned reason. Because specific things, such as songs, are defined as fitting to the season, we have a craving to fit these "seasonal" traits as an ingrained requirement to identify. As humans, we feel the need to identify ourselves and connect ourselves to the world, and this is made possible by participating in these "seasonal" events.
Phillip Hawkins
Period 5/6
People listen to music they associate with wintertime when its gets to be cold. I associate winter with "back in the day", with sitting in front of the fireplace and roasting marshmallows and watching hercules in overalls with my cousins. So lately, I've been listening to the soundtrack to Hercules and "Oops I did it again" by Britney Spears, along with "Walk like an Egyptian" because my nanny used to play those songs in the car when I was little. I am not saying that people are naturally inclined to nostalgic music when "the most wonderful time of the year" rolls around, only that they are more inclined to listen to music that the season reminds them of. If you were listening to all Russian composers, it could be simply because Russia is cold, so Russian music reminds you of winter.
ReplyDeleteClare Lewis
1/2 period
Christmas music is always my favorite when the weather grows cold. The song “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” has been one of my favorite songs that are always on replay. One main reason is these songs are warm, have happy lyrics, and bring back memories of the past like our childhood. These WARM songs are suitable in the COLD weather and remind the listeners about the meaning of Christmas. Similar to this, lots of pop music that sound refreshing in a way comes out in the summer to relieve the hot weather. For example songs about the beach and surfing only seem appropriate when people actually go to the beach and when the weather is hot in the summer. I feel the weather effects a lot of what people want to listen to. Warm songs are good for the cold and vice versa. The weather affects the people’s mood and in turn affects the type of music they want to listen to. Some songs are released as “Summer Pop” and others as seasonal winter/ Christmas songs. And there are some songs that fit all four seasons. When people are feelings cold, they yearn for a hot cup of coffee or hot chocolate, not lemonade or ice tea. Just like this, this emotional change from the weather is true for music.
ReplyDelete-Daniel Kim
1/2 Periods
In my opinion as the weather changes and seasonal changes are felt, we associate different types of instruments to different feelings. This is the basis of “Peter and the Wolf”, as different instruments represent different characters, the deep instruments for the larger and darker animals and high-pitched instruments for the non mysterious, little animals. Though this is a good hypothesis for the reason why we like music at different types of the year, I think the aspect that have always been bred into those sounds at different types of the year is just as true. For as long as we have been able to comprehend the sounds associated with instruments, they have also been associated with the type of year. For the most part the types of instruments we like to associate with winter are the deep, dark ones which are mysterious like the cold. While on the other hand, instruments that are high-pitched (like the flute) remind us of the spring cause of their cheerfulness. An example of a song that I associate with the season is “Good Morning”, which reminds me of spring (and I enjoy more in spring). The reason why I listen to this song in spring is because it starts off with a relaxed awakening of a guitar instrumental. These opening chords remind me of the beginning of spring, in which everyone “awakens” from the cold winter and says “good morning” to the new season.
ReplyDelete-Zach Johnson 5/6
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI think people have the tendency to associate memories with different parts of the year or different seasons. These songs provoke happy memories that make us think of the time of year the memory or feeling associated with this music occurred. There are also different sounds or words that trigger a feeling of season. For example; cold, snow, and bells are often associated with winter, while hot, beach, and electric guitar are more often associated with summer.
ReplyDeleteDuring the winter I listen to more classical music, Christmas songs (because it adds to the festivities), or more quiet, low, or slow and sweet songs. I especially like Snow Patrol.
I believe that the music we listen reflects what we want from the different seasons. They change as we hit the turning point of the season. As we go into winter it is cold, so we look towards our music to find warmth. We find songs that give us that, "warm fuzzy feeling"
ReplyDeleteto help counteract the cold from outside. Also I've noticed that when thinking of winter many people think of gloom and darkness so we
listen to a different type of song to keep the light. As we look forward to summer an entirely different type of music comes out. The
music is upbeat to help push through the rest of the school year and look into summer.
Ariel Timkovich
1/2
As the seasons change, so does everything else, and for many people music becomes one of these variables that changes. This only makes sense when you consider that music supplements the way we feel, and the way we feel changes in relation to the season. For example, during the winter leading up to Christmas, for me there is no better music than Christmas music (up to a certain point of it). What else could I listen to that would so perfectly match the eggnog (non-alcoholic) in my hand and the jacket on my torso? However, during the summer when I am outside or on the move more frequently I tend to listen to whatever is popular with he radio at the time, or if I'm listening to my iPod then I will listen to a wider variety of genres and just go with whatever the shuffle brings around. This is because during summer I am so laid back and feel free, and I feel like I can go with just about anything. Also, it becomes easier to recall memories when you relate them with a season, and a change in music only makes the differences between seasons more profound. This in turn gives you things to look forward to each season, because change and variety is always welcomed.
ReplyDelete-John Gormley
-12 Odum