# Don Juan



## Bee (Aug 20, 2007)

Please excuse my total lack of understanding regarding classical music but i have never studied it before and i am currently looking at Strauss' Don Juan.

I enjoyed the piece very much and during the only lecture we had on it (i study part time) i made a lot of notes and decided out of the 4 mediums i would chose music to write my essay on.

Unfortunately a week before my essay was due we were burgled in our sleep on holiday and out of all the things to take (along with many other things?) was my rucksack with my uni books in and i have lost all of my notes and books (though i have borrowed new books now)

I am writing about how the characters are portrayed in the piece and how they evolve and by what methods Strauss uses to do this (the character of Don Juan in particular). Now (sorry for going so long without getting to my question) i remeber the tutor saying the minor key was associated with one gender and the major key with another gender but i cant remeber which way around it is.

I dont read music and im not good enough to hear the differance, i feel to stupid asking on here where people obviously know what they are talking about but im totally lost without my notes and i think it was an important point.

Hoping i havent bored you all or posted where i shouldnt,

Bee


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

Ah, Strauss's Don Juan. It doesn't really answer the question- but I have two "off-the-top" observations about it. 1) I was once involved with a violist who let me know that the passagework in the introduction was a frequent audition-piece. Not surprisingly, she _hated_ it. When she expressed her feelings, I was reminded about one of Beethoven's remarks, reputedly to a string-player who complained about the difficulties in _his_ works... "Do you believe I think about a wretched fiddle when the _spirit_ speaks to me?!" 2) The program notes I have speak of Don Juan, world-weary and at the end, letting himself be slain rather than defending himself. I (naturally) think of the parallel between this musico-rhetorical flourish and the conclusion of Act II of Tristan und Isolde, where Tristan shows the same ennui.


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## Oneiros (Aug 28, 2006)

That really sucks, why would someone steal uni books? It makes no sense to me... 

Anyway, see if you can get a recording, and have a listen. The minor key generally sounds sad while the major is generally happy (this is a gross generalisation, but you get the idea). Just relax and let your ears guide you.

Hope this helps.


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