# What makes music Heroic?



## Guest

Hello!, 
I'm very new here, so be kind!

Okay, so I want to write an essay on Heroic music and was wondering if you lot could help me. 
So what makes music heroic? I'm looking at specific elements of the music such as pitch, instrumentation, key, texture, time, and melody for example.
We all know get that sense of heroism when we listen to 'Nessun Dorma', but what Qualities of the music gives us this feeling? 
If you could maybe give me a fair few points on the subject and if anyone knows anything that I could get reading that would be great! thanks!

Michael


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## Jean Christophe Paré

Maestoso tempo.


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## Astrognash

The key of E-Flat Major is often regarded as good at portraying triumph or heroism, although other keys can be heroic too. Also, brass fanfares can be used to convey heroism, and I've found that heroic pieces are often very uplifting.


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## Huilunsoittaja

How funny! Both people above me mentioned exactly what I would have: "Maestoso" tempo marking, and E-flat Major, I've always considered that the Heroic key. So that's a sign, you got more than one person to support those elements.

E-flat Major examples I can think of at the moment: 
Beethoven's Symphony no. 3 "Eroica"
Wagner's Funeral March from Gotterdammerung
Mussorgsky's The Great Gate of Kiev (Pictures at an Exhibition)
Sibelius' Symphony no. 5, the Swan Hymn especially (Final Movement)

*Brass instruments* often connote royal or military themes. All the pieces I mentioned above use a lot of brass at their climaxes.


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## Aksel

I adore E-flat major. And also A-flat major. And all the flat keys all the way until C-flat major. Flat keys sound better, especially on brass instruments. Also, they are a lot easier to play.


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## emiellucifuge

Its about a hero overcoming the odds to be triumphant. See Beethoven symphony 3


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## Aramis

emiellucifuge said:


> Its about a hero overcoming the odds to be triumphant. See Beethoven symphony 3


Yes, the most important thing in heroic music is that it's preceded by antithesis, music expressing sorrow, resignation and stuff. Most of heroic works are builded in cyclic form beginning with pessimistic/distressing first movement which resolves in the last one.

Also, chorale is common in these last movements as final sign of victory.

These chorales are often partly presented in middle movements as omen/promise of forthcoming victory (Mahler 5th, Karłowicz "Rebirth").


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## Webernite

I should point out that the key of C minor is also often associated with Heroism, at least in Beethoven.


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## MEDIEVAL MIAMI

Maestoso tempo = tempo 92 on the metronome?


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## emiellucifuge

Roughly yes, but it also denotes a majestic feeling.


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## starry

emiellucifuge said:


> Its about a hero overcoming the odds to be triumphant. See Beethoven symphony 3


Which is perhaps a theme of Beethoven's music in general, and a thing that probably contributed to its influence and popularity in the Romantic period.


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## ScipioAfricanus

Other heroic music are
Brahms 3rd Symphony
Draeske's 2nd Symphony
Draeseke's Piano Concerto
Bruckner's 8th, Finale
The key to Heroic music is Maestoso and Appasionata.


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## Aquinas

Pieces which convey a heroic atmosphere tend to employ the tonic triad in arpeggio a lot, especially near the recapitulation (if in sonata form). An example of this is, of course, the opening of Beethoven's third symphony: Eb-G-Eb-Bb-Eb-G-Bb-Eb.

Take a look at the _Missa in angustiis_ by Haydn! You won't find many people who deny the triumphant character of its _Gloria_, especially the final _amen_. The soprano section sings the D major triad in broken ascensions, almost forcing you out of your seat in anticipation of the final cadence. Later, in the _Credo_ movement, Haydn sets the words "Judicare vivos et mortuous" - "Will judge the living and the dead" with such intensity of triadic, major-mode victory that you almost cheer for the unseen battle being waged in the music! The word "judicare" itself is set: "ju-di-car-e", in D major: "G-F#-E-D", shimmering and glistening under the sound of the brass, supported by timpani strokes. The appearance of the descending major fourth in the _Credo_ echoes part of the earlier _Gloria_, so the heroic feeling is achieved by the glorious reappearance of a theme from an earlier movement.

Heroism is often conveyed by the occurrence of: I-I6-I6/4, but in arpeggio. Example: D-F#-A-F#-A-D2-F#2-D2-F#2-A2, etc. 

Don't forget dotted rhythms, which convey a march-like mood.


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## woodwind_fan

Definitely agree about brassy things being heroic. Give Richard Strauss' 'Ein Heldenleben' a listen (can't believe no one has mentioned it yet!). You need to be a hero at the horn to be able to play the opening theme...


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## Ukko

*Heroic*

Thanks, Michael. The title of your post is... special. If you could have given it to Berlioz, he would have made an entertaining 'Evening' out of it.

:lol:


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## myaskovsky2002

*To be a hero, kill a snake!*

Today...I looked backwards to a Master piece I love dearly called Sensemaya.
or how to kill a snake, a poem by the Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén. The music by Silvestre Revueltas, a great Mexican composer is programmatic in the sense that it follows the poem verse by verse...Listen to the music carefully:

The music is here:






Now

read the following* poem*. (Culebra is not exactly a snake, rather a snake without poison)

Sensemaya

canto para matar una culebra 
¡Mayombe-bombe-mayombé! 
¡Mayombe-bombe-mayombé! 
¡Mayombe-bombe-mayombé! 
La culebra tiene los ojos de vidrio; 
la culebra viene y se enreda en un palo; 
con sus ojos de vidrio, en un palo; 
con sus ojos do vidrio. 
La culebra camina sin patas,; 
la culebra se esconde en la yerba; 
caminando se esconde en la yerba, 
caminando sin patas. 
¡Mayombe-bombe-mayombe! 
¡Mayombe-bombe-mayombé! 
¡Mayombe-bombe-mayombé! 
Tú le das con el hacha, y se muere: 
¡dale ya! 
¡No le des con el pie, que te muerde, 
no le des con el pie, que se va! 
Sensemayá, la culebra, 
sensemayá, 
Sensemayá, con sus ojos, 
sensemaya. 
Sensemayá, con su lengua, 
sensemayá. 
Sensemayá, con su boca, 
sensemaya . . . 
¡La culebra muerta no puede comer; 
la culebra muerta no puede silbar;, 
no puede caminar, 
no puede correr! 
¡La culebra muerta no puede mirar; 
la culebra muerta no puede beber; 
no puede respirar, 
no puede morder! 
¡Mayombe-bombe-mayombé! 
Sensemayá, la culebra . . . 
¡Mayombe-bombe-mayombé! 
Sensemayá, no se mueve . . . 
¡Mayombe-bombe-mayombé! 
Sensemayá, Za culebra . . . 
¡Mayombe-bombe-mayombé! 
¡Sensemayá, se murió! by Nicolás Guillén John A Crow, John T. Reed, John E. Englekirk, lrving A. Leonard, An Anthology of Spanish-American Literature. New York: Meridith Corp., 1968. Sensemaya

===========================in English========================

(Chant to kill a snake) 
¡Mayombe-bombe-mayombé! 
¡Mayombe-bombe-mayombé! 
¡Mayombe-bombe-mayombé! 
The snake has eyes of glass;, 
The snake coils on a stick;, 
With his eyes of glass on a stick, 
With his eyes of glass. 
The snake can move without feet; 
The snake can hide in the grass; 
Crawling he hides in the grass, 
Moving without feet. 
¡Mayombe-bombe-mayombe.! 
Hit him with an ax and he dies; 
Hit him! Go on, hit him! 
Don't hit him with your foot or he'll bite;, 
Don't hit him with your foot, or he'll get away. 
Sensemayá, the snake, 
sensemayá. 
Sensemayá, with his eyes, 
sensemayá. 
Sensemayá, with his tongue, 
sensemayá. 
Sensemayá, with his mouth, 
sensemayá. 
The dead snake cannot eat; 
the dead snake cannot hiss; 
he cannot move, 
he cannot run! 
The dead snake cannot look;, 
the dead snake cannot drink,; 
he cannot breathe, 
he cannot bite. 
¡Mayombe-bombe-mayombé! 
Sensemayá, the snake . . . 
¡Mayombe-bombe-mayombé! 
Sensemayá, does not move . . . 
¡Mayombe-bombe-mayombé! 
Sensemayá, the snake . . . 
¡Mayombe-bombe-mayombé! 
Sensemayá, he died! 
===========================================
Now read out loud the poem (if possible in Spanish) and put the music again...It is magic!

Spanish is my mother tongue...

Best regards.

Martin


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## Xaltotun

Heroism is an interesting trope, and exceptionally easy to do badly. In arts that utilize words, like theatre, film and literature, it's easy for the author to "push" the supposed heroism of a certain character too hard, creating a counter-reaction in the audience. Being a hero is one of the greatest things that can happen to a character, so you'll have to be careful with it. Music seems to suite well for descriptions of heroism, precisely because of its lack of words. A composer can "push" his ideas of heroism quite hard and still not get a counter-reaction, because the audience does not feel it's being spoon-fed - they still have to use their mind to extract the ideas of heroism from the piece.

A hero can emerge triumphant, or he can fall. Thus, heroic pieces can "end on a low note". A hero can be a tragic hero (in the Greek sense, falling to his hubris) or a doomed one (such as Hamlet). A hero isn't a hero because he prevails. He's a hero because of his moral virtues, such as courage and self-sacrifice. Also, one can cease being a hero, if one ceases struggling and accepts defeat. All of these ideas can be put to music.

The hero must encounter adversity - otherwise he would not be a hero - but like I said, he might fail of prevail. The idea of heroism prevails at any case, though, if there is a struggle. Thus, the depiction of adversity or struggle is paramount in any depiction of heroism. In any struggle, there is a chance of losing, and thus even deciding to fight is also a self-sacrifice of sorts. The idea of sacrifice is thus also paramount to heroism. Great heroes emerge victorious, but perhaps the greatest heroes fall, leaving the audience with mixed feelings of loss and awe. The man did fall, but the idea triumphed, like in Beethoven's 3rd.

The idea of sacrifice is a tragic one, and heroism is the stuff of tragedies. I expect full-blown pathos and waves of darkness is any piece that seriously attempts to depict true heroism. In Wagner's "Ring", Donner is powerful and mighty, but Brunnhilde is a hero(ine). The power and might that we can hear in Donner's music are not enough to make Donner a hero. But Brunnhilde is a true (doomed) hero, and I think we can hear traces of that even as early as in the famous "ride" theme, which has all the power and might but also an underlying sadness, Fate looming over.

I'm not an expert on the works of Gustav Mahler (or Wagner for that matter! or any classical composer, yet!), but I have this sneaking suspicion that his symphonies contain a lot of tropes related to heroism, but twisted and turned, maybe even mocked. The first movement of his 5th sounds quite heroic, but very tragic as well. Perhaps a tragic hero accepts his fate and is thus doomed, or perhaps a hero laments his choice of ever trying to become one in the first place. Or perhaps we've arrived at a hero's funeral, and we're standing in the rain, asking ourselves: "Why would anybody want to become a hero, if this is their fate?" Mahler sure had the looks of a heroic figure, unlike most composers.

Of course, Romantic composers were smitten with the idea of heroism. The 1st symphony of Brahms is incredibly heroic, but it's also too complex to be labeled just that. It starts with a titanic struggle but progresses into the realm of philosophy and ethics. In the end, our hero sounds resigned, but that's not because he's abandoned heroism; it's because he's now gathered experience and wisdom. Thus, we have mixed feelings in the end: in a way, the protagonist has lost the struggle, but he has circumvented the problem and solved it like the Gordion's knot, using wisdom.

Both of the piano concertos of Brahms are mind-blowingly heroic. The first has a lot of grinding and gnashing of teeth, a supreme depiction of struggle against forces that just might be too powerful to overcome. The second radiates quiet, unshakeable resolve that has cast fear of death behind. Here, Brahms concentrates more on the inner movements of the protagonist than the depiction of the external struggle. Thus, these concertos portray different but essential aspects of heroism.

Tchaikovsky's symphony 5 might just be the most over-the-top, unapologetic depiction of triumphant heroism that I've heard thus far. Intoxicated with faith and glory, it pulses onward like a geyser of blood. Whether victory is borne out of free will, fate, or the unholy combination of both, it cannot be denied in the end. This hero is a tiny bit crazy, but he's a hero nonetheless, because we hear him encountering adversity. He gets hit, but always rises up again, ever more bloody. 

There are a lot more of these, of course. The Romantic period is a veritable cornucopia for heroic moods, and Beethoven is a given as well. The thing to remember, I think, is that heroes come in many shapes and sizes, but some kind of adversity or struggle is needed, and the virtue of sacrifice is what makes the greatest of heroes. What is true in literature or film is no less true in music.


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