Let’s start with baseball. When a game begins, there’s
anticipation in the air, but not really a lot of tension – people are relaxed,
and the athletes are ready to play. As the game progresses, the mood in the stadium
becomes increasingly excited and anxious. When exactly is the pitcher going to
throw the ball? Can a runner steal 2nd base when the pitcher’s not
looking? Will the trailing team come back? Can the team in the lead stay ahead?
(And if you’re a Cubs fan, will the Cubbies actually win the World Series for
the first time in 108 years?? But I digress.) When I watch a game on TV, I notice the tension on the fan’s faces – people are anxiously clenching
their jaws, with their hands placed on their cheeks or planted on top of their
heads, and their eyes firmly locked on the field. The tension spikes even
higher during pivotal moments of the game, such as when all of the bases are
loaded and a slugger walks up to the plate. If a game goes into extra innings,
this tension can become draining. While the fans and the players get brief
moments of respite during inning breaks and in particular the 7th
inning stretch, the only way for this tension to be fully released is for the
game to end.
 |
Statue of Hall of Famer
Billy Williams
outside Wrigley Stadium
|
Now let’s consider Ludwig van Beethoven. I regard him to be a
master of controlling tension, which we can hear in his symphonies. Some begin
rather peacefully (such as Nos. 4 & 7) while others jump right into the
fray (like Nos. 1 & 5). Take his Fifth Symphony. The first movement (click to hear the link on YouTube) starts with a
furious “fate knocking at the door” gesture; Beethoven shows that he means to
build tension from the outset with this aggressive opening! He finds very
creative ways to build up this tension, relax it, and then build it up even
higher. By the end of the symphony’s 1st movement, you’re ready for
that tension to release. Beethoven coyly does this by delivering a slow and soothing second movement, but he’s right back at building tension in the third movement. He masterfully keeps playing with tension until the very end of the fourth and final movement.
As a composer, controlling the tension is one of the most
important things we can do in building an effective piece of music. If I can
control when the music gets tense and when this tension is released, then I am
able to tell virtually any story I want: I can start a composition as if we’re
in the middle of a nighttime thunderstorm on top of a mountain, or I can make
it sound like we’re walking slowly through a field of fresh spring flowers at
daybreak. Managing tension and relaxation is just as important in non-narrative
works too: I might make a piece progress from light, bright sounds with a slow
tempo to an increasingly dark sonic world with a blazingly fast tempo.
Basically, if a composer doesn’t have a firm grip on how to handle tension and
relaxation, the audience will sense it. The resulting piece runs the risk of sounding as if it
is aimlessly meandering, and the audience won’t feel the push–pull of the
tension–relaxation dynamic.
So the next time you watch a baseball game or listen to a piece of
music, see if you can feel the tension, as well as when that tension gets even
higher, relaxes, and fades away completely. Now, let’s go Cubbies!
