The Tragic Song Part 2

This week, I have been continuing on the same concept: learning about tragedy and how to apply it to a song. While the reading articles built on the same ideas about tragedy, actually listening to some tragic music gave me a better idea. I listened to Bach's Air on a G-String, which is widely considered to be a tragic piece. It has lots of tension that is the soundtrack to a character in distress and a couple moments of lighter fare. These help to show the contrast between good and bad that is ever present in tragedy. The tension then comes back, and then keeps building up until the final note, or resolution. This is the one note you keep waiting for to finish the song. It mimics the catharsis of watching or reading a tragedy.