Celia Cruz-La Vida Es Un Carnaval

Tone Colour

·         Percussion (accompaniment)-idiophones-hit with mallets and hands

o   Cowbell

o   Congas

o   Bongos

Celia Cruz

o   Drums (hit-hat esp.)

o   cymbals

o   guiro

o   maracas

o   timables

·         Brass (accompaniment and melody)-aerophones-blown

o   Trumpet

o   Trombone

·         Vocals-aerophone

o   Women vocals (main melody)

o   Male (backing vocals)

·         String (accompaniment)-chordophone-played with hands

o   Piano

Texture:

·         The texture is homophonic

·         The melody is ‘shared’ between the main vocals and the brass section. The percussion and strings section have the accompaniment through the whole song

·         The texture is quite dense and remains the same throughout the song

Duration:

·         the tempo is moderately fast

·         the time signature is 4/4 (simple) and does not change

·         the brass section has a repeated ostinato that is played just after the chorus when the vocals drop out. This rhythm is not syncopated, however the short pre-chorus after this rhythm is syncopated.  This particular rhythm is played with very short note duration and is accentuated.

·         The percussion accompaniment is syncopated the whole way through the song.

·         At 1.51 the main vocals are spoken to engage the audience; they respond with ‘WA!’  after every main vocals phrase

·         At 2.24 the cymbal plays a syncopated rhythm

Pitch:

·         Major

·         The melody moves in steps compared to the accompaniment which jumps around a little

·         The range of the vocal melody and the brass accompaniment is not at all broad

·         The word ‘carnaval’ is repeated many times in the song which is to be expected because the song means ‘life is a party’.

·         The lyrics translated into English: ‘ay, there’s no need to cry, life is a carnaval and its better to live singing. Ay, there’s no need to cry, life is a carnaval and you’re pain will leave while singing’. These lyrics are sung in the chorus and are repeated about 5 times throughout the song

Dynamics & Expressive Techniques:

·         The dynamics are loud throughout and do not change

·         The brass play accented rhythms (0.1) generally but play longer broader rhythms (0.20) as well

·         The rrrrr sound is produced by vibrating the tongue up and down. This technique is very common in Latin music and it is produced by Celia Cruz in this piece (1.20)

·         A glissando is played at 1.39 by the trombone

Structure:

·         Introduction

·         Verse

·         Pre-chorus

·         Chorus x2

·         Instrumental section

·         Verse (separated by a pause)

·         Pre-chorus

·         Chorus

·         Instrumental section

·         Bridge

·         Call and response

·         Instrumental

·         Call and response

·         Bridge

·         Outro