Paul Gauguin - the Watermill in Pont-Aven

A link to the song is available in the following, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSsiS-v6_6M.

First, to start off this discussion, I will be writing a bit about the the art piece I have chosen. The art piece I have chosen is; Watermill in Pont- Aven,by Paul Gauguin; a leading Post-Impressionist- Painter (June 7th 1848- May 8th 1903.) To this day, Paul Gauguin has left us with many astonishing painting and quotes such as; “I shut my eyes in order to see.”  I, myself  am not a artistic individual. However, this art piece has stood out to me. The painting; Watermill in Pont- Aven gives you a feeling of being relaxed and together with the ones you love. A painting, can mean many different things to different people; for me this painting described a small, simple and peaceful town up on a hill; were individuals just need their loved ones to be happy. This painting gave me this feeling for many reasons; The bright but peaceful colours Paul Gauguin used , the smooth textured lines of the piece, the nature, the innocent man and woman getting their daily dose of water and the innocent dog surrounding them were all factors of my feelings. Paul Gauguin managed to used bold and imaginary colours to provide a peaceful notation to the peace. Last but not least, the way he managed to put all of the attention on the man and women but also have a bold background, I found spectacular.      

Even though this piece of artwork was marvellous on its own, I have found a piece of music which represents and reflect this piece of artwork in a way I wouldn’t of imagined. The combination of  the artwork(Watermill in Pont-Aven,: Paul Gauguin) and the instrumental piece (Percy Faith- Theme From A summer Place( which was made specially for the movie A Summer Place in 1959)) was a complete success, in my opinion. And by success, I mean; the artwork accompanied by the music began to come to life in my eyes; the artworks story began to unravel. I believe I made a good choise by choosing the musical piece Theme From A Summer  Place by Percy Faith to reflect on the artistic piece I have chosen. Everything about the music piece; the tone colour, pitch, texture, dynamics, tempo, articulation; contributed to the over all effect of the piece. To start off, the tone colour of the piece were; violins, drums,flutes, piano, and French horns. The violins were the main chords/instruments in this piece.    They gave the music a smooth peaceful feeling. Also, because of the significant amount of violins; different violins were playing different chords. The violins and flutes In this piece represented the peaceful simple town were everything is as it seems, the accompaniment of the French horns to the violin represented the clouds and sun rising in the background of the artistic piece and The drums and piano in this piece, represented the dog getting closer and closer to the individuals who were trying to get their water.    

The pitch of this musical piece was mostly high because of the significant amount violins and the high notes of the piano, which overruled the French horns. The high pitch effected the mood in many ways. Because of the violins and piano, the French horns were moulded and brought up to a higher pitch of music; which gave you a simple, quiet, peaceful, freedom feeling. Where as if the pitch was low, the feeling might be of loneliness and complexity.           

I believe the texture of this piece was Polyphonic but also at times Homophonic. The melodic voices in this piece( at the start) were somewhat independent from one another(polyphonic). However, while you get into the musical piece the Homophonic texture begins; melody stands out while the other multiple musical instruments/voices accompany as a harmony. The texture reminds me of my artistic piece in many ways. For example, the homophonic texture reminds me of how the artist managed to have a bold background but as well the attention on the main parts of the painting; the humans and the dog. While listening to the music and looking at the painting the different chords of the music gave you a feeling of everything beginning ( the water pouring into the bucket, the clouds rising, the streams running.)       

The dynamics of this piece were ranging from piano(soft) to mezzo piano(medium quiet). While some of the the violins and the flutes were-  playing piano;  the drums, the piano, the French horns and certain violins were playing mezzo-piano. The dynamics had a large effect on the piece. The softness of the music’s piece gave the painting a flowing,quiet,harmless,feeling. Where as if the dynamics were forte or mezzo-forte the feeling of the art might be; surprising, jumbled or lost.    The tempo, in my opinion didn’t range a significant amount. The tempo was mostly at Adagietto throughout the piece and gradually got slower at the end of the piece(Lento.) Considering the tempo lacked variation it did not have as much effect on the piece as possible. However, the Adagietto and Lento tempo gave the painting a calm and * always the same* feeling. Last but not least, I believe the articulations of the musical piece reflected and contributed to the painting the most. The slurs, the accents, staccato,  crescendos and decrescendos all contributed to the musical piece. The violins and French Horns articulation style was mostly slurred, and legato; which gave the piece a together feeling. Were as; The drums, the Pianos and the Flutes articulation styles were mostly staccato and accented which gave the musical piece a tad bit of suspense.    

In conclusion, considering both these artistic pieces were produced by independent artists; they won’t perfectly represent each other. However, I believe that the musical piece and artistic pieces moods are very similar. I have already written to you of the feeling the piece of artwork has given me. Although, I have not written to you about the feeling and mood the musical piece gives me. The musical elements ( tempo, articulation, dynamics ,ect) in this musical piece, give you a feeling of being safe. The mood of this piece is very soothing because of the Adagietto tempo, the piano and mezzo-piano tempos, the slurred articulations, the high pitches and the homophonic and polyphonic texture( especially the melody of the violins.)  As I have said before, these two artists had not come together to product a musical and artistic piece which would relate to each other, therefore the moods are not completely the same. Though, I believe that the composer was successful in evoking the mood of the artwork.               

The artists music was calm; slow tempos, high (but calm) pitches, slow, smooth articulations and piano dynamics. It’s music did not take over the paintings story. In my mind, each instrument represented a certain element in the artistic piece. For example; the accompaniment of the French horns to the violin represented the clouds and sun rising in the background of the artistic piece.  Also, I liked how he used the calm violins to steady all of the other instruments, for example; the drums and the French horn did not sound as loud. In conclusion, I thoroughly enjoyed the combination of the musical piece and the artistic piece. Thank-you to these marvellous artists who have the creativity create such pieces of art.   

Paul Gauguin 1848-1903

Percy Faith 1908- 1976