A piece of music that I am already familiar with is Gymnopdie No.1 by Erik Satie.

Satie was a French pianist. He composed this classical piece in 1888. It contains dissonant
chords (Fogwall). According to Kristine Forney and Joseph Machlis, a dissonance is a
combination of tones that sound discordant, in need of resolution (2008, 23). A chord is the
simultaneous sounding of three or more pitches; chords are built from a particular scale, or
sequence of pitches (Forney et al. 2008, 19). The melody of this particular piece of music is
played in D Major. According to Kristine Forney and Joseph Machlis, the most important of all,
the major scale defines two poles of traditional harmony: the tonic (do), the point of ultimate
rest; and the fifth note, the dominant (sol), which represents the active harmony (2008, 25). It
has a wave-like contour with a wide range of notes. I like it because it has a calming effect.
However, at the same time, I find this piece intriguing because of the clashing sounds of the
chords. These clashing sounds of the chords are the dissonances that make this piece of music
memorable. The composition goes from soothing to captivating. Even though the two styles
seem to conflict, Satie was successful in joining them together.
Works Cited
Fogwall, Niclas. "Erik Satie: Music Samples." Eric
Satie Audio & Video Archive. http://www.satiearchives.com/web/samples.html (accessed January 10, 2013).
Forney, Kristine, and Joseph Machlis. The Enjoyment of
Music Essential Listening Edition. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.,
2008. (accessed January 10, 2013).