Album review

Song Review College: There are songs that become eternal just after being performed. Such song are a must for everybody to listen toat least for several times and remember them because they comprise the humanity’s cultural heritage. One of such songs is What a Wonderful World written by George David Weiss and performed by Louis Armstrong. It is a masterpiece for everybody to know not only because of its meaning but due to the way its elements work together in creation of a specific mood.
The first thing that attracts attention while listening to the song is not the melody, rhythm, or structure of the piece. It is timbre, or tone color, of the musical instruments used in the song and the effect they create. In the pieces, the following musical instruments are played: a full string section, the trumpet, the flute, and the French horn. The timbres of all these instruments work together to create warm, deep color. Such an effect is created mostly due to the wind instruments. The strings characterized by soft, melodious, gentle, and clear timbre in the combination with the winds with rounded, breathy, and somewhat heavy timbre are the instruments that are in charge of the overall tone of the piece. All these instruments, except for the flute, accompany the singer throughout the entire song. The flute, in its turn, is played only in a specific part of the song together with such line as “ The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky” and up to the end of the verse to add liveliness and highlight the lyrics. The choice of musical instruments is one the things that make the song a masterpiece.
The second thing that distinguishes What a Wonderful World among other song is rhythm. Very often, this aspect of music is passed over other elements of songs despite the fact that it does have an emotional impact and creates the overall direction for the development of a melody. In the song under consideration, the rhythm is subtle, almost unobtrusive and indistinguishable. There are no complex rhythmic patterns, which can be found in other compositions performed by Armstrong; they distract the listener from the song as a single unit and its meaning.
Such element as tempo works with other aspects in the creation of the entire mood of the song under analysis. What a Wonderful World is a relatively slow song, at about fifty beats per minute and is written in 4/4 time. Performed in such tempo, the song sounds hasteless and resembles a lullaby, and this appears to be the perfect choice for this piece taking into consideration its mood.
What a Wonderful World performed by Louis Armstrong is a song the greatness of which will last for decades. It is so due to the fact that all its elements are perfectly combined and work together as a unity. To understand it, one should pay attention to the choice of musical instruments, tempo, rhythm, and, of course, Armstrong’s excellent performance.