Disonance is Harmony

Being in many choirs throughout my life, I've come to understand and appreciate disonance. Disonance is where notes in a melody are too close together, or rub against each other instead of harmonizing in the typical way. It can be used to create an uncomfortable or eerie effect, but it can also be used very beautifully. Disonance really just harmonizes in a different way.

One of my favorite choral composers is Eric Whitacre. He is really the master of beautiful disonance, creating complicated sounding harmonies between all the different voice parts. Here's an example of one of his pieces, one of my favorites, called Water Night sung by a BYU choir.

You see how hauntingly beautiful and powerful disonance is? It really taps into your emotions. I absolutely love singing in a choir, and I love that I was introduced to different types of music through choir. I wanted to share one of my personal favorite types of music, songs and composers. Any thoughts? Comment below. :)