Energy

By Fred-Olav Vatne (Translated from Norwegian by Sarah Osa)

Most people might need the occasional musical help to get their energy levels up.

You are likely to have landed on this page because you liked the energy in much of the music you heard. What people experience as energetic can vary widely, but this type of music will in many cases be played in a faster tempo than average, have a clear rhythm and possibly a higher level of intensity. In addition to the instrinsic value all good music has, this type of music has qualities which many might be drawn to when they want to feel more energetic.

A lot depends on the circumstances you are in when listening to music. If you need help to wake up in the morning, the music doesn’t need to be terribly intense for it to be effective. Music played while you work might need to be a few notches more focussed, according to the nature of the work. If you want the music to have the desired effect during a spinning session, it has to be rhythmical and intense.

It might be easier to find classical music which is suitable for waking up or for accompanying your work, rather than for a spinning session. Classical music is written for the concert hall, after all, not a likely arena for work or spinning, or for waking up, for that matter… Still, if you like energetic music, it might still be possible to provide some guidelines on how to find the right music for you.

The most common classical forms, such as symphonies and solo concertos, are often divided into three or four parts which are called movements. Quick movements are usually called Allegro, or sometimes Scherzo, Presto or Allegretto. A lot of classical music starts with an Allegro, so if you search using this term, for example in a streaming service, you’ll find a lot to choose from.

Within orchestral music in this context it might be easiest to relate to the music from the 1700’s. In any case, it’s easier to find music from this period which keeps the same tempo throughout a full movement, retaining the same mood. Renowned composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart were active during this period of musical history.

Vivaldi’s four violin concertos with the title The Four Seasons counts among the most well-known works of classical music. Both Spring and Autumn have two Allegro movements with a contagious energy, and Summer has a very intense Presto movement describing a violent thunderstorm.  Bach wrote an almost equally famous collection called The Brandenburg Concertos, and the Allegro movements in concertos number 1, 4 and 6 are also worth closer examination.

Mozart’s music is light and elegant in terms of style, but can brim with energy, such as in the Allegro which opens his Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. Ludwig van Beethoven composed his music during the transition to the 1800’s and he increased both the intensity and the musical contrasts significantly in relation to his predecessors. His Symphony No. 7, for example, contains an Allegretto, a Presto and an Allegro movement, all of which overflow with energy.

In the course of the 19th century, symphony orchestras grew in terms of the number of musicians. The power in the music itself also grew, and there appeared an increased variety within each work and each movement when it came to sound volume and tempo. Energetic and lively music was found everywhere, from the third movement in Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto to Johannes Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No. 5 to the third movement in Peter Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6.

From the beginning of the 20th century, the classical music tradition began to diverge into several directions. Some of it might appeal to someone who is used to today’s pop music, such as Bolero by Maurice Ravel or Serge Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf or Symphony No. 1. Energetic music which might challenge your ears even further are the Presto movement from Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 9 or the Scherzo from Serge Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1.

Orchestra music composed after the Second World War might stimulate one’s musical tastes in several ways. You might try the movement named Joie du Sang des Étoiles from Olivier Messiaen’s Turangalila Symphony, John Adams’ The Chairman Dances, the second movement from Witold Lutoslawski’s Chain 3, or the Toccata from Alfred Schnittke’s Concerto Grosso No. 1 if you want to hear a diverse selection of music where a high level of energy is the common denominator.