Upper Mordent
A rapid alternation with the note above
Upper Mordent is an ornamentation that is used in melody parts. It is created by the rapid alternation of the main note with an upper auxiliary note with the relationship between a whole step or half step. In general, Mordent typically starts with the main note, followed by the auxiliary note, and then returns to the main note. In sheet music, the more curved the Mordent notation is, the more alternations between the main note and the auxiliary note are required.
Example of Upper Mordent
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Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer, the predominant musical figure during the transition between the Classical to Romantic eras. He occupies an unprecedented dominance in the history of Western music history, and has been widely regarded as the greatest, most influential and most popular musician who ever lived.
Beethoven's music inherited the artistic atmosphere of Haydn and Mozart, penetrated the desire for dignity, vented the anger tortured by fate, and demonstrated his determination to fight with fate.
Compared to other musicians, Beethoven is effectively to interact the philosophy of life with audience through music. Although he was not a romantic, he had become the object followed by other romantics.
As a musician, Beethoven suffered from ear diseases. However, he was unwilling to succumb to fate, vowing to take fate by the throat, and continue to complete his career. In the last ten years of his life, without hearing any sound, his compositions influenced the development of music for nearly two hundred years.