Music and art seem to be similar in the way they use the power of contrasts.
For instance, let's consider the visual of a completely dark canvas that is filled with a color that is a mix of dark green and dark blue. This color comes close to black but it's not quite there.
Now consider placing a single bright yellow dot somewhere on the canvas. That bright spot will immediately grab all the attention due to all the contrast and the darkness around it.
Let's look at a similar situation in music. Imagine the piece starts with bombastic loudness and with a very fast tempo. After this initial burst of energy, all the instruments abruptly die down and you hear the faint whisper of a violin. This soft sound from a single instrument that immediately follows the torrent that came before it is much like that small bright dot in a sea of darkness. Both the composer and the artist use the power of strong contrasts to highlight something very small that could have been easily drowned out if the contrast wasn't there.
This concept of utilizing contrasts to highlight something small and delicate is present in both music and art and I hadn't realized the obvious parallels until today.
