On Friday November 15, 2013, I attended a concert that I found very interesting. It took place at 7:30 pm at the First Presbyterian Church of the Covenant. The group performing was the Erie Chamber Orchestra but as a special the Slippery Rock University Concert Choir was also there. During the performance I attended, two pieces were performed. The first was a Mozart piece by the name of Symphony No. 41 or Jupiter. The second and final was the Lord Nelson Mass composed by Joseph Haydn. In this concert, the two performances differed greatly unlike the last performance that I went to. The previous one that I attended had music that all sounded very similar to me. That could just be my lack of experience with American music, especially music that was composed hundreds of years ago. This time, there was vocal accompaniment with the second piece which clearly made it much different than the other works that I listened to. The Lord Nelson Mass was one that I enjoyed more and I feel that is because of the choir that performed. Although it is not the type of music that I usually listen to, it is still has some more similarities than the symphony by Mozart. The Lord Nelson Mass composed by Haydn was my favorite performance of the evening. The choir immediately captured my attention and seemed to do the same for everyone else in the audience. I was very impressed by the fact that the choir was made up entirely of college students. It was also stated that some of them sing in the choir just for fun as they are not music majors. There seemed to be an appeal in the fact that the singers were mostly very young. The piece as a whole was also very enjoyable. There was a lot of contrast which I really enjoyed. The music would be very loud and then... ... middle of paper ... ...orgettable. Overall, I was very impressed by the concert and I feel that the rest of the audience was also. The expectations for the members of the Chamber Orchestra are high and those were met but I feel that the expectations for the choral group were not as high. My expectations for the choir were not very high and they were immensely exceeded. The level of talent in that group was something that I was really not expecting at all. Emotionally, I was brought in by The Lord Nelson Mass and it was an interesting experience. Technically, I feel that everyone was flawless though I do not have a lot of experience in music. The type of music performed will never be my favorite; however, it is something that I can really appreciate. The concert that I attended last Friday was an interesting one where I got to have some new experiences and learn about classical music.
I was impressed by the range of the pieces that were performed as they were from 18th century classical symphony arrangements to contemporary techno pieces. However, the pieces that moved me most were Mozart’s Molto Allegro, Oaken Sky by Chris Rogerson and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. In hindsight, I am surprised that the two pieces from the Classical Era had such an impact on me. Perhaps, “classical” pieces were what I expected to hear at a Symphony. Oaken Sky evoked the most imagery for me and the conductor’s introduction of the piece was perhaps partly responsible for my ability to go from the earth to the sky in my mind’s eye. Oaken Sky was definitely a pleasant surprise and very pleasing to all of my senses. I was fully engaged in body, mind and soul with Rogerson’s composition. Cielito Lindo was interesting and the soloist really enhanced the piece with a stellar performance. Warehouse Medicine caused an incongruent stirring in me; perhaps I was not prepared for electronics to be added to the symphony. Ravel’s composition, Le Tombeau de Couperin, was a moving piece, but did not engage my senses, only my intellect. This work essentially left me feeling confused and although I appreciated the description of the dedication of the work by the composer, this was my least favorite piece. The “CPCC” soloist, Juan Caljero’s, rendition of Cileito Lindo was mesmerizing. Charlotte
The concert began with an incredibly brief introduction from the president of the Rochester Oratorio Society, after which the society performed a piece that is not listed on the program. After hearing the raw talent the choir displayed in their first performance the crowd praised them, and at this time a representative from the city’s mayor office took the stage and presented the society with a proclamation. The proclamation was on behalf of the city offices and expressed thanks for their 70 years of musical performances and education. Afterwards the society performed Norman Dello Joio’s “A Jubilant Song,” which served as a transition for the Houghton College Choir to take the seats of the men’s choral section. The college choir was approximately a third the size of the society choir, but still managed to perform with a lot of talent. The Houghton College Choir performed Kenneth Jennings’ “The Lord is the Everlasting God” and Larry Farrow’s “Give Me Jesus.” After a quick intermission the Rochester Oratorio Society took to the stage to perform Brahm’s Requiem, which is typically performed with an orchestra, but in their rendition a two person piano served as a replacement. Brahm’s Requiem is in German, making it difficult to understan...
The first song played was from a genre that I had previously taken a test on, Sonata. The musicians played the song by the book. There were three movements and polyphonic texture. It was even fast and jerky. Nonetheless, this is the part where my rollercoaster was going down. In my opinion it was boring. Although very well played, the song itself did not interest me. I did not like the roadrunner, coyote essence of the song. The piano accompaniment would sometimes play the melody and let the clarinet follow and then they would switch. This to me seemed force instead of like the Sonatas that I listened to in class. However, apart from the musical aspect of the first piece there was a certain intensity expressed by the performers. I had never seen a
This song began with a strong 4 part harmony in SATB, balanced due to the fact that their were two boy parts and two female parts, that way you couldn’t hear more of one gender. However in the second half of the song the strength of the harmony faltered; this is due to the fact that the boy’s were letting go of the volume, making it sound unbalanced. I did find that the words in this song got jumbled and their meaning lost because of the lack of diction. During the chorus the sopranos were showcasing their ability to sing high notes, they did a good job hitting them and remembering to hold back on the volume so that the rest of the choir could be heard. For the entire song the choir sang in forte and had no dynamic changes, I found that this made it seem boring because they weren’t doing anything to keep us hooked. I think that this song could have used more articulation, like staccato and slurs so that they could showcase their technique as well as their voices. At the end of the song the entire choir cut off at the same time showing that they had been watching their conductor. I wish that they had projected their emotions more in this song, whether that be by smiling or using a tone of voice to suggest feeling, I think that it would have enhanced their performance. The Humberside Collegiate Choir did an amazing job making sure that they all breathed on time and together without c...
The Boston Symphony Orchestra was a group I just did not know that was out there in the beginning. The opportunity to explore such a historical symphony will make me continue to explore others. I thought it was absolutely inspiring that Andris Nelsons had his wife perform along his claimed orchestra. It showed lots of long lasting love for music in a couple. The symphony itself is honored to have Andris Nelsons as a
...ked throughout the concert. The pacing of the selections seemed appropriate. No piece sounded like the one before it. There was a great variety of songs played. There were songs played that were written by famous jazz composers and songs played that were written by some of the performers themselves. This added to the excitement of the show.
...xcited to have this experience. Part of the drama of the concert at first is felt when the musicians come in and sit down and begin tuning up their instruments. I would not be able to comment on the performance of the orchestra. During the performance, I seen the audience were moving with the music, but I felt like that everyone seems knows more music than what I learned throughout this semester. After I went home and did some of the research on these music I finally understand why these people like to attend the orchestra concerto, it was because that every piece of music has a history behind it. The Los Angeles audience seemed to me to be people who know music and who will listen to something new in a respectful way. All the same, when the more familiar sounds of the last piece were heard, I could feel a little sense of relaxation and fun coming into the room.
I attended the Los Angeles Philharmonic classical music concert at the Walt Disney Concert Hall on Friday 29 November 2013. The classical concert started at 8:00pm to the enjoyment of the huge audience that had been waiting for this amazing music extravaganza. Classical music concerts always offer magnificent entertainment and the audience in this concert was expectant to derive such entertainment or more. In attendance were Christian Zacharias who was the conductor and Martin Chalifour who was the LA Phil commanding Principal Concertmaster and Bach violin player. In readiness for the concert, I enjoyed a special dinner prepared for the audience. More specifically, LA Phil staffer introduced us to the evening classical concert amidst cheers from the audience. It was such a refreshing and joyous feeling to be part of this audience.
The choir opened with “I Sing the Greatness of Our God” by Fred Bock and words by Isaac Watts. This piece began with the organ playing the melody softly in triple meter. The choir came in on an off beat and sang a homorhythmic arch contour. The choir began softly and crescendoed quickly. After the introduction, the first verse was sung alternating between the men and women, they started out acapella. The choir came back together and sang the chorus of the song in unison and crescendoed with the organ until they were singing fortissimo. This piece had an overall allegro tempo and had a generally repetitive theme. It was apparent that
This recital was the best I have been to. The use of different composers in it gave the listener the ability to hear the different style used. For example, Mozart’s piece was dramatic were as Debussy was flowing and dance like. Each piece also had excellent examples of how when the composers changed the texture and dynamics, it made the song very interesting. I was not a fan of classical music, but this solo recital helped me see the errors in my ways. Everyone should have to hear at least one classical concert in their life in order to appreciate the complex use of chords and melodies.
I can still recall that atmosphere whenever I think about it; that wonderful evening with my favorites and all about that evening. The Curtis Culwell center was an amazing experience and surely will be in the coming years. That feel of the auspicious and pleasant day with the serene ambience, when one of my favorite singer-composer brothers came to Dallas for a live concert can still be remembered by me. Salim- Sulaiman, the singer-composer brothers from India, famous for their music and love songs and their spiritual touches mesmerized the whole arena. The best part about their concerts in the tour of North America was their initiative. It was an initiative towards the famous Aga Khan Museum of Toronto, Canada and all the profits from the
The second piece, Paratum Cor Meum, was a much shorter piece with very few lyrics. It was interesting to hear a piece by Haydn, since we had discussed this composer in class. I was impressed by the choir members’ ability to remember words in another language, and I enjoyed the sounds of the piano accompaniment.
The section I chose from the Best of Baroque concert series performed at Tunxis Community College was performed live at a cyber café on campus for any and all to enjoy. This is the polar opposite from the Baroque era of music; concerts were limited to church services and wealthy patrons who had the means to support the arts. This concert focused on the music vs the musicians. The driving purpose of this performance is spreading music from the Baroque era to a group of the modern public. The music starts sh...
The final and twelfth piece was made up of excerpts from a longer work called Five Short Pieces for Clarinet and Bassoon. To me, maybe because the concert was beginning to get long or maybe because I did not have many notes over it, the last piece seems fairly similar throughout its movements, or “Short Pieces.” The first was an up-beat piece with a distinct melody. The clarinet and bassoon alternated, with the clarinet playing the higher notes. The second movement had a have complete feel to it. The two instruments played at the same time, close to it. The third movement was an impressive sounding mix of ups and downs. It seemed that the performers were working very hard and it sounded very complex.
On April 10, 2017, I attended the Auburn Guitar Ensemble concert. The program consisted of eight different performances: three Inventions by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Variations on a Theme of G.F. Handel arranged by Mauro Giuliani (1781-1829), Tango en Skai by Roland Dyens (1955-2016), Summa by Arco Pärt (b.1935), Going Dutch by John Duarte (1919-2004), Sakura, Variations on a Japanese Folksong arranged by Auburn’s Joseph Ikner, Cuban Landscape with Rain by Leo Brower (b.1939), and Kashmir by Led Zeppelin.