Baroque Music Critique

On September 22, 2016, the Georgia State Symphonic Wind Ensemble performed pieces which reflected the characteristics of Mother Nature. The ensemble consisted of instruments from a variety of families, such as clarinets, tubas, French horns, a double bass; bassoons, flutes, saxophones, oboes, chimes, and timpani. Each of these instruments affected me tremendously. Suite in D: 1. Allegro Moderato, Astrarium, October, The Leaves are Falling, and Symphony no. 3 (Slavyanskaya) were played by the ensemble. Each arrangement had its own unique essence in order to elicit emotions from the audience. Peter Van Zandt Lane’s Astrarium started with a series of crescendos and an extremely fast tempo. Initially, all of the instruments played simultaneously

The constant striking of the chimes in the beginning created a steady beat for the rest of the music. The tempo and key signature aided each other in creating a suspenseful feeling that frequently resonated throughout the arrangement. The occasional prevalence of the lower brass instruments in the foreground helped establish the general, sad mood of the piece. At times, the convergence of several lower and upper brass timbres reminded me of Baroque music written for the Church. The dynamics used in The Leaves are Falling were either piano or forte, another feature of music from the Baroque period. The excitement I felt from the previous works vanished when I listened to this arrangement, and I cannot imagine listening to it in the

3 (‘Slavyanskaya’), by Boris Kozhevnikov, provided me with feelings of excitement. The loud volume in the first movement filled the atmosphere in the hall with energy. It sounded as though this section of the arrangement was designed to be a march with the vibrancy of the brass instruments. Hearing the first few notes of Slavyanskaya reminded me of John Phillip Sousa’s King Cotton March which also began with the powerful and rich tones of brass instruments. Slavyanskaya then transitioned into a waltz with a noticeably slower tempo than the movement that preceded it. This shift lightened the intensity that was introduced by the first movement. Because of this, I settled on choosing the third movement as the section that I liked the most in this work. This movement continued the festivity introduced by the first passage. It was also easier to accept than the first because its volume gradually increased while the first was more abrupt. By the time this piece concluded, I was so energized that I was left in my seat eagerly waiting for