Concert Critique

On Tuesday, October 17, 2017, I attended a musical concert. This was the first time I had ever been to a concert and did not play. The concert was not what I expected. I assumed I was going to a symphony that featured a soloist clarinet; however, upon arrival I quickly realized that my previous assumptions were false. My experience was sort of a rollercoaster. One minute I was down and almost asleep; next I was laughing; then I was up and intrigued. 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

I knew there was word painting within movements, but I did not think it was something that one could see. The pianist was heavily engulfed in the music. It appeared as though his body was telling a story. The look on his face through the slower parts was breath taking. If there was pain to be felt his face would have given it away. One could tell when the song was serious because his body would tense and his brows would entangle in a web of thought. In terms of my rollercoaster these were the times I found myself laughing. Yet, the completion of my concert experience did not stop there. I was only half way there and I would not be whole until the music had me intrigued and