Brass Band Play Paper The performance took place at TA High School, and was called Ad Optimum, which means “to the highest.” The Massanutten Youth Brass Band took the stage first, with Prelude for an Occasion. The piece started out softly, yet quickly worked towards a solid forte. During which certain sections would slide in and out, crescendoing and decrescendoing alternatively to create a rising and falling sound which, overall, managed to remain quite constant. In the closing measures, the band reached a loud forte, and ended the piece with a solid hit on the bass drum in the percussion section. Their next piece consisted of three parts, named overall Airs and Dances, and the name of the first section is Pesante. The overall piece takes …show more content…
The piece started off very loud, similarly to the last piece, yet this sound was more refined and less brash. This whole first part was quite loud, yet I could still hear one trumpet who was slightly out of place in the middle. Still, the first section was centered around a loud, big sound, that was almost, but not quite, over the top. The second part, named Lento e Tenermaente, was almost the exact opposite of part 1. This second part started off softly, and remained that way throughout. The music was soulful, emotional music, which took its basis from the pianos and metzopianos of the piece. If it had been as loud as part one, it would have been nowhere near as effective, yet because it was soft, it created a feeling of tranquility and peacefulness. The third part of the piece was Sensato, which blends part one and part two together. This section starts off around a solid mezzoforte, and raises and lowers in intensity, led by a trumpet or cornet solo during the opening. After the soloist finished, the piece became more intense, with a heavy percussion presence coming from the back of the band. The concert snare played very cleanly, and was noticeable above the entire band. The band wrapped up the piece in a very together manner, all …show more content…
Kevin Stees is the JMU Brass Band director and a professor for the tuba, and as such, has a couple decades of experience. His solo was amazing, his skill on the tuba is extraordinary. He flitted between high and low notes with astounding ease, flying down and back up through his range. He made the instrument play notes higher than I knew a tuba could play. His performance really tied the piece together, as it provided a graceful interlude in the middle of the song, seamlessly blending into the rest of the
Next, was the longest movement, Molto vivace. Dominated by D minor, this movement resembled the introduction of the opening theme in the first movement but with more lightheartedness. Also called a scherzo because of its “dancelike” theme, this section utilized the Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, French Horn, Trumpet, Trombone, Timpani, and Strings. I also noticed a downbeat around every three beats throughout the fast tempo in this section.
... began the piece, and the beat of the drum was frequent. After the introduction, the rest of the musicians joined. The pianist also had a solo part with the companion of the drum. The pace of the song was moderately fast, and the song ended with a climax.
The Concert Band. New York: Rinehart and Company, Inc., 1946. Print. The. Rhodes, Stephen.
The majority of the pieces featured a rather slow steady beat, provided by the drum and the piano, while the other instruments (mainly the brass section) were used to play the main motif along with some minor ornamentations. The third song they played, one of my favorites, was simply a steady 4/4 tempo kept by the drum, with some minor variations. The saxophone and trumpets took turns drifting in and out to carry the melody. The saxophone player delivered an entertained solo which consisted of very light and amusing trills, this created a very soothing and relaxing
The first aspect of the music I recognized was the volume, or the dynamics. It ranged from forte during the climactic moments to mezzo piano during the calmer parts, but mostly remained in this range throughout the concert. There were also several instances of crescendo and decrescendo, which served to build up tension or slow the piece down, respectively.
This is how I heard the music, piece by piece with some help to understand and ...
The band played together in such harmony and joy, and they exchanged looks as if they're talking to each other and understood by looks. As it turns out the guest go the nigh George Gazone was the professor who taught the band members music. Garzone Played the Saxophone like no other, he’s solos were magical it was fascinating watching him and the admiration his student have for him. The music sounded beautiful, yet seems the band are not well prepared for the evening. There was a lot of improvisation and as if every band member wanted to show off his skills which was really good. Improvisation is an element of jazz I was looking for, also, there were a lot of call and response between the band members different ones at each piece they played.
The first movement is in sonata form - Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso. Strings and horns appear from the distance as if they had been already playing out of earshot. The music gradually intensifies in volume until the final explosion into the first subject. Then this whole process is repeated. The first movement shows a contrast of emotion that seems to return in the recapitulation befor...
3 is the second movement of the piece. It lasts around five minutes of the total 22 minutes of the whole Orchestral Suite. Air is written for Trumpet, timpani, oboe, violin, viola and continuo. It is written in major key. The meter is duple, and I would dare to say that it is quadruple. The texture is polyphonic. It has a slow tempo and there is no presence of accelerando nor ritardando. The harmony is consonant. Melody is conjunct and peaceful. Has a lot of repetition. The melody is consistent. The string instruments are prodminant whereas the timpani and oboe just go along with the melody. Esta es una pieza sencilla binaria; claramente no hay devolución del material melódico apertura en la segunda parte del
The brass plays an ascending sequence, followed by pizzicato notes played by the strings, and an ascending and descending scale on the harp. Strings and oboe play the rhythmic melody, whilst the trumpet plays fanfares in syncopation. The oboe is then replaced by the flute. There is an ascending scale played by the strings, then the brass section repeats the string and oboe melody with cymbal crashes at cadence points. The orchestra then plays a loud melody with cymbal crashes and drum rolls. There is an interrupted cadence, followed by crescendo with cymbal crashes and a brass ostinato. The piece ends with a perfect cadence.
...re was very interesting transitions between the variation, for example, string section plays the variation from low to high, when they reach the highest note, the brass family takes over and continue with the scale and make it more higher. Tremolo style was used in this piece, which is a quick ups and downs stroke mode. The music were very soothing and attracted the audience. Lastly, they end the piece with the same variations that was played at the beginning.
... then plays allegro passages of semi quavers, accompanied by timpani and descending scales in the woodwind. The clarinet, takes over the main melody whilst the cello accompanies with sequences. The French horn takes over the melody, accompanied by the strings. The flute briefly plays the melody before the cello plays octaves, accompanying the woodwind as they play a reprise of the DSCH theme and the timpani crashes. Repeating the themes in the first movement, the cello plays the DSCH motif followed by the "tate ta, tate ta" rhythm in the strings. The horn then plays the theme in augmentation, whilst the cello plays passages of ascending and descending scales, and the theme is heard again in the strings. The movement builds up with the motif appearing increasingly often in the woodwind and strings and climaxes with octaves by the soloist and a boom from the timpani.
...chestral introduction with an imperfect cadence. A strong rhythmic ¾ allegro passage, with sequences and descending scales is played by the orchestra, with timpani and cymbals. The music modulates, and a short, quiet woodwind passage is then alternated with an orchestral passage with dotted rhythms, creating a `terraced dynamics' effect. Part B begins with a major clarinet melody accompanied by pizzicato strings. A minor flute sequence follows, and is followed by a repetition of the oboe melody. A string sequence is then played, imitated by the oboe. There is a crescendo, then the rhythmic orchestral melody returns, alternated with a short flute passage. There are suspensions, descending scales and a crescendo, followed by a strong rhythmic passage with the timpani playing on the beat. Imperfect cadences are played, before the piece finishes with a perfect cadence.
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.
Let’s start with the balance of the piece. The first ten measures were really well done, maybe even the best they have ever played them. The low parts did not overpower anyone else and the higher parts surprisingly kept their intonation well, even though there was a major change in the octaves. Not one part was heard more than the others, which is what we strive for. However, in measure twenty-one the lower parts begin to take over a bit more and that can become an issue because most of the time the lower parts are not playing the melody and the melody is what we want to hear. In measure thirty-three the higher