Out-of-Class Concert I attended my first classical music concert on October 19, 2017. This concert was the University of Wyoming Symphony Orchestra’s Opening Night. The performers were the University of Wyoming Symphony Orchestra with a Clarinet Soloist – Blake McGee. It was directed by Dr. Michael Griffith. Our class had previously heard about this particular concert, so I knew what to expect as far a music pieces being played but I have always preferred to have the program in front of me. For this concert, there were two parts with an intermission between them. During the first part, three pieces were played. During the second part, Beethoven’s 6th symphony was played. The first piece in the first half was the Die Fledermaus Overture (1874) …show more content…
2 by Arturo Márquez. The piece starts around mezzo piano with a clarinet and a piano playing. Then another instrument joined in. Then the full orchestra joins in and the piece crescendos. The melody starts relatively slow but as the orchestra joins, the tempo increases. There is not very much pitch variation here and the texture is largely homophonic with parts being played as solos. About midway through the piece, the tempo drastically slows down and the melody gets softer and gentler. The faster part of the piece almost gives the emotion of desperation and escape. When the piece slows down, the mood feels more like a very elegant, very gentle ballroom dance. About three quarters of the way through the piece, the tempo began to pick up again and the music crescendos. The melody gets bolder and more excited. The entire orchestra was heavily involved in this piece with all parts carrying the melody. Even the percussion section and the brass section had a strong presence here. As a dance piece, I was surprised that the beginning was so gentle. As the piece progressed, I found myself more and more intrigued. In my opinion, the piece sounded more like a climactic scene in an action romance movie than a Latin American dance but it was quite enjoyable to listen …show more content…
This symphony was program music which means the music is trying to tell a story rather than just exist. The first movement was light cheerful. As the title, Awakening of Cheerful feelings on arriving in the country, the piece is bright and happy. I believe it was written in a major key because of it’s happy nature. The piece exudes the feeling of spring with all of the flowers in bloom, the birds chirping, and animals playing. The dynamics begin relatively soft and crescendo. They continue to gently decrescendo and crescendo throughout the piece. The pitch stays largely in place and the melody plays over and over again. The strings take most of the melody while the rest of the orchestral families provide softer accompaniment and occasional bird calls. The First movement came completely to an end and the second movement began. Although it was still gentle, the mood wasn’t so much cheerfulness as much as just calmness. The violins played much more legato and piano. The piece was gentle with slight dynamic changes and very little pitch change. The tempo was moderate but the movement as a whole was very calm. After the second movement came to an end, the third movement began. While this was much faster than the second movement, it still exudes an upbeat mood. This movement is much more akin to a morning in which everyone is in a small peasant village and is simply going about their day the movement
On Wednesday, June 14, 2017, I had the pleasure of watching the Chicago Symphony Orchestra perform Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Opus 125 by Ludwig Van Beethoven. The original performance was recorded and put on YouTube, May 7, 2015, in honor of its first premier 191 years before when Beethoven decided to share his 9th Symphony with the world even though he couldn’t hear it himself. The symphonic masterpiece was recorded at the beautiful Symphony Center Orchestra Hall in Chicago and conducted by Riccardo Muti. The performance was completely deserving of selling out every single seat for one hour and twenty-two minutes. In fact, the musicians did not disappoint, Stephen Williamson was in the first clarinet chair, alongside colleagues Mathieu
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.
Dance: The large percussion section, with timpani and snare rolls opens this section, along with the woodwind. The flute plays an atonal allegretto melody, accompanied by a rhythmic ostinato by the percussion section. There is a crescendo as more instruments join the accompaniment and the strings take over the melody. The music climaxes with the brass playing the melody, still accompanied by the ostinato and the triangle. The strings play the melody again as different percussion instruments are used. There is a crescendo again with brass fanfares and snare rolls. There then is a rallentando with the percussion section.
Each individual player in this orchestra is a soloist of sorts, playing a completely different piece than the musician seated directly next to them or across the stage. Rather than being written as a concerto, this piece, written in three movements, allows for each of the accomplished musicians to display their skill individually though each solo is not brought to the forefront of the piece, creating a what sounds like a disgruntled compilation of individual pieces that come together. This piece both begins ends with the Funeral March of Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony directly tied into the basses, at first it is quiet and difficult to recognize but as the third movement is introduced it becomes more pronounced and evident. Those who were present for this pieces introduction to society were able to see its emotional effect on its composer who had obvious emotional ties to the music. Strauss never showed up to see his work debut instead he attended the dress rehearsal, asked Sacher if he could conduct this work. Strauss was said to have given a beautiful reading of the score that many view as his most...
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
The first half of the concert featured symphony band they began with “cenotaph “this piece began quietly.as the string instrument plucked in unison, the instruments brass started with as low melody. The mood in the hall became more lively and dramatic as the music progressed. He efficiently embodies majestic sound by creating a five-part fugue which he introduced by explosive percussion. The pace and texture became more faster and intense with five fugue like entrances
Beethoven saved the premiere for the city that had been his home for the past thirty-one years. At the end of the premiere, Beethoven was still hunched over toward the orchestra, so he was gently turned around so that he might see the applause he could not hear. " The D" turns out to be the "answer" on which the whole orchestra agrees in the great fortissimo summit of that first crescendo, but the tense anticipation of that note is a personal, marvelous, and utterly characteristic touch"(Orga 155). The ninth symphony is my favorite symphony just because the music is so heavenly. It seems in the beginning of the piece brings a person from darkness to light.
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.
The first piece on the program was Polonaise from Eugene Onegin (1878). This piece is from the Romantic period composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikavosky (1840-1893). Very short piece probably around six minutes. The variations and the interesting theme made this piece the most interesting among the other compositions despite the length of this piece, but it was amusing. The piece started with trumpets playing short high notes as an introductory, with the accompaniment of violins playing quick short notes. It sounds like if it was played in a major key, very cheerful and very fast like if the tempo is Vivace. Moreover, trumpets throughout the piece reinforce the harmony. Throughout the piece varies styles were used such as legato (smooth connected style).The texture of this piece is homophonic ( one line of real interest with accompaniment). The rhythm of the piece is really catchy, pretty much predictable; most of the piece variations are centered on the main theme, but it is very pleasing to the ears (consonant).
... 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.
Music is one of the most fantastical forms of entertainment. Its history stretches all the way from the primitive polyrhythmic drums in Africa to our modern day pop music we listen to on our phones. It has the ability to amaze us, to capture our attention and leave us in awe. It soothes the hearts of billions, and it is so deeply rooted in my life that it has touched my heart as well. Everyday I walk to the beat of the song stuck in my head and hum along to the melody. For me, to listen to music be lifted into the air by the hands of your imagination and float around for a while. You forget about your worries, your troubles and find peace within the sound. Every chapter in my life is attached with a song. Every time I listen to a certain song, thoughts of my past come flooding back
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.
It is best known for its’ third movement titled “Clair de lune.” The first movement, called Prelude, is very light and legato; similar to the mood of Clair de lune. The second and fourth movements provide quite the contrast, they are more lively and contain much staccato. It is because of this