concert review

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Morton Gould’s Spirituals for Orchestra takes the listener through an entire range of emotions. In the beginning of the first section, “Proclomation”, the strings have a tenacious and unyielding quality about them between the more severe blasts of the snare drum. The music then transitions to an alternation between the violins and cellos. Though in this transition the music is quieter, there is a mood of anger or pain throughout the section. There is a change of mood in the beginning of the next section, “Sermon”. This section includes only the strings and has a much more peaceful and lyrical quality to it in contrast to the first section. The next section “A Little Bit of Sin” has a humorous quality about it. The use of various percussion instruments gives the music this quality. “Protest” begins with loud blasts of brass that have a dissonant quality. The brass moves into a march like rhythm throughout the rest of the section. The march of the brass is contrasted by the overlying melody of the violins that have a crying and sad quality about them. At the end of this section, the ...

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