Concert Observation Essay

In the piece that was performed by The Vienna Philharmonic, symphony No. 9 in E minor “from the new world”, it had four movements. In the first movement, it was a sonata-allegro form that included and introduction, exposition, recapitulation, and a coda. There were two themes in the first movement and several tempo changes and transitions. There were also variations in the theme and had different instruments play the theme at different times, but the full orchestra finished the movement

The performer was very skilled on the organ and played this piece beautifully, Marshall seemed confident in his performance and looked like he was enjoying playing it. Sonata VI was a fast to very fast tempo, throughout the entire piece. In the program the piece was said to be allegro molto meaning very fast. Again, the piece was very spiritual like the first and had a catholic harmonic feel as well. The audience enjoyed this piece, their eyes were closed letting the music flow through them.

The melody of the piece started with three ascending staccato notes followed by a legato tune with many trills. The overall melody was tranquil

San Antonio Wind Symphony I attended the San Antonio Wind Symphony BRITANNIA. The performance was at UTSA’s recital hall. The Conductor was Dr. Robert Rustowicz. It was free, they are a nonprofit organization made up of volunteers.

Towards the end of this movement, we get a long series of magical-sounding ascending and descending piano trills which then fall into a very low, but ambitious bass line which carefully (but quickly) builds up into a climactic and cheerful finale that concludes the movement with an exciting boom at the

He stood during the orchestral parts and sat and gestured during solo passages. His conducting was energetic and decisive, which propelled the music kinetically. Kahane and the Houston Symphony consistently delivered the varied colors and articulation that can make Mozart’s music so special. First on the program was Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.

One night in mid-November, my family and I went to see the Minnesota Orchestra perform 3 pieces. The first was a suite from The Snow Maiden by Rimsky-Korsakov. Then was the highlight of the concert: Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto. They finished with Symphony No.4 by Williams. Overall, this concert was outstanding.

From beginning to end, I am captivated by the music. Each element brings a unique character to the overall piece. The music takes the listener on a suspenseful journey. The arrangement of the song gives me a visual of someone stumbling upon a dark forest and begins to hear the fast-approaching movement of something behind them. The pairing of several melodic phrases throughout the composition adds to the sense of chaos and turbulence.

The part of the piece that was taken by Eric Carmen was the them from the second movement in the concerto. Describing the second movement of the musical composition, it begins with the strings ascending and making the music have a sort of lifting feel. Then the piano gently enters with an “apreggiated figure” and the strings join back in and the piano and strings work together to produce the main theme of the concerto. The music has a slight crescendo and then starts to fade away. Finally, the solo piano finishes the second

Instruments are introduced at the beginning of new sections, such as the pre-chorus and chorus. Dynamics each verse begins in mp and increases dynamically to mf at the pre-chorus; there is a slow crescendo to f during the transition from pre-chorus to chorus. Tempo the tempo of this song is moderato at approximately 116 bpm, however it feels much slower due to the emphasis being on the 2nd and 4th beats rather than on the 1st and 3rd.

I chose to attend the ISU Jazz Combos concert on Thursday, February 18th in the Martha-Ellen Tye Recital Hall. I chose to attend this particular concert because from fifth to tenth grade I played the alto saxophone, and was a part of a jazz band in middle school. Jazz band was my favorite thing about playing the saxophone, and I loved the occasional improvisation solo I would get to perform. Although I like jazz music, I never have attended a jazz concert other than my high school jazz band concerts. Attending a concert at Iowa State was new to me, but I was excited to get back into the “jazz” of things, and was overly pleased with the two different jazz bands that performed.

The woodwinds performed the main melody while strings performed a contrasting melody at the same time. Out of nowhere, the percussion section entered and began to play, at this point the entire ensemble completely changed course. At this point, the piece begins to sound like a battle as if the woodwinds and strings are at war. Alternating between strings and woodwinds, the piece moves along, increasing tempo. The amplitude of the piece changes from silent to fortissimo to create a more dramatic feel.

There were many musical elements heard throughout these pieces and it was interesting to hear how they varied in each song and suite. In Intermezzo, it began with a quieter violin solo melody creating a monophonic texture. Soon after, it became accompanied by the other violins and cellos, then the full ensemble came in creating a moderate, flowing melody at about mezzo forte and switching to a polyphonic texture. Next, there was a harp solo at forte with many crescendos and decrescendos. The full ensemble enters again raising the dynamics to forte before decrescendoing and slowing down to end with a held note and final tone.

Beginning in the somber key of D minor, the overture begins slowly with the melody alternating between the low strings and low brass sections (Fiedler, Arthur). Although the overture has a relatively long introduction, the suspense built up is abruptly shattered by a sudden modulation to D major and an eruption into the first statement of the motif by the violins. Characterized by a descending sixteenth note pattern, the motif has a tremendous energy that eventually gives way to a calm, relaxing atmosphere led by the woodwind section (“Overture, Prince Igor”). After a lengthy interplay between the woodwinds, brass, and the strings, the overture then gains momentum again, reintroducing the motif. Although somewhat broken up this time, the motif is apparent, being embellished in short spurts again by the violin section.

First of all, the piece is quite interesting as a prelude – an introductory piece of music as it start off with dynamic and vibrant sounds that include the whole ensemble. This piece is structured as a three-part or ternary form which consists of ABA’ form. The idea of this piece is mainly act as an introductory of a story because this piece is only an excerpt from a bigger orchestral performance. From what I have heard, the solo performance is mainly comprise of the woodwind instruments in part B that indicated the slight sign of relief and calmness. The piece has a lot of variation where the composer include different timbres and dynamics such as the high dynamic structure during the first and the last part with the associating crashes of cymbals.