I am going to talk about the intonation, balance and blend of the Sartell High School Wind Ensembles most recent performance. The style of the pieces played were mostly themes from musicals, movies, and television shows. The pieces performed were titled Star Wars, Baba Yetu, Somewhere, Into the Woods, and What’s up at the Symphony. The concert took place on March 9th, 2016 in the Sartell High School auditorium at 7:30 p.m.
The opening song, Star Wars began the Wind Ensemble’s portion of the concert. The introduction of Star Wars has a lot of energy and the volume is fantastic. You can clearly hear the articulations of the upper voices while having the strong support of the lower voices. There is nice balance when the flutes take the melody.
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The piece begins with a flute/oboe solo, the solo is done well with a strong base. Though the initial hit of the chord could have been more together. The solo starts the piece slow, but soon the trumpets take over the melody strong with good intonation. At measure 9 the trumpets die out and the upper woodwinds take over the melody. At this point I think the counter melodies take over the melodies slightly and there could be more support. At measure 29 there is good balance, but the clarinets entrance seem doubtful, which lowers the level of intonation within the ensemble. At 45 the energy is kept even with the softer contrast in dynamics. At 61 with the trumpet melody is at a mf and when the flutes and clarinets come in 2 measures after they add an interesting contrast to the melody. At that point I think that the flute/clarinet part could have been slightly softer to better blend the voices.
The band continues the concert with a piece titled, Somewhere. The beginning is upper voice strong, and could use more lower support. The clarinet melody at 13 is done well and has good balance among the band. At 48 the flute/clarinet countermelody is slightly louder than I think it could be, the balance would be better if they reduced their volume slightly. The cord before 60 is out of tune and upper voice heavy. The piece is done well, aside from that. There is good contrast in dynamics, though the intonation could have
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The ensemble started strong and fast. The tempo was quick but the band stayed together well. There is a good balance within the winds at the beginning with a strong base. The percussion section could have been a little softer is some parts though. At measure 10 the intonation among the ensemble is very pleasing. At measure 46 the tempo is kept while a flute solo is performed and is well supported by the rest of the band. The flute solo sounded well in tune and was executed well. Measure 52 was very fast, but the band stayed together. At measure 66 the tempo is still fast, but it slows down by 74. The balance throughout the band is respectful throughout the piece. The downbeat of measure 82 wasn’t as clean as it could have been. At measure 90 there is a nice balance between the low and high voices. At measure 99 the melody does a nice job blending with the background voices. The snare part seems slightly behind for a little bit near the end but caught up quickly. The chord before measure 133 has good intonation. The saxophone solo had a good balance with the rest of the band, you can hear the soloist well but there isn’t any overpowering. The final chord sounds in tune and nicely
“You gotta play this piece like an English military band would,” said Jules during band one day while rehearsing the first movement of Gustav Holst’s Second Suite in F. “1. March” begins with four notes played by the low brass which is then echoed by the upper woodwinds. The trumpets have a noble melody which broadens when the entire ensemble joins in. Next, the piece lightens up with an upper woodwind melody. Later on there is a euphonium solo, and following that is a grand theme with an extremely distinguished style. After, there is a change in style and time signature. One simple theme repeats with different dynamics and instrumentations every repetition. The Wind Ensemble played this piece at the Winter Band Concert on December 11, 2013. This work, though easy looking at first glance, was genuinely difficult to put together. It had few layers, so mistakes or intonation problems were extremely noticeable. Furthermore, the style of the piece was extremely intricate and hard to master. Therefore, “1. March” had positives and negatives regarding intonation, balance and blend, articulation, style, and dynamics throughout the entire ensemble and the low instrument section.
Thursdays at Cal State L.A. seemed like any other typical day- warm, busy, and tiring. However, on December 2, 2015, something was particularly different; not only was it the last day of class before finals, but there was also a Mariachi concert directed by Cynthia Reifler Flores. As I was walking towards the State Playhouse, I thought about how the music would be composed. The first thing that I expected was the music to have a quick, upbeat tempo, something that would be played at a festival or a party. I walked through the screen door and was given a pamphlet. In it contained detailed information about their programs, musicians, Flores’ biography, and the prodigious mariachi group. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, the doors
I chose to do my concert critique on Eric Clapton-MTV unplugged full concert-HQ January 16, 1992 at Bray Film Studios in Windsor, England. Eric Clapton is my favorite rock n roll singer which has a mixture of genres. The concert was inside and on stage. The audience was seated up close to the stage which made the atmosphere comfortable; Eric and the band showed much warmth and connected with the crowd it wasn’t like the band was untouchable.
Eastern Washington University Department of Music presented a program of Opera works by Giacomo Puccini, Aron Copland, W.A. Mozart, John Dowland, Franz Shubert, Maurice Ravel, and Robert Schumann on Friday, March 7, 6:30 p.m., in the Music Building, Recital Hall. These Opera works were sung by Senior Recitalist, Alexandra Rannow.
This piece was filled with improvisation and you could feel the creativity following from the musicians. The combo didn’t have a conductor like the big band and was significantly smaller. Although, the combo was smaller and less formal it wasn’t any less of a performance. The piece started out with a phenomenal alto sax solo by Kevin Clements of Lamar, Missouri. Kevin is a talented musician, with his dark, rich sounding solo, he hit it out of the park. Ivan Vazquez of Garden City, Kansas performed another great solo on the trombone. Maddy Beasley, Kearney, Missouri followed Ivan with a tenor saxophone
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 history of the Concert Band and Wind Ensemble will be reflected through a timeline of events, including an analysis of significant events, groups, composers, and advancements. When society envisions a Wind Ensemble, talented musicians, grand music halls, and difficult arrangements typically come to mind. However, a modern-day Wind Ensemble includes a variety of musicians, each with positive and negative aspects. In society today, music is greatly appreciated and accepted. It is considered an honor and a privilege to expose our ears to the music.
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.
One performance that stood out to me during the concert was a song called Sinfonia #3 by J. C. Bach (Wind Ensemble Concert program). The reason I enjoyed this song was because it was performed by nine saxophone players. I would say
The rest of the trumpet section was also very lively; I felt they carried the main theme in almost every song which certainly kept me interested in the performance. The conductor kept the band on time, and to me they never missed a beat. One could tell they were certainly well rehearsed and truly knew how to use their instruments. A lot of music these days has become focused on generating the catchiest lyrics or chorus, so seeing this jazz ensemble was very refreshing. I was delightfully surprised to see such remarkable music talent at a performance of that size and caliper.
The second piece, Paratum Cor Meum, was a much shorter piece with very few lyrics. It was interesting to hear a piece by Haydn, since we had discussed this composer in class. I was impressed by the choir members’ ability to remember words in another language, and I enjoyed the sounds of the piano accompaniment.
In conclusion, the concert was really interesting and I enjoyed myself. In my opinion the two pieces that I really like in this concert, are Sounden Horn and Polonaise from Engine Onegin, the shift between the melodic lines and the element of beauty is what made me like it. In the future I would recommend it to my friends and I will not mind to go with them at all. This kind of music is the best to me by far.
On Friday, July 10th, 2015, I drove to the 6th Street to the Metronome Coffee in Tacoma to see a performance of young musician. Performer’s name was Tyler Shockey, and he played and sang by himself. After listening to his few songs, I learned that his songs do not have many lyrics, and he mainly played on electric piano and drums. The electric piano had many different sounds, and Tyler amazingly played many instruments and even sang at the same time. His music was pleasant and easy to listen, and some of songs were in slow tempo with few words of lyrics. However, the place was a little bit small for the music so it might have sounded loud for some people. On the other hand, I felt like the singer was expressing his feelings
For this concert report I chose to go to a performance of student composers held at the Kimball Recital Hall. I chose this one because I wanted to see some of the talent that my peers have in the music realm, and also it was one of the only concerts I have been able to attend because I usually work at night. It was impressive to hear pieces composed by students. I cannot imagine creating something as complex as a musical composition, much less actually performing it, so this aspect of the concert was particularly awe-inspiring. There was a large attendance, and I think that much of the audience consisted of friends of the composers and/or performers. I went with three friends, who I convinced by telling it would be interesting to see student composers.
There is an event that I just can describe as one of the most unique and memorable in my life: attending my first concert. After years of listening to Ron Pope’s music, watching his YouTube channel, and following all of his social media accounts, the satisfaction of seeing someone whose music has been the soundtrack to my life for so long was unreal. There were moments that I had to internally remind myself that this is, in fact, happening in real life. Being a dedicated (some may say eccentrically so) fan is tough work – and I was rewarded with two hours of pure magic for one night. Attending my first concert was a unique event that I will always remember fondly because of the atmosphere, the amazing performance and the sense of connection