I listened to Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite. Suites are different from Symphonies and Concerts because they functions as several short movements that all go together, sort of like a concept album or individual rooms in a hotel suite. This particular suite has 6 different movements: March, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, Russian Dance, Arabian Dance, Chinese Dance, and Reed-Flutes. The rhythms of the suite is in 3-beat meter. It can be described as fast-slow-fast. It is slow until the piece hits the 3:30 mark. Then it speeds up until the 16 minute mark before slowing down again. The melody is described by whether it is conjunct or disjunct. Conjunct means that the ascending or descending scale of notes progresses in small steps at a time.
1. Narrow-ranging, dynamically restrained modal melodies are played in a variety of tuning temperaments that generate an "illogical" modal harmonic succession. 2. An unrestricted range of multimeters, polymeters, and complex rhythms are used. 3. A texture of two or more independent and equally important melodies accompany one another (i.e., polyphony). 4. The formal construction is often vague and unclear. 5. The instrumentarium is unrestricted and nonstandardized.
The concert I attended was the Liszt, Prokofiev, and Dvořák concert at the Chicago Symphony Center. Emmanuel Krivine is a French conductor who conducted the orchestra to play Liszt’s compositions Les Préludes, Symphonic Poem No. 3. Next was Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 16 in the Andantino, Scherzo: Vivace, Moderato, Allegro tempestoso, the piano soloist was Russian pianist Denis Kozhukhin who was accompanied by The Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Lastly was Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88 was performed by The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the four movements played was, Allegro con Brio, Adagio, Allegretto grazioso, and Allegro MA non troppo.
Fantasia sees the world as very colorful place where everything has a purpose. The evidence for this is in their interpretive animations in the series of music pieced together to create the nutcracker suite. All the animations in the song are utilized to their max potential. For example, the seaweed in the Arabian dance is used as a curtain of sorts to the fishes cave.
Symphony No. 5 in C minor, composed by the legendary Ludwig van Beethoven, is one of the most famous orchestral musical compositions done by the German-born composer. The symphony is broken down into four movements. The symphony has such a profound effect on so many people because of its use drama by introducing sudden and powerful chords which quickly grabs the audience’s attention as well as creating a variety of musical ideas through his use of excitement by way of fast and slow tempos. The first movement, Allegro con brio, which utilizes the Sonata form, contains an opening sequence or Exposition, which initially compels my attention during its first 6 seconds due to its powerful entry and introduction of the basic four-note motive (short-short-short-long) of the piece. The quick repetition in a lower step using strings in unison keeps me engaged due to its energy, as it sort of
It has a very nice combination of the woodwind and violin. The music goes slow for first three minutes and suddenly it goes fast with the sound of violin and slows down again with the melodious sound of the flute and violin and repeats again giving the feeling of nature and after eleven minutes it is in very high notes. And again, from the 14 minutes, begins the second movement with the melodious sound of violin followed by other instruments. This part is very sad and attractive part of the orchestra too. It feels tragedy and sad music. The music is slow and in low notes. The flute in the fourteen minute is so attaching and alluring. I felt like listening to it again and again. The third movement then begins from twenty-three minute which also feels sad music. It reminds me of the good old childhood days. After the thirty minutes comes the most powerful and weighty part that is the fourth movement. It ends comfortably in F major. Among the four symphonies by Johannes Brahms, I liked the Symphony no.3. And I would like to thank Mr. Madere for giving us with such assignments which help us relax and get free from our
... 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 next work of the program, Courtly Airs and Dances, is a multi-movement work composed by Ron Nelson. The piece is split into six movements: Intrada, Basse Danse, Pavane, Saltarello, Sarabande, and Allemande. Each of these present distinct characteristics that separate it from each other movement, yet all are united by being a style of dance. The first movement, Intrada, presents a fanfare-like opening to the multi-movement work. The trumpets and brass section as a whole lead this, as they create a sense of nobility. The key is major and the tempo is one that could be described as allegretto—it is not a fast tempo, yet more brisk than an andante pace. The texture is homophonic, as there are different parts being performed by different
The texture is polyphonic. It has a slow tempo and there is no presence of accelerando or ritardando. Harmony is a consonant of the word. Melody is conjunct and peaceful. Has a lot of repetition.
The musicians were able to keep time by taping their feet, listening to the piano and drums play a steady beat, and along with a lot of practice beforehand. When it comes to the meter of the piece I noticed that when each musician was playing their part in the song the rhythmic structure would change. When the trumpet player and saxophone player were playing together the beat was steady and loud, but when they were playing separately the sound was not as loud, but the beat remained the same. Each instrument created a different feeling to the music, even though they were playing the exact same part.
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
Chopin opens his Waltz on a troubled, searching theme. Full of hesitancies, sudden rushes, and wavering chromaticism, the pensive tune features rhythmic and melodic fragility. With regards to rhythm, unpredictable phrasing creates rhythmic dissonance with the steady left hand waltz pattern and forces the dancers into a posture of searching in order to stay in step with the meter. With regards to melody, the introspective tune centers around a restless cycle of stressed and unstressed pairs of measures, similar to a poem in iambic octameter. During the first and more stressed measure in each pair, the melody scrambles impulsively through several chromatic notes in search of a note on which to land, almost like a game of musical chairs. Then, during the second and less stressed measure in each pair, the melody stretches out onto one or two sustained notes, almost like a sigh. As the sixteen measure melody progresses, the stressed measures become increasingly more desperate and fling the melody further and harder until finally in a climax the melody jumps 17 half steps only to...
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).
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.
Each piece was unique choreographed to commemorate different eras. All tied into the major theme in observation of the occasion to hone Mrs. Miller. The inaugurate piece Strict Love caught me by surprise. Before the performance music is played in the background.
Most pieces however, are more complex than Mozart’s Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. Many have more contrast of melody, key, and mood between section B and the surrounding sections of A. For example, ternary form can be heard in the slow (second movement) of Mozart’s Piano Concerto in C major or better known as, Elvira Madigan Concerto. Looking at the melody, which in the Classical style are short and simple, with balanced phrases organized into antecedent-consequent (question-answer pairs)- musical units operating together: one opens and the other closes. The melody opening section A of the Piano Concerto in C major consists of the antecedent-consequent unit- each phrase lasting three bars. There’s also pulsing triplets enriching the accompaniment. With the progression of the piece, Mozart unfolds three more themes similar to the ones prior, forming section