It is no doubt that Christmas is one of the most wonderful times of the year. People spend time with their families, they decorate their homes with loads of Christmas things, and they set out to see the most reputable show of all time the Nutcracker. Whether it’s a broad way show, an orchestra playing, or just the movie of the nutcracker playing on the television, the nutcracker is what makes Christmas so special for so many little children and adults across America every year. This year I decided to attend a Nutcracker performance myself, but this wasn’t your typical nutcracker performance, this one had a little twist to it. On Saturday December 2nd, I attended The Nutcracker Suite, op. 71a (1892) musical concert ensemble at the Performing …show more content…
With that being said, it also brings me to my next analysis. The Waltz of the Flowers composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was my most favorite pieces during the concert. This piece sounded magical and it got me in to the Christmas spirit. The song started off with the sweet and soft sound of the harp accompanied by the clarinets and after the generous cadenza the horns joined in. By the time the strings started playing I fell in love with this piece of music. Noting mentally that the French horns also had a solo accompanied by the clarinets I could see that much of this piece’s instruments gave an endearing performance that not only enticed me but most of the audience as well. As I looked around the room I noticed everyone’s heads moving back and forth swaying with the melody of the music. I could just imagine being in a Christmas movie, ice skating, and tasting the soft taste of snow while I skate around and feel the winter breeze against my cheeks. And although, this was the last piece of the night, I wanted that moment to last a little bit longer. Furthermore, I liked all of the pieces on the program, but the one that I liked secondly aside from the Waltz of the Flowers piece was the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy piece. As soon as the orchestra started playing the song I immediately got excited because I had just learned about the celesta in class and I have always wondered what instrument made that unforgettable
On December 7, the Monticello High School mixed and concert choirs presented a choral program called “An Olde Tyme Radio Choral Concert” in the high school auditorium. It was directed by Mr. Brett Kniess, and Janice Vetter was the pianist. The songs were chosen to put the audience in the holiday spirit, and in my opinion, it accomplished this goal. The first five songs were sung by a mixed choir of freshman and sophomores.
The other element of a successful play that stood out in this production was fluidity. This musical moved smoothly from beginning to end and was easy to follow. Overall, this production was a success and the performance was
Subjective Reaction: This piece was unique from the others in that it was comical and playful. It was refreshing break from the slow Gregorian chants and darker themed music. In fact, it had much of the audience laughing. This piece got its liveliness and personality from the choirs dancing and use of props.
Jingle Bells was played at an Allegro tempo and articulated the sweet sound that comes from the whole band creating a swing beat to match a nostalgic preference of Christmas being so close. The Flute Trio expressed their excellence in soothing music from their selection Silent Night played at an Andante tempo. Their other song Carol of the Bells played at a Moderato tempo and was quite lively with each player playing different tunes all at the same time. The song selections were perfect for the theme and they had a familiar
On October 29, I attended the Professor Harry F. and Mary Ruth Jackson Lunch Hour Series. While I was at the Lunch Hour series, I had the pleasure of watching Elizabeth Carville Evans and Valerie Ludlum Wright perform. Elizabeth played the flute and Valerie played the piano. The two performed individually and together, which showed the audience the beauty of both instruments individually, and how well they accompanied each other.
In the year 2012, the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba made a historic visit to the United States. I opted to witness the orchestra in the town of Aiken, South Carolina. I was extremely excited to experience the reaction to the orchestra in the South America. The performance of the band was scheduled by 9 pm on Tuesday, 2ND November, at the Etherredge Center, Aiken. As I reached the center, I saw that a studio theater was prearranged as the green room for the band.
Next, the song called “Coppia Real” was played which is by Orazio Vecchi arr. Jay Lichtmann. The instruments that were included in this song were French horns, trombone, and trumpets. The trumpets and the French horns were my favorite instruments in this song, they instruments played together made the song flow beautifully.
When thinking about the production The Long Christmas Ride Home, I can say that I have very mixed feelings. On one hand, I don’t really like watching theatre productions that aren’t musicals. When a production is not a musical, I find myself drifting off into boredom at times. However, The Long Christmas Ride Home definitely kept me hooked and was unlike any production that I have ever seen. While watching the Long Christmas Ride Home, that biggest idea that I could take away from it was that I really liked the plot of the production.
The piece included a slow tempo. I am not quite sure, but I believe I heard Merry-Go-Round played by one of the trumpet players. The ending to the piece had a continuous pattern of crescendos and pauses. Consequently, the audience became confused because they didn’t know when it was over. I thought it was a humorous way to “include” the audience.
This orchestral composition is a skillful combination of these elements that makes this classical piece one of my favorites. The instrumentation
I attended to a concert performed by the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra on November 13th this year. This concert took place in the Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco. I chose to attend to this concert because I have never been to a performance by any youth orchestra, I was curious to see how their performance would compare to other orchestras. The first of the three piece that were performed in this concert was Maenads’ Dance, from The Bassarids, composed by Hans Werner Henze. A variety of instruments were used in this piece, including woodwinds, brass, percussion, and strings.
In The Sound of Music, Rodgers and Hammerstein created fourteen pieces tailored to the various scenes: The Hills Are Alive - The Sound of Music, Overture, Morning Hymn, Maria, I Have Confidence, Sixteen Going on Seventeen, My Favorite Things, The Lonely Goatherd, Do-Re-Mi, Something Good, Processional, Edelweiss, So Long Farwell, and Climb Every Mountain. While I won’t deal with each of these individually, as it could take years to properly analyze each piece of music in the movie, my point of focus will be directed towards the opening piece, “The Hills Are Alive – The Sound of Music”. The movie’s opening visual, which happens to be one of the most iconic scenes, sets a positive and carefree mood showing Maria Von Trapp (Julie Andrews) innocently dancing on top of a majestic mountaintop with breathtaking views behind her, and the sun glowing on her face. The song, which happens to be named after the film, compliments this image well, as it too, sounds innocent, positive and playful. The piece has a high pitch and a strong melody, setting an upbeat and positive mood, creating excitement and intrigue to continue watching.
The Lovell High School Concert Band had an amazing concert on the 30th of November. The songs included Celebration and Tribute, Sleigh Ride, Spirit of the Highlands, with a bonus of the combined band on Jinge, Jinge, Jingle. While all the songs were good, they were not spectacular. One that stands out to me is Celebration and Tribute. While Celebration and Tribute is not an extremely a technical piece, it still has its moments of fast notes and rhythms.
On November 28th, 2015 I attended Ben Stevenson’s version of The Nutcracker which was being performed by the Houston Ballet at the Wortham Theater Center. The dance featured two separate acts and multitude of dances as well as a live orchestra. The Nutcracker demonstrated the ability to unleash a multitude of emotions as well captivate its audience with music composed by Pyotr Tchaikovsky of the Romantic era, usage of modern technologies and techniques such as lighting and special effects, as well as its wide variety of dance types such as solo dances, pas de deux, and large group dances with a focus on a central figure or couple. Despite dance being the primary subject, it is necessary to note the performance of the orchestra of Tchaikovsky’s
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.