Report on a Classical Music Concert Paper Example

Introduction

On 1st May 2018, I was lucky to attend a classical music concert at our neighboring university. The performance consisted of four pieces, yet both were met with enthusiastic applause and praise. The performances attributed many blossoming musicians with an assortment of unique musical combos. This was a perfect opportunity for experiencing such a wide variety of music. Even though the place was packed to capacity, the feel of the atmosphere was calm and relaxing making the whole performance pleasantness and ease. The report, therefore, exemplifies four concerts that took place on that day; Concerto for 3 Harpsichords in C Major, Romanze, OP.85, Symphony No. 38, and Funeral March of a Marionette.

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Concerto for 3 Harpsichords in C Major

This concerto was performed by Johann Sebastian Bach with various soloist including Leah Liu, Hyunjung Cho and Kate Wu. It is one of the most impressive compositions of Bach that used 3 keyboards that day instead of harps and an electric oboe on the stage. Even though there have always been critics on other concertos of Bach, few brought this charge against C major concerto (Bach 69). The line that soloists were standing stood out more clearly. The left hands of the soloists were on the same bass line hence making the line to appear more melodic. The three soloists indulge in a single musical unit where they entered simultaneously and developed the same thematic material as a melodic song. The movements were built on a more expansive and inclusive scale making the C major three concerts corresponds expressively and in depth. The performance applied three movements whereby the Allegro was the first one and opened the stage built on various themes. A minor Adagio was the central one and it was solemn with a melancholy piece of the three soloists. Allegro Assai closed the stage with three separate cadenzas for every soloist.

Music Description

I saw C major Three to be a happy like music full of excitement and anticipation. Bach began the suite with a simple descending scale with a statement that is strong and of positive energy making the audience applause. His rich deep bass quality epitomized by purity brings a happy moment to the audience. The song takes full advantage of the glorious resonance that begins with a prelude opening motive. Bach takes the audience on a continuous journey that passes through multiple key areas while utilizing the pedal tones. It brings us to a notable climax of chords making the audience rests in a harmonic triumph.

Subjective Reaction

C major 3 is lively and energetic bringing a positive spirit and at the same time excitement. The melodic and rhythmic figures bring a conversational element that bounces between the upper and lower cello registers of the songs. Another thing I like about C major 3 is that the song is suitable for transcription of different instruments. For instance, the performance he made used three keyboards instead of three harps thus combining different forces that make it be played a lot. What I dislike about his music is jumping up and down between the adjacent scale tones which made me exhausted.

The Performance

I was impressed by Bach performance and I would go back to listen to him. This is because he always has something for everyone including concertos, cantatas, etc. and also the way his music makes me feels a plethora of emotions would make me not miss all his live performance. There was a single aspect of the concert that stood out in my memory and that was his sense of rhythm and his extremely high level of dissonance in his music.

Concert for Romanze, Op.85

Romanze, OP.85 is performed by Max Bruch with soloists being Silin Chen who played Violin, Daniel Kim who played viola and Joshua Kauk who played the cello (Rees 65). The song expresses romantic mood which he has towards Viola. The viola starts with a very melodic, calm and romantic character which is repeated by violins and flute to emphasize.

Subjective Reaction

What I like about Romanze, OP.85 performance is the compelling work of Bruch in his capability of balancing melodic simplicity and virtuosity. However, even though there is sweetness in his rich melodic if the music is played roughly by unpolished individuals; it may diminish its melody and its rhythmic romance.

The performance

I was impressed by the song and I would go back to see and hear Max Bruch perform again. Bruch has a sensitive violinist and orchestration that empowers his audience to lean in especially in the first movement of the developmental sections where the passagework of the solo violinist intricately converses with the winds and weaves in and out of the section. Also, he has the capability of balancing the melodic simplicity of romance through use of violin something that could have been done by a piano.

Concert for Funeral March of a Marionette

The short piece talks about the tale of two Marionette troupe members that had a duel. The procession sets out for the cemetery when one of the Marionettes dies (Gounod 32). It is performed by Charles Gounod who sets a sorrowful mood of death. The piece is performed using a piano with jaunty beats and with funeral march rhythm. A moment of doleful music provides a way for a surprisingly perky march. The music almost turns cheerful even though it was being processed with the corpse.

Subjective Reaction

What I like about the music is its march that has a minor key and in a slow simple duple meter, the song imitates the solemn pace of a procession of a funeral. However, I dislike the atmosphere the song creates of a sorrowful moment to almost all audience. All in all the solemn sadness of the song marked a significant and somber moment for me even outside the concert hall.

The Performance

The performance was impressive and I would go back to listen to it once more. It was a perfect piece of remembering our loved ones and this was the single aspect of the concert that stood out in my memory. The piece can't resist the inevitable tear in our eyes but it brings peace to us at the end.

Concert for Symphony No. 38

Symphony No.38 is a piece performed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart which brings a contrapuntal and harmonic mood that is accompanied in a dance-like music (Newstone & Wolfgang 17). Though it was longer, it showed uniqueness by incorporating various types of sounds including bulge calls and dance tunes. This provided various types of tone colors. The symphony began with a thick-textured undertone that was slow having powerful iterations of the tonic chord. The song contained an expertly crafted counterpoint hence bringing its uniqueness.

Subjective Reaction

What I like about the symphony are its interesting and colorful harmonic explorations that give a beautiful sense of crafted freedom throughout the song movement. The final movement was short that was cast in a traditional sonata form leaving the audience in suspense.

The Performance

Generally, the performance was impressive taming Mozart riotous creativity. He uses the symphony to bring together his motives and in a most thrilling way, combines them in a contrapuntal crucible way that invites his audience into it. To make sense, he repeats the second half movement to make sense of what is going on.

Works Cited

Bach, Sebastian, J. Harpsichord tuning: course outline. Werkplaats voor clavecimbelbouw, 2017.

Gounod, Charles. Funeral march of a marionette: clarinet quartet: for 3 B and B bass clarinets. Kendor Music, 2017.

Newstone, Harry, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Symphony No. 38 D major: K. 504," Prague". Eulenburg, 2017.

Rees, Carla. "Romanze, Op 85." Flutist Quarterly-The Official Magazine of the National Flute Association 42.2 (2017): 65-68.