Concert Report, Essay Example

On Tuesday, April 9th, 2013, I attended the Side-By-Side Symphony Orchestra concert. The performance was held at 7:30 PM in the Music Concert Hall. The symphony was conducted by Michael Ducini and featured the soloist Luna Chang on flute. The program for the concert consisted of three works: Flute Concerto No. 1 in G Major, K. 313 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Marche Slave by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92 by Ludwig van Beethoven. The concert was well-attended and the atmosphere was fun and semiformal. As the concert begin, I noticed that, due to my passing familiarity with the musical selections, I was able to remain alert to specific qualities of the performance, such as the tempos, arrangements, and tones of the selected works. My favorite selection of the performance was Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92. This is due to the fact that I felt myself become more immersed in this piece than in the others, perhaps due to the length of the piece, or maybe due to its overall epic feel.

The first piece Flute Concerto No. 1 in G Major, K. 313 had a dance-like, playful rhythm. The tone of the piece seemed playful with a lot of call and response between the flutes and the full symphony. The melody at the beginning of the piece set a theme for repetition and variation. there was a certain mathematical quality to the way that the melodies modulated throughout the piece, which was counteracted by the rhythmic structure. The free-flowing feeling of the rhythm and the spinning variations of the main melodic theme seemed to combine together to give a spirit of absolute freedom and childlike joy. This was a good selection for opening the concert due to its uplifting feeling and the fast-pace at which the music seemed to pass by.

The second piece was a contrast to the Mozart composition. The work by Tchaikovsky was my least favorite of the concert. the marching rhythm of the piece contrasted in an unappealing way with the shrill timber of the strings. this was most especially the case during the frequent use of crescendo that was part of the piece. The simple but repetitive melody seemed unworthy of such a loud and forceful delivery. In my opinion, music that is based on marching rhythms is best used in short bursts, so the extended length of this piece also worked against it in my opinion. That said, found that the bold, rhythmical phrasing of all of the instruments was spectacular because we are so used to experiencing the symphony as a series of subtle interactions. In this piece, the orchestra was very heavy and loud.

The final selection, Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92 was, as mentioned, the highlight of the concert for me. This is because this piece showed the full range of the symphony, ranging from the low, rhythmic timbers of the brass and reed instruments, to the joyful soaring counter-melodies of the strings. The positivistic feeling of the music was reinforced by the unity of expression that was attained by the performers. For me, watching the visual dynamics of this particular piece was exciting. This is because the use of color and tone in the music brought forth ideas of the unification of humanity and the corresponding motions of the performers highlighted this texture of meaning. To me, more than the other selections, the Beethoven symphony was an experience of the full spectrum of sounds that an orchestra can create. The fact that each tonal quality was used expressively and in harmony for the extended duration of the music shows that Beethoven truly wanted to celebrate the power and capacity of symphonic music. The dramatic result is that he is able to unify a wide range of tone colors and textures under a single theme of human freedom and joy.