Sample Music Essays on Concert Report
On Monday September 19th at 9.00 A.M., I attended a concert at The Queens College Orchestra. There was a schedule that was issued to all the attendants as a guideline on what to expect. Three pieces of classical music were to be performed according to the program. They included El Salon Mexico by Aaron Copland (1900-1990), Knoxville, Summer 1915 by Samuel Barber (1910-1981) and Harlem by Duke Ellington (1899-1974).
The concert began with the El Salon Mexico piece which had a high beat and tempo. This was the best way to start the concert because it made everything becomes lively a mood that I was looking for in the performance. The piece had Mexican songs bits tossed in a lathered orchestral mix. There were various instruments being played that succeeded each other before entering into unison. Some of the instruments that were played include trumpets which were more prominent and supported by snare drum beats and sharp suspended cymbals. The bass clarinet instruments were also played and receded by E-flat clarinet, flutes and temple blocks. The pianos, English horns, wood block, and flutes quickly brought the climax to this piece of music leading to its final section after ten minutes of play.
I must confess that I enjoyed this piece of music especially the Mexican rhythms and beats of the instruments which not only left me nodding to the tunes but dancing to it too. It occurred to me that this piece of music had a nationalistic tone of Mexico which brought out the beauty of the nation and its culture. I think this piece worked well to promote culture, but I did not like that they decided to play it in a concert full of Americans. If the concert was cultural themed, then it could have been the best piece for the night.
The second movement of the Concerto Knoxville, Summer which was an ecstatic and undeniably beautiful piece with great melody. The violins added decrescendo dynamics which was tuned to the style and size of the piece. There were several amazing qualities of sound that were produced by instruments such as trumpet played by Frank Huber and Chulho Kim, piano played by Teng Cao, and flute played by Peter Arfsten and Kim Sparacino. I liked this piece because of the slow, “at ease” tempo which gave me a good feeling as though I was somewhere out in American South in the beach enjoying the sun. The bass instruments enhanced the entire mood of the piece especially the constant blowing of the horn that appeared in the background. I liked the ways in which there was a strong connection between the movements of the instruments which based on my opinion enhanced the climax for the concert making the entire orchestra successful.
The last piece of the day was Harlem which was originally done by Duke Ellington (1899-1974). This piece made an impression that was lasting to me especially after sitting in the concert hall for 3 hours without any intermission something which I did not like. However, this piece was satisfactory and even made me forget about my anger for not taking a break. I was looking forward to listening to this music thus felt overjoyed when the time finally came for it. The piece lasted for about fifteen minutes but it was satisfactory.
I am glad I attended this concert because it made me aware of various compositional and style techniques in traditional orchestra. The various sounds that were played in the orchestra made it more effective and added interesting effects to the entire concert. I also came to learn that music and orchestra can be enhanced perfectly by various instruments. I enjoyed most, the instruments, melodies and music for some songs which spoke more to my life.