On November 15, 205 at 2pm I was able to see the Rutgers Percussion Ensemble. I was very interested in this show, because I have never been able to see a group of only percussionists perform in the same space. The first piece they did was called Ionisation, which was written in 1929. There were thirteen musicians on stage playing various instruments. This song began with a rolling unpitched sound coming from four snare drums with the claves. This idea was an interesting start, because it caught the audience’s attention to really listen to what was going to happen next. Then the song, went into a lighter more atmospheric section, where there were many crescendos and decrescendos. The instruments in the piece included the chimes, maracas, timpani, …show more content…
It was Drumming, parts 1 and 2 by Steve Reich. The piece began with bongo drums on stage with four musicians around it. Two musicians started with a basic rhythm. This rhythm was in a twelve count phrase and the original phrase was the motive of the piece. Then other musicians would add in or leave during the middle of the original phrase, which created phasing. When the phasing occurred there were intervals created and sometimes chords. This made it very difficult to see who was playing what. The sound was all pitched and created deep layers in the music. As the musicians were playing it almost started to feel like it was all fake because of the layers and timing. It seemed impossible to have so many rhythms happening at the same time. In the second part there were three marimbas and two female voices. It started with an accumulation of notes over a span of time, then adding in other musicians to create an accumulation. When the vocals came in they did the same thing. One performer sang a few notes in a melodic way then the next singer came in and repeated the phrase. I really respected all of the musicians because they had to be focused on what they were doing and be aware of what was happening around them, which can be very
This specific piece is a part of part one, which ironically is the second section of Fosse. It begins with one single dancer on the stage. This dancer sets the entire mood simply by stylistically moving her arm, slowly. After she begins to move from her opening position, other dancers slowly come on either one by one, or in small groups.
The ensemble opened up with “New Year’s Harmattan”, a low-intensity song accompanied by a video of African New Year dance visuals. Various percussion instruments made up the rhythm section of the song, while the violin or clarinet took the lead in the songs homophonic melody. Out of the various songs performed in the show, this one was my favorite. It’s mellow beats and flowing rhythm where very relaxing to me, unlike the various songs to come.
They also had nice facial and vocal emotions which helped to create the overall feeling of amazement that resonated throughout the entire piece. The next piece I watched was performed by the USC Chamber Singers under the direction of Jo-Michael Scheibe. The piece they performed was called “Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal”, by Paul Mealor. During this piece, the USC Chamber Singers did a nice job of smoothly
Many different types of bells were used in this piece. This song seemed much shorter as well. The final piece that I really liked was called “Joy to the World.” This piece I really liked because it had a soloist that had a beautiful voice.
The piece that was played during this particular piece was titled “Miracle of the Ark”. This particular piece was rather ominous and made the seen overall seem very suspenseful in the build up to the ark finally being opened. The actual moment that the ark is opened in the movie the orchestra quiets down and the string instruments play a rather fast suspenseful note while everyone looks on to see what is in the ark. It is then that the scene gets more intense with ghosts guarding the ark and melting anyone that looks at them. To make this scene seem more intense and powerful the orchestra really matched that and grew in volume.
As the string instruments moved in harmony, the brass instruments were incorporated with a slow tune. The piece eventually progressed to be more theatrical. The melodies gathered pace and the music became more powerful with the consistent entries of different instruments and melodies. One category of the instrument was pursued by another and eventually all instruments were playing in harmony with each other. The ending was the peak of the piece.
Other than that, both pieces sounded similar. They started with a solo flute, then slowly the other three began to accompany her to create a harmonizing sound. The second piece, Flutes in the Garden, was composed of four movements. The flute trio started the first movement, Madonna Lilies with a somber presence with the flutes. The piece then starts to create a sense of panic as the use of decrescendo and crescendo and changing meter sounds like the piece is spiraling.
The Santa Fe Evening of Jazz was a great concert featuring the Rhythm and Blues, Jazz Combo, and Big Band from Santa Fe College with special guest Professor Scott Wilson from the University of Florida Jazz Studies. This Evening of Jazz was the ninth one to be held and was superbly done; getting a ticket was quick and simple, finding a seat was as easy, and leaving was not hard. The whole performance was led by Doctor Steven Lee Bingham who also played with all the bands on the alto saxophone along with giving information about each band, song, scholarship players, and on Mr. Wilson and his unique instrument called a E.V.I.. The audience had a pleasant feel, everyone was talking and laughing before and after the performance, they also were
The show began with “Caravan” by Juan Tizol and Duke Ellington. That immediately got the audience engaged into the show. The third song “Brown Skin Girl” by Sonny Rollins gave me the feel as if I was on a beach or tropical paradise. The tempo reminded me of being on a beach and listening to that type of music along with the sound of waves crashing. Song six brought in a new element of vocals to the instruments.
This suite was initially only written for a piano duet, but it advanced to full orchestra. This song is composed of six Renaissance style dances which included; Basse-danse, Pavane, Tordion, Bransles, Pieds-en-l’air’, and Mattachins. My favorite was the Mattachins, it was very calm at the beginning then at the end became more towards a climax. The concert continued with a song called, “Song for Japan” by Steven Verhelst. This piece is modern style which included the trombone, this song was performed slower in a beautiful tone.
The song starts with the piano playing a nice melody as an introduction, which has a steady beat as well as steady tempo. Then the sopranos began singing softly with the altos following behind imitating and singing the words with a lower pitch. The piece seemed mostly polyphonic, yet there are many times when it is homophonic and
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.
so it was easier to pick out certain aspects like melody, tempo, and dynamics for example. Overall, this concert was very enjoyable and performed
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.
Piano and violins are in line with each other while the horn steadily plays offbeat in the ' 'though she feels as if she 's in a play. Through out the song, both string and horns come in without us noticing until the mood