Concerto No. 1: Concert Analysis

Shelley Hanmo Qian performed on Sunday November 16, 2014 at Recital Hall. She played Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 15 which was composed by Johannes Brahms in 1854-1859. The Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op 15 consisted of three individual movements. These movements are named Maestoso, Adagio, and Rondo: Allegro non troppo. In Italian, Concerto means concert. As a piece of music, a Concerto signifies that there is a solo instrument which plays the melody of the piece while being accompanied by an orchestra in the background. In Italian, Maestoso is a term that indicates the piano player to play the piece majestically, and Adagio is a tempo indication which means to play in a calm matter and somewhat slowly. Rondo is a piece of music that consists …show more content…
Adagio sounded like it had some dynamics, but it was mostly played piano or mezzo piano and had a louder, dramatic part to the piece as well. This piece’s tempo did not really fluctuate as much compared to the other two movements and was soothing and calm sounding. The dynamics in Maestoso varied throughout the piece; it had calm moments, crescendos where it also became more dramatic and played faster, and decrescendos when the piece calmed down from the dramatic part and was played more peacefully. Also, a lot of the keys of the piano were used. In addition, Rondo: Allegro non troppo used a lot of the keys on the piano. This piece was played faster compared to the other two movements during certain parts. Rondo: Allegro non troppo seemed like it had multiple songs in one movement because the different parts, or themes, of the piece seemed totally different from each other. Some themes were played quickly and dramatic, while others were calm and were played at a moderate speed. In addition, some of the themes seemed as if they had different melodies, which was another reason why it sounded like Rondo: Allegro non troppo was actually more than one song even though it was not. A variety of dynamics and tempos were used in this song because the piece had many loud parts, some soft parts, and got quicker and slower. For all of the …show more content…
When this song was being played, I could picture it being played in an elegant ballroom. The song had a variety of tempos, contrast, and dynamics which made the piece more engaging throughout its entirety. I liked when Qian played a lot of different notes continuously really fast while gradually moving up and down the piano keys during the movement. I also liked when she played notes with only her pinky and thumb fingers at a very fast tempo in different positions on the piano. An aspect of the recital that I enjoyed less was that only pieces that were played by a single composer were performed in the recital. In my opinion, I believe that it would be better to have a recital with different pieces of music from different time periods and composers in order for the audience to enjoy more of a variety of different styles of music. In order for the piano’s melody of Brahms’s Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op 15 to be heard over the orchestra, there was a conductor that conducted the orchestra. He helped mediate between the piano and orchestra as well as oversee the orchestra so they do not play louder than the piano. If the orchestra plays louder than the piano player, the audience would not be able to hear the melody of the piece. The pianist also made sure that she was playing louder than the orchestra was playing, which resulted