A Paris Concert Report

On October 16, 2015, I attended a concert called An American in Paris. The orchestra contained woodwinds, strings, percussion, and brass instruments. The concert began at 10:30 am and ended around 12:30 pm. Furthermore, it was located at Powell Symphony Hall. At this concert, I listened to professional musicians perform music that was composed by Bernstein, Copland, and Gershwin. Three Dance episodes from On the Town, Symphonic Suite from On the Waterfront, Piano Concerto, and An American in Paris are the pieces the musicians played. Furthermore, a symphony played these American pieces. Lastly, Bernstein 's and Gershwin’s music are programs, while Copland’s music is absolute music.
All three of these composers are American. Therefore, they …show more content…
The audience clapped, and the musicians went off stage. The intermission was also a time used to rearrange the instruments. After the intermission was over the audience clapped once again for the musicians. The next song that was played was Copland’s Piano Concerto. Piano Concerto starts out with medium dynamics and has many instruments playing the same quick melody. However, it slowly fades and the piano plays a solo that is slow, light, and dainty. Soon other instruments start to come in and blend together, but the piano stands out because it has a different melody. The violins start tention while the trumpets also join in and create a melody that is similar to a victory sound. Finally the piano takes over and gets a solo that is soon accompanied with the strings. The piano plays a confusing melody that turns into a peaceful one and all the instruments come together. The song slowly becomes more dramatic and all the instruments except for the oboe and flute stop on one note. The two instruments continue to play until the piano enters. The piano plays quick notes that hop all over the keys and notes that clash. However for a short time there is a slight hint of syncopation and swing. The dynamics continue to build up and the percussion plays two beats which leads the rest of the orchestra to play two notes. All the instruments become jumpy and stacchetto, but then return to the swing melody. The piece continues to …show more content…
The music was interesting because even though the pieces had a similar background the overall pieces were very different. Furthermore, when I saw the mutes in the trumpets I was shocked because the mutes really change the sound of the trumpets, and I have never seen mutes be used. Finally, I never noticed how the musicians came on at different times during the intermission to warm