Cello

Introduction The William Tell Overture is an overture to the opera, William Tell, which premiered in Paris on August 3, 1829, and was described by Hector Berlioz as a “symphony in four parts”. However, unlike traditional symphonies with distinct movements, the transitions in this overture were without breaks. This piece was composed by Gioachino Antonio Rossini and was the last opera he composed. Rossini was a transitionary figure of the Classical and Romantic period, well known for his operas…

Last week I had the privilege of witnessing an hour performance of “Cello Suites: Bach and Britten” at hosted by the Canadian Opera Company at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitehere at the Four Seasons Centre for Performing Arts. The performance consisted of Joesph Johnson, the principle cellist of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. The program that afternoon, Johnson produced intense sounds for an hour by performing two pieces cello solo works of inspired from the Baroque period and the 20th century.…

with cello from the moment my future conductor first played it (rather badly, as I’d later learn) at the fourth-grade introduction to the music program, but that’s not what happened. The classic demonstration of the Jaws theme was lost on me, a ten-year-old who’d never seen Jaws and was (is) terrified of sharks. Truthfully, the only reason I decided to do orchestra (in spite of rumored early morning rehearsals, the horror!) was because my friend chose violin. After deciding on orchestra, cello…

learned from the previous assignment, Alvin Lucier is a composer of experimental music. This work August Moon is consisted of three instruments, which are horn, piano, and a string instrument that might be a cello. Entire music is composed of the similar patterns of playing. Piano, horn, and cello are playing as a trio every seven seconds. During the duration of the music, which is about fifteen minutes, the similar playing is repeated and each instruments paly their own role. The piano is used…

were very much alive and present thanks to the duo of Joshua Gordon, cello and Randall Hodgkinson, piano. Besides invoking the deftness of such prodigies through their compositions, the night marked the debut of Brandeis University Department of Music’s new Steinway & Sons Model B Grand Piano, which was funded by the Ilse H. Perlman Trust and the Dean of Arts and Sciences. The program started with Ludwig Van Beethoven’s “Cello Sonatas,” also known as, sonata in C major, Op. 102 no. 1. “It is…

Two violins, one viola, and a cello played Joseph Haydn’s String Quartet, Op. 76, No.3 (Emperor), II in quadruple meter and in the form of one homophonic theme with four polyphonic variations. The theme is introduced by the entire quartet in an conjunct melody that has three unique phrases. The first phrase, “A”, is the first to be introduced and repeated a second time, “A-A”. Phrase “A” moves smoothly from mid to high in ascending and descending conjunct intervals and is repeated. A second…

In Brahms Academic Festival Overture my first impressions were this song is a light weight but then I heard the sounds become over the top, festive. Brahms symphony was limited with instruments, such as: cellos, double basses, violas, violins, bassoons, clarinets, flutes, oboes, French horns, trumpets, trombones and timpani. What gave the light weight and airy affect was the strings and the bassoons gave an accented popping sound. The string section build up though a crescendo. The small brass…

instruments: 3 flutes, 1 piccolo, 2 oboes, 1 English horn, 2 clarinets, 1 bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 1 contrabassoon, 4 French horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, 1 tuba, timpani, percussion, 1 piano, 1 celesta, 22 violins, 8 violas, 8 cellos, 6 double basses, and solo cello. The performance lasted approximately 19 minutes. The piece transitions between adagio and andante and the violin stands out as you can hear the other instruments in the background. A triple meter can be heard throughout the…

The first feature that ties some of these songs together is the period they were produced. Many of these composer lived during the romantic period, such as Felix Mendelssohn, Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns, and Edvard Grieg, accordingly, their music possessed the traits that defined the romantic period. As has been discussed in class, Grieg bases his “Morning Mood” on the Norwegian folk tune, creating a sense of nationalism in the process. While Mendelssohn’s “Symphony No. 5” contains a variation…

The book If I Stay by Gayle Forman is about a 17-year-old cello player named Mia who has to choose between living without her parents or little brother, or leaving her boyfriend, best friend, and a career as a cellist behind. The story begins as Mia, her seven year old brother, Teddy, and her parents take a drive over snow-covered mountains to visit their uncle, Henry, and their aunt, Willow. A truck hits their car, and Mia starts her out-of-body experience. Mia realizes that her parents are…