Clarinet

Ever since I was a little kid, I have always been a highly motivated individual. Striving for perfection has never been a foreign concept to me. Unfortunately, being a perfectionist has created some issues within my academic career. With time being a restraint on multiple tests, I have left a plentiful amount of answers blank trying to make sure every detail is correct. Despite this, I have still maintained high A’s in every one of my classes. As big of a problem as this was in my first years of…

What are the stereotypes? “Hey Sami are you ready for some awesome roller coasters here at Six Flags?” Matt (trombone) says as I step off of the bus with my best friend Regan right on my heels. Before I am able to utter a syllable, Regan grabs my elbow and whispers, “Wait I thought we were going to ride everything in the park today.” Now granted I love my best friend, but she is not the best person to ride roller coasters with since she scares easily. Based off of their sectionals, which I was…

I had finally gotten everything figured out in my life in the year of 2015 in Iowa City, Iowa. For the first time in my life, my small world was looking up for me. That was, until my whole life imploded around me like it was swallowing me whole. Life was perfect. I was to transfer schools to Lemme Elementary before I went to South East Junior High. Although I was sad to leave my small private school could still visit all my old friends I had known since kindergarten. I had a wonderful softball…

The Enigmatic End of a Wunderkind On December 5th of 1791, one of the greatest composers ever to live passed away. However, due to the differences in medical practices and the uncertainty of information about his symptoms, the causes of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s death remained unknown, with suggestions such as poisoning, renal failure, Henoch–Schönlein purpura, trichinosis, and many others. Throughout the research, I was able to find a couple of scientific articles and books regarding his…

Music from the past has had a tremendous effect on what modern music is today. This is shown through the use of word painting and dynamics in the Renaissance period, instruments and Operas in the Baroque Period, primary triads and homophonic compositions in the Classical Period and finally, the utilisation of tone poems and heartfelt passion in the Romantic Period. If it wasn’t for these periods, music would not have evolved in such a immense and progressive way. The Renaissance Period which…

Madelyn Emmett MUS 100 30 April 2017 Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler was born on July 7th, 1860 in Bohemia, then a part of the Austrian Empire (citation). As a German-speaking Jewish man, Mahler came from very humble beginnings in a world where his very identity made him an outsider. After migrating with his family to the booming town of Iglau as an infant, Mahler was first acquainted with music through street tunes and the town’s military band, inspiring him to first play the piano as a mere…

was a lot of criticism of the premiere performance, it was said that the orchestra didn’t play very well at all. Many instruments played a role in the one symphony. The symphony is scored for piccolo (4th movement only), two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets in B and C, two bassoons, contrabassoon or double bassoon (4th movement only), two horns in E and C, two trumpets, three trombones (alto, tenor, and bass, 4th movement only), timpani (in G-C) and strings. I played this piece for my mom and it…

The 1920s, famously known as the Roaring Twenties, was a time of great economic and social growth in America. The author F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays the flourish of success, as well as the sudden rise of materialism through the lives of Jay Gatsby, Tom and Daisy Buchanan in his novel The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald creates many parallels between the lives of those in the 1920s and the lives of the characters in his novel. The Roaring Twenties was a time of great innovation and change in America.…

hopefully Mr. Martinez, Mr. Udland and the orchestra were the only ones who knew that. There were many times where an individual could not play something so they made something up that sounded similar. This was especially true for the flutes and clarinets, who had run after run of notes, the runs seemed to never end. We thought it was difficult the first day of rehearsal and we were drastically under tempo, I did not think that we could pull it off. I thought that we were going to crash and…

was fascinated by the sounds that it could make and how you could make songs your own. Fourth grade I played violin but it wasn’t my thing because I could not find the thrill that the piano gives me when I play. Fifth through eighth grade I played clarinet but I stopped playing so I could continue to push myself on piano and start color guard. I wanted to be able to push my piano skills in competitions because by then I was already at a high level of competition and wanted to be able to play the…