IBM Lotus Symphony

On November 5,2016 Olney Central College’s music department held its fall concert in the Dr. John D. Stull Performing Arts Center. This concert featured many vocalists and musicians between the concert band, the concert choir, and the jazz band. The performances feature many different composers. Overall, the concert band sounded really good. For this concert, the director chose songs that would reflect different stages of life. I liked this theme and the song choices just for how the rhythms,…

Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major, op.83, composed by Johannes Brahms. In order to analyze this piece properly it is best to know the rondo within the piece. It helps to determine repetition and the featured alternating episodes. For this piece you can hear ABABA, which makes it a dynamic piece to listen to.When listening to the First A and the Last A sections you can here how similar they are. When you pay close attention to the Middle A you notice more instruments in this area.…

Wilhelm Richard Wagner was born on May 22, 1813, in Leipzig, Germany, and went on to become one of the world's most influential—and controversial—composers. Richard Wagner was famous for both his complex operas, such as the four-part, 18-hour Ring Cycle, as well as for his anti-semitic writings, which, posthumously, made him a favorite of Adolf Hitler. There is evidence that Wagner's music was played at the Dachau concentration camp to "re-educate" the prisoners. As a young boy, Wagner attended…

I. Mars, Bringer of War- The use of dynamic changes like crescendos and decrescendos really create a sense of excitement throughout the piece. The triplets played by all of the horns also add to this excitement. It seems as though John Williams, the composer for the Star Wars movies, took a lot of inspiration from this piece of music. The low reed sound at around 3:20 creates a mysterious and almost foreboding feeling. The finally with the sharp staccato rhythm really brings the piece…

I have played viola in the orchestra since the sixth grade. For nearly seven years of my life, I have been performing in countless concerts and events, and I fell in love with sharing my music with other people from the very beginning. Leo Tolstoy, a Russian novelist, once stated that “Music is the shorthand of emotion.” Through music, I can express my emotions in ways that words could never. Human emotion is powerful. It can dictate our actions, our mood, and allows people to form interpersonal…

On April 8, I went to the Back to the Future Brentano String Quartet in Arizona State University (ASU). It really surprised me because it wasn’t like any of the classical music concerts I had ever seen before. It was a medium sized venue and very casual. There was no program handed out but the name, composer and type of piece it was, projected on the screen behind the musicians. The theme of the concert was back to the future. It focused on the 20th century chamber music and was very…

Mozart. He played the piano because he was influenced by Ludwig Beethoven. Ludwig Beethoven was the person that composed the classical music called Fur elise. Wolfgang Mozart likes playing Romance music and classical music. His top three pieces were symphony 40 and 41 and…

Beethoven and Mozart: both masters of their generation’s music and often portrayed as the building blocks of what music is today. Each made significant movements under the genre of classical but are both known for their unique executions of duets. Both Beethoven’s Allegro comodo and Mozart’s Allegro demonstrate each of their technical abilities yet are completely different in the way each piece is executed. Beethoven’s Comodo demonstrates his focus on both parts, in which they both share…

“Observe Music 1.9” 1. What is making the sound? a. Is there more than one instrument playing? Yes and no. There are brief times when only one is playing and each has a point when it is featured, or at least highlighted by the gentleness of the others while one crescendos. b. What instrument(s) are playing? Piano, flute, Oboe, trumpet, bass, cello, French horn, timpani, violin, trombone, bassoon, clarinet, and piccolo. Having watched I now actually recognize the sound of an Oboe and have…

Movement 1 - Allegro non troppo & un poco maestoso Allegro, meaning somewhat fast. Usually 120 to 160 bpm. Non troppo, meaning not too happy sounding, kind of sad. Un poco maestoso, meaning to be played a bit stately. Maestoso means stately or majestically. The main theme is a strongly played passage, with the full orchestra. The main theme is played in various forms throughout the first movement. During the end of the first movement, there’s a call and response section between the Horns…