Orchestra pit

Totentanz or Dance of the Dead Paraphrase on Dies Irae for pianoforte and orchestra, S. 126 is a symphonic piece written for piano and orchestra by the Hungarian composer Franz Liszt (1811 – 1886). Liszt initially planned the piece in 1838 and finished the first version in 1849. In 1853 and 1859 he revised it before finally publishing it in 1865. Hans von Bülow, to whom Liszt dedicated the work, was the soloist in the April 15, 1865, premiere with the Diligentia Musical Society of The Hague,…

Communication is something we do every day. Writing a text message to your Mom is very different from responding to an email from your boss. Both require a different tone and a different level of formality or informality. Identifying when it is appropriate to use a certain tone of communication is vital when trying to get your point across effectively. When I am in my family and friends discourse group the setting is very informal and casual. It is not uncommon for one of us to end a text…

Listening to a song is like watching the stars. Anytime a song is authentic and shines of its own light, it reverberates a sound that originated thousands of years ago into the present. When I first met Niccolò Castiglioni on March 13, 1993, in the concert hall “Puccini” of the Conservatory "G. Verdi" in Milan, the subject of our conversation was exactly this aspect of the language and its principles of permanence and resistance to change. On that afternoon, Gianpaolo Bisanti was conducting…

the years 1904-1909, and the love of Scriabin’s piano works showed in Prokofiev’s early piano pieces. He imitated some of Scriabin’s pianistic techniques in his early piano works like the “repeated-note arpeggios” and “wide-ranging bass”. But he soon turned to seek more radical musical language that completely departs from the romanticism, and during the years 1909-1914 he finished his composition classes and began his course to train as a pianist and conductor. It is in this time he gradually…

I collaborated with Stephanie Emmanuela Engel on her piece titled Elemental Essence. This piece is in four sections each section looks at one of the four elements of nature- earth, water, air and fire. The piece depicts how each of these entities and energies inform Afro-Brazilian Folkloric dances. Stephanie and I had discussions on how the lighting for each section should create an environment that embodies the element which it is depicting- how each section should feel using words such as:…

All these characteristics of romanticism that were shaped by the evolutionary changes made by the composers were also appeared in the requiems of the time. Requiem was now an independent musical form; the form of the concert requiem, which replaced the traditional liturgical one. The romantic requiems were performing in the concert halls and opera stages, and that was mainly because of their extended length. Although some composers such as Gounod, Liszt, Faure and Bruckner followed the…

The chapter “How We Listen” in Aaron Copland’s What to Listen for in Music addresses three different ways in which we listen to music. The first plane is the “sensuous plane”, the second is the “expressive plane”, and the third is the “sheerly musical plane” (Copland 7). As Copland discusses and critiques each plane, the reader quickly realizes that they gravitate towards certain planes more than others. While this piece is somewhat opinionated, Copeland thoroughly justifies his claims, allowing…

The orchestra was centered on the stage with warm lights on. The conductor’s stand was centered in the middle with violins and cellos surrounding him. The atmosphere was tense as opposed to relaxing because everyone seems to be listening very intensively to catch all the tunes and notes. As I sat there, I felt overwhelmed by the number of people, the bright lights on stage and the music, which was not immediately communicating with me. However, the longer I sat there, the uneasiness of being in…

I attended a live performance by the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jacek Kaspszyk as a part of their 2016 U.S. tour. When I walked into the concert hall, there was an electric atmosphere as a crowd of people was waiting in anticipation to find their seats and settle down to enjoy the show. In order to have a better idea of what I was about to experience, I read the playbill that explained how the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra is the premiere musical institution of Poland. After I…

is not a principle. Example the principle flute makes $4,337, while the flute makes $1,455. This is definitely a hierarchical job structure because multiple layers of pay exist along with significant differences in pay. This pay structure for the orchestra also suggests that pay differential is based on experience because the have the same knowledge of the particular instruments and have the skills to play them, so the only missing denominator that sets them apart would be years of experience…