Analyzing Herbert Howells Hymnus Paridisi

The symphony is in four very powerful and entertaining movements. The first movement begins in the pianissimo tone with the strings section, but quickly enters the fortissimo tone with the introduction of the woodwind, brass and percussion sections. The dynamics of the musical melody varies throughout the movement moving from crescendo to decrescendo modes. The first movement reminds you of a raging storm from soft blowing winds to thunder and lighting. The audience is mesmerized by this first movement of the sonata.

The first concert I attended was performed by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra had performed Shostakovich’s “Symphony NO. 7, Leningrad” from the Romantic era. The orchestra was a large ensemble (1) containing various instruments that contributed to the overall sound of the piece. Since the orchestra was a large ensemble, just like the instrumentation common in the Romantic era, the orchestra was able to perform in a lively, vigorous manner, probably vivace (2). The orchestra performed tutti

By swaying in the delicate phrases and jerking with the harsh ones, the performers became the dancers in the ballet. They expressed different levels of emotion when required which reflected their playing.

Overall I actually enjoyed the piece more than I thought I would. It had a nice tempo that allowed listeners to be engaged and even when the volume dropped the violins played a softer texture as if they were inviting you to listen closer and pay more attention. Generally, the theme was also joyful which I took notice of and enjoyed. Lastly, I didn’t notice any musical mistakes, and thought the piece was well played.

impossible to ignore because of how close he felt to audience, thanks to the extended stage which

On November 3rd, 2016 I had a pleasure of attending James Levine’s symphony at Chicago Symphony Orchestra. James Levine is an American pianist and conductor, mainly known for being a music director of the Metropolitan Opera. He suffered many health conditions that have put his conducting aside. At the end of 2015, he left his position as a director to become an emeritus of the Metropolitan Opera. One of the interesting facts about Mr. Levine is that many of the sources do not mention is his disability. Mr. Levine is in a wheelchair and needs assistance in order to get to the podium, but his conducting is not effected by this in fact his efforts and dedication put audience into tears every time. On November 3rd, James Levine conducted Mozart’s

There was a violin solo, performed by David Taylor. The first movement was sharp and dramatic, but felt a little disconnected. It had a lot of well-placed accents and everyone played by the frog for the most aggressive sound. Everything Taylor played was perfectly in tune, he made every not seem effortless, and the entire time he played, he smiled. He looked natural and relaxed on stage. The second movement sounded almost like popping a bubble. There would be a crescendo of pizzicato until they reached the final note, which they instantly muted. It made for an easy-going mood. Though the orchestra’s part was very sharp, the soloist’s part contrasted with this by layering over an expressive part. The third focused heavily on low notes in the orchestra, creating a very distressing sounding piece. It started tense, further emphasized by the contrast of fast and slow notes. It actually reminded me of Carmen, but this piece came out one month before the opera was ever released. The fourth movement felt drawn-out, making it exceptionally dramatic. It seemed like the orchestra was more background to the once again outstanding soloist, which I personally wouldn’t enjoy playing. The fifth movement started out a bit rough, as not everyone caught the tempo increase, but it provided a very lighthearted ending to the symphony. Many of the beats sounded like the ticking of a clock. Taylor’s fingers were flying incredibly quickly and accurately up and down his violin here, and he even pizzed while bowing on different strings; it was practically perfect. Overall, it was an amazing piece, and the soloist played it just how Lalo would want

Followed by wake up, my spirit, and love never fails. All these performances were great but paled in comparison to the performance of Time and a summer’s day a piece conducted based off of William Shakespeare’s sonnets 18 and 19. It was an absolute elegant piece conducted by Mr. Redford. This was the most exciting part of the whole concert in my opinion. It was amazing to hear the choir and orchestra perform. Following this was the performance of Musica Dei Optimi The gift by Schola Cantorum. I was not really into this performace, it was good but anything after the performance of Time and a Summer’s Day had very little effect on me. Last performance was Jubilate Deo (psalm 100) by the combined choir and

He also moved around the room and used arm gestures to emphasize points. Overall, everyone loved it.

One interesting thing to note about the conductor is that while conducting the orchestra he didn’t have any music sheets. He knew the music so well that he didn’t need to have it in front of him.

In the concert the demonstration of melodic moments were very noticed. As I notice the orchestra had doubled on instruments. For example the violin was doubled and also sometimes the violin and piano were melodic with each other as well. Also harmonization was present in the concert. Eventually later in the concert, the female soprano singers were introduced to the audience. There was at least 2-3 varying from soprano, mezzo-soprano, and alto. Also there was a part in the play that the oboe and bassoon harmonized which I found to sound very

The majority of songs he played were Sonatas. I thought it would be very stressful to play so many high technique songs during a recital, but I bet he was very confident with his techniques.

I think that the performer’s ability was appropriate for their location and for their audience because the tone quality of the musicians sounded very rich and clean. When I listened to the performance, I was able to hear all of the different parts of the piece clearly, which has made me much more conscious of the balance and dynamics of each phrase when I play. The texture of the pieces played was very rich and full because an orchestral piece is designed to have a good balance of instruments and good range of frequencies of sound that has lots of different things happening at the same time.

This piece had a very majestic tone, although I did find the dynamic a little too jarring at times. Some of the notes sounded scratchy and unpleasant, perhaps this was to add a certain bitterness. There were many moments during this performance that only one instrument was being played while the other artist just sat there, I found this odd, it was like combining two solos. I did really enjoy when the pianist would play really loudly and abruptly, until the cello started, then the pianist would get much quieter. I liked this because it was like a tug-and-pull between the two, which kept the piece energetic. This piece also had many runs, on the cello and piano which at times ran little too long to me, but added moments of predictability which was nice. This performance ended very very softly and subtly, it was a fantastic

He exuded an elegant air about himself as he entered the stage and took his place next to the piano. The theatre was almost full but quite. The feeling of expectation was heavy in the atmosphere. He began in what seemed a timid fashion, perhaps he was just getting his bearings. The first work (obra) was slow but meditative. Maybe he wasn’t used to performing for a live audience. Looking back though, i realize that maybe he was sizing us, the audience up. Seeing if we were opera connoisseurs or just amateur concert goers looking for a Saturday night thrill. Then again maybe he was just exercising preparing us for what was to come