Orchestra Review

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 at the Berlin Philharmonie, gifted the audience with a masterful rendition of the movements within the symphony. The Symphony divides into three separate parts, in which the movements complement each other's characteristics. The symphony orchestra features a myriad of orchestral instruments featuring the Brass, Woodwinds, Strings, and Percussion families. Furthermore, the various movements throughout the performance utilize various musical concepts that bring the music to life. Albeit, the complexity of Mahler’s symphony, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra performed superbly throughout the performance.

It’s amazing to listen to musicians who do not normally play with each other come together and leave the audience in complete awe. That is exactly what happened on the day of Thursday November 26th 2014. The Bill Crothers Varsity Winds comprised of grade eleven and twelve students along with a few, talented grade tens went to listen to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra play. We travelled via a typical yellow school bus that took us to Roy Thomson Hall where we went right to the top level and took our seats. The seating seemed rather helpful because from a distance you could hear every instrument when you focused on it. It was beautiful. The band presented well with their “Penguin” like attire that was kind to the eyes. They appeared very organized,

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

In Hamilton, some notes were held on to just a little bit too long and occasionally the violins pushed a little just a little bit, especially on their fast notes. Also, there needed to be a little bit more articulation in the orchestra. In William Tell Overture, the same problems occurred, and while the orchestras could have possibly been a little better, they could not have been much better because the piece was already amazing. In The Cowboys Overture, the only real problem here was that the violins rushed just a tiny bit every so often, and even though their pushing of the tempo was not too noticeable, it still existed and forced the rest of the orchestra to respond accordingly. Also, the dynamic contrasts here were already good, but if they had been emphasized just a little bit more, it would have been great. In all three pieces, there was great observance of the tempo for the most part and the style presented was great and appropriate. Additionally, the phrasing and dynamic contrasts were also amazing. Even better, there was great observance of the musical markings and great musical understanding on display from everyone during the performance. If there was anything that needed some adjustment, it would be keeping a steady tempo at all times, but other than that, this performance was absolutely fantastic all the way

This journal is about the musical piece composed by a man named Benjamin Britten titled The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. This piece was surprisingly interesting to me as it created different feelings of emotions through the instruments volume, sync, and rhythm. I do like various instrumental styles of music, however, I was hesitant about listening to a classical style orchestra. Throughout the piece it seemed the sounds would constantly change, which reminded me of the early black and white cartoons that relied on classical style music to show the emotions they were trying to make the audience feel. For example, I remember a scene from an episode of the old cartoon Popeye, when there was fast paced instrumental music in the background while Popeye was saving Olive Oyl from a dangerous situation and they both were running to get to safety. The xylophone from Bitten’s composition is what made me think of that exact episode of Popeye and Olive Oly running to get to safety.

On April 11, 2014 The Florida Orchestra performed Wolfgang Mozart’s Symphony No. 28 in C major, K, 200, David Diamond’s Symphony No. 4, and Johannes Brahms Quartet No.1 for Piano and Strings in G minor at the David A. Straz Center for the Performing Arts, Ferguson Hall in Tampa, Florida. Gerard Schwarz, guest conductor, led the Florida Orchestra for each of the compositions. According to The Florida Orchestra Program the list of performers for the violin is Jeffrey Multer, Nancy Chang, Jeffrey Smick, Lei Liu, Sarah Shellman, Lucas Guideri, Valerie Adams, Toula Bonie, Saundra Buscemi, Mary Corbett, Linda Gaines, Oleg Geyer, Cynthia Gregg, Linda Hall, Yan Jiang Lu, Evelyn Pupello, Claudia Rantucci, and Virginia Respess. The list of performers for the viola is Ben Markwell, Kathie Aagaard, Karl Bawel, Lewis Brinin, Alan Gordon, Alison Heydt, Kenneth Kwo, Warren Powell, and Barbara Rizzo. The list of performers for the violoncello is James Connors, Lowell Adams, Rebecca Bialosky, Alfred Gratta, Gretchen Langlitz, Laura McKey Smith, and Merrilee Wallbrunn. The list of performers for the bass is Dee Moses, John DiMura, Roger Funk, Alan Glick, James Petrecca, and Deborah Schmidt. The list for performers for the flute is Clay Ellerbroek, Daphne Soellner, and Lewis Sligh. Lewis Sligh was the only piccolo performer. The list of performers for the oboe is Shawn Welk, Lane Lederer, and Jeffrey Stepehenson. Jeffrey Stephenson also performed during the night playing the English

I have never attended an orchestral concert. Although my taste ranges between several different types of music, the only concerts I have attended are of the rock and country variety. I was not sure what to expect in attending The Houston Civic Symphony’s performance on Sunday, October 9, 2016. It was held at the Dunham Theater within the Morris Cultural Arts Center at Houston Baptist University. Once inside I saw the beautiful stage with all of the performers warming up and three stories of seating. Many of the patrons were in the age range of 30 and up. I did see some kids and young adults but not many. The HCS marked its 50th year since the very first performance this season. The first performance happened in 1996 when a group of music lovers in Houston came together to play a concert just because they wanted to play and share their love of music with others. From that day they became known as the Houston Civic Symphony. Some of the players I watched in this performance have been with the Symphony for 25 years or more while others are barely reaching their first year if not their first performance; only two of the players have been there since the very first season. Out of the three pieces performed the one that caught my attention the most was the last, it hold a powerful message of fear and desperation for

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.

I have never been personally a fan of the romantic orchestra music but going to listen to a concert live is breathtaking. I attended the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra, Masterpieces concert with music director Fouad Fakhouri performing Igor Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms and Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No.1 in D major. There was a full stage of musicians and a complete choir to back it up.

I attend the concert “UA Philharmonic Orchestra” on Friday, October 10, 2014 at 7:30 p.m. The performance location is Crowder Hall, School of Music, University of Arizona. This hall has 544 seats. The concert has two programs. The first program will feature Ludwig Van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 in C Major conducted by Matthew Spieker. The second program is "Dance of the Tumblers" from “The Snow Maiden” by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and "Danzón No. 2" by Arturo Márquez. The conductor is Ace Edewards. He is a doctoral student. The two programs are instrumental music. The group of the instruments used in the performance is: group of violin, group of viola, group of violoncello, group of bass, group of flute, group of oboe, group of clarinet, group

I have never had the chance to sit and watch a symphony before. I have heard them in plays and other performances, but they have never been the main production in something I have seen. It was very interesting to see the structure behind the sound. The amount of people and different instruments all together making a cohesive piece of music was absolutely incredible. There appeared to be well over 50 musicians working together to produce different sounds that fit together so tenaciously. Among the instruments involved in the orchestra, I noticed cellos, flutes, clarinets, cymbals, tambourines, trumpets, violins, trombones, tubas, french horns, and even a few instruments that I could not recognize. The diversity in the instruments created a strong yet effortless feeling in the listener. The music flowed so well that it seemed simple and easy, yet when I looked into the orchestra and saw how many components go into the composition, it is clear that it is quite intricate.

The Boston Symphony Orchestra is one of the country’s five major symphony orchestras, and constantly has new pieces for music lovers.The February 2014 concert opened with Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun by Claude Debussy,it's a very youthful piece that depicts the young in a gentle and carefree nature. Impressionism was a leading art movement during his time.In France, “Impressionist” was a term used to say a persons work did not follow the norms or rules of society.

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.

The entire orchestra at first, then it is the woodwinds, drums, strings, and then the drums, cymbals and triangle, and then the whole orchestra again. There are many other instruments used during this composition. In the following paragraphs, I will show you why the different sections are used at different times:

The music composition “Concerto for Saxophone and Symphony Orchestra” is inspired by the Thai traditional masterpiece “Kluen Kra Tob Fung,” the overture which was composed by King Prachadhipok (Rama VII). Pursuing the idea of absolute music, I develop its main theme into this creative work, which is the Concerto for Saxophone and Symphony Orchestra. The main goal is to present the method of music composition showing off a saxophone with the symphony orchestra, fused with various other techniques, including repetition, sequencing, retrograde inversion, variation, etc. The piece lasts about 35 minutes. It consists of three movements, including the rondo form, the ternary form and the sonata-rondo form. It aims for a combination of classical