Christopher Farrell Violin Concert Essay

I attended the Farrell Violin Concerto on April 12 which included a wonderfully composed solo violin piece with added instrument ensemble and a customary orchestra. This concerto was played by the nashville symphonists at the famous Schermerhorn Symphony Center of Nashville Tennessee. The concerto was composed by Christopher farrell whose creative talents and composing abilities exceeded expectation. The main violin solo was done by the talented Jessica Blackwell and the conductor was Christopher Norton. By watching the audience I could tell that the orchestrated music was putting the audience in a relaxed and entertained state of mind. Christopher Farrell is a very talented composer and at the beginning of the show he described how growing up, he’d always had a passion for making music. He said that he did not intend on going to college for music composing but later found out that going to college would make his career path much easier. The concerto starts off with Farrell giving a vocal guide to the piece that was about to be played and the backstory it as well.

One piece that stood out to me was Farrell’s string quartet
which he introduced later in the show. This piece was in the homophonic texture in which every single part had a similar or same rhythm throughout. I could hear that the piece started out with a softer dynamic and gradual increased to a louder dynamic until the very end. This particular piece stood out to me because I felt like it was telling it’s own story and sort of bringing the audience into another world through it’s beautiful melody. It’s solo violin was leading the story and you could clearly understand what it was telling, you could tell that each of the musicians had a passion for their instrument.

Towards the end of the show it felt to me as if the sounds got more dramatic in terms of how fast it was going and the loudness of it as well.
The violin got quicker and and could be heard in a much more pronounced way. I could also hear the bass play lower notes than it was in the previous pieces which I thought added a lot of character to the piece itself. Once the concerto came to an end the composer held a q&a for the audience. He got a question about his process on making pieces and what he uses to compose. Farrell described that he doesn’t use a piano like a majority of other composers but instead he uses the viola, which he’s had a passion for since he was a youth. He also said how he uses computer programs to record his music and hear how it would sound if an orchestra was actually playing it and this gives him a big
advantage.

What I got from this extraordinary violin concert was just pure enjoyment which got me thinking a lot about music and it’s effects on the audience. If the concerto could give me that feeling of joy I can’t imagine what it could do for an even larger group of people and even the whole world. I believe music is our gateway to escape from all the stresses of life and can bring us into another world where we feel joy and can lose ourselves in it. Christopher Farrell did a tremendous job with this concerto and I hope to see more in the future.