Concert Essay
Music Appreciation
Concert Report
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
I would like to start off by saying that having the opportunity to attend the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra was an experience all in itself. The building as a whole was breath taking, and the music that was played was fascinating. The first piece played was by the composer George Frideric Handle. Handle was born on February 23, 1685 in Germany. He settled in England in 1712 and became something of a music establishment. Handle provided music for coronations, funerals and other public instances. His first performance of this piece is unknown but estimated to be sometime around 1747. His Concerto a due cori No. 3 in F major was dated around the late 1740’s. The scoring of this piece is suited for an outdoor performance with distinguished contingent of wind instruments. “A due cori” refers to the two choirs of wind instruments the concertos utilize. Handle places wind players on each side of the string orchestra. The Concerto No. 3 in F major uses identical groups of wind instruments, each comprised of a bassoon, a pair of oboes and horn. The groups go back and forth trading calls and echoing each other’s phrases. Overall I thought that this was a good piece to listen to. The overture was slow and rich and led into a fast, happy, upbeat movement that involved lots of strings. It was a beautiful piece both for listening and playing. The conductor was very lively and you could tell that he was very passionate about this polyphonic textured piece. I loved how within the movements the instruments were very dramatic, loud and repetitive. Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor was the next piece to be played by the orchestra. Overall, it was my favorite piece because the pianist was absolutely amazing, even though the concerto starts off with strings. Felix Mendelssohn was born on February 3, 1809 in Hamburg. His first performance of this piece took place on October 17, 1831 while he
Concert Report
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
I would like to start off by saying that having the opportunity to attend the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra was an experience all in itself. The building as a whole was breath taking, and the music that was played was fascinating. The first piece played was by the composer George Frideric Handle. Handle was born on February 23, 1685 in Germany. He settled in England in 1712 and became something of a music establishment. Handle provided music for coronations, funerals and other public instances. His first performance of this piece is unknown but estimated to be sometime around 1747. His Concerto a due cori No. 3 in F major was dated around the late 1740’s. The scoring of this piece is suited for an outdoor performance with distinguished contingent of wind instruments. “A due cori” refers to the two choirs of wind instruments the concertos utilize. Handle places wind players on each side of the string orchestra. The Concerto No. 3 in F major uses identical groups of wind instruments, each comprised of a bassoon, a pair of oboes and horn. The groups go back and forth trading calls and echoing each other’s phrases. Overall I thought that this was a good piece to listen to. The overture was slow and rich and led into a fast, happy, upbeat movement that involved lots of strings. It was a beautiful piece both for listening and playing. The conductor was very lively and you could tell that he was very passionate about this polyphonic textured piece. I loved how within the movements the instruments were very dramatic, loud and repetitive. Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor was the next piece to be played by the orchestra. Overall, it was my favorite piece because the pianist was absolutely amazing, even though the concerto starts off with strings. Felix Mendelssohn was born on February 3, 1809 in Hamburg. His first performance of this piece took place on October 17, 1831 while he