concert report

Concert Report #2 My second concert I attended was located at the Fowler Center Thursday, November 4, 2010. The Arkansas State University Wind Ensemble played several works, which gave to the title “Folksongs and War Songs”. Timothy Oliver was the main conductor and there was a guest conductor also, Dan Patterson. A classmate and I arrived to the Fowler Center on time and got settled, but neither one of knew what to expect really since we didn’t have a very sturdy musical background. Everyone on stage were playing their instruments all the same time and didn’t sound very graceful, but we came to the conclusion all the performers were practicing before show time. The lights began to dim and show began. The first piece was Divertimento for Band by Vincent Persichetti. It was composed of several different movements including the prologue, song, dance, burlesque, soliloquy, and finally march. The song and dance movements I recognized from class and put two and two together and learned that the soliloquy began the soloist concert. I enjoyed the performance, but was probably not my favorite. Heroes, Lost and Fallen by David R. Gillingham was the second piece and the one I enjoyed the most. I took pleasure in this piece because before the performance started, Mr. Patterson explained a little bit how this concert was derived. Heroes, Lost and Fallen was dedicated as a Vietnam Memorial. This piece was very different and had many different sounds. He told the audience to listen carefully because there were quotes from the Star Spangled Banner and the Vietnamese National Anthem, which I had no clue what sounded like, but it kept me on the edge of my seat trying to pick out the sounds. The section started slowly but then progressed from a slow “March to War” then climaxing to express war. There were several members of the ensemble moving back and forth across the stage to play several different instruments, including the gong. One can hear the change