Concert Review Paper

The Oglethorpe University Singers and the Oglethorpe Chorale performed the concert at Conant Performing Arts Center on Friday, November 1, 2015, at 8 pm. The concert setting was smaller than the other venues we visited for previous concerts. The room was semi-lit, and classmates filled the concert hall. The concert conventions were not surprising as we have attended other concerts, and the conventions were the same. The Oglethorpe Singer and the Oglethorpe Chorale performance was excellent, they were in sync, and everyone did great. It was my first concert, and I was very impressed because they sounded like professional musicians.

Die Mit Tränen Säen is a German motet by Hermann Schein, it is an accompanied vocal piece that is religious in nature. The motet is conservative although each voice enters in imitation of the preceding voice, and it is mostly polyphonic. Five voices perform this motet, and each voice imitates the other until all voices have treated one phrase of the text. Then each phrase receives similar imitative treatment. This motet is through-composed, and in certain passages the voices move together
Fair Phyllis is written by John Farmer at the same time as the motet Die Mit Tränen Säen, in the late Renaissance. The fast and light-hearted tempo shows the entertaining nature of this madrigal. This dramatic piece written for eight voices uses monophony, homophony, imitative polyphony and madrigalism. It describes pastoral scenes and affairs of the heart which show that it is casual and informal. As for the second madrigal, Adieu, Sweet Amaryllis, it is similar to the first one because it uses the vernacular, but unlike the motet and the first madrigal, it uses piano accompaniment and the tempo is much slower. This piece is more emotional “because it is a break-up song” but it still uses homophony and