Merced Theatre Reflection
When walking inside the Merced theater, while the audience searched for their seats, I nervously waited. At the same time the performers onstage were practicing before the official performance. At first, I felt uncomfortable because I have never attended a symphony before and I was unsure of what to expect. Once the performance started, I felt worried about not being able to understand the musical techniques being used. I was struggling on taking notes because I did not know what to take notes on. As the performance went on I felt relieved because I was enjoying the performance especially the violin soloists which were playing in a fast tempo. I started to feel more comfortable afterwards during the intermission because everyone seemed to be
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having a good time. They were conversing about the beauty in the elaborate violin solos being played. The conductor helped symphony flow well because he explained each piece before it was played. He explained how the season were different from the previous ones and it helped the audience understand what to expect before the orchestra played.
The orchestra played The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi and The Four Season of Buenos Aires by Astor Piazzolla. Antonio Lucio Vivaldi was an Italian Baroque composer. He is considered one of greatest Baroque composers and he is also known for composing many instrumental concertos. The Merced Symphony played was his well-known violin concertos known as The Four Seasons. Ástor Piazzolla was a tango composer from Argentina. He created a new tango style named nuevo tango which had jazz and some classical music elements. The Merced Symphony was composed of 13 violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos, 2 Basses, and 1 Harpsichord. The music conductor Ming Luke did an excellent job in explaining the history of each music performance order. The codes of social behavior were observable throughout the course of the symphony. In events such as a symphony, society enforced the social behavior because when I think of the word symphony I think of a fancy event where I would not expect people to arrive in flip flops. Moreover, the people where dressed in professional clothing and looked formal in their attire. It seemed like the audience took the time to select clothing that would represent such important event. The silence that was taking place when each piece was being performed was a symbol of respect to the performers and a code of social behavior. The audience was respectful throughout the event because they turned off cell phones, and their attention was only on the performers. The applause happened when every movement would finish at the end of every season. Moreover, in a rock concert, people clap all the time whenever they are feeling the rhythm and it would not be considered rude.
The symphony was a social event because everyone was gathered to hear the orchestra play a well- known classical piece known as The Four Seasons. The audience had a variety of people who, for the most part shared the same type of music appreciation. There was all type of age groups in the audience, but the majority included adults. The audience for a symphony was much different than a rock concert audience, because in a symphony, everyone is silent. Normally, in a rock concert everyone is yelling and singing along to the music. However, a symphony is a much quieter place because the audience needs to appreciate the instrumental and respect the performers. It is common courtesy to turn off cell phones during a symphony, but the music director informed everyone to do so before the performance. At the end of the performance the audience clapped and gave a standing ovation to the performers. It was not enforced but the audience felt the need to because the performance was beautiful.
Antonio Vivaldi composed The Four Seasons which were composed of Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.
The section I enjoyed the most was Spring because it seemed to be joyful with a nature imagery. The movements for spring were Allegro, Largo, and Allegro. In the beginning of the piece we can sense a ritornello theme occurring as the introduction occurs throughout the piece in various moments. A tuti occurs because all the instruments join together to play a cord. In the first half, there are contrastic dynamics occurring as well as harmonic texture. The three violinist played ornamented notes as well as repeated notes that led to descending scales before the beautiful violin solos. What I found the most vivid section of the piece was where the violins played a polyphonic texture which gave the sense of birds chirping in the background. It defiantly gave the audience the feeling of spring serving the purpose Vivaldi had of creating a musical piece that would represent the four seasons. The second half of spring was played in ritornello theme again with a recurring homophonic texture which also occurred before. A basso continuo took place after when the volume and rhythm slowed down announcing the end of the joyful melody. There was a darker sound after the bird imagery in the music which caused the instruments to speed up the tempo. It gave the sense as if mother nature had created thunder in order for the birds to stop chirping. Scales are ascending all leading up to the violin solo. Throughout the end there was chromatic notes with the violin and a polyphonic texture which in the music led to the rising action of nature. The violin in the solo gets louder and it ends in a cadenza announcing the end of
spring.
The symphony made me discover my passion for orchestra music. I did not know my passion, but I knew I liked violin music because Lana del Rey uses an orchestra with the majority of her music. Attending a symphony made me appreciate orchestra music more because I saw the hard work put into performing. As the audience, now I know what to expect next time in a symphony. The symphony gathered everyone from different age groups and ethnicities to share orchestral music. What I love most about attending symphonies, is the pleasure gained from the live experience. Having the opportunity to watching the performers live, and hearing the instruments live, just draws me into the music more than hearing it through a computer. The essence of live music is lost through videos online. Experiencing a symphony live is magical and beautiful because it occurring in front of you.
having a good time. They were conversing about the beauty in the elaborate violin solos being played. The conductor helped symphony flow well because he explained each piece before it was played. He explained how the season were different from the previous ones and it helped the audience understand what to expect before the orchestra played.
The orchestra played The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi and The Four Season of Buenos Aires by Astor Piazzolla. Antonio Lucio Vivaldi was an Italian Baroque composer. He is considered one of greatest Baroque composers and he is also known for composing many instrumental concertos. The Merced Symphony played was his well-known violin concertos known as The Four Seasons. Ástor Piazzolla was a tango composer from Argentina. He created a new tango style named nuevo tango which had jazz and some classical music elements. The Merced Symphony was composed of 13 violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos, 2 Basses, and 1 Harpsichord. The music conductor Ming Luke did an excellent job in explaining the history of each music performance order. The codes of social behavior were observable throughout the course of the symphony. In events such as a symphony, society enforced the social behavior because when I think of the word symphony I think of a fancy event where I would not expect people to arrive in flip flops. Moreover, the people where dressed in professional clothing and looked formal in their attire. It seemed like the audience took the time to select clothing that would represent such important event. The silence that was taking place when each piece was being performed was a symbol of respect to the performers and a code of social behavior. The audience was respectful throughout the event because they turned off cell phones, and their attention was only on the performers. The applause happened when every movement would finish at the end of every season. Moreover, in a rock concert, people clap all the time whenever they are feeling the rhythm and it would not be considered rude.
The symphony was a social event because everyone was gathered to hear the orchestra play a well- known classical piece known as The Four Seasons. The audience had a variety of people who, for the most part shared the same type of music appreciation. There was all type of age groups in the audience, but the majority included adults. The audience for a symphony was much different than a rock concert audience, because in a symphony, everyone is silent. Normally, in a rock concert everyone is yelling and singing along to the music. However, a symphony is a much quieter place because the audience needs to appreciate the instrumental and respect the performers. It is common courtesy to turn off cell phones during a symphony, but the music director informed everyone to do so before the performance. At the end of the performance the audience clapped and gave a standing ovation to the performers. It was not enforced but the audience felt the need to because the performance was beautiful.
Antonio Vivaldi composed The Four Seasons which were composed of Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.
The section I enjoyed the most was Spring because it seemed to be joyful with a nature imagery. The movements for spring were Allegro, Largo, and Allegro. In the beginning of the piece we can sense a ritornello theme occurring as the introduction occurs throughout the piece in various moments. A tuti occurs because all the instruments join together to play a cord. In the first half, there are contrastic dynamics occurring as well as harmonic texture. The three violinist played ornamented notes as well as repeated notes that led to descending scales before the beautiful violin solos. What I found the most vivid section of the piece was where the violins played a polyphonic texture which gave the sense of birds chirping in the background. It defiantly gave the audience the feeling of spring serving the purpose Vivaldi had of creating a musical piece that would represent the four seasons. The second half of spring was played in ritornello theme again with a recurring homophonic texture which also occurred before. A basso continuo took place after when the volume and rhythm slowed down announcing the end of the joyful melody. There was a darker sound after the bird imagery in the music which caused the instruments to speed up the tempo. It gave the sense as if mother nature had created thunder in order for the birds to stop chirping. Scales are ascending all leading up to the violin solo. Throughout the end there was chromatic notes with the violin and a polyphonic texture which in the music led to the rising action of nature. The violin in the solo gets louder and it ends in a cadenza announcing the end of
spring.
The symphony made me discover my passion for orchestra music. I did not know my passion, but I knew I liked violin music because Lana del Rey uses an orchestra with the majority of her music. Attending a symphony made me appreciate orchestra music more because I saw the hard work put into performing. As the audience, now I know what to expect next time in a symphony. The symphony gathered everyone from different age groups and ethnicities to share orchestral music. What I love most about attending symphonies, is the pleasure gained from the live experience. Having the opportunity to watching the performers live, and hearing the instruments live, just draws me into the music more than hearing it through a computer. The essence of live music is lost through videos online. Experiencing a symphony live is magical and beautiful because it occurring in front of you.