Dear Beatrice, How have you been? Hope everything is will with you and your family. You and I haven’t had much time to speak these past few weeks, so I decided to write you this letter in order to update you on the current events that have occurred in my life recently. Two days ago, I attended a baroque sinfonia at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, directed by Adam Gilbert, director of the early music program. The program consisted of selections from The Fairy Queen, originally composed by Henry Purcell. The overall performing environment was quite outstanding. It was great that the performers were on an elevated stage, making it much easier to see and hear them. It’s always crucial to be able to make eye contact with the performers in order to establish a personal connection with them. The event was very well attended. All the seats were practically filled causing some of the audience to stand up because there was no room. Overall, the audience seemed to be educated and had a great deal of knowledge on the music that was being performed. Also, the musical program was well organized, being consisted of five acts. The program passed out to the audience consisted a libretto, a text of all the words and stage directions of a piece, which made it much more easier to understand what was occurring on stage at the moment. The instruments I encountered at this concert were the violin, viola, cello, violone, harpsichord, lute, theorbo, guitar, oboe, bassoon, trumpet and recorder. Fortunately, I had learned about most of these instruments and what they sound like in my music class, so I was able to identify which instrument was being played at a certain time. I am now going to give you more information about Henry Purcell and his work in order for you to have a better idea of what the performance was like. Henry Purcell, born on September 10, 1659 in London, was an English organist and baroque composer. For a
References: Evans, M. E. Henry Purcell. Detroit: Gale Biography in Context, 2003. International Dictionary of Opera. Henry Purcell. Gale Biography in Context, 1993. Encyclopedia Britannica. Purcell, Henry. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2011. Opera Today. Purcell: The Fairy Queen. Opera Today Inc., 2010. Encyclopedia of World Biography. Henry Purcell. Detroit: Gale Biography in Context, 1998.