SHS Fall Concert Essay

On the night of Monday, October 16th, I had the opportunity to perform as part of the Wind Ensemble in the SHS Fall Concert. The ensemble consisted of woodwinds, brass, and percussion. Our band presented two pieces in the concert: a program and an overture. Although we were not as prepared for the concert as I’d hoped, I opine that the wind ensemble performed rather successfully. Opening for the wind ensemble, was a composition by Michael Daugherty called Alligator Alley. This intense and syncopated piece instantly grabs the attention of the audience with the crash of cymbals and the crack of the whip. The piece creates a vivid image of rapid rivers infested with snapping alligators. I think our performance of Alligator Alley was superior
to most of our practices of the piece; however, there was no lack of mistakes made. I found that there were a few troubles with notes in Ana’s bassoon solo at measure eight and the following clarinet part was rather squeaky. On the contrary, I was very pleased with the sharpness of the percussion introduction and the reverberation it left in the gym. Also, the surprising snaps of the whip from measures thirty-five to forty-three really created an image of alligators chomping their powerful jaws. Later on in the piece, we had a fair amount of inaccuracy with notes and intonation. For instance, the flute part on beat four of measure ninety-three was terribly screechy. In addition, I noticed that the bassoon seemed to lag at measure forty-nine, and the section itself did not flow together well. On a lighter note, I expect our concert performance was the best we ever played the section at one hundred one; Rachel did a great job on the tambourine. As I see it, the wind ensemble’s performance of Alligator Alley, although lacking direction and musicality, was very respectable. The wind ensemble’s second piece was Sky Dance, an overture composed by Richard L.
Saucedo. Sky Dance contains a great contrast in mood and pace, beginning at a light, swift speed and falling into a deep, lyrical movement. Overall, I was satisfied with the wind ensemble’s concert performance of the piece, but I think we had a considerable amount of rushing and intonation. For starters, I believe we began the piece rather rushed and continued with that pace throughout the faster section of the piece. As a result, I think the rushing caused us to play rhythms inaccurately. Measures seven to seventeen were fairly discordant and did not run together musically. Likewise, I noticed some uncertainty about notes and rhythm with the flute section at measure twenty-six. Opposite to preceding points, I think we performed the section at measure thirty-seven superior to how we played during practice. Also, the section “Suddenly Slow” made a great transition into the “Expressively” and “Boldly” sections of the song. Unfortunately, there was a great deal of errors with intonation in measures sixty-nine through seventy-five. Conversely, we had a nice, long build up before a very powerful and intense section at eighty-six. Lastly, I thought the timpani feature at measure one hundred nineteen was played perfectly, but thereafter, the band was rushed and imprecise. All flaws aside, Sky Dance was my favorite of the two pieces performed because of the emotion and power felt in the middle
section. By and large, I am pleased with the result of this year’s Fall Concert. The wind ensemble’s performance of both Alligator Alley and Sky Dance was a success in my eyes. I also believe that the audience generally enjoyed the compositions as did I. Just the same, the pieces were in need of direction and musicality. Certainly, this year’s Fall Concert can serve as a learning experience to better prepare for future performances.