Music

For this concert report I chose to go to a performance of student composers held at the Kimball Recital Hall. I chose this one because I wanted to see some of the talent that my peers have in the music realm, and also it was one of the only concerts I have been able to attend because I usually work at night. It was impressive to hear pieces composed by students. I cannot imagine creating something as complex as a musical composition, much less actually performing it, so this aspect of the concert was particularly awe-inspiring. There was a large attendance, and I think that much of the audience consisted of friends of the composers and/or performers. I went with three friends, who I convinced by telling it would be interesting to see student composers.

The first piece was called Oblique/musique composed by Patrick Swanson. This piece instantly stood out among the others because of the instruments involved. The piece was performed by two people: one playing a vibraphone and the other playing a large drum/cymbal/gong. However, the piece also contained prerecorded sounds of static, bass, and an incoherent voice. In this piece the melody was repeated many times. It was similar to the works of John Adams because of its repetitions, background recording, and minimalistic sounds.

The second piece was a piano composition by Thalia Ventimilla called Ecuadorian Afternoon. This piece had a very relaxing melody and a "walking speed" tempo. It was not fast and not slow. The intensity of the piece started out high and gradually declined, then built up to decline again. This went on in a series of decrescendos, rising and falling with lots of chords being played.

The third piece was a duet for the flute and the oboe by Julia Grace Brown. The piece contained two movements, but I could not tell when one stopped and the second began because there was no pause. While they played the flute was quicker, playing in short, fast, high pitched notes. On the other hand, the oboe was steadier and carried the notes slightly longer, and it lead the flute through the song. Sometimes the two instruments played simultaneously, and sometimes the flute would mimic the oboe and follow it through the movement. Overall, the piece started out fast and eventually slowed with the two instruments ending together, but the flute always played in a higher range with a more piercing sound above the oboe.

The fourth piece was another piano composition, called Remercier by Jeffrey Kirchher and performed by Josh Straub. This was a fairly simple and straightforward piece. It started out slow with small building crescendos, which became more and more powerful. It had a dark, moody sound and I think that I was played in a minor key. There were many reverberating note to convey this eerie and sad tone. It became progressively more dramatic and intense, constantly repeated with stronger tone color.

The fifth piece was called Epileptical Bipolarity by Chris Wheeler. The piece was written for trumpet with a piano accompaniment. It had three movements; the first was centered mainly on the trumpet. It started with low notes and a slow tempo and built to a lively and quick expression of joy and energy. The second movement was played with the trumpet muted. It was much, much slower in tempo and used much lower notes, played within a very small range. The third movement starts out livelier and continues with an upbeat sound. The melody seems almost recognizable and is, therefore, comforting to listen to after the sad second movement. Then the melody stops abruptly and the piano joins in to finish the song.

The sixth piece was called This The Moment sing Me a Song