Music Appreciation Essay, Research Paper
Music App.9 May 1999 I went to this thinking it was a Musical Event with a Symphony,so I told my daughter about it and talked her into going with me. When we got thereand were seated I realized there was no Symphony. On stage there were two blackgrand pianos facing each other. Then I was curios, so I started to read the program guide and realized the whole concert was going to be about a talented husband and wife combo playing the piano and I knew there was not going to be any singing, dancing, or any other instruments being played. After reading a short biography on the two, I thought this would not be as boring as I thought it might be. I looked down the program at the pieces and composers being played and I recognized two of the five composers from which we studied in class, Franz Schubert and Johannes Brahms. I knew that at least some of the composition was from the classical period and I didn’t know anything about the other three composers. When I got home I looked through my book to see if I could find out any background information but could not find any, so I looked up their names on the internet. They were all classical composers except for Reger who did a lot of work on the romantic period and Darius Milhaud who’s approach to composing, was liberal in every sense, was a twentieth century composer, but what all composers had in common where there styles and the types of pieces they wrote, chamber ensembles, piano concerto, choral and folk like songs.
Most of the pieces Duo Turgeon played were mixed meter, real fast and then very slow I enjoyed watching the couple be very enthusiastic while playing. Most of the time the two played on the same piano but would separate and play on their own individual pianos. I was sitting on the right side of the auditorium and could not see their hands, just their body movements especially their heads, They looked like swaying chickens but very motivated. When the girl went to the other piano I could watch her hands and, its amazing how fast and complex the pieces are. My mood was changing with the music, at times I wanted to fall asleep and other times I felt like I was adding a little bit of culture to my life. There was no vocals but after every piece, they would trade off talking about the piece of music they were fixing to play and make a few funny jokes about each other. You could tell there was great chemistry between the two of them. In conclusion the performers were good but I didn’t care for the music, I would rather watch Jill Smith play pieces from Bach, Beethoven or Mozart because they are more enjoyable to listen too.