A Recap of Musical Euphoria

Adrian Angelo

Music 4

P. Aranda

Concert Attendances

The first concert I was in attendance for was held at Pomona College in the Bridges hall of music which strangely reminded me of the inside of a catholic church. I choose this concert because it was centered around the very powerful and beautiful Russian classical music style, also, because the concert held here was free that afternoon. The concert lasted roughly two hours which was very easy to sit through. The concert opened with a composition called “Scheherazade Op 35” which is by the Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. This was probably my favorite piece of the set; I enjoyed this piece even more than the fabled “1812 overture” by Tchaikovsky that the concert concluded with.

The first piece, “Scheherazade Op 35,” was also my favorite as previously stated. My favoritism was swayed toward this piece due to its beautiful and tantalizing melodies that made you sway in your seat. The composition can be broken down into separate sections that were all entitled differently. The first section is called “The sea and Sinbad’s Ship” and it opens with a very firm and powerful start from the trombones, trumpets and French horns I believe. I am unsure of which instruments were opening but by the sound I would guess that it was all the powerful brass instruments in the orchestra. Then the piece moves into the general swaying feeling of the first section and also featured a very haunting and beautiful short violin solo that stole the show in my opinion. Immediately after the solo, the rest of the orchestra begins with what I found to be the theme of the first section. This melody or theme continued as it rose to a higher and higher volume as if it were the climax but then it calmed and returned to its original, rather slow pace. The theme remained present and it was fantastic. Finally the first section began to end with what seemed like a mini fantasia section to me even though I am very aware this was not a...