Monthly Archives: February 2019

I had the opportunity to attend “Light and Perspective” at the UBC School of Music’s Wednesday Noon Hours. This afternoon in particular was filled with contemporary pieces. I did not expect what was to come. It was more than your average performance. Combining light, sound, and feeling – I didn’t just hear the performances, I experienced them.

The first performance was brought to us by Paolo Bortolussi and was for flute and electronics. This composition is entitled “Among Fireflies” by Elainie Lillios. This piece made me feel as though I was in a jungle, partly due to the effects of the electronics. I sensed the presence of all sorts of animals. It was not your typical flute piece, rather than just playing the flute, the artist made use of the flute in ways I never knew were possible. He used the keys in unconventional ways and made unusual noises into the flute. Bortolussi made much use of his body and played with his all. It was truly a cacophony of sounds. It felt to me that I was in the presence of more than just fireflies. I saw crocodiles, felt a Jeep pull up in the jungle, and heard elephants of different sizes. It was one way of exploring a distant land.

The second performance was brought to us by Megumi Masaki and was for the piano. This composition is entitled “Epiphanies” by Douglas Finch. Masaki has a particular interest in exploring how image, text, sound, and movement can be combined in live performances using multimedia – this definitely showed through the performance. Masaki not only played the piano, she narrated a video at the same time, plucked the strings of the piano, and took advantage of her body movements. This was quite a comprehensive performance. This piece made me think, mainly due to the narration and peculiar video scenes. The sounds that came from the piano were both pleasant and yet jarring at times. Some homorhythm was present in this piece.

The fourth performance was brought to us by Paolo Bortolussi and Jose Franch-Ballester and was for flute, clarinet, interactive video, and audio electronics. This compostion is entitled “Spark and Sizzle” by Keith Hamel.  Interestingly, the interactive video has a display of colour that changes as the flute and clarinet play. The more excitement in the performance, the more excitement in the video. This was something I’d never seen done before and was rather fascinating. There truly was a ‘spark and sizzle’ to this piece – stimulating not just the ears but also the eyes. There was a mix of monophony and polyphony present in this piece, creating great textural interest.

This event was a great experience of a genre of music that I had not yet explored. It was different to say the least. I learned that music can be explored in different ways. It definitely broadened my horizons. Also, I saw a display of creativity. I would recommend that my peers attend such an event.

I had the pleasure to attend Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s concert featuring Debussy, Buckner and a contemporary Canadian composer Kelly-Marie Murphy’s work. The conductor of the night was Bramwell Tovey who has led the VSO group for more than 18 years so far and has had great achievements both domestically and internationally. I have always been obsessed with the opportunities of experiencing classical music in concerts and I enjoy playing some easier pieces myself on a piano, with not much expertise.

It was interesting how the concert had a notable emphasis on the charm of harp in a homophonic setting. The guest harpist Heidi Krutzen collaborated with the strings of the orchestra and presented the lovely yet ritualistic “Danse sacrée et danse profane” to open the performance. It was an elegant pair of dance pieces composed by the French Impressionist composer. During the pre-concert talk, it was mentioned that this dance piece was requested from an instrument manufacture to market a modern type of harp that they newly developed and was around ten-minutes long in total. The particularly slow and flowing “Secret Dance” was followed by the faster and more celebratory “Profane Dance” with no break in between. The harp was leading the melody for most of the time while the strings have simpler and more repetitive rhythm. The poetic and ethereal texture of the music was decorated with some occasional higher notes from the harp bringing a little extra vitality. The seamless connection between the strings and the harp brought the audience a pleasant sense of harmony.

The second piece was “En el escuro es todo uno(In the Darkness, All Is One)” by Kelly-Marie Murphy and was created for harp and cello based on the songs by Sephardic Jews. The piece was in four movements, “Lamenta”, “Si Veriash a la rana”, “Yigdal #2” and “Noches, noches, Buenos noches”. To my surprise, the music was not that difficult to appreciate and the composition was rather intriguing. It utilized the variety of the voices of an orchestra and was designed to be polyphonic. It was my first time in a concert to witness the percussions playing a big part of leading the melody. There was even a vase-like instrument that I still could not figure out what it was. The sound of clapping was integrated as well. While the first and the last movements remained slow and atmospheric, the second movement was fast and lively.

The third piece was “Symphony No.6 in A Major” by Anton Bruckner. Last year, I listened to his “Sinfonie Nr. 7 E-Dur” in a concert setting by Vienna Phiharmoniker and was blown away by the dramatic and energetic style of Bruckner’s work. This time, I came in with some similar iconic expectations and found the experience rather gentle and consoling. During the pre-concert talk, the host mentioned that the No.6 was the only symphony that Bruckner has never revised after completion and he was quite satisfied with it. The unusual harmony in this piece reflects the positive circumstance of the composer at that time who was gaining increasing respect and financial stability. Nevertheless, the overall impression was still sublime and powerful. It created more of a sacred atmosphere than the previous two pieces.

Overall, the event was rich in content and gave me a more concrete comprehension of Debussy and Bruckner’s work. VSO was an amazing orchestra and I shall look forward to attending their next performance. It was refreshing for me to appreciate a concert with a critical approach which was encouraged by our MUSIC 326 course. It has subtly empowered me to take away more from musical experiences.

Attending an orchestral concert featured in Debussy and Bruckner music on a rainy Friday night was a great pleasure. Being a huge lover for Debussy’s piano music and always curious about Bruckner’s symphonic works, I decided to partake in this concert almost immediately. The program includes Debussy’s famous chamber piece for the harp and strings: Danses Sacrée et Profane, and Bruckner’s Symphony No. 6 in A Major. A brilliant Canadian composer Kelly-Marie Murphy’s newly prized symphony, En El Secure Es Todo Uno (In the Darkness, All is One) was also highlighted in this concert, bringing about a brisk touch of contemporary symphony works. Something extraordinary about this concert is that conductor Maestro Bramwell Tovey returned as VSO Music Director Emeritus after paying his loyal service to VSO for eighteen years. 

During the pre-concert talk, musician Nicolas Krusek conducted a brief interview with Kelly-Marie Murphy about her new symphony work that was going to be unveiled that night. She told us about her inspirations about this piece, which was dedicated to the Sephardic repertoire. Once she talked to her daughter’s singing teacher, who was a Jewish and was accordingly recommended the music of Sephardic Jews. These people were expelled from Spain in 1942, spoke Ladino, which became the language of her title later, creating music that was full of emotions. As her symphony unfolded, we catch a glimpse of the Sephardic music’s elements. 

Although this piece was written for cello and harp with chamber orchestra, the composer noted, the percussion instruments were crucial to the Sephardic music. Therefore, in this piece, she boldly added clapping, twanging and other exotic sounds to mimic percussion instruments, ushering the audience into the Sephardic music’s atmosphere. 

The first piece opening the night was Debussy’s Danses Sacrée et Profane. As a representative of the Impressionist composer, Debussy was renowned for his revolutionary spirit in the experiment of the musical form. This short symphony written for harps and strings revealed the characteristic of Debussy’s music and adopted an innovative instrument called the chromatic harp. This particular harp used in this performance only had forty-six strings but ranged six and a half octaves. In addition, seven pedals which could be raised or depressed were used to add three possible pitches on every string, filling up the absent chromatic intervals. 

This opus was divided into two parts, as suggested by the title: the first section represented the secret dance, while the second referred to the profane dance, a more natural and humane theme compared to the former. The first one was slow, serene, with a unison melody performed by strings accompanied by harps, and the second was more lively, presenting a recognizable thematic disparity. Like Debussy’s other works, Danses Sacrée et Profane returned to the initial theme several times, eliciting a sense of harmony, tranquility, and satisfaction. The harpist was Heidi Krutzen, who was a leading harp artist in Canada. 

The Bruckner Symphony No. 6 in A Major consisted of four movements: I. Majestoso (A major); II. Adagio: Sehr feierlich (F major); III. Scherzo: Nicht schnell – Trio: Langsam (A minor); and IV. Finale: Bewegt, doch nicht zu schnell (A minor – A major). It might not be widely performed as many Bruckner’s other symphonies, but it represented the character of Bruckner when he was most confident as a composer. It was also one of his few works that he didn’t revise throughout his lifetime. Like Bruckner’s other symphonies, Symphony No. 6 in A Major was majestic, an idiosyncrasy of Bruckner’s music largely due to his organist background. This symphony had a clear multilayered structure, brimming with tension, relief, dreary grayness and vivacity. The inexhaustible momentum of trying to find the shining truth reminded us of Bruckner’s philosophical reflection on his music. The piece ended with concord of strings and lingered for a few seconds in audiences’ head before they realized to applaud with cordial approval. 

On the whole, the experience of musical appreciation with Maestro Tovey was highly enjoyable, informative and eye-opening. The conductor Maestro Tovey has won my heart as a truly respectable and prestigious musician with high musical standards. I look forward to attending his next concerts and hearing more of his Debussy and Bruckner repertoire.