Author Archives: helen kuang

As the finale for the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s Spring Festival, themed “Music and Power” for this year, they chose to do Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in D Minor. I did not get to see any of the other performances done for the Spring Festival, but I’m glad I caught this last one. Not only because we’re studying it in class, but because Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony was actually one of the first exposure to orchestral music I have ever had. This rendition is done by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, directed by Otto Tausk, with vocal solos from James Westman (baritone), Eric Wall (soprano), Marion Newman (mezzo-soprano), David Pomeroy (tenor), and the UBC Choir directed by Dr. Graeme Langager.

At the beginning of the symphony, the director, Otto Tausk, gave a very brief introduction to the symphony, saying how this anthem of hope was used to celebrate historical events such as the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and that this may be the “shortest ‘best’ symphony” ever written. The reason why it is such a celebrated piece, and why it is so representative of human perseverance and the feeling of hope becomes overtly apparent in the fourth movement (the “Ode to Joy”) — but I’m getting ahead of myself.

For the first movement, it starts off relatively (relative to the ensuing trouble) mellow, and I had not noticed it before, but you can hear very faintly the famous “Ode to Joy” theme in the introduction. It’s as if we are being promised a resolution before the schism is built. Following the long introduction, we finally get the set-up for the sturme und drang, is obvious with the choice of the minor mode. Actually, it seems to have already seeped into the neutral set-up, but becomes full force very quickly, creating a sense of stress and anxiousness. Here and there, more neutral or happier music tries to come through the tension, it seems, but is quickly washed away.

The second movement is continuing the minor theme of the first movement, but eventually seems to fade into a theme in a major key. However, the minor theme seems to try to crawl back every now and then, as if the themes are fighting each other. I think this is especially interesting to see in person, as one can observe which parts of the orchestra are active and inactive, and how they interact with each other. That is something that cannot be achieved with a recording.

In the third movement, we have finally have what seems like a moment of peace. The movement is a slow one, as is typical of the third movement in a four-movement symphony, and the key sounds to be of a major key. However, it is by no means the finale or the resolution  — listeners of Beethoven back then would know it, and new listeners now (such as myself) would also be expecting more. The interruptions of loud fanfares from the orchestra suggest that they are not done either.

Finally, the fourth movement — the one everyone knows: where “Ode to Joy” gets sung. It is well known for a good reason: it is beautiful. It starts off with the baritone singer James Westman singing the lyrics in German. The music softens to draw attention to this vocal solo, and immediately following, is an overwhelming boom of the choir joining in. It is in the unified voices of the choir that I feel the message of the “Ode to Joy” is most felt, since this is, afterall, meant to portray a feeling of friendship and optimism for the future of humanity. What better way to represent that than with a choir of human voices?

Needless to say, I am very happy that I got to see Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in D Minor in person. As a final note, I would like to say that as someone who has not had a lot of exposure to this kind of music prior to this class, personally, I found it very helpful to see the orchestra and which parts of the orchestra are do what and when they are doing it. So, not only did I get to hear beautiful music, I got to have a better understanding of how it is achieved.

On Monday, April 8th, I visited the Roy Barnett Recital Hall once again for another installment of the UBC Composers’ Concert, after I had such an enjoyable visit on the last one that I had went to. This one had a longer list of songs, with a repertoire of eight songs in total, each composed by UBC School of Music students.

I won’t go over all the pieces themselves, but while going through the program before the start of the performance, I could already tell from some of the titles, I noticed I could already recognize some of the influence of 19th century and modernist movements. For example, there were the compilation of piano and vocal pieces composed by Morten Yu and performed by Roan Shankaruk (alto) and the composer himself, called 5 Nocturnes, which of course, is reminiscent of the 3 Nocturnes which we looked at in class (only two of the five pieces were actually played). Another example would be the name of the saxophone piece named “Incessance”, composed and performed by Jackson Bell, which has a name reminiscent of the the Romantic style of naming in relation to program music.

My favourite piece of this Composers’ Concert was the piano piece called “Spirit of the Wood” composed by D.I. Danny Choi, and performed by Noah Ha. This is another piece that has a name which is supposed to tell us of the mood and idea of the piece. The piece sounded to be in a minor key, and was rather melancholy and tense throughout the entirety of it. I believe it was a hybrid of a free-flowing composition reminiscent of the attitudes in music of the late 19th century, as the theme at the beginning continues to build and change throughout the piece. It never really falls into any expected rigid form, hence my assessment. In general, I quite enjoy tense pieces, and the performer seemed to really be impassioned in his playing.

A piece I found really cool was the piece named “Four Landscapes for Guitar Quartet” composed by Frederic Lau, and performed by the guitarists Eric Li, Daniel Cheung, Joel Thompson, and Tejay Liao. I think this is one of the few times I have encountered a guitar quartet. I really love guitar music in general, but have not had a lot of exposure to classical guitar music, so this was a real treat.

All in all, I am once again, really glad that I got to participate in this, and even more so, I am glad that I now have some more musical knowledge to understand the roots of the choices for some of these compositions, or at least try to apply some of my own inferences to it. Even though I am graduating, I would love to be able to come back sometime if given a chance to see more of the performances. I am really impressed that all of these pieces were composed and performed by such talented students of the UBC School of Music.

On Monday, March 18th, I visited one of the UBC Composers’ Concerts that play during noon at the Roy Barnett Recital Hall for the first time. These series of concerts feature works composed by UBC School of Music students, and are either performed by the composer themselves or by their fellow classmates. This noon featured two Jazz works by Eugene Shen named after local places in Vancouver (“29th Avenue Station” and “Second Beach”), a guitar and vocal composition by Frederic Lau named “Night Piece”, a harp and vocal composition named “Chance Encounter” by Tze Liew, and “Avdiutt” string quartet work accompanied by vocals composed by Isaac Zee.

Of the pieces I heard that day, I think my favourite was “Chance Encounter”, composed and performed by Tze Liew (soprano), and Nathania Ko on the harp. I am bias towards this one for two reasons: I’ve always wanted to play the harp ever since I was a child, and the poem that Liew set the song to was reminiscent of the poetry I used to learn in my Chinese language class when I was in elementary school. The song itself reminded me of a through-composed aria, as it didn’t really settle on a specific melody for either the harp nor the vocals, and changed throughout, wavering from calm to powerful at times. It was very elegant, and I loved the lyrics that went along with it (she provided the poem on the back page).

Another very interesting piece was called “Avdiutt”, composed by Isaac Zee. It featured a string quartet with Robin Neuvonen and Adrian Kwan on violin, Francesca Kohn on viola, and Susie Yoo on cello, and three vocals with Roan Shankaruk and Kathleen Isaza as sopranos, and Andrea Ciona as alto. I think the vocals were definitely meant to be the highlight, from what I recall of the performance. I couldn’t hear the lyrics (they were not in English) but it sounded kind of like a conversation as they used laughter (imagine a very musical way of saying “ha-ha!”) and other speech-like noises. Distinctly, I also remember the usage of high pitch sighing. The way they would “talk back” at each other was polyphonic for sure, but only sometimes imitative; other times, the vocals seem to be interjecting and interrupting each other. Each “segment” of singing would be interrupted by the clear ting of finger cymbals. I would love to hear this again, since there was so much going on and I wasn’t able to focus on the string quartet as much as I would have liked to.

Despite only focusing on two of the five pieces I heard that afternoon, I truly enjoyed all of them. I wish I had known that this existed earlier on in my university career, as it is a very relaxing way to spend a lunch hour. I would love to hear many of these pieces again if given a chance, as I find that, for myself at least as someone with rather untrained ears, there is a lot that can be missed the first time around. Nonetheless, I would highly recommend going.

Let me preface this by saying: I’ve never seen an opera of any form in my life, and prior to this class, have rarely ever heard any operatic works. As I was interested in learning more about opera and seeing it performed on stage, I decided to attend this performance. I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I went in.

The purpose of this event was to showcase the talents of the UBC Opera Ensemble members through many different opera pieces. Each piece performed was only accompanied by a single piano, and the vocals of other ensemble members. The performances ranged from soloists performing arias, duets, quartets, and pieces involving the entire ensemble at parts. Here are some of my favourites.

FAVOURITE PIECES:

Piece #1 & #2: “Habanera” and “Votre toast” from Carmen by G. Bizet, performed by Jilian Clow as Carmen, Ian Burns as Escamillo, Madison Craig, and Sarah Sum, with members of the UBC Opera Ensemble

The performance of “Habanera” followed the performances of three arias sung by three female soloists with very a sparse piano accompaniment each. So, when “Habanera” started, and the full UBC Opera Ensemble marched onto the stage, it was quite an exciting sight due to the contrast with the previous performance. This rendition of “Habanera” is sung by the female soloist, Jilian Clow as Carmen, and accompanied by the UBC Opera Ensemble as well as a single piano. Both vocal and piano accompaniments are both homophonic when used, and are meant to further emphasize certain phrases and words (specifically, to exclaim, “L’amour! L’amour!”).

“Votre toast” was presented in a similar fashion as “Habanera”; again, there is a single soloist performed by Ian Burns, the UBC Opera Ensemble, and a single piano. And again, the opera ensemble provided backing vocals and emphasis on certain words. In “Votre toast”, I really enjoyed the use of space, as Escamillo would walk around into the audience and through the aisles. This use of space is something one definitely can’t get from a recording — unless you have an amazing surround sound system.

Piece #3: “Bella figlia dell’amore” from Rigoletto by G. Verdi, performed by Ian McCoy, Yenny Lee, Sodam Lee, and Hyun Seung Tom Son

This vocal quartet by far used polyphony the most obviously in the pieces I heard that day. The host did not explicitly say, but I believe it is a recitative, as this piece features a major plot point form Rigoletto by G. Verdi, where the Gilda (played by Sodam Lee), daughter of the Rigoletto (played by Hyun Seung Tom Son), is made to realize that her lover, the Duke of Mantua (played by Ian McCoy), is in an adulterous relationship with another woman, Maddalena, played by Yenny Lee. First enters the Duke and Maddalena who set the scene of their secret relationship. Rigoletto later leads Gilda into the scene, and she watches the scene in horror. So, on top of the duo sung by the Duke and Maddalena, Rigoletto and Gilda are ALSO singing their own conversation. It was a very interesting scene to watch, especially hearing Sodam Lee’s voice as the heartbroken Gilda piercing through the Duke and Maddalena’s scene.

CONCLUSION + OVERALL OPINION:

I really enjoyed the way these pieces were presented in an easy-to-approach style. As I have never seen an opera before, I was feeling like it might be overwhelming to go to a full-length opera, which are hours in length and often not in English. I would hardly know which one I would want to go to. However, as the Opera Tea Series presents a bunch of different pieces from different operas, it is a good way to sample and see which opera one may be interested in seeing. As for me, I think I will definitely check out a rendition of Carmen, among others that I enjoyed from the performance.

Anyone who has played a really good video game knows that the music and sound effects of the game greatly contribute to the player immersion into the game. Peppy tunes are used behind Mario Kart stages to channel between intensity and fun while gangster rap is used in Grand Theft Auto to channel west-coast vibes and further help the players escape into a world unlike their own everyday life.

And as for plainchants, they get used to elicit a range of different emotions in video games, as well as to set the scene. Specifically, the range of emotions seem to fall in that of contemplation, intensity, and sometimes melancholy. They set the scene for character introductions and associations, locations such as churches and temples. As an example, let’s talk about my favourite plainchant found in video games: the theme for the Temple of Time in Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Imagine: you are a young warrior on a mission to rescue a beautiful princess in your strange, mystical world. This was everything you wanted when you were living your peaceful life in your forest village, yet it was nothing you could have imagined. You are tired, but determined. You come across a church that the princess told you about in a vision. It is gigantic. You approach it. You step inside, and you are met with a hall of white marble floors, and the familiar crests inscribed on the cement walls. It is all white and glowing. You approach the alter at the back, and you know that the tune the princess taught you in the vision is so be played here. You play it on your ocarina.

I love the Legend of Zelda franchise, and the music is amazing — it’s one of the first games that got me to consciously pay attention to the music in a game, in fact. The scene I described is the scene where Link, the main character in the game (for those who are not familiar), first steps into the Temple of Time. Before this, Link was in a bustling town, filled with chattering voices and the simple, happy, chirpy melody of played by what appears to my ear as a harpsichord. Upon nearing the temple, it the music fades to silence, left only with the sounds of nature. Then, finally, entering the temple, a brief silence — then the sounds of several indistinct male voices, singing homorhythmically, starts playing. It sounds to be perhaps more precisely an organum, but maybe a very early version of one. There are instances of polyphony, though it is not dramatic; they seem to mean to add depth to the original melodic line, but at the same time, I find my ears wandering to the different points of interest. Of the examples we discussed in class, the song slightly reminds me of Perotin’s “Alleluia. Diffusa est gratia” organum with the richness of the multiple male voices used. This juxtaposition of a bustling town with a happy tune, the silence following, and low but piercing voices, creates an overwhelming effect for player. It sets the scene for the ancient, holy, spiritual site of the temple, and highlights this as an important space. The use of a plainchant is the perfect piece to do this with, considering the religious and spiritual context from which it is derived from.

To listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6Hf1-lQElE