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This UBC School of Music Wednesday Noon Hour featured Mark Takeshi McGregor on flute, and Adrian Verdejo on guitar. It was a combination that was new to me, nevertheless pleasant to listen to. McGregor is a classical and avant-garde musician and Verdejo is a classical musician. This days performance was jam packed with 4 excellent performances.

The first piece, entitled “Toward the Sea” by Takemitsu, featured a dark sound – due to the guitar strings being tuned down. It began with the flute, containing long tones produced by the flute and an arpeggiated accompaniment on the guitar. In between the movements the guitar was retuned. The second movement began with the guitar and featured trills. To me, this piece sounded like sounds of nature – at times sounding like a cacophony of sounds. It was somewhat expressive in nature.

The second piece, entitled “Dúo I by Baca-Lobera , contained many sounds or noises that were unpitched and percussive. It used high registers, creating a unique and interesting sound. It seemed to me as though the instruments competed – being equal in prominence. Once again, this piece began with long tones on the flute, then combined the percussive sounds. I had never heard a guitar played this way before. At one point the flute and guitar were playing rather furiously, in an arpeggiated fashion. The flautist even seemed to spit in the flute a few times.

The third piece, entitled Verdigris for flute and guitar by Morlock, sounding as though there were scattering creatures – barely visible in the nightlight. The flute was more prominent than the guitar – making it homophonic in texture. The flute featured a lot of low tones, giving the piece an eerie feeling. During the middle of the piece, the flautist switches form a regular flute to an alto flute. This was a refreshing change, and gave added interest.

The fourth piece, entitled Histoire du Tango by Piazzolla, demonstrated the history of the tango chronically. The first movement was playful, followed by a soothing movement, and the last movement was also playful. The guitar also made some percussive noises. This was my favourite piece of the afternoon as it was so light and pleasant to listen to and made me feel like I was somewhere in Latin America. The flute was definitely more featured than the guitar, giving it a homophonic texture once again. The arpeggiated accompaniment and chords were also great, and were notably associated with places such as Latin America. The second movement began with an almost romantic guitar feature. When the flute joined in, it sounded very sweet and deep. The last movement reminded me of the first movement.

Overall, I gained an appreciation for this combination of instruments. My favorite piece being the Histoire du Tango. The musicians – McGregor and Verdejo – were marvellous, and I would recommend you go see them if an opportunity presents itself. Also, take a look out online for guitar and flute duets, as they go well together. They definitely helped me to appreciate the music better.

UBC School of Music hosted Wednesday Noon Hours with David Jalbert on piano. The music played on this afternoon demonstrated Jalbert’s virtuosic abilities. Interestingly, Jalbert is one of CBC’s  15 best Canadian pianists of all time. He has studied at Juilliard School and the Glenn Gould school. He plays confidently, delicately, with power and control.

The first piece was entitled “Toccata in C minor” by Johann Sebastian Bach. This piece begins with monophony and later transitions to homophony. It also contains imitative polyphony and sweet sounding harmonies. It has a dark sound or tonal quality. Although it starts with some rapid notes, it turns to a passage that is rather slow and might even feel like it is dragging on to some. It then picks up speed with one part having a greater prominence, making it homophonic. Then it becomes polyphonic as both parts have an equal level of prominence. There is a short return to homophony and then the piece ends. The piece epitomizes classic Baroque.

The second piece was entitled “Nocturne No.2” by Gabriel Fauré. It begins with a rich sound due to the low bass notes and contains dissonant harmonies. It transitions to a darker tone and is homophonic in texture. The second portion of the piece was allegro containing unique arpeggiation. The third portion of this piece was slow, like the first.

The third piece was entitled “Légende No.2 ‘St-François de Paule: marchant sur les flots’” by Franz Liszt. It begins homophonic in texture, but transitions to being polyphonic. It also features chromatic passages. It has a grand sound, as do many of Liszt’s pieces. It has a passage of very low notes that competes with the main melody. The fast passages mellow down into a Lento (slow) portion of the piece.

The fourth piece was entitled “Sonata No.4 in C minor ‘After old notebooks’” by Sergei Prokofiev. It contained some homophony and some polyphony. The first movement was Allegro molto sostenuto. It had chromatic passages and peculiar melodies. The second movement was Andante assai. It began with low repeated chords and a low melody, followed by arpeggiation and then repeated chords once again. The third and last movement was Allegro con brio, ma non leggiere. It began rather brilliantly with striking arpeggios. Throughout the piece there were extended trills. Overall this piece sounded introverted and reflective in mood. It had complex harmonies, and was serious but somewhat light in nature. It uses a very controlled sonata structure, with many melodic and harmonic points of interest.

Overall it was a night of reasonable variety. My favourite piece of the afternoon was the “Toccata in C minor” by Bach as it was traditional Baroque music. It was interesting trying to follow the imitative polyphony and enjoying the complex parts and rich harmony. Also interesting was trying to follow the sonata-form present in Prokofiev’s “Sonata No.4 in C minor”. It was a challenge, but there were some recognizable portions. Jalbert did an excellent job at expressing these pieces –  I would recommend attending his events.

I had the pleasure of attending the UBC Symphony Orchestra, directed by Jonathan Girard. The night featured the composers Adams, Françaix, and Debussy, and the three pieces were flawlessly performed. It was a night that featured pieces of the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

The first piece was entitled “A Northern Suite” by John Luther Adams. It had interesting titles for the names of its movements – all related to a Northern climate. I would describe it as intense, deep, and dark. It contained recognizable points of imitation. An interesting feature, not seen too often as far as I have observed, is that the violins were not always in sync with their bowing. This seemed to catch the feature of nature that is not always exactly what you would expect.

The second piece was a “Clarinet Cocerto” by Jean Francaix. The concerto takes many twist and turns that sure must be difficult for the soloist to play. The first movement is fast and is in sonata form and has a cadenza right in the center of the recapitulation. It was the longest of the entire concerto, having an exposition, development, and a recapitulation. Interestingly, the clarinet concerto does not start with a clarinet, but rather a flute. The first theme of this movement was very lively. The second theme in contrast was much calmer. The second movement is compound ternary. The third movement is a slower one, seeming to be a sort of theme and variations. The last movement is also fast and is in rondo form and contains two cadenzas. The soloist Carlos Savall-Guardiola performed brilliantly, breezing through what seemed like many difficult passages.

The last piece of the night was “La Mer” by Claude Debussy. The first movement translates to “From dawn to noon on the sea”. It begins very gently with the harp at a slow pace. It then builds and picks up a little speed. It seemed the sea was quite calm that morning. The picture I got was that the waves were moderate during the start of the day. The piece features different sections of the orchestra and even short solos. Throughout the day, the waves became more active. The second movement was called “Play of the waves”. As the name would suggest, it was quite playful, beginning with the instruments playing running passages. It was not tempestuous, but rather light. The third movement was called “Dialogue of the wind and the sea” and right away was more intense than the previous movements. It sounded as though the wind and sea were competing and interacting.

Overall, it was interesting to hear more recent pieces, as compared to the many baroque and classical pieces I have listened to. All the performances were superb and gave me an insight into what more modern music is like. I would say that 19^th and 20^th century music is more outside the box than music of previous musical periods which tended to follow rules more closely. I would definitely recommend others to listen to more modern music and to check out the UBC Symphony Orchestra.

A Concert with Personality, Music on the Point had Jose Franch-Ballester on clarinet, and Jane Coop on piano. It truly was music with personality, as the interpreters played with their whole hearts. Franch-Ballester particularly, embodied the feelings in the pieces with his whole body. Coop provided a marvelous accompaniment, at times rivaling the clarinet. Ballester has experience rich in being a soloist and chamber music as well. Coop interestingly won first prize in CBC’s national radio competition.

The evening began with Three Intermezzi by Charles Villiers Stanford. First was andante espressivo, then allegro agitato, followed by allegretto scherzando. The first being very soothing, the second putting me at the edge of my seat, and the last adding a nice finishing touch to the piece. Overal this piece contained a beautiful interplay of melodies. The piano at times wonderfully accompanies the clarinet. These pieces switch back and forth between being homophonic and polyphonic. At times one instrument would be prominent, other times they would have equal prominence.

Next came the Grand Duo concertant for clarinet and piano by Carl Maria von Weber. First came allegro con fuoco, then andante con moto, lastly rondo:allegro.  My favourite of the three being the andante con moto – due to its lyrical sad sounding clarinet part, and chordal piano part. This was a virtuosic piece, described as a double concerto without the orchestra. It was polyphonic, having imitation between the piano and clarinet. The second movement was bel canto, containing a beautifully sweet singing tone produced by the clarinet. It was also quite homophonic in texture. The third movement had the instruments talking to one another, imitating one another – sounding like squirrels running at one point.

Alan Berg’s Four Pieces for clarinet and piano began with the clarinet, and built up dynamically, and Franch-Ballester produced some low tones out of the clarinet. It had what I would consider an unconvential beginning. The remarkable thing about this piece, however is the amount of silence it contains. Silence speaks is what I found. The silence made what was played even more weighty and infliuential. In a way I found I did not like this piece, however I enjoyed the way it incorporated silence.

Johannes Brahms’ Sonata No.1 in F minor for clarinet and piano was the last piece of the night. It starts with allegro appassionato, andante un poco adagio, allegretto grazioso, and ends with vivace. It began monophonically with the piano, then came in the clarinet with an inquisitive melody. It quickly rises to great heights, but proceeds to mellow down. It seemed like the piano at times competed with the clarinet, but the clarinet managed to soar over the piano throughout the piece.

Overall, it was a good experience listening to a different instrument I didn’t have much experience with – the clarinet – and seeing how the accompaniment supported the pieces. There was good chemistry between Franch-Ballester and Coop, making the music that much more entertaining. The performance put on made me want to make music in a much more passionate way.

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.