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The Phantom of the Opera

Similar to how I was introduced to The Magic Flute, my mother also loved musicals and would play the soundtrack from The Phantom of the Opera while driving. And for the longest time, I actually thought The Phantom of the Opera was an opera as it literally had the word “opera” in its title, but also because I always associated any sort of singing with accompanying music and a storyline as an opera. It was only recently that I came to learn that operas are focused more on singing whereas musicals are focused more on telling the story and using singing as a way to do so. I still cannot clearly tell the difference between the two, but I enjoy the music to musicals just as much as I do operas.

I think out of all the pieces in The Phantom of the Opera, the one with the same title as the name of this musical is the most famous. And listening to it now with a better understanding of operas, it seems to be a lot of similarities between it and an aria. For example, the way the music follows Christine is definitely a sign of how the singer is the focus rather than the orchestra. I also think that it has a lot of similarities to the queen’s aria from The Magic Flute. Both pieces seem to be showcasing the power of the character such as the extent of the queen’s hatred or the talent that Christine has for singing. And in both pieces, the singers reach unimaginably high notes that really are the highlight of their respective performances.

Another famous piece from The Phantom of the Opera is definitely The Music of the Night. It is sung by the phantom to Christine and talks of his love for her. The music starts off very gentle and with a slow tempo. I suppose if this were an opera, this would be the phantom’s aria as it follows the similar format of one singer and showcasing the singer’s voice. The melody for this piece is quite repetitive as it repeats the same tune a number of times and only the lyrics changing with each repeat.

All I ask of You is similar to The Music of the Night in that they both repeat the same melody, but All I ask of You is a duet between Christine and Raoul rather than it only being sung by one singer. Again this piece uses the same melody a few times but with different lyrics sung. I noticed that both All I ask of You and The Music of the Night follow a similar format of repeating the same melody but then making it more complicated during their last repeats to create a sense of climax to the music but without altering the original melody.

On Sunday, February 17^th, I had the pleasure of attending the UBC Opera’s production of The Magic Flute, an opera I later found out to be composed by Mozart. The show for that morning (10am), was at the Old Auditorium, which seemed a bold and detailed site to display music in, as witnessing performances in that space adds to the authenticity of the show. The UBC Opera program put on the production as a Kid’s Takeover version, which was family friendly. Attending this performance also meant a lot to myself, as my friend is in the program, and was in this performance as one of the three ladies (alto- lower range typically for women).

The piano accompanist for the event was Richard Epp, who played the instrumental lines for the entire show. As mentioned above, this interpretation was a kid’s matinee event, so what should be a three-hour long opera, was condensed down to just over an hour. I believe this to be beneficial to a listener such as myself, as I am not too familiar with opera’s, and a longer production would have slowly lost my focus. What was also helpful, was that the English text was projected overhead the stage, as the entire opera is in German. As such, I was able to authentically listen to the original text, while following the story of fantasy, magic, and comedy.

The artistry of the student performers was phenomenal, as I was never previously aware of the breath and talent this program consisted of. From my former understanding, most opera singers reach their peak maturation of the voice in adulthood, and while that may remain true, the voices of these students were quite professional, yet seemingly effortless at the same time. I learned and witnessed a lot of the techniques in voice through this one show and how the voice can be trained to be a vessel for so many powerful and sweet notes. My favourite character and interpretation, was of Papageno and the oddness, yet childlike theme he represents. The Pamina and Papageno duet was my favourite as the lightheartedness and technique of the performers was intricate, as well.

It is quite telling how much of an impact the fantasy of genre has had in the modern world, with works such as Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones etc. This experience was truly interesting as it provided me with a perspective where I could appreciate even deeper this opera by Mozart, as it was part of the foundation of works which inspired and grew into what many people in the world enjoy, including myself.

After a series of performances by professional musicians, it seemed fitting to end my semester in Music 326 by watching a concert filled with young music students, just like myself. This is why I attended the Chamber Music Gamut put on by the UBC School of Music on March 29th. While I am pursuing a different degree, I saw in them my love for music, dedication to my craft, and even their room for improvement sometimes. It was an interesting glimpse into another career path: what if I had auditioned for music school? While undoubtedly more stressful than my current degree, the students all seemed so joyful on stage. I suppose that version of my life is one I will never experience, but always wonder about wistfully.

Interestingly, many of the composers featured in this concert were from the late classical period and beyond. I know that Mozart and many other composers before this time composed duets and chamber music, however I wonder if the technicality and refinement required for these pieces didn’t give the performers enough time to learn them before the concert. Never the less, many of the pieces still possessed refinement and musicality despite being written in periods of experimentation and exploration. One particular piece that stood out to me was “The Year’s at the Spring”, by 20^th century composer Amy Beach. The pianist, Gabriel Landstedt, intentionally made the piano loud and boisterous to support the slight soprano, Tessa Waddell, as she excitedly announced the arrival of spring to the forest. The effect was one of the beauty and delicacy of spring, but also its loud, colourful arrival! I also appreciate Waddell’s commitment to her craft: her long, flower embroidered dress really lent itself to the song!

I also thoroughly enjoyed Rachel Kwok and Michael Dobko’s Sonata in A major, mvt. 2, by Cesar Frank. What I didn’t notice until after the concert was that the first movement had already been played at the very beginning of the concert by Emily Richardson on the flute! Kwok’s tone on her violin was beautiful, and perfectly contrasted the frenzied allegro Frank composed for his second movement. She kept the spirit of the romanticism, but used a fiery approach that stood out from the broodings of the piano behind her. Speaking of which, Michael Dobko worked very hard to ensure every nuance and rubato was perfectly in sync: you could see him watching Kwok like a hawk to make sure that every note was on point! Both of them worked really hard to give a professional-sounding performance and very clearly understood the origins of the piece.

What was so interesting about this concert is unlike the others, the performers were not perfect (or near perfect). As a musician myself I completely understand: sometimes you don’t have enough time to perfect that difficult passage, or master your tone in the section with all the high notes. That’s what made this concert interesting: you were on the edge of your seat, excited to hear what the next performers had to offer and experience their learning process with them. But, that’s not to say the concert wasn’t a success. Each of the performers were wonderful and professional, and obviously they all have very bright futures ahead of them judging by their talent and musicality. Congrats to my peers, and I look forward to watching you go forth into the world of music.

As a final conclusion to my rather humorous set of concert journals, I thought I would do an informative paragraph on one of the best musical jokes of all time, the “Faerie’s Aire and Death Waltz” by John Stump. To the untrained eye, it looks as if it is a highly complex piano score, but look a little closer.

I’ll leave it to you to find the tidbits hidden in the score.

If you’re curious what this sounds like, you can listen to this computer simulated version, at your own peril.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-Ai8BSCzpo

Cheers!

Emily

On February 6^th, I attended “From Their Youth”, at the Barnett Hall at the UBC School of Music.  The performance featured particular music originally unpublished by Brahms, and focused primarily on by Schubert and Vaughn Williams from their early days, and how they contributed to chamber music. Overall, the aim of the performers was to provide a complete picture for the two composers’ work in Chamber music. The performers consisted of a quintet of a violin (Mary Sokol Brown), a viola (Tawnya Popoff), a cello (Eric Wilson), a bass (David Brown), as well as a piano (Terence Dawson).

The first piece was Schubert’s Sonatensatz in B-flat major, D. 28 in 1812. It was noted that Schubert may have originally intended this work to be a part of a larger movement, however, it went unfinished, but was found in 1922. It was performed by a trio consisting of the piano, cello, violin (Dawson, Sokol Brown, and Wilson. The setting which was presented to the audience, was a serene and had a calm tone. The vibration from the strings resonated through the performance hall, which is a memorable part of the performance for me, as the violin was always one of my most favoured instruments to listen to. What was surprising about the performance, were that the three instruments responded to each other, in a fashion where they echoed each other’s lines and phrases, which was quite a beautiful interpretation. Stylistically, the lines from the strings had strong moments of legato (long-sustained notes and phrases), which interacted with the piano in an imitative-polyphonic theme.

Following this was the Vaughn Williams piece, Piano Quintet in C minor, which involved all five musicians. The piece consisted of three movements and is dated back to 1903. The first movement showcased the piano as the lead instrument, in terms of setting the tone and vibrancy in the song, while having the strings play strong lines of music and build on one another. Overall, the first movement was quite busy and painted a sound with much layering, through the string’s homophonic nature. The rolling chords of the piano reminded myself of one of my favourite pieces of classical music, Claire de Lune, by Charles Debussy. The second movement held stark contrasts, as it showcased moments of bold and intense playing, then switched to long flowing rhythms. Finally, the third movement featured the strings with precise, short lines, with the piano engaging behind them through a floating tempo. The image this painted me was of a sunset fading away in the distance, as the plucking of the strings drew to a close.

Overall this first experience was pleasant, as witnessing a live interaction of strings and a piano, with how the sounds vibrate off one another, is something I could never have experienced through listening to tracks online. As a whole, I was pleased to see the rebirth and reintroduction of these pieces being brought to life by the musicians, and that pieces of history involving Schubert and Vaughn Williams, were not lost through their interpretation and efforts.

Remede de Fortune

Blue Heron 2019

The fact that this was a piece by Guillaume Machaut was what caught my attention and persuaded me to attend as we had learned about him earlier in the term. Before attending, I did not look up what the topic or theme of this piece was, but as it was to be performed at the Christ Church Cathedral I simply assumed that it must be some sort of religious music. Perhaps some sort of chant or hymn? But my assumptions were entirely wrong! After reading the programme, I realized that this piece was about the one sided love a man harbored for his lady, and when the lady finally spoke to him he became too frightened and ran into a forest. There he wallowed in his miseries until lady hope came and cheered him up. Now that is something I was not expecting to be seen performed at a church, but nevertheless I enjoyed it.

The performers consisted of a handful of string instruments (including a lute!) and a few male singers who also narrate as the songs were in French, if I am not mistaken. The format of the performance was the narrator telling the story in English, and then followed by the original piece that is sung along with the music.

Just listening along to the music without looking at the translation of the lyrics, it conveyed this sense of yearning to me as the music was soft and slow and the voices of the singers were gentle. It really did make me feel the longing that the man had for the lady he pined for. The music sounded truly like an accompaniment to the singers as it was not obtrusive or took the focus away from their voices as it just remained steadily in the background. The majority of the pieces were performed solo, one singer at a time, but later on there were a few pieces that had two or three singers all performing together at once. As Machaut played a part in the ars nova movement, I could clearly hear that when multiple singers sang together, it sounded more polyphonic with each singer following a distinct melody. Each singer’s part could be taken on its own as an independent song, yet when combined together it still created a piece that was cohesive and complementary to the music as a whole.

Not taking the actual storyline of the performance into consideration, I did find the music reminiscent of what I associate with church music: a little bit melancholy but not to the point of genuine anguish; at times uplifting and very warm. However, I did find it quite unexpected that a secular instead of sacred music by Machaut would be chosen and performed at a church.  Perhaps it was the sincerity in the singer’s voice that made the music sound holy and religious to me, but in reality the sincerity was directed to the man’s love interest and not god.

L’Histoire du Soldat

UBC School of Music 2019

This was a very interesting but uncomfortable performance for me to watch as I had never seen such a combination of art forms in a performance. There was a small ensemble of a few string and wind instruments, a narrator, and animated projections on screen. The performance started with the narrator beginning the story and at times the ensemble joining in or the ensemble playing by itself.

I noticed how the ensemble seemed to at times act like in an aria where it would follow the voice of the narrator and the story such as playing a sharp note when there was a crisis or turn of events. At times the ensemble also seemed to act like in an recitative where it would play equally along with the narrator. This was especially noticeable to me when the narrator talks of the soldier trudging along home, the ensemble played in a way that resembled slow, steady footsteps as the narrator extensively describes the soldier’s way home.

The music also perfectly complimented the devil’s character whenever he appeared. The shrill sound of the violin accompanied with the unsettling, persistent beat had me anxious and uncomfortable each time the devil did something. I really did not like any of the music played in this performance as it really unsettled me. I suppose the minor key contributed to the eerie nature of the music a lot but there were many other points that just made it hard for me to enjoy it. Although I did not like the way at times the music sounded extremely frantic and had my heart beating just as frantically, I also did not enjoy when it was sombre and slow such as the soldier trudging. The way the music was drawn out slow but with a steady unsettling melody was not pleasant to me at all.

The projections were another part of the music that contributed to the overall strange atmosphere of the entire performance. A lot of the storyline was complimented with animations projected on screens where unrealistic, cartoon characters would perform repetitive movements. When the soldier was walking home, we would see him appear throughout the screen doing the same walking movements. When the devil appeared, we would see him pop onto the screen repeatedly like flashing lights. When the princess began dancing, she kept replaying these robotic and unnatural dance moves. All these strange animations combined with the already unsettling music only served to create an even more unenjoyable performance for me.

At the end of the performance, I never quite figured out the plot and the moral of the story. It all seemed quite bizarre and confusing how the devil came about and what happened to the soldier in the end. I tried to read up on this piece, and I am still not sure but it seems that it has something to do with not being able to have everything. So the soldier could only have his wife, the princess, and should not desire to be with his mother too.

Die Zauberflöte

UBC Opera Ensemble 2019

I’ve always enjoyed the UBC opera performances, such as La Cenerentola from last year, so I was excited to see The Magic Flute on this year’s programme. Since childhood, my mother always played opera recordings during our car rides, and I remember not knowing the story to The Magic Flute but excitedly waiting for the Queen’s aria. And when I was older, my mother would take me to opera performances, which included many renditions of The Magic Flute. It was astounding what the sopranos were able to do with their voices, and till now The Magic Flute remains one my favourite operas.

Strangely, until watching the performance at the Chan Centre, I never cared to figure out what the plot of The Magic Flute. I simply liked it for the music and the way it made me feel since I was a child, but this time I made sure to pay attention to the plot and read along with the translated lyrics. Below I will go through a few of the pieces that made a notable impression upon me.

Before knowing what he was singing about, I always though Papageno’s aria was a cheerful little tune that would be something along the lines of a folksong. Perhaps singing about his life or his home? The melody was repetitive and light, which certainly reminds me of how a bird might sing. However, understanding the lyrics really changed the way I perceived the music from how I did as a child. I used to think of the music as fun but now it’s more funny than fun knowing that Papageno is mourning over his lack of female company.

When I was a child, more than the Queen of the Night, I always found Sarastro more of a terrifying character just from his voice. Even till now, I still do not like Sarastro’s pieces because of how eerie and slow they are. The student who played Sarastro at this performance had such a deep, strong voice that I was taken aback when he first started singing. However, now with a bit more understanding of music, I noticed was how hymn-like the parts were that were sung by Sarastro and his fellow priests were. At some point it seemed almost like chants, and I figured that it was these parts that I really did not enjoy as I did not like how austere and serious it was.

Then lastly, my favourite part of the entire opera, the Queen’s aria. As a child, I always perceived this piece as something triumphant with how vibrant and strong the music and the singer were. However, upon reading the lyrics, I realized that it was actually about the queen’s anger and desire for vengeance. Nevertheless, something about the way the range of the soprano’s voice changes just makes me both nervous and excited, and I am always sitting at the edge of my seat throughout the performance. And after discussing more of the piece in class, I could see how the way the music follows the queen’s voice in the aria serves to accentuate her power as the music must comply with her.

Music on the Point

Concerts with Personality

Corey Hamm Piano

Musical Journal I

Jan. 25th

To be honest, I did not really appreciate and understand the three music pieces played by Corey Hamm. The melody is very different from the Canon we heard in class, and I could not find some obvious strophic parts. The rhythms are unexpected with no clear developing route and logics.

“Piano Sonata No.8, Op.84” is composed by Sergei Prokofiev, with three movements. It was composed during the World War II. The first movement “Andante dolce” is in B Flat Major. Modulation and second theme is in G minor. The melody gradually became wide and crazy, with power and energy from the war. The second movement “Andante sognando” uses Andante, and the melody is delight. The composer seems to recall the peace and happy time before the world when people sing and dance together. It is in triple meter and the melody sounds like minuet for me. The third movement “Vivace”starts with several arpeggios. The first theme is B Flat Major, the second theme is A minor, followed by a brief B Flat Major, then switch to B Major, after which, C major and D Flat Major also occur. The final section ends at B Flat Major. The complex change in key zone makes the third movement dramatic: I can feel that the world changed a lot because of the war, and millions of life die away which was unpreventable. The struggle and cry presented in this piece left deep impressions to people.

I preferred the second piece Piano Sonata No.1 “Floating Shadows” composed by Gao Ping. Gao Ping is a Chinese composers and thus I am able to find some materials about him and his music piece. Gao Ping is born in a family full of music atmosphere. His father is a famous composer when his mother is a great singer, and his parents are music professors in China. The first movement of is light and floating. The music image is like two persons contradance: left and right hands play melodies in distinct key zone, and two rhythms are independent, like shadows floating around. The second movement is dark and sorrow. The third movement is fast and brilliant, like a dancing song. It imitates the beat of small gongs and uses a lot of portamento. Gao uses motivic fragmentation to break the large themes in the first and second movement into smaller themes, and used these pieces in the third movement. The emotion dramatically change in the whole piece, it indicates that a lots of things are like “floating light and passing shadow”, which people cannot capture.

Henri Dutilleux wrote “Sonata pour piano” after the World War II. It is composed of three movements: “Allegro con moto”, “Lied” and “Choral et variations”. The “Lied” is in A B A form. The tonic key is D Flat Major. It is a brilliant piece which gives me a sense of impressionism. It is similar to Debussy “Cloud” – in both pieces, music sounds like floating and drifting around with no clear direction.

The Vancouver Symphony Presents

Tausk Conducts Mozart

Symphonies 39, 41 & 41

Musical Journal IV

Mar. 22nd

Mozart composed three symphonies within three months during the summer of 1788: symphony No.39, No.40, and No.41. These symphonies are his final and greatest masterpieces.

Symphony No.39 is in E Flat Major, filled with energy and power. It starts with an introduction with slow tempo, using brass section. It followed by violin and timpani, and then a graceful and carefree allegro in sonata form. The second movement is also slow, with an overlay of warmth added. Threats presented by the occasional turbulent outbursts prove temporary, evaporating quickly in the general atmosphere of good humour. The third movement has a powerful start, the first part of third movement is repeated 4 times. Then the theme changes, flute and clarinets play the leading melody, and then the violin follows and imitates the leading melody. The flute and clarinets play another leading melody, all the string instruments imitate the melody. The outer sections of the third movement, a minuet, are all ballroom stateliness. The central trio belongs squarely to the countryside. Based on a traditional dance tune from Switzerland, its rustic nature is enhanced by the sound of clarinets. The symphony wraps up with a nimble and witty finale, summoning images of the comic opera world that Mozart understood so fully.

The symphony No.40 in G Minor is sorrowful with soft sound. It reflected Mozart’s own downtrodden feelings at the time when he created it. The first movement is in sonata form. During the development, it uses a lot of imitation and motivic fragmentation. Mozart took out part of theme of exposition and then took small motives out of the large theme to use in the development section. In the theme 2 of recapitulation, everything is dark. The second theme resembles a series of sighs. The coda is in minor key, ends at a dark way with lots of shadows. The symphony’s sole oasis of repose arrives in the placid second movement. Most of the part is played by violin. Viola and cello either follows and imitates the same melody of violin, or set as an accompaniment of violin melody. Sometimes, clarinets and flute set as an accompaniment of violin as well. The third movement is fast and exciting. The first theme is composed of: full orchestra (all instruments play together) in the beginning, then orchestra excluding string instruments, followed by full orchestra, and then orchestra excluding string instruments. In the second theme, only flute and clarinets play the new theme, echo by violin; and then flute, clarinets and horns play the same rhythm in the new theme but in different keys. Later, it comes back to the full orchestra with the same melody in the beginning of the third movement, then the melody of the second theme added. In the fourth movement, there are a lot of repeats; full orchestra in the end.

Symphony No.41 in C Major is also called “Jupiter”. The introduction of the first movement is in slow tempo. It involves horns, trumpets and timpani to play the melody with joyous energy. The full orchestra part is extremely loud. The second movement has a soft start, the melodic lines are added layer by layer. It turns from slow and soft to delight and leaping. In the third movement, the usage of horns and trumpets are interesting – they play the melody as an accompaniment of the violin to form a contrast.

On Friday, April 5th, my friends and I attended UBC Choir’s “One World” performance at the Chan Centre. After seeing them perform last semester, we made sure we attended their final performance. My attendance was that much more mandatory as it was the final grad conductor performance for my choir conductor, Steven Hamilton. Working with Steven this year was the best musical experience of my life as he (and Tiffany Chen) were the first music performance instructors I have had since elementary school. Steven was a pleasure to work with and his enthusiasm and passion for music is carried throughout the not only the choir, but the entire auditorium he is working in. I had to be there for his grad performance!

Perhaps one of the most interesting pieces he conducted was a part of Iain Grandage’s  “Three Australian Bush Songs” (i. Dawn ii. Birds iii. Sunset). The middle piece, “Birds” was so interesting because of the bird sounds the choirs made. They sounds the choir were able to make imitated those of wild birds, that at first I thought that there were actually bird calls being played! At one point, a flurry of birds seemingly fly out from the stage, signaling the migration of the birds home for bed at sunset.

The choir sang another song that imitated non-music sounds. In the Chinese folk song, “Diu Diu Deng”, the choir breathed the song chugging of a train, from standstill to constant pace. The chugging from the choir was so spot on, most likely not necessarily due to the sounds themselves, but the tempo at which the chugged, and the gradual transition imitating the sound of the train speeding up. They even included a part with the alto voices making a steam engine’s whistle! The rest of the song was a happy folk song, with contrasting male and female voices. Paired

with the train, it painted an image of a rice fields and happy farmers working their crops in peace and good will. It was a very happy-go-lucky song with very vivid imagery.

With that being said however, I don’t think the song would have had such an impact and as vivid imagery as it did if the conductor did not give an insight to what to expect beforehand. With that being said, I guess one could consider this piece to be considered as being program music. With this in mind after learning it in class, it really allowed me to reflect on just how impactful program music was for its time in having audiences know what to expect as opposed to hoping they’d just understand.

The last piece that stood out to me at this concert was not necessarily the choir itself surprisingly, but rather the cello accompaniment by Susie Yoo in Imant Raminsh’s “In the Night We Shall Go In”. There is just something about string instruments like the cello and viola that are able to strum at my heart chords. I found it interesting to see that the cellist was not playing all the time, but rather intermittently throughout. This honestly made her parts that much more impactful, as we were not bombarded with its sound and instead fed it bit by bit, as if it were pleasantly teasing us.

The whole concert was a great time, and I had a great time cheering on and supporting Steven Hamilton, the wonderful conductor of the show. I also had a great time doing these journal responses throughout the semester, as they allowed me to reflect upon the music I’ve seen and gave me greater insights into the class itself via the real life examples I’ve seen. I look forward to continuing to experience musical performances, and recommend all my colleagues push their music interests and check out shows such as choirs and K Pop. I promise you will not be disappointed!