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On February 6, 2019, I attended a Wednesday Noon Hour Concert put on by the UBC School of Music. The concert was entitled “From Their Youth” which showcased the early works of Franz Schubert (1797-1828) and Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958), The performance consisted of Schubert’s composition, Sonatensatz. The piece composed by Schubert is single Allegro movement it is most commonly known as Sonatensatz or Trio in B-flat major, D.28 (1812). Schubert wrote this piece at the age of fifteen years old, but it, unfortunately, was later forgotten and was once again rediscovered in 1922 within the Vienna Stadtbibliotek. According to the original manuscript, Schubert had written “sonata” at the top, this may have indicated that the piece was possibly intended as a movement of a much larger composition that Schubert may originally have had in mind. The concert also showcased a three-movement Piano Quintet in C minor, written by Ralph Vaughn Williams in 1903. The piece was premiered in 1905 and later withdrawn from performance rights in 1918. In 2002, the piece was released for publication by William’s wife, Ursula Vaughn Williams.

The concert was performed by a trio, consisting of violinist, Mary Sokol Brown, a member of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the Turning Point Ensemble. On the cello, was Eric Wilson the Associate Professor of Cello at UBC School of Music and the founding member of the Emerson String Quartet and lastly, Terence Dawson on piano. Dawson currently serves as the Chair of the Keyboard Division at UBC and is a highly respected and versatile musician in Vancouver for his “trademark elegance” and “technical flair.”

The relationship that the musicians had for both pieces was one of great intensity and flawless execution, as their performance demonstrated the years of dedication and study that each of the musicians possessed, which I had expected. As I reflected on what might have been the original context of Sonatensatz, I came to the conclusion that this performance might have been of similar context to the way Schubert had originally hoped for. Considering that the piece was written for a trio using a violin, cello and piano. One thing I found incredibly remarkable about the instruments used for this performance, was that it is a piece that is comprised of the original instruments that he intended. To think about how far these instruments date back, it is fascinating to me because showcases how much versatility all of these instruments possess, and the wide range of use they have in music especially in comparison to past and today’s modern-present-day style of music. The most eye-opening aspect of the performance was when the performers were giving the audience some background knowledge of the piece.  I found it fascinating that if you  analyze the score for Sonatensatz, you can see the large influence that Johannes Brahms had on young Schubert and his compositions, this is interesting because as a music student, you always hear about all of these different composers and how they had different impacts within the eras, but I have never really realized how big of an impact they had on each other throughout the years. I also found the performance to be beautifully composed and executed the piece was, the performers did an amazing job had portraying the emotion behind the piece and knowing that Schubert was only fifteen years old at the time it was composed is unbelievable.

Vaughan Williams’ Piano Quintet in C minor consisted of three movements, the first one is entitled “Allegro con fuoco.” Throughout this movement, it consists of many parts of repetition between the instruments creating a fugue between the piano and strings. This allowed for the piece to build up the intensity of emotion that leads into the second movement called “Andante.” The second movement was much more emotional with beginning fugue repeating itself towards the end, as it progressed into the final movement called “Fantasia (quazi variazioni)” which I had found to be a fitting title, as Fantasia is described as a “free fantasy.” Overall the final movement brought so much emotion that tied the whole performance together, ending the concert in perfect harmony and left me with a new love for Vaughan Willams’ Piano Quintet.

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.

Directed by Joseph Kosinski, Tron: Legacy is a science fiction film, a sequel to the 1982 film Tron. To give a brief plot, the movie takes place mostly in a futuristic virtual world, in a video game to be exact. It’s about a programmer becoming part of a neon-glowing computer mainframe. After being shot with a laser, the programmer gets trapped in a video game where he is tasked to revive the virtual world.

What makes this movie notable is its soundtrack composed by Daft Punk in a fusion of electronic/orchestic style. Typically, film scores are composed by traditional film composers, people like John Williams, Alan Silvestri, and Danny Elfman; orchestral pieces that still hold up today. But Joseph Kosinski approached Daft Punk to “try something fresh and different” and he asked Daft Punk to compose the entire soundtrack.

Of course, Daft Punk does not have any previous experience of handling orchestra music and it was the French electronic duo’s first attempt at tackling soundtrack. It was a noticeable deviation from the duo’s electronic style music. Personally, I feel like choosing Daft Punk for Tron: Legacy was a great decision. They look like as if they have been pulled out of the “grid” of the virtual world with their neat and flashy helmets.

After recently watching the movie again, I was surprised how orchestral the film score was. It was notable that Daft Punk attempted to present more orchestral elements rather than simply focusing on synthesizer sound. There were a lot of classical period inspired strings and horns played with a mix of 100 piece orchestra. There is certainly some genre fluidity by combining string sections and synthesizer sound. The entire soundtrack manages to maintain continuity with a series of rhythmic devices for the strings. Jeff Bridges’ deep narration in “The Grid” works as an effect of ostinato and the ostinato merges with the electronics by “The Game Has Changed”.

Overall, I found the film scores to provide the movie with an extensive range of excitement that fit the scenes they’re heard in and the balance of electronic and orchestral sound just about right.

It is also interesting to note from the soundtrack review by Barry Walters from SPIN that the original 1982 Tron combined complex orchestrations performed by the London Philharmonic with subtle electronics scored by Moog maestro Wendy Carlos. Daft Punk’s compositions for the sequel are far simpler; the main theme resurfaces through the album’s 22 fully instrumental cuts, and its synths unambiguously sound like synths.

I really enjoyed watching the movie again with more knowledge and understanding on music. I was able to interpret and appreciate the amazing techniques, consideration, and effort put by Daft Punk to enhance genre fluidity in film scores by fusing electronic music and orchestra.

Sources:

https://www.spin.com/2010/12/daft-punk-tron-legacy-original-motion-picture-soundtrack-disney/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tron:_Legacy_(soundtrack)

On the second day of the World Music Week at UBC, I attended the Korean percussion ensemble concert on April 2. As I am currently taking contemporary Korean music class also known as K-pop class, I was interested to see the ‘Pungmul nori’ performance here at UBC. Keeping in mind that the performance was directed and organized by student performers who did not have previous training in Korean percussion instruments, I was surprised at the level of the quality of the performance and the dedication put together by the performers. The Korean percussion ensemble, ‘pungmul nori’ is an interactive Korean folk music tradition where the performers play drums, dance and sing together. The tradition started around early 18^th century in Joseon/colonial era in Korea. The music has been traditionally associated with farming as it has been played by farmers during harvest period or festive events. Since it is a ‘farm music’, it is usually played outdoors. Therefore, the nature of the Korean percussion ensemble is very interactive and fun often encouraging the audiences to participate in the play.

Luckily, the weather was warm and sunny, and we were able to enjoy the performance outdoor as anticipated. At the beginning, it was performed in a seated position which I knew was not a typical introduction of ‘pungmul nori’. After the performance, I learned that the ensemble team incorporated the elements of ‘samul nori’ in the beginning explaining why they started in the seated position. ‘Samul nori’ is a relatively new genre of farm music which the performance involves 4 traditional Korean musical drumming instruments called ‘Kkwaenggwari’ a small brass drum, ‘Jing’ a small gong, ‘Janggu’, a larger gong, and ‘Buk’, a barrel drum similar to the bass drum. And ‘samul nori’ is usually performed in concert halls. I liked that the performance started off in the seated positions and at a slower pace. It had that prelude/overture effect to the overall performance.

When a performer started playing ‘Kkwaenggwari’, I was surprised at the loudness of the instrument even though I was already aware of the loudness from my previous experiences of hearing them. ‘Kkwaengwari’ is small and made of brass so it is a relatively cheap instrument. Back in 2002 FIFA World Cup hosted in South Korea, ‘Kkwaengwari’ was often sited being played during the matches against the national South Korean football team just like how ‘Vuvuzela’ noise filled up the stadiums back in 2010 World Cup. (Of course, the noise level of ‘Kkwaengwari’ is incomparable to the noise of level of ‘Vuvuzela’ which was eventually banned in the World Cup games.)

As the pace of music started to become faster, the performance transitioned into ‘pungmul nori’ where the performers started to stand up and did a type of circular marching choreography. Although it was a percussion ensemble concert, it was not purely instrumental. As mentioned in the first paragraph, ‘pungmul nori’ is an interactive performance, therefore the performers would often shout out a short and repeatable Korean phrase and encourage the audiences to participate along.

It was particularly fun for me since I have not had a chance to enjoy a Korean music performance ever since I moved to Canada. I really enjoyed the performance by the UBC Korean percussion club and appreciate the time and effort they put in to show this incredible performance.

Sources:

http://www.antiquealive.com/Blogs/Samulnori_Korean_Percussion_Quartet_Music.html

What is pungmul?

On March 23, I attended Guillaume de Machaut – Remede de Fortune / A Remedy for Fortune directed by Blue Heron at Christ Church Cathedral. This programme was performed by six people, each taking on more than one instrument or role such as countertenor & percussion, tenor & narrator, recorders & harp, lute & voice, fiddle & harp. The programme ran for about one and a half hour which was shorter than I expected. Within one and a half hour, the programme was divided into eight segments including an interval in the middle.

The lyrics and music are composed from the poem of the same name. Scott Metcalfe, the director of Blue Heron mentions that the narration part of the poem is mostly replaced with motets. The theme is about the courtly love in the medieval period and the story is about a “woebegone lover who is counseled by Lady Hope on how to be happy and persevere in the face of the ups and downs dished out by Fortune and her Wheel.” The excerpt from the concert mentions “it’s the women here who are wise, deft, and strong. Hope is all-knowing and comforting, Fortune is powerful and implacable, and the Lady is a slightly manipulative powerbroker who’s well aware that her position affords her the ability to extract favors and to grant or withhold happiness.” “The Lover, on the other hand, is naive and self-indulgent, a bit of a sot who is reduced to quivering and puddles of tears at the slightest glance from his Lady.”

I did not realize there is this gender role reversal in the tale until I read the excerpt. Personally, I find this fascinating that the poem was written in the 14^th century and gender-reversing theme was employed back then in this type of poem. Being in the medieval period, I imagined this type of love themed song would be in troubadour style, but it seems to be the opposite as troubadour is etymologically masculine. The poem is written in motet style song and sung in alternating monophony and polyphony.

The concert started with a prologue in monophony of beautiful voice of countertenor by Martin Near. It was my first time hearing the voice of a countertenor and alternating voice between modal and falsetto felt flawless to me and it sounded as if sung in the same style voice. When the tenors, Owen McIntosh and Jason McStoots joined along in singing, the countertenor voice was certainly distinguishable in the polyphony and complimented the delicate nature of the theme and tale told by the “woebegone lover” seeking advice on love. Also I was able to experience that medieval vibe through the charming sound of fiddle and harp instruments throughout the entire concert.

Overall, I enjoyed the whole experience of attending Guillaume de Machaut’s Remede de Fortune concert. The atmosphere of the Christ Church Cathedral did help set the mood of being in the medieval times and I felt like I was part of a group listening to chamber music at the same time.

Source: http://www.earlymusic.bc.ca/events/machaut-le-remede/

First of all, I have never seen an opera in my life and I wasn’t very familiar with any operatic works either. So I decided to attend the “Die Zaberflaute”, or “The Magic Flute” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart performed by the UBC Opera production team, I was not too sure what to expect. I have heard about the Magic Flute but frankly knew nothing about it. I hardly knew any Mozart operas or works at that time either. All the more for this reason, the Magic Flute seemed like the perfect place to start exploring opera and works by Mozart. Since I am in the Music Appreciation class, I figured it was time I knew Mozart better. I have to say the whole experience did certainly surpass my expectation and I am now more intrigued in learning more about well-known operatic works and also works by Mozart as well.

At the time I attended this opera, I was learning about the Baroque period music and I was convinced that many music scores in the Magic Flute were influenced from the Baroque style of music. I was able to recognize imitative polyphony with various emotions portrayed by each character throughout the play. Of course, later when I learned more about the Magic Flute in the classical era lectures, I was able to recognize more various styles and purposes behind employing such styles in deeper and wider context.

All of the performers were very impressive. But what struck me first was the amazing vocal range of the Queen. The Aria and Recitative in No. 4, I (“Do not tremble”) was impressive and No. 14, II Aria (“My heart is seething”) by the queen was on another level of amusement. I thought I have never heard of any piece from the Magic Flute but I was wrong; I was very familiar with No.14 II Aria (“My heart is seething”). To be able to hear a piece of music live that I recognized was an amazing experience.

Secondly the strong voices accompanied by the male performers sounded richer as their parts were contrasted to soprano tones by the female performers. Although Papageno’s character is light and witty, his baritone voice gave some weight to the development of character. The bass tone of Sarastro was very deep and enriched, and this complimented the character style that Mozart probably wanted to convey to the audiences. The last excerpt, Finale, II (“Whoever walks this path”) was an emotional piece and it felt almost soothing after listening to such dramatic high and low tones in all the previous excerpts.

Personally, I was glad and relieved the story had the happy ending because I did not want my first experience with opera to end miserably. Overall, I really enjoyed the performance by the UBC Opera production team and the experience is further enriched with more learning in the Music Appreciation class about the Magic Flute. I look forward to watching more operas and certainly keep an eye on more upcoming conerts!

On Sunday, March 17^th, I attended the L’Histoire du soldat by Stravinsky. It was one of the music on the point concerts with personality. I did not have any background knowledge of L’Histoire du solat. To be frank, I was excited to attend a concert with my Music on the Point season pass. After attending this concert, I am very glad that I was able to see this masterful work by Stravinsky which is considered one of the most famous and significant chamber works of the early twentieth century.

The story is about a young solider making a deal with a devil in the first synopsis. On the road to his home after being dismissed from his duty, the young soldier stops to play his fiddle and encounters the devil. The devil offers him a trade: the fiddle for a book that can tell the future. Joseph accepts the deal and stays at the devil’s place for four days. When the young soldier returns to his home, he finds that actually three years has passed during his four day stay at the devil’s place and his finance is now married to a different guy. The devil tricked the young soldier. The young solider becomes rich with the future-telling book. But soon he realizes that he cannot buy happiness he has lost, and he falls into despair and sorrow. The devil in disguise again approaches the young solider and sells him his old instrument but the young soldier realizes the fiddle no longer plays. He throws the fiddle away and tears up the book into pieces.

In the second synopsis, the young solider hears about a sleeping princess: the king has offered her hand in marriage to the one who can awaken her. The young solider lies to the king that he is a doctor and gets an opportunity to awaken the princess but encounters the devil there again. There, the young soldier breaks the spell held over him by the devil and awakens the princess by playing his fiddle. After the happy marriage between the young solider and the princess, they decide to visit the soldier’s old town to reunite with his mother, ignoring the warning by the devil that his soul will be taken away once he leaves the castle. The moment the soldier steps outside of the castle, his soul gets taken away by the devil.

The story reminded of the story of Faust, a German folktale, where the protagonist Faust trades his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures which leads Faust to a tragic fate eventually. I think the story is certainly well dramatized by accompanying instruments such as violin, contrabass, clarinet, bassoon, cornet and trombones creating asymmetrical meters, composite syncopation, and multiple rhythms that adds a disarticulated and astonishingly interesting sense of time to the animated performance. In the scene where the soldier returns to the village after three years and people think he is a ghost, clarinet and bassoon play a sorrowful tone. When the solider marches to the kingdom of the sleeping princess he is accompanied with trombones fanfare and a circus music. I was also able to recognize components of military music, jazz, Russian folk music and chorale throughout the concert.

The concert was genuinely enjoyable and being able to recognize the instruments and musical components and interpreting them with what I learned in this class added another layer of pleasure.

The King’s Singers

Royal Blood: Music For Henry VIII

Musical Journal II

Feb. 9th

The King’s Singers is composed of six wonderful singers. In the concert, the singing group performed the music pieces composed during the period of King Henry VIII and his daughter Queen Elizabeth. During that period, the tension between the old Catholicism and the new Protestantism create religious art, and a climate of fear amongst those who wished to continue practicing ‘the old faith’.

William Byrd was a great composer in the region of Elizabeth I. and he was one of the Queen’s favoured musicians. As Elizabeth clamped down on illicit, secret recusant Catholic worship, Byrd was forced out of London, to live under the protection of a Catholic landlord. In a large country manor house, Byrd wrote some of his most emotionally charge music for the Catholic mass services which was taken place in secret. One of the work is “Ne irascaris, Domine”. In the second part of this piece: the first line ‘Civitas sancti tui facta est deserta’, it seems to have a hidden message of solidarity for other recusants. The second line‘Sion deserta facta est’, the text is sung only once with no repeat, and the texture is homophonic. The third line ‘Jerusalem desolata est’ uses both homophonic and polyphonic texture. ‘Jerusalem’ uses polyphonic and imitation, this word is repeated. ‘desolata’ is also repeated again and again, with a sense of Canon music style. ‘est’ is not repeated, all singers came to sing together in the same melody. The last two line translated to English is ‘Zion has become a wilderness, Jersalem has been made desolate’, using a metaphor, which in the eyes of Byrd, has been taken over by unholy powers and abandoned by God.

After Elizabeth I’s death in 1603, James I was crowned as England’s new monarch. James I’s first son – Henry Prince of Wales – became very popular with the nation, and was expected to be the king. However, he died of Typhoid Fever at the age of 18 in 1612, and there was a national outpouring of grief. Thomas Tomkins wrote “When David heard” to mourn the death of Prince Henry. Tomkins uses the biblical childhood death of Absalom and the grief of King David to mirror that of Henry and the grief of the whole nation. The music piece is slow and sorrowful. The third line of music text is ‘and thus he said: my son, my son, O Absalom my son’, the whole sentence is repeated six times, and the ‘my son’ is repeated for even above 20 times! The audience can feel the call of ‘my son’ with deep sadness again and again, and can imagine of a character – broken hearted James I. The forth (last) line is ‘would God I had died for thee!’ is also repeated with the whole sentence in different keys, and the texture is polyphonic. Different singers sang the same text with different melodic at different times again and again. Then, singers went back to sing the third line in the end, and the whole piece ended with ‘my son’. This strophic style illustrates the painful call from a mother and emphasizes the distress and pity.

All the pieces use imitation and strophic method, which is the characteristics of the music pieces during that period. Also, the words in the pieces are simple and easy to understand, the singers sing in a way that the audience can hear the words clearly.

UBC Symphony Orchestra

Jonathan Girard

Music Journal III

Mar. 15th

“A Northern Suite” was the first symphonic composition of John Luther Adams, and it was composed for Gordon Wright and the Arctic Chamber Orchestra in 1979-80. Adams is a composer deeply connected with nation, and “A Northern Suite” is associated with the geography of the Northern area. The work is composed of five movement. The first movement “Blue Ice, Crystal Air” starts with violin solo and the third movement “Cloud Forest” started with glockenspiel solo, flute solo, and clarinet solo one by one. These two parts are like delicate bird voice, which followed by softly imitative texture. The second, third and fifth movements contain a dense web of overlapping rhythms across the orchestra. There are a lot of parts using varies imitation of the natural sounds, including bird song, ice flow, wind, etc. When the diverse layers coalesce, the result brings forth the composer’s image of these scenes in nature.

The “Clarinet Concerto” by Jean Françaix is my favorite piece in this concert. There are four movements. The structure of the first movement is a little bit similar to the first movement of Mozart’s “Piano Concerto in C Minor”. In the theme 2 of exposition in “Piano Concerto in C Minor”, at first is piano (echo by orchestra), then orchestra (echo by piano). While in the theme 2 of the first movement in “Clarinet Concerto”, there are clarinet (echo by orchestra), then Orchestra (echo by clarinet). In the third movement, sometimes clarinet shows in leaping melody followed by orchestra in smooth melody, then orchestra in leaping melody followed by clarinet melody. The followed smooth part is an accompaniment and always imitates the leaping part. The clarinet solo part and orchestra set up a great contrast, the following and imitation made the audience feel that the clarinet and orchestra seems chasing each other. Carlos Savall-Guardiola, the great clarinetist, showed the extreme technique in dynamic shaping, articulation, musicality, and speed. The overall nature of the piece, much like other work by Françaix, is decidedly jovial and at times mocking.

Claude Debussy composed “La Mer”, and his inspiration came from seascapes in art, such as Hokusai’s famous woodblock print “The Great Wave Off Kanagawa”. There are three movement. The first movement “From dawn to noon on the sea” is in B minor, at first the melody is delight and fast, the timpani added. The intensive string melody and hard timpani beating shows audiences the image of sun breaking out the clouds and the fantastic moved view of sunrise. The second movement “Play of the waves” is in C sharp minor, vividly draws a picture of wave patting the seashore. The melody is delight and lightsome, like waves chasing each other happily. The third movement “Dialogue of wind and the sea”, unlike what I was expected, the sound of timpani is not loud, instead is in low volume, and it represents the thunder far away. There are a lot of light, leaping and happy part, not heavy and down-mood at all. Only at the very end, the sound of timpani became louder and louder with intense gong, ended up with full orchestra.