On October 23, many refined musicians came to play at the UCSD Conrad Prebys Music Center Concert Hall to perform various form of musical style to the audience. Directed by János Négyesy, this musical concert was a great way to relax and enjoy all the different sorts of musical styles including Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Contemporary. I firmly believe that this can be enjoyed by people with or without musical backgrounds at all, if one has enough patience.
Playing the piano since the age of eight, I enjoyed the concert. Each selection came from a different period of musical history. It is often a misconception for people to call the “old” music all classical. Each style is represented in a piece that was performed and it was truly satisfying for me to listen.
Each music displayed typical forms and motifs of each period. For example, the Concerto for four violins in D Major, No. 2 was a baroque piece clearly in canon form. Its contrapuntal form was very intriguing to listen. As I played in a high school band, separate parts for an instrument was only used to create harmonies and often times the only interesting part was the first part of each instrument. However, this piece treated each of the four violins as four separate voices and it was enjoyable to see them imitate motifs or figure lines. Each instrumentalist played the piece with great vigor.
The second piece was called Sonata for two pianos in D Major, KV 448. It was composed by the infamous Mozart, who composed many pieces that had similar styles. The piece was written for two pianos and four hands. Thus, it is a duet. This particular piece showed many of Mozart’s tendencies of music. Whereas the baroque period had a characteristic of using many “voices” (polyphonic), the classical largely used bar chords. Towards the end Mozart skillfully uses imperfect cadences (when the song seems to end, but then it changes to extend it longer) that intrigued the color of the notes. It
The next piece showcased a Romantic piece called the String Sextet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 36. It features a more lyrical style, which was very typical in the Romantic Period. One particular feature that people with not much musical background will have witnessed is the use of Pizzicato. This is a feature which any string instrument players their instrument with their hands and using a plucking motion.
The final performance was very unique. The piece was called Concerto for Sitar and Ensemble in 3 movements. I had never heard of a Sitar before; however, when I heard the sound, it was familiar. As a contemporary piece, it was mind provoking to hear irregular key signatures (beats in music) like 5/8, or 7/8. However, I must say that the style of the music sounded like a little bit watered down version of music composed by Yanni, who composed similar music on a greater scale. However, the instrument was great to listen to nonetheless. The bending of the pitch and the improvisation of the harmonic and chromatic scale, gave me a new taste of music.
To conclude, this performance was phenomenal to me, for I was never given the opportunity to listen to music at a concert. As a piano player, I fell in love with the sound of the different types of music. However, it does not need to be limited to musical knowledgeable people. I believe that too many people are drunk to listen to popular music that repeats chords in a pattern that goes on forever. Although, I do not entirely despise popular music and agree that it has its own place in society; it is unfortunate that people are not willingly to listen to the “classical” music. The music in the past has many colors that we fail or now lost the patience to listen over the years. Music is not revolutionary, where the past things are forgotten. We have to keep listening to all kinds to appreciate what human culture has created over the years.
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