February 10, Music at Maryville

Because we’re learning about the string section in Arranging & Orchestration, I focused on watching the violin and cello, trying to be observant of bowing patterns, double stops, and the use of open strings. Mendelssohn’s piano trio in C was enjoyable. When the violin and cello played rhythmically identical parts they, indeed, seemed to be using the same bowing patterns. The difference in timbre between up-stroke and down-stroke was much more pronounced on the violin than on the cello. While I never saw any open strings played on the violin in this piece I saw the cellist play his lowest open string – a C. David Halen played very passionately and by the end of the piece I noticed some of the bow hairs had broken loose.

The second section of the concert was more hit or miss. It featured songs of a Latin flavor, but I had no idea whether Miran was singing in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German, or other. The cello solo showed great proficiency, but was extremely dissonant and rhythmically confusing. I observed many double stops during this piece, most (if not all), utilizing open strings. My favorite selection was Ritual Fire Dance from (El Amor Brujo) by Manuel de Falla which delivered on the promise of its title.

February 9, Erika Althoff's Senior Recital

I’ve come to realize that I’m not usually impressed by the first half of a vocal major’s senior recital. This is not due to the performer, but due to the fact that seems to be where vocal majors are required to sing a bunch of songs by dead, white Europeans. The exception to this rule was the Mozart duet, which was very entertaining due to the movements and facial expressions of Erika and Erica. It was completely over-the-top and hilarious. I hope it was intended to be.

I was pleasantly surprised at the inclusion of several very modern pieces in the second half of the concert. Even though I was not familiar with “Come To Jesus”, “Only The World”, or “For Good” I found them pleasing due to their contemporary style. I thought the instrumentation of “May It Be” was a little awkward. Courtney was bowing long sustained notes on the bass while Gretchen was strumming a nylon string guitar on chord changes. The sharp attack and quick decay of the guitar along with the slow attack and long sustain of the bass made the rhythm a little confused. I think this could have been remedied either by more frequent strumming (like constant quarter notes instead of whole notes) or by the addition of a percussionist. The piece with Jaime on djembe had some balance problems. Even though Jaime seemed to be playing softly, she still tended to overpower Erika at points. This made me contemplate the amount of microphones and amplifiers I will probably need at my own recital.

Erika’s parents make good bagels.