a essay about music

STUDENT NAME MU 110 – Prof. Bregegere

Concert Report

Wonsun Bae and Luis Casal at the Queensborough Performing Arts Center

On Wednesday, October 19th 2011, at 1:15pm, the Queensborough Performing Arts

Center was home to the Music Faculty Recital presented by the Queensborough Community

College Department of Music. The concert was given by a professional duo of violin and piano.

The pianist was Wonsun Bae. She was a faculty member at the School of Music in Duquesne

University and is currently a faculty member of the Music Department at Queensborough

Community College. Wonsun has performed in the United States, Asia, and several countries in

Europe including Austria, Germany, Portugal, Yugoslavia, Switzerland and the Netherlands. The

violinist was Luis Casal. He is a member of the violin faculty at the Queensborough Youth

Conservatory of Music. Luis is an orchestra player, and one of the best violinists in Panama. He

has performed in Panama, England, France, Japan, Italy, Spain, and the United States.

When I walked into the venue, there was a stand with the programs on it. I went in and

took my seat. When I looked around, there were around 60 people in the audience and though

most of them looked like they were students, there were also parents and their children. When I

opened the program, I saw pictures of the performers, the name of the pieces they were going to

play, the parts of each piece, and a biography on each of the performers. When the concert was

about to start, the lights were turned off and a man announced the performers over the speakers.

The three pieces played came from the Classical era: they were violin sonatas composed

by Ludwig van Beethoven. The first one was Sonata in D Major no.1, op.12. This piece was

broken down into three movements: Allegro con brio, Tema con variazioni, and Rondo. The first

STUDENT NAME MU 110 – Prof. Bregegere

Concert Report

movement overall had a fast tempo; however it also slowed down at certain points and then

speeded up again. Just as the tempo varied, the dynamics also varied throughout, which added

color to the piece. The second movement was of a slow tempo and of a softer dynamic. It also

had parts where it got louder, which gave it a more serious or grave tone. In this movement, the

melodies from the first movement came back, but at a slower tempo. The third movement was

also of a fast tempo and a loud dynamic. In this movement, the melodies of the first movement

were also repeated. It ended at a slower tempo that built up to a faster tempo and louder

dynamics. Both the first and second movements had parts of homophony and parts of polyphony,

and had little fugues.

The second piece played was Sonata in A Major no. 6, op.30. This piece also had three

movements: Allegro, Adagio molto expressivo, and Allegretto con variazioni. The first

movement began with a slow tempo, but it picked up to a fast tempo. I also noticed that it had

similar melodies as the first piece. This movement was more polyphonic, though it had parts of

monophony. It also had moments of short fugue. The second movement was of a slow tempo and

softer dynamics. This movement had the melody from the first movement repeated, but at a

slower tempo. Towards the middle, the tempo picked up and the dynamics got louder, but then it

slowed back down and got soft. It ended at a very fast tempo, faster than the tempo of the first

movement. The third movement began at a slow tempo, and in between had moments where it

got slower or faster. It also had points of emphasis through louder dynamics, which gave it a

more dramatic feel. By the end, it got louder and faster and ended suddenly.

The last piece played was Sonata in F Major op.24, also known as “Spring.” The

breakdown of this piece is as follows: Allegro, Adagio molto expressivo, Scherzo: Allegro molto,

STUDENT NAME MU 110 – Prof. Bregegere

Concert Report

and Rondo: Allegro ma non troppo. The first movement began with fast notes in the piano part,

but with slower, longer ones in the violin. Then, it got faster and I heard a little fugue, where

something was played by the piano and then later by the violin. For the most part, the piano

played higher notes, while the violin played lower ones. Towards the end of the piece, the tempo

slowed down and the dynamics got softer, but then it picked up all of a sudden and ended really

loud. The second movement was very slow in tempo. The melody from the first movement was

repeated but with a slower tempo and a softer dynamic which got increasingly louder. The third

movement was very short and began and ended with a very cheerful and happy tune that returned

in the rest of the movement. It was quite a contrast to the second movement because it was faster.

The fourth movement was also of a fast tempo, but not as fast the third movement. This

movement replayed the happy tune, but at a slower tempo. It slowed down throughout and then

picked up the tempo. It ended with a fast tempo and got louder and louder.

When they stopped playing, the audience applauded the performers, but thought there

would be more to come. The concert was over in about an hour and I also found the concert to be

shorter than I had anticipated. I enjoyed the concert very much because it wasn’t boring. I think

Beethoven repeating melodies heard in previous movements made it more interesting because

one remembered them and paid attention later on. My favorite part of the entire concert was the

third movement of the last sonata. It was so happy and cheerful, and it really stuck in my mind.