Introduction
This concert was performed by Robert W. Smith. It was conducted on Tuesday, November 15, 2011, 8.00 PM at McKenna theatre at San Francisco or New Paltz. The artist performed an Africa, Ceremony Song and Ritua. The hall was well organized with the performance stage set with variety of instruments such as guitars and piano.
The hall was fully packed with audience who inquisitively waited for the play to be staged. The stage looked elegant with sprinkles of colorful lights. The performers who looked fabulous with black and white suits rounded up with a variety of musical attires rocked the hall and kept the audience anticipating the show. Was this for the reason that artist was very popular? Or had the musical stirred up curiosity in the audience, or both? Whatever the reasons, this multitude appeared badly into the concert.
Objective description of the music
The first performance was a symphonic band staged by Robert Smith. It was written by Amparito Roca and first performed in Wind Symphony Theater. The instruments comprised of a high pitched sounding consonance which was set at a peaceful mood in the introductory stage of the song (Stein and Spillman 45). A saxophone together with a piano spiced up the melody of the song in a lovely manner.
As the song advanced, the saxophone took the center stage, raising the texture as the other instrument accompanied it. The steady rhythm seemed to start getting higher and higher till the peak of the song. At this particular moment, the song dynamics stated getting louder letting all the instruments converge at the peak with a round pound, only to revert to a moderate level and finally into conclusion (Stein and Spillman 45).
The second performance which involved the same group was characteristically fused with intermittent pauses that were accompanied by round of applause from the crowd. Voice and tonal variations ruled the song from the beginning to the end. The melody involved rising and falling patterns from time to time.
The rhythm was also very flexible, with varied patterns which mostly came from the instrumentation and the soloist himself. Also very frequent was changes from long notes to short notes, which rhymed with the rhythmic variations (Stein and Spillman 45).
At times, specific pattern of notes seemed to change gradually while other times they changed suddenly and unexpectedly. Although most of the parts of the song were homophonic, as the rhythm transcended, the instruments were used to transform the song to a polyphonic texture. In other words, notes are started in a simpler and homophonic manner, only to turn into a complex and polyphonic texture, with a mixture of orchestration.
While the tone seemed softer and gradual at some stage, it suddenly turned into a loud tone. Just like the tone, the tempo of the song was flexible. Tempo went together with rhythmic variations. Sometimes the speed of the song was slow, while other time it gradually or suddenly increased. Generally, the song managed to evoke audience emotions by use of dynamic change (Stein and Spillman 45).
Subjective reactions to the music
The performance was extremely captivating and strongly provoked my emotions. All through, the song had consumed my thoughts; and felt like I was part of the performance team. As the performers adjusted the rhythmic patterns of the song, my emotions followed a similar pattern. Moments of pauses left my heart pumping with pleasure, besides increasing my attention and enthusiasm.
Even though the composition inspired my thoughts and interests, the performance; and in particular the instrumentation took the better part of my emotions and experience. The tonal variation by the instruments practically exuded my excitement as the song progressed.
As the melody either went on a crescendo or on a decline, my mood seemed to vary too. During the loudest pitch which was accompanied by variation of instrumentation, I became more attracted to the performance; and felt explicitly involved. At times, I accompanied the crescendo with my own applause and ululation. My reaction was also significantly influenced by other audience who were overtly expressing their feelings.
Incidentally, though the performance was superb, the experience could have been even better if the performers could have engaged in more bodily performance. For instance, more enthusiastic dancing movements could have engaged the audience even more. In addition, erotic composition could have been more emotive and attractive on my part. Although this genre was virtually my new experience, its tranquility and creativity left me wanting more of it.
Unlike the pop songs I am used to, the live performance of this piece connected my emotions and feelings in a dramatic way. Overall, I apparently liked the experience with all that it entailed. The composition, performance together with the instrumentation got my admiration. Notably, the tonal variation and the harmonization of the whole piece were excellent. Personally, I do not want to miss such an experience in future; it really moved my heart.
Work Cited
Stein, Deborah and Robert, Spillman. Poetry into Song: Performance and Analysis of Lieder. New York: Heinemann, 2010. 45. Print.