A Concert of Winners

Today I attended a free concert at the Richard Nixon Library. It consisted of the winners of the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition. It was very different to see the performers play and not just listen to a CD. All of performers were full of passion as they played the piano. I did my best to listen, I mean really listen to the music. I listened for the loud/forte and the soft/piano and the fast/allegro and the slow/lento. The piece that I enjoyed the most was the Hungarian Rhapsody No 2. The motive at the beginning of the piece was played forte. It was followed by a high pitch melody along with low chords (which I now know gave it its homophonic texture). It was like listening to two people talking, the low notes would answer the high. About halfway through the piece, I recognized it from my Bugs Bunny days :) It brought back happy memories. I also thought about an airline commercial during this piece too. There was plenty of drama in this piece with all of the crescendos and the diminuendos. I took notes all over my program and then had it signed by four of the performers, they were all young adults that were happy to give their autograph. Looking forward to the next concert because I am on my way to becoming a better listener!

Medieval Music

Thank goodness for the active listening CD!!! Being able to following along with the Gregorian Chant All the Ends of the Earth and Hildegard of Bingen O Greenest Branch helped me understand what the heck they were chanting. I totally prefer polyphonic over monophonic. This Month of May was a nice change. This polyphonic chanson (love song) was easy to listen to and I could totally imagine young people dancing and joining in song. I like the sound of the medieval fiddle.

Learning to be a good listener

After reading chapter 1, I realized that I know very little about how to listen to music. The introduction CD is great. Listening to Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 and following the times and notations, helped me begin to pay more attention to the melody and motive. Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 was a great example of melody, chords and pizzicato. Capturing the emotions of the rising sun in Strauss' Thus Spoke Zarathustra was clear as the drums pounded forcefully and the trumpets ascended. On to chapter 2 :)

Music 101

Patiently awaiting the arrival of FedEx so that I can begin my listening for Music Appreciation 101. So far the morning has been full of reading, printing and preparing. Eventually I will be blogging about my listening experience and my classical concert visits (which I am frantically trying to coordinate). My daughter plays the violin and I am curious to see how much of what I will be listening to has already been played in our house, over and over :) Looking forward to a music filled summer!