Download Attending Performances

C H A PT E R
Attending
Performances
WE MUST HEAR MUSIC TO FULLY EXPERIENCE THE PLEASURES IT OFFERS,
and you may increase your understanding and appreciation of music by listening frequently at home, perhaps in your car, and especially at live performances.
Recordings, which allow us to hear great music at a modest cost, are invaluable for
purposes of study, analysis, and listening pleasure; but even more satisfying is the
experience of hearing live music, as performers and listeners complete the chain
of events a composer has begun.
Both performing and listening to music are highly subjective processes, affected by personal taste and experience. One performer’s technique differs from
another’s; each fine musical instrument has its own unique sound; tempos that
seem too fast to some listeners may seem slow to others; each listener has favorite
composers and pieces. The size of the concert hall and the weather on a given night
are among the innumerable variable circumstances affecting a particular live performance. Awareness on the part of performers and audiences alike that they are
sharing a once-in-a-lifetime experience heightens the excitement of a great concert.
Of course, live performances pose challenges that may be avoided by listening
to recorded music. Repeated exposure to the same recorded performance affords a
comfortable familiarity, allowing relaxed, even lazy listening. It may also dull the
listener’s objectivity, as a familiar interpretation becomes accepted as “correct.”
Listening to different recordings of the same work encourages active listening and
helps us become aware of the quality of the performance as well as that of the
piece being played; but still the listener plays a passive role.
The listener at a live concert, on the other hand, can and should be an active
participant who shares in the responsibilities and rewards of the performance.
Prepared audience members understand concert procedure and etiquette. They
listen attentively to the music, expecting a pleasurable experience. They turn off
cell phones and pagers, unwrap candies and cough drops before a performance
begins, and generally avoid distracting their neighbors’ attention. Now the music
can work its magic, creating emotional tension and release. Performers often respond to the encouragement of a concentrating, enthusiastic audience by playing
their best and perhaps offering a “bonus” piece, or encore, at the end. Whether
heard in a gymnasium or a concert hall, and whether performed by gifted amateurs or international professionals, the music at the concerts you attend will be
live, and you will have had a part in its performance.
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Performers, conductors, concert hall administrators, in fact all those involved
in a music performance wish the audience members to have an enjoyable experience they will want to repeat often. To that end, orchestras and other performing
groups increasingly offer preconcert talks, postconcert discussions, visual aids,
imaginative programming, extensive information printed in the program, and
other enhancements to increase our listening pleasure. Enjoy all that they offer,
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT
and don’t forget to express appreciation with your generous applause.
ATTENDING PERFORMANCES
Can you suggest specific steps you
might take ahead of time, as well
as things you might do just before
and then during a performance,
to enhance your understanding
of and pleasure in the experience? How might you become a
“creative listener”?
P ERFO R M A N C E P R O C E D U R E S
Concert usually refers to the “concerted” effort of a large group, whereas recital
is often applied to a performance by a soloist or a small ensemble in a relatively
small chamber or concert hall: We would probably speak of a band concert and
of a piano recital. However, these terms also may be used interchangeably, without distinction as to the size of the room or the number of performers.
For performances held on a college campus, the audience generally dresses in casual but respectful attire, appropriate in the presence of performers who have exerted great time and effort in preparing the program. For more formal occasions,
such as an orchestral performance or an opera performed in a public concert hall,
whatever you would wear to a nice restaurant would be suitable. Some people
may choose to wear formal dress on certain occasions, but it is not required or
expected of the general audience.
You should plan to arrive early for any music performance, allowing time to be
seated, to read the program and the program notes, if any, and to absorb the atmosphere as the audience and the performer or performers prepare for the event
about to take place. The members of a band or an orchestra come onto the stage
in an informal manner, arrange their music on music stands, and warm up by
practicing scales, exercises, or passages from the compositions they are about to
perform. (Notice that the music stands hold the music in a semivertical position,
allowing performers to see the conductor even while reading their music.) The
cacophony resulting from many instruments playing different music at the same
time is a normal part of the preconcert atmosphere, adding to the pleasant feeling
of expectancy.
OR CHEST R A L P E R FO R M A N C E S
Shortly before an orchestral performance is to begin, the first violinist, who serves
as the conductor’s assistant and is known as the concertmaster or concertmistress, enters the stage, and the audience usually claps. The concertmaster calls the
orchestra to attention and then gestures to the first oboist to play an A, the clearsounding pitch to which the orchestra tunes. (If a keyboard instrument is included
in the ensemble, however, the other instruments must tune to it, since the tuning of
a piano or an organ cannot be quickly adjusted.) At the concertmaster’s signal that
the orchestra is in tune, the orchestra settles down and the conductor enters the
stage, greeted by applause from the audience. The conductor bows, turns to face
the orchestra, raises the baton, and begins the performance—often by playing the
national anthem, for which the audience stands and may sing along.
Since the late eighteenth century, the instruments of the orchestra have been arranged on the stage much as they are today, and much as we see in Figure 6.1.
The strings, providing the dominant sound of the symphony orchestra, are seated
across the front of the stage. Violins are usually to the conductor’s left, violas
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PART ONE BASIC CONCEPTS
FIGURE 6.1
A symphony orchestra.
toward the center, and cellos to the conductor’s right, with the double basses lined
up against the wall to the conductor’s right. Members of the other three families
of instruments are suitably placed where they will best enhance the overall sound
of the ensemble. The woodwinds usually are behind the strings toward center stage,
the brasses are behind them, and percussion instruments are placed widely across
the rear stage area. Research into early music performance practice and advanced
studies in the science of sound, or acoustics, occasionally has led conductors to
vary this basic seating pattern for practical and aesthetic reasons.
The size of the orchestra also varies according to the style of the music being
performed. Eighteenth-century orchestras were quite small, but during the nineteenth century several new instruments were added to the ensemble, necessitating
the addition of more violins and other “traditional” instruments for a balanced
sound. In the twentieth century a trend toward restraint and control of resources
led many composers to write for a smaller ensemble once more. Instrumentalists
may enter or leave the stage between compositions, depending on the style of the
next work to be performed.
Orchestral Forms
Genre describes the type of musical piece, determined partly by instrumentation
and form and partly by intended function; form describes its design, organization,
or “shape.” By analogy, many edible items may be described as fruits, a genre that
includes both oranges and pears, but of these two only the orange may be described
as spherical in form. But music is unlike literature or the visual arts, whose forms
may be analyzed in any order and at leisure; music poses the challenge of continuing once its performance has begun. Of course, the student or scholar may examine
the written score, as the music manuscript is called; however, the everyday listener
must learn to memorize passages as they occur to appreciate repetition and contrast
throughout the performance.
We discuss the important forms and genres of orchestral music in detail in
later chapters but introduce them briefly here to enhance your early orchestral
concert experiences.
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A symphony is an orchestral genre that has several sections, or movements, separated from each other by a brief pause but related to each other in much the same
way as the acts of a play, the chapters of a novel, or the verses of a poem are related.
The movements differ from each other in formal design, tempo, mood, thematic
material, and sometimes key; however, a symphony is conceived as an integrated
work, and a performance is seldom interrupted by applause between movements.
A concerto, also a multimovement genre, represents a “concerted” effort between
the orchestra and an instrumental soloist, who stands or sits at the front of the stage
near the conductor. The solo instrument is named in the title of the work; thus a
piece titled Violin Concerto is a multimovement composition for orchestra and
solo violin. A concerto contains some passages performed by the orchestra alone,
others played by the soloist, and still others that the orchestra and soloist perform
together. The concerto soloist generally is not a member of the ensemble but a
featured guest, whose name figures prominently in the publicity for the program.
Program music is an instrumental (as opposed to sung) genre that is based on a
literary or extramusical subject; it purports to tell a story or describe a scene, an
idea, or an event by solely instrumental means (since there is no text). Orchestral
program music usually has a descriptive or literary title. In “Spring Symphony,”
for instance, the instruments might suggest the sounds of birds or a storm. But a
piece titled “Romeo and Juliet,” although still considered program music, probably would require an explanation in the concert program of the series of events
depicted in the music.
The Printed Program
The printed concert program gives the name of each piece to be performed and
its composer. Further, the tempo, mood, or title of each movement of a multimovement work is listed following the title of the piece (Figure 6.2). A program of
several pages sometimes includes information about the history and style of the
music to be played, and about the performers’ backgrounds and experience. It also
often contains a description of any program music included in the concert.
Referring to the concert program in Figure 6.2, you can already recognize some
of the tempo markings (andante, allegro, moderato); and you might well guess the
meaning of others, such as andantino (a diminutive form of andante). The term
opus, included in the title of all three pieces here, means “work”; it refers to the
chronological order in which a piece was written or published: that is, Opus 1
would indicate a composer’s first major work. The work of certain composers is
organized according to particular catalog numbers: Mozart’s music is identified
by K. numbers, J. S. Bach’s by the catalog initials BWV, and so on.
BA N D P E R FO R M A N C E S
A band sounds quite different from an orchestra, since it has few, if any, string
instruments. Its timbre is dominated rather by brass, woodwinds, and percussion.
The traditional marching band consists solely of members of those three families
of instruments, but a concert band or symphonic band often includes one or two
string basses, occasionally a harp, and very rarely a cello.
The atmosphere at a band concert is often less formal than at an orchestral performance, with less standardization of concert procedure. A typical performance
includes some light or popular pieces, such as marches or instrumental arrangements of popular or patriotic songs, as well as more serious orchestral and band
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PART ONE BASIC CONCEPTS
FIGURE 6.2
The printed program. Like
many orchestral performances,
this concert began with a brief
opening work, continued with a
concerto with a featured soloist,
and concluded with a symphony.
The Phoenix Symphony Orchestra
Theo Alcantara, Music Director and Principal Conductor
THE CLASSICS
April 20 & 21 — Phoenix Symphony Hall — 8:00 p.m.
Theo Alcantara, Conductor
Max Wexler, Violin
The Phoenix Symphony Orchestra
Rimsky-Korsakov
Russian Easter Overture, Opus 36
Prokofiev
Violin Concerto No. 1, Opus 19 in D Major
Andantino
Scherzo: Vivacissimo
Moderato
Mr. Wexler
INTERMISSION
Schumann
Symphony No. 1, Opus 38, in B-Flat Major,
"Spring"
Andante—Allegro molto vivace
Larghetto
Scherzo
Allegro animato e grazioso
music. When an arrangement or transcription of a work is performed, the name of
the individual who altered the original instrumentation appears on the printed
program after the name of the composer. For example, “arr. Jonathan Elkus” after
the title of Listening Example 4 indicates that although Charles Ives composed
the music (for piano, in this instance), Elkus arranged it for performance by an
ensemble (group) of brass instruments.
OT H E R P E R FO R M A N C E S
Your live music experiences should, if possible, include many other kinds of performance; musical theater, dance, choral concerts, jazz, chamber music, and solo
recitals offer distinctive listening, visual, intellectual, and emotional delights. We
will cover all of these kinds of performances as we explore the wide and wonderful world of music.
You will find that the knowledge you gain about Western music traditions will
enhance your encounters with music of other cultures as well. World music, as it is
sometimes called, is becoming increasingly present and appreciated in the United
States. The brief Connecting to Culture features found throughout this text draw
some comparisons between Western and non-Western concepts in music, and you
may find the differences as stimulating and attractive as the similarities we find
between various musics of the world.
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Chamber Music
Chamber music is performed by a relatively small number of people, usually in
a room (chamber) smaller than a full-size concert hall. Although the term chamber
music sometimes is applied to vocal
music performed by a small group,
it usually refers to music for a small
number of instruments, such as a
string quartet, a woodwind quintet, or a small brass ensemble. The
number of instruments in a chamber
ensemble varies from two to about
twelve, but there is usually just one
instrument for each line of music,
rather than several instruments for
each part as in a band or orchestra.
Choral Music
FIGURE 6.3
A large mixed choir.
A chorus or choir contains any number of singing voices, from about fifteen to several hundred (Figure 6.3).
(Smaller groups are usually called
ensembles or referred to by names
indicating their number, such as
trios or quartets.) A choir may consist of men only or women only, but
the most common choral ensemble is a balanced mixture of sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses. A boys’ choir includes only young
boys whose voices have not yet changed and who sing in the soprano and alto range. The term chorus can also refer to a composition sung by a choir.
Choral music may be religious or secular, often adding a glorious dimension to music theater performances and even to
symphonic concerts.
Dance
Dance, the wedding of expressive gestures and music, exerts a
timeless and universal appeal. In prehistoric times, dance contributed significantly to religious ritual, but today dance in the Western
world is primarily a secular art, although there has been a strong
revival of interest in liturgical or sacred dance as well.
Classical ballet is a formal, highly stylized type of dance that became particularly important at the lavish seventeenth-century
court of the French King Louis XIV. Louis, who loved to dance himself, believed that ballet should have dramatic as well as musical
and visual interest, concepts that ballet has retained, along with
French terminology.
FIGURE 6.4
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater perform Bad
Blood at the City Center.
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PART ONE BASIC CONCEPTS
The costumes, subject matter, and range of steps and gestures of
modern dance, on the other hand, are more varied and less formal
than those of classical ballet, reflecting the American heritage of
this dance style. Modern dance often portrays realistic contemporary situations and everyday characters rather than the fairy tales,
court scenes, and gods typical of classical ballet (Figure 6.4).
Dance is important in our popular culture too; a great deal of popular music, including certain forms of jazz and rock, is primarily conceived to inspire and accompany dance.
Musical Theater
Musical theater combines many elements, including song, dance, and instrumental music as well as drama and the visual arts of stage design, lighting, costumes,
and other special effects. The mood may be comic or serious, and the style of music
ranges from the popular songs of Broadway musicals to the arias of grand opera.
Each kind of musical theater offers a distinctive style of entertainment. A musical is essentially a play with music, although many recent Broadway musicals
are almost entirely sung rather than spoken and there has been ever-increasing
emphasis on visual spectacle and special effects (Figure 6.5). Operettas, including
those of Gilbert and Sullivan, often place more emphasis on the performers’ highly
trained singing voices than do Broadway shows, in which singers today generally
wear microphones.
FIGURE 6.5
Broadway production of
The Lion King.
Most musically demanding of all are operas, offering entertainment on a truly
grand and lavish scale. Operas, which may be comic or serious, long or short,
heavy or light, typically demand more of performers and audience alike than is
required by more popular forms of entertainment. However, the glorious sounds
and spectacular visual effects of the world’s great operas demolish our defenses
and capture our senses, transporting us to a plane where the real and the natural
become irrelevant and beauty and entertainment reign supreme.
Jazz
Although jazz has reached an enthusiastic segment of the popular music audience,
it belongs to America’s art music tradition as well. To European marches, hymns,
and popular dances, early jazz musicians added hot rhythms and distinctive vocal
and instrumental performance techniques derived from black Africa. Originally
conceived as music for dance and popular entertainment, beginning in the 1940s
new jazz styles evolved intended for a listening audience. Today’s jazz concerts,
often relatively casual affairs, offer music varying widely in mood, instrumentation, tempo, and style.
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Jazz performances involve more than usual interaction between performers and
listeners. Members of the audience often interrupt a piece to express appreciation
for an outstanding solo, and musicians may chat familiarly with friends they recognize in the audience.
HOW TO WRITE ABOUT MUSIC
Your instructor may expect you to attend live music performances and describe
your experiences in written reports, including an objective analysis of what you
heard as well as your personal reactions. Your paper should be as detailed as possible, always including the name of the concert, the date and place of the performance, and the titles and composers of the music you heard. You may find this a
good opportunity to practice using some of the terminology you have learned in
class and read in your concert program.
During a performance, while the lights are low and the audience and performers
are absorbed in the music, you will not be able to take notes: simply concentrate
on what you are hearing and seeing, making mental notes of things you wish to
remember. Try to memorize melodies, feel rhythms, and notice changes in timbre, for example. Then, during pauses between pieces or during an intermission,
quickly note several things you want to include in your written report.
After the performance, you will want to write your paper as soon as possible,
while memories and images of the experience are fresh in your mind. Assume
that whoever reads your report has not attended the same performance, and try to
make it come alive in the reader’s mind. What instruments were involved? Were
they arranged on the stage in a traditional or an unusual manner? How were the
performers dressed? Describe the music in as much detail as you can, exercising
your increasing ability to discuss music.
Different Kinds of Performance
For an orchestral performance, which normally includes only a few pieces, you
should briefly discuss each composition. Perhaps one was a programmatic work,
in which the composer used musical means (which you may try to identify) to
describe an extramusical concept. To describe each movement of a multimovement work, consider how changes in tempo, dynamics, rhythm, melody, harmony,
and timbre affected the music. How did one movement differ from another, and,
together, how did they form a unified composition? What role did the conductor
appear to play, and were you able to follow the conductor’s beats? Did the music
evoke an emotional reaction, and if so, how?
A choral or a popular music program may include a large number of short works,
from which you may choose several to discuss. Perhaps you will select songs or
pieces varying in mood, style, tempo, instrumentation, level of complexity, language, or other characteristics that come to mind. (Note that song refers to a vocal
piece, with a text, intended to be sung. An example would be “Amazing Grace,”
Listening Example 3. Sometimes we hear instrumental versions of a song performed without a singer, as in Listening Example 4, Charles Ives’s “London Bridge
Is Fallen Down.” A piece is a composition written for a solo instrument or an instrumental group such as a band or orchestra. Listening Examples 1, 2, and 5 could
each be called a piece, or a composition. Be careful not to confuse the terms “song”
and “piece” in your written reports.)
If you attend a jazz concert, watch for improvisational interaction among the players. Visual aspects, of significance for any performance, have particular relevance
to dance and music theater. Costumes, stage designs, lighting, and other visual
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PART ONE BASIC CONCEPTS
effects all have received concentrated attention from people involved in the performance and should be duly noted by the audience as well.
In your report, you also may consider the members of the audience. Were they attentive? Appreciative? Seemingly prepared? Were their reactions (attentive silence,
applause) appropriate? Did you sense rapport between the musicians and their
listeners? How did this affect the performance and your own reactions to it?
Subjective Reactions
Having thoughtfully considered the facts, you are in a position to share your personal reactions, bearing in mind that “like” and “dislike” are highly subjective
concepts and need not imply judgment. Even a professional music critic, armed
with years of training and experience, often forms individual opinions not necessarily shared by other equally qualified experts. This is fine as long as opinion (“It
was great!”) and fact (“The concerto had three movements”) remain distinct. You
can strengthen your paper by supporting your opinions with facts: “The symphony lasted almost an hour, which I found too long to sustain my interest.”
Refer to this chapter throughout your course to help you understand and describe
your early concert experiences; and as your study progresses, your increasing
knowledge of style, form, and musical genres will enhance your ability to hear
music and to articulate what you have heard. Also refer to the Concert-Goer’s
Guide on
(check the Student Resources in the Library).
Most important, the exercises that you dutifully perform for this class, such as
writing concert reports, will open your ears and mind ever wider to receive and
fully enjoy the wonderfully varied musics of the world.
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT
CONCERT REVIEWS
What background or preparation do you imagine is required of
professional reviewers of concert
music? How might their review of a
particular performance differ from
yours? Perhaps compare a newspaper review of a performance you
attend with your own concert report. You might also enjoy searching online for information about
a particular reviewer writing for a
local newspaper.
Attending live performances is essential to the understanding and appreciation of
great music and will afford you an opportunity to apply the information you learn
throughout this course. Already you have an idea of what to expect at various
kinds of music performances.
Orchestral concerts include performances of symphonies, concertos, and various kinds of program music. Bands perform literature written for their unique
sonorities as well as transcriptions of vocal and orchestral music. Chamber music
involves small ensembles, usually with one instrument or voice per line of music.
Choral music enhances religious services as well as music theater and other
forms of musical entertainment. Classical ballet and modern dance, which attract
wide and enthusiastic audiences, also contribute to every kind of music theater,
from popular Broadway musicals to operettas such as those by Gilbert and Sullivan. While operas demand more of their performers and audiences than the other
forms of music theater, they offer emotional and intellectual rewards literally beyond description. What a wealth of entertainment awaits you as you explore the
wide world of music!
concert
recital
concertmaster,
concertmistress
genre
form
score
symphony
movement
concerto
program music
opus
concert band,
symphonic band
chamber music
chorus, choir
dance
musical theater
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