That’s a sample classical music concert report, which can be used by any student absolutely free of charge. Whether you’ve visited a symphonic or orchestral music concert, this report will come in handy!
I went to a symphony in classical music in New York City at the New York Philaharmonic. I listened to Jaap van Zweden conduct Mozart Symphony number 40. This was on December 6th, 2018. This report will be about talking about the music played.
Attending the symphony, I was certainly familiar with the general feel of going to an event like this. Moreover, I have also played in both a band and orchestra during high school, more specifically I have played the trumpet and the violin. I was still very entertained with the performance of the entire symphony and the way in which they went from a very loud sound to a very low one. Furthermore, I think that a lot of symphonies tend to lose their audience when all of their songs have the same type of rhythms. However, this performance did not suffer from this issue and the composer did a very good job of trying to create an atmosphere that was unpredictable in nature. I feel like the style possessed a lot of harmony and rhythms that were very much in line with classical music. The melody was soft and smooth, not rigid and rough like other music styles.
I think that this is important because the audience should be going into a musical performance of any kind with the element of surprise; an audience that knows what will happen will be a bored audience. Furthermore, I definitely liked the second to last song that was conducted in this performance. I found that it was very relatable to my own experience in orchestra because there were areas that I heard one type of instrument and others where I heard a different type. Furthermore, I learned that it takes a lot of work to sync up the different parts of the pieces played; the pieces that were played sounded to me as if they were very high level and required a lot of precision in learning the parts. Going forward, I think that I definitely will be more open to openly going to symphonies. I think that this symphony was a very fun experience for me and opened my eyes up to the artistic world. Further, I have always been wanting to learn a different instrument, such as the piano or tuba. Perhaps this may encourage me to do so going forward. Hearing pieces that were well written and well played really seemed to put me at ease with my upcoming finals. Further, I think that this allowed me to forget about my current stressors and enjoy myself for a brief period of time.
The performers were extremely good and they were very much in sync with each other. This was apparent because it was obvious that they practiced a lot.
My favorite piece was the finale, as this was definitely the most upbeat, and the parts here were the most defined.
My second favorite piece was the first part as this was the piece that allowed the audience to become well acquainted with the rest of the ensemble.
I have been a fan of classical music (rock) for a while, but because of this class I have been getting more into classical orchestra music because I like the sound of the instruments played in ensembles. Additionally, I actually find that a lot of orchestra music is ultimately repetitive just like classical rock. I think that this is important because repetition is a way that boosts recall and recognition by the person listening. I found that listening to the music in class in repetitions allowed me to ultimately memorize the rhythms and sounds better for the tests we took. Songs that had less repetition and structured music were very hard for me to really memorize and remember, especially when I was trying to recall taking the tests. I am not sure if there is science behind this or if it is just me, but nevertheless it taught me the lesson of the importance of repetition in order for retention to be successful. Like studying for a test, repetition helps you memorize facts and figures just like it helps you memorize areas in a song or piece of sheet music.
During the semester I went to several ensembles, some for extra credit and others for my enjoyment. I think that I have gained a newfound appreciation for classical music and orchestral concerts because this class has shown me the value in listening to these genres of music. I also am able to recognize the political meaning that some of the composers may be trying to show to the audience. Further, I realize that a lot of the songs are about oppression and racism in the 21stcentury. Other pieces can just be happy tunes meant to please the audience; I think that the message in these songs can be heard through the music’s tone, but the composers also try to leave a level of ambiguity in these songs in order to allow the audience to think for themselves. I think that this is a good idea, as in sociology, we often learn about numerous concepts such as conformity and groupthink. Classical music allows people to think outside of the box, and interpret songs based on their own perceptions in regards to society as a whole.
