... be more different from the brilliance of that instrument than the fat, unwieldy bass of the brass section, whose low notes rumble and rasp in the bottom-depths of the orchestra. The instrument's weight, and the size of its mouthpiece, call for a player of exceptional stamina - and a lot of patience, too, since the tuba is given very few of the best tunes ... give it its full name - is not usually regarded as an orchestral instrument, yet in Mozart's time it served a 'filling in' purpose, even in concertos. Only the huge advances in piano construction in the 19th Century took it out of t...

• Word Count: 2483
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: High School

... legato melody. The song is played moderato and reminds me of a very long back choral. This church hymn was played very nicely and the high notes were in tune. The Spirit of Our Land written by Frank Bencriscutto was the Concert band's fourth song. The trumpets play the main melody very legato ... our land is dull and uneventful because of the repetition and that it seemed to drag on. The concert band's last piece is entitled Ritual for Band by Vaclav Nelhybel. This sinister sounding song starts off with the percussion playing instruments that depict an image of native Americans beating ...

• Word Count: 473
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... Desiring," composed by Bach. No choristers sang the songs lyrics but instead, only instruments played this short piece. This piece is a hymn that is usually played as piano, but was dominantly violins and flutes in this performance by the orchestra. It was a slow and peaceful tempo, which was rather relaxing. After the beginning piece, ... "Nights in the Gardens of Spain," composed by De Falla. The movement has a folk melody, and is the melody is played by the piano soloist Rachel Teranishi. The movements starts off with violins playing a simple rhythm, and then the trumpets begin to pla...

• Word Count: 690
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... a Alto saxophone solo, which is of the elite solos. Next comes a quick trumpet solo with a lot of glissandos and scoops. After the solo, there is an obvious dynamic drop to piano, and then a huge crescendo back to double forte. The song is written in four-four in an eight bar blues. The drums play a dominate role in this song as does ... there is an impression that they are standing out in front of the band. Most of the song is played with a swing feel on the hi-hat, and the bass notes are really plucked throughout the whole song. There is a shout chorus at the end which is the grand fi...

• Word Count: 301
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... with the trombone as his main instrument. He hadn't started with the trombone in the beginning, but moved onto it after neuritis affected his first instrument, the piano. One of his close friends was the great British composer, Ralph Vaughan Williams. Holst gave up playing at the turn of the century and took charge of St ... . Paul's Girls" School, writing music in his spare time. He even wrote the St. Paul's Suite for Strings for the school orchestra. Later, he became interested in music and wrote a suite (group) of seven pieces based on each of the planets ... for an orchestra of over ...

• Word Count: 368
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... musical interest from his family. Almost everyone, except his father, were musical beings. His mother even sang and played the piano. Because Aaron was so shy, it was second nature for him to take up his interest in music. At the tender age of six, Aaron began to play around the ... Goldmark. It was then that Aaron decided he wanted to become a composer. In 1940, Copland composed an incidental piece of music that was later used for a play for Irwin Shaw. This play, called Quiet City, was about a troubled man who had gone insane after renouncing his dreams to pursue something that wasn't ...

• Word Count: 508
• Approx Pages: 2
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... with throughout his life. He was a smart child having had learned German and French at the age of 6. While a young Peter was taking piano lessons, at night when he'd go to sleep, and wake up complaining to his parents that the music in his head made it hard to ... differed tremendously from his personal life during these times. Compositions were being completed easily while relationships were not turning out his way( 1 Dick). Tchaikovsky would, for the rest of his life, struggle with relationships and his own sexuality. After marrying a passionate student and later realizing he made a m...

• Word Count: 2116
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School