Event Critique - Music
Name Ryan Hayes
Class Period 4th
1) What musical event did you attend? ( provide the Location, Name of musician(s) or
musical group, Titles of songs/music selection) (No high school productions permitted):
I attended a clarinet and piano recital at the Dumke Recital Hall at the University of Utah,
in Salt Lake City, on September28, 2012. The musicians were Julian Heinan who played
the clarinet and Dmitry Rachmanov who played the piano. I listened to Premiere
Rhapsody by Claude Debussy and a Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, op.128 by Mario
Castelnuovo-Tedesco.
2) Give a summary of description of the work(s) you heard (at least 150 words):
As I listened to Premiere Rhapsody I found that the melody was disjunct with an
arch as they played. They played in a major harmony and the timbre was pretty easy to
find. Where it was a Clarinet and a Piano. Go figure. The texture of the Rhapsody was
homophonic with the rhythm being a simple quadruple meter. This piece of music
reminded me of a cartoon where the sun is starting to rise and that all of the animals
within the forest are starting to wake up.
The first piece of the Sonata was Andante con moto. The timbre, texture, and
rhythm were the same as premiere rhapsody; being a Piano and Clarinet, homophonic,
with a quadruple simple meter. The melody was still an arch but instead of being disjunct
it was conjunct. The harmony was played in a minor key and the form was the first of a
sonata. This part reminded me of an animated clip of a lone guy on a journey going
through the woods, over mountains, and threw a valley.
The 3rd piece of the sonata was called lullaby. The harmony for this was played in
a minor key just like the first part of the sonata. The rhythm was played in a quadruple
simple and with a homophonic texture. It also had a conjunct descending melody. This
part made me a little sleepy because it was pretty slow and had no oomph to it.
The last piece of the sonata for the clarinet and piano was called Rondo alla
Napolitana. This section had a triple meter with a homophonic texture to it. The timbre
was still the same: a clarinet and piano, (when you are going to a recital you can already
figure out what the instruments are going to be played and therefore find out what the
timbre will be). This part was played with a major key with a conjunct arch. It reminded
me of a race sort of. It would get really fast then go at a constant pace, then speed up and
back down to a constant pace again.
3) Would you say that this was a poor/fair/good/high quality performance? Why? Justify
your answer. Did you notice any mistakes or other problems that detracted from the
performance? (minimum 150 words)
I thought this was a good quality performance because it had a good mixture of elements
of music within the performances. It had some minor keys along with major keys; but I
found out that the majority of it all had the same texture being homophonic. The rhythm
was in quadruple simple meter except the last part of the sonata being a triple meter. I
didn’t notice any mistakes that the two performers had which was a good thing. It would
be pretty embarrassing if they did though. I did find interesting that when the clarinetist
had a moment to catch her breath within the music still playing; the pianist took over for
a bit and all eyes were on him while the clarinetist was taking a break. I thought that was
really impressive. The music itself was entertaining enough to keep in the mood and to
listen on what they were playing. I was impressed by both Julia and Dimitry because
playing those two instruments look very hard to do for a long time to play. All in all they
did a good job.
4) What did you find out about the background of the works, composers, artists, or others
connected with this production? (look it up on the web or in a book; minimum of 100
words)
As I was listening to the performers play I noticed that the Dumke Recital Hall was
smaller than concert halls like the Libby Gardner Hall. I pondered this for a while then I
realized that sense this was a recital after all; it was meant for only a couple instruments
to be played at the same time. The room complimented the music because the sound
would bounce off the walls and surround the whole recital room which I thought was
pretty cool. Also there was another person who wasn’t playing an instrument, but was
helping Dimitry the pianist. He was flipping the pages for Dimitry so he could just carry
on playing the music.
5) What was your personal reaction to this performance? (minimum of 250 words)
My personal reaction to this specific piano and clarinet recital by Julia Heinen and
Dmitry Rachmanov is outstanding and impressive job by both musicians. They did a
marvelous job and I give them both recognition. For keeping the audience entertained. I
give them praise because the Premiere Rhapsody and each piece of the Sonata were all
really long about five to six minutes long by my guess, and for playing a clarinet or piano
even for five to six minutes without a long break can be very tiresome. The two both had
to have endurance mostly Julia because she stood up for every piece of music played and
standing still along with your fingers constantly pressing fret buttons can be a handful to
do. I liked this piano and clarinet recital very much because it had a smaller audience and
was within a smaller room unlike a symphony room. Because it gives the musicians less
pressure and to give them more breathing room to focus primarily on the music they are
to play. On the other hand for the audience the smaller room gives them a better view on
the performers themselves. In a bigger room you could arrive late and have the worst
seats in there and you would not get a good look at the performances being played and
might not hear on what is being played. In the end I liked this performance a lot just
because of impression alone. I don’t really like classical music but the way the musicians
and artists play so well is to be fascinated by. For me I find learning how to play an
instrument very difficult but to those who are masters at playing is fascinating.
6) Would you recommend this performance or musical group to others? Why or why not?
(100 words)
I would recommend this performance to others who enjoy listening to classical music,
those who have to watch and do a report on a concert of some sort, or those who go on
dates. Those who enjoy classical music should go to these performances because all the
instruments have to do with classical music. Like the cello, flute, viola, etc. To those that
have to do a report on a music. These performances are cheap, easy to understand the key
elements of music, and you can take notes very easy rather than at a rock concert where
everyone is jumping around. Lastly to those who wants to go on cheap date. These
performances are around ten dollars or less.
7) Would you enjoy attending this type of event again? Why or why not? (100 words)
I would not enjoy attending this type of event again because I don’t like listening to
classical music at all. It’s too slow for me and when I listen I tend to dose off and fall
asleep. Also classical music in my opinion is too soft and not loud enough for me. I tend
to listen to music with lyrics and with a nice beat to follow. Along with all that I like it
when I can sing to the song as well, but sadly I have to go these performances because of
my Music 1010 class that requires going to at least five concerts of any type and do a
report on them.