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Music Concert Review: Viola Night

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Recommended: Classical music effect on society

Assignment #3
Zixin Zhang

Music Concert Paper
On Saturday, December 5, 2015, I went to the Palo Alto philharmonic orchestra concert II, which is called “Viola Night”. The concert was directed by Thomas Shoebotham, who has a highly varied musical career that includes opera and orchestral conducting, cello and piano performance. As the concert was designed as “Viola Night”, it was mainly leading by two outstanding viola soloists, Geri Actor and Mimi Dye. Attending the concert gave me a chance to know these outstanding viola soloists. By reading the guide book, I knew that Actor usually performances with ensembles on viola, piano and percussion, and she also consults in business occasionally. Dye is a prominent American …show more content…

Mimi Dye performed Harold in Italy, Symphony in Four Parts with Viola Obbligato, Op.16 by Hector Berlioz. A famous violinist wants Berlioz to write a concerto to enable him to show off his new instrument, and then Berlioz began writing “a solo for viola, but one which involved the orchestra in such way as not to reduce the effectiveness of the orchestral composition.” There are four movements in this symphony. The first one is titled “Harold in the mountains”. With low-pitch sound and short duration provided by horns, cellos, and trombones, the music creates a deep melody, from which I can image that someone is trying to escape in nature. After that, there is a peaceful and gentle viola solo performance.The music makes me image that the one who escapes in nature see some beautiful senses, which makes him stop running. The second movement is entitled “Procession of pilgrims singing the evening prayer.” In this movement, all the instrument played in a perfectly harmony. The melody of violin is elegant and smooth; at the meanwhile, the sound of cello integrates in to the music, which makes the music not too dry and light. Since there is viola solo part included, it drives all attendants’ attention because it creates a delightful and relaxing vibe that everyone can calm down and deeply appreciate the music. This music in the second movement makes me image that the man is determined to start …show more content…

Attending a musical concert is a great experience for me because it gives me chance to get closer to classical music and expand my outlook. I also want to appreciate the performers, who try their best to give us the best enjoyment and help us to have a deeper understanding of what we learn from our

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