Music
Part I: Performance Studies: Dame Myra Performance in “Appassionata”
In this performance, Dame Myra is playing piano in a lunchtime concert at a national Gallery. The movement she plays in is Beethoven’s piano Sonata op 57. The way she does it could be described as utterly aware some, unique and amazing. The way she uses her fingers at the instrument is equally thrilling and one may think that she employs magic.
Beethoven’s Sonata in minor op 57 was created when Beethoven was coming to understand that he was about to become deaf. The frustrations he encountered in this perspective could be realized in this piece and performance. “Appassionata” is an unofficial name given to this performance after his death. This was because this performance was considered to be the most emotionally moving piece by this author.
In this performance, the first movement starts with a slow and unique melody which he plays in unison. Sooner, there are intense and loud outbursts which signal a feeling of emotional intensity. The ominous and dark sounds appear to be dominant in this movement but a restless feeling remains to be there even in the case of brighter moments in the performance. The performance by Myra appears violent and she is also passionate on what she is doing. In other words, she seems to be proud greatly enjoy her work. There are however, unusual phenomena in this performance when his first movement omits repeated exposition. According to Assai (2008) his reason for doing this was to point out his rejection of the conventional classical sonata type of music. In this performance, it appears that the author has much to talk about and therefore, he does not have time to repeat himself over and over again. The music coda appears improvisatory and also long. The arpeggio, spans almost the enter length of the piano during the performance moment.
The slow but steady movement in the performance is a set of variations and the themes that are typically offered to harmonious progress rather than a straight forward melody. In this performance, Beethoven manages to create a beautiful moment out of this harmonious activity that he undertakes and the outcome is immensely stunning. Near the end of this performance, the music is interrupted by diminished chords which herald the starting of the third movement. Once more, Myra becomes creative in the coda and comes up with a new theme. In the end, he comes crashing down on himself and finalizes the performance with a short and defiant rhythm as well as abase octave. The tempo on the other hand was quite going at the right pace and the tutti was sounding with all the nuances that are required in such a setting. The second and third movement merged smoothly since the music was wonderful crafted. The piano guru worked out the third movement very professionally. To be honest, I was aroused from this performance by Dame Myra Hess.
To be specific, the piano performance by Dame Myra is both exciting and intense. This piano guru plays without a divided attention and every one seeing this video will see how she is committed. My scrutiny on how she goes about in her activity showed that she mostly employs her left hand which appears to be more powerfully than her right. She also has a unique technique and wisdom much like the biblical Solomon and preferred not having front or forward movements where the music ought to be. However, I did not understand on why she murmurs occasionally in her activity and this according to me was one of her weaknesses in this performance. It was also an inspired performance which according to my rating, deserve a five star for its overall presentation.
Concerning the origin and little biography of this great pianist, Dame Myra Hess was born in 1890 in the city of London UK. She started studying the piano when she was merely five years and entered Guildhall Music College two years later where she was awarded agold medal for an excellent performance. After this, she went to Royal Academy of music for further studies under the proprietorship of one Tobias Mattahy. She first came into the limelight in 19O7 when she played Beethoven’s piano concert No. 4 where Sir Thomas Beecham was the conductor.
Later, she became famous for playing the works of composers such as Beethoven, Mozart, and Batch. Her renditions of the works of Schuman gave her much praise. During the Second World War, and during the Nazi bombings in the city of London, she organized a series of concerts that went on through the most despicable days of the war. These concerts subsequently raised the morale of her fellow citizens and portrayed that the spirit of Britain could not be brought down. In the late years of the 21st century, he name and fame is still a reality in the British perspective (Encyclopedia of world bibliography, 2007).
In the present perspectives, the tradition of Dame Myra continues each week in several cities of Britain. This foundation is made possible by the generous grants made by various entities including an anonymous family organization.
Part II Concert production
Concert production is the process of putting on a concert or live performance. An individual’s role includes a person coordinating all the staff and equipment that are required in making that concert possible. The individual monitors the staff and their pay, schedule and act as a communication hub between the staff members and to ensure that the event is smooth. In many occasions, I Have had the pleasure of working and performing from clubs and arena levels.
I went to the prince concert at Backyard entertainment center in London last summer. Moreover, I have been following news of many other price concerts in many other parts of the world on prince.org a fan website that has not been made official. I will begin by pointing out the bad parts that I experienced in as an audience in this concert. In relation to the London Backyard Concert, it had less than 2 hours in content and the tickets had a 9.00p.m and 11.00 inferred time. I together with other people waited in our seats as early as 8.00 p.m all the way to 8.30p.m when a guitarist began the proceedings with two pieces of instrumentals. 10 or so minutes had nothing and another 10 minutes had supporting act before the actual show began. It was just shortly before 9.00p.m when Prince came and by 10.30, he was through with the performance. He had presented two encores that were very short, one of which had what could be described as very flat “dance electric” that was precedent by a much better kiss with one of the best dancing in that night.
The “after party” factor which prince had mentioned while in the show was the basic reason for the shortness of the concern. He had talked about it at least four different times, claiming that he had thought that the after party was just like a weekend for him and that the people could just have it right in the concert room. However, it turned out that an official for the function had arranged it to be conduced elsewhere outside the town. The entry fee had been decided as $100 with the queuing and ticketing process to start at 11.00p.m. This is what mandated the show to end very early since other people were to live very early for the “after party” function. Just after the prince had left, the lower purple almost remained empty except for some few people indicating that they were aware of what was happening.
In this perspective, it therefore, does not become surprising that prince and his band had packed their luggage earlier enough so as to make their way to the “after party” function. The light of the room that we were came on at 11.00 and an official African American voice announced over the auditorium speakers the location of the after party, further indicating that this function had been made official. This issue actually made me to become angry since people had paid more than $80 just sitting right in the auditorium waiting for the after party to take place right in the place. However, they were neglected and abandoned unexpectedly.
I actually came to discover form my own analysis that Prince after parties have their own folklores and that had I been capable, I could have tried to become one. The interesting part regarding the after party is that the prince did the audience something like an impromptu. This is because very few individuals would know where he would go for a show. The fact of the matter was about being at the right place and at a specific time. Most of his shows and concerts were done surprisingly and at the time which he had arranged himself. He also made sure, that he used the audience’s precious time effectively. Though he considered money to be important for him, he also made sure that the services he rendered to the audience were satisfactory and that no complaints arose.
Another issue from this concert was regarding the sounds, the speakers to be honest were clipping in a bad way. Moreover, they were at some points producing distorted sounds and also too loud for my ears. Because I had carried ear plugs, I was forced to put them on for at least 30 minutes when the sound became too loud. In fact, the loudness made me feel uncomfortable. You see, my hearing is much more importation if you compare it with the price of the ticket hence I felt very disappointed by being forced to pun on earplug when I am supposed to enjoy the full show without destruction.
Most of the songs in this show were the ones that I had never had before, but subsequently, I developed a strong liking to them, though I did not grasp what some of them were communicating. The moment the prince began “shhh” (which I later found as the name the name of the song, I anticipated it to be special. The actor’s voice and actions which seemed to be wonderfully construed proved to be typically amazing for an actor of his young age. His rendition magic was equally moving and much like his ballads, many of his words were meaningful and had a story to tell.
Part 111: Preparation for My Music Performance
Brackeen (2013) advises that a good preparation before your concert will assist one in gathering courage and confidence that is so much needed in the stage performance as well as the professionalism which the audience requires. The stage performance is a moment where an artist is required to bring with him or her more creativity and freedom in the performance.
Before, I actually plan for the real performance; I will use the word of mouth to make people aware on the show, location and necessities for entrance. Word of mouth according to Hess, (2013) is one of the most effective ways of getting more people to consistently come out and see your performance. When an artists shows are great, people will tend to like them and talk about it to others.
I will also develop a great stage present since I know that the audience like to see and hear the performance and not just music alone I will make sure that I and my group have no anxiety so that we perform to the best of our audience’s expectations. This is because I do understand that my audience deserves a better service to go in line with their value of the money. In order to minimize such a problem and ensure that the performance falls to the expectations, I will ensure that I and my team do thorough practice and we focus ourselves on playing the songs correctly while on stage. I will give he band members assistance each time they require and makes sure that those not performing to their expectations are replaced with better ones.
Besides having a thorough practice, and rehearsals, we will need to ensure that all the instruments we would need on that occasion are ready and in order. Our team has a culture of regularly maintaining the instruments and taking good care of them. We will also need to create other variables that are similar with the real performance such as dressing rehearsals. Our concert will be either in a concert hall or recital hall. At some point before the actual performance, we will need to dress the same way in areal function and invite some people and come and view the performance. This audience will be allowed to comment on what they want rectified and at what point. We will also ensure that the lighting and temperature in the rehearsal stage is similar if not equal the same during the real concert.
Another thing we would need to look at is eating well before the really occasion. Studies have pointed out that eating fruits such as bananas before performing will ease the production of anxiety hormones in the body. So we will need to eat bananas before we actually perform. I will however need to ensure that I and my group don’t over load our stomachs by eating excess foods because we will be sleepy. Next, we will have to look at out best; hence will design good and attractive instruments. This is because; we regard our voices and instruments to hold center stage. In our selection of the instruments, we will ensure that they compliment well and that they easily allow the freedom of movement.
We will also need to ensure that the tickets are with us and that they are enough for the expected population the in the show. Another thing to consider is the kind of garments we will need to wear. It is highly likely that during the afternoon, we will be hot since the concert day is in summer, but we hope that it will be cool when the sun goes down. Hence this prompts us to carry a couple of layers with her. I and my team will see to it that we don’t carry much junk in our pockets. Having less junk will necessitate a faster turn round time at the gate, and therefore getting into the venue much more easily and ensuring preventing performers to dance with such things as keys, flash discs, lighters, wallets, lighters and so on. In avoiding medical problems, we will also need to carry plenty of water to quench our thirst in the enter time we are performing.
Bibliography
Brackeen, A (2013) “Preparing for Your Concert” available on
http://www.berkleemusic.com/store/product?product_id=1137340&usca_p=t
Encyclopedia of world bibliography. “Dame Myra Hess” .www. encyclopedia .com 2007.
Hess, Tom. ‘How To Prepare for Gigs and Make Your Live Shows Better’ available
on http://tomhess.net/PrepareForYourGigs.aspx. (2013).
IMF. ‘Dame Myra’ www. Imfchicago.org. 2012
Myra, H. ‘Arbiter records’ available on http://www.arbiterrecords.com.html
