Safe to Assume That Most

¶ … safe to assume that most college students do not know much about classical concerts. Many college students have been to concerts and enjoyed all types of music, by concert experience is mainly limited to rock and pop acts. For those who have not experienced an orchestral concert, a recent one was a great place to start. On November 17, 2009, the Berklee Contemporary Symphony Orchestra held a concert at the First Church of Boston. The 88 piece ensemble led by conductor Francisco Noya, played a few songs, but there were also a lot of surprises for the audience. The two pieces from "Ma Vlast" by Smetana, the world premiere of Quiet Earth: A Fantasie for Orchestra James Russell Smith, two pieces from Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, and "The Wall" by Pink Floyd prepared by Angel Quinones were all extremely different in nearly every sense. The variety of the pieces gave the audience a taste of many different sounds and feels.

The first two pieces were from "Ma Vlast" by Smetana. "Sarka" has a sound that is very epic. It cycles between a soft, loving style of strings and a thunder like force of percussion that is reminiscent of music heard in old silent films. The powerful shifts and changes brought out emotions in the entire audience. The tragic yet loving tale that the music tells was incredible. The second piece from "Ma Vlast" was "Moldau." In comparison to "Sarka," this piece was overall much lighter. The patriotic sound of the piece was very moving and inspiring. Also cyclic in theme, the audience was taken from sounds of peace and joy to inspiring bursts of energy and pride. It is amazing to know that while composing "Moldau," Smetana was battling hearing loss. This amazingly beautiful work was a great introduction to classical music for those who have not experienced it.

As an added surprise, the audience was able to experience the world premiere of Quiet Earth: A Fantasie for Orchestra by Composition Department assistant chair James Russell Smith. The audience's pride in hearing such a powerful and refreshing composition was apparent. Mr. Smith's talent is undeniable and the audience could tell.

The next two pieces were from "Symphonie Fantastique" by Berlioz. The first of the two was the appropriately titled "March to Scaffold." The movement began with a wonderful crescendo. It then began to give way to a march, but with a somewhat non-traditional mixture of different instruments. Soon after, the march became powerfully led by the strong brass instruments. The building and climax were powerful enough to captivate the entire audience. The next movement, "Witches Sabbath," was an extraordinary piece that was unexpected by much of the audience. The beginning of the songs sounded eerie and almost bizarre. After almost evil sounding music continued, the sounds of bells were heard as the music began to slow. It was a sound that is uncommon in other works and was an unexpected, almost scary sounding surprise.