Concert Critique: La Vida Breve Essay

The concert was titled â€Å"Guitar Escapades,† the long- awaited guitar duo featuring Nobel Queano and Franco Maigue. The concert happened last September 8, 2011, 7 pm, at NCAS Auditorium. Nobel L. Queano is a graduate of Psychology and Music from the University of the Philippines, Diliman. He was a former faculty member of Miriam College of Music Center, Colegio San Agustin Makati and the Temple Hill International School and a former member of the Baguio Guitar Ensemble and the Philippine Youth Orchestra. He was also a first prize winner and a recipient of the Most Outstanding Student of the Yamaha School of Music Guitar Competition in 1986 and 1987. Presently, he is working with some musicians of the Academy of Performing Arts in Hong Kong privately teaching and preparing international music students for the Associated Board of the Royal School of Music Exams. Franco Raymundo M. Maigue is a graduate of UP College of Music. He finished his Bachelor of Music degree as a cum laude. He is the first prize winner of the 2005 Competitions for Young Artists and top prize winner of the 2002 and 2009 National Music Competitions for Young Artists. He was also featured as a soloist accompanied by the manila Symphonic Orchestra at the First Philippine International Guitar Festival. He has been a member of the UP Guitar Orchestra, Kithara Quartet, Abelardo Guitar Quartet and the UP Jazz Ensemble. B. Musical theme and style Begun as royal entertainment in the 16th Century, these brief plays with songs were revived to combat enthusiasm for Italian opera, featuring uniquely Spanish settings and characters, all suffused with the potent and highly distinctive flavor of gypsy music. As outlined by Suzanne Desmarquez, the origins of this style were Arab, with intense and irregular rhythms, sharp attacks, rough endings, and wide vibrato, manifested through guitar accompaniment, castanets, zapateado (foot stomping and tapping), palmar (hand clapping), rapid triple meters, melismatic beginnings and ends of long held notes and harmonies based on open guitar chords. According to his student, Adolfo Salazar, Falla rejected basing his music directly on folklore, but rather used it as the seeds of his own style, extracting the substance of its sonorities, rhythms and spirit. To David Ewen, Falla was a mystic who sought out and assimilated the soul of Spain to produce a vibrant evocation rather than a literal depictio n. The performers presented Classical Music. II. Analysis of the elements A. Dynamics Dynamics is the loudness and softness of sound. In L a Vida Verde, B. Tempo Tempo is the speed at a regular beat. The first part of the piece is fast or allegro, then, there will be a pause, and a slower part (adagio) is played. C. Melody After hearing the piece, I remembered its melody. Melody is a series of single tones which add up to a recognizable whole. A melody begins, moves, and ends; it has direction, shape, and continuity. How the tones of a melody are performed can vary its effect, too. Sometimes they are sung or played in a smooth, connected style called legato. Or they may be performed in a short, detached manner called staccato. D. Other elements of music III. General reaction to the concert A. Describe the mood audience were amazed (may mabilis na part kasi)nakakaexcite! B. Images and ideas conveyed pre Spanish era†¦ kamisa de chino for boys†¦ for girls†¦ nakikipaglandian ung girls sa boys. may pakipot epek†¦ suyuan sa loob ng simbahan. may pamaypay ung girls. sisilipin ung boy tapos magtatakip ng pamaypay. It is a pre-Spanish era. There were men and women in a church. The men wore kamisa de chino while the women were dress in [damit ng girls? ewan!]. It is like the men were courting the women in the church. The women were shy while the men are aggressive and they are trying to pursue the women. C. Memorable feature of the concert The memorable feature of the concert was when they played the song â€Å"Sana Maulit Muli.† It is a popular song in the country, and everybody knows the song. Those who remember the lyrics sang the song. I liked the way they play the song; it’s refreshing and pleasing to the ear. The audience were lively. This is my first time to hear the song in an acoustic It is relaxing, as you listen to them play. D. Did you like the concert? Why/ Why not? I liked the concert. Why? I am a music lover. I appreciate all kinds of music. I believe that doing the classical songs in acoustic guitar is really hard. I admire the performers, I am a frustrated guitarist. For me to watched such astounding performance, I am overjoyed. I liked the concert because I liked to play guitar. Though there were times that I fell asleep, (well, it can’t be helped because what they’re playing is classical music) and Classical music is like a lullaby to me. I usually listen to classical music when I can’t sleep. I am fascinated by their talent. I want to be a good guitar player too, conducting concerts and go to places and make people happy with my music. I’ve never been to a guitar concert before but I think that the concert was awesome. Playing a guitar for such a long time is hard. And besides the pieces that they play were hard and complicated. They’re awesome.