![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Lovely Sunday
Feb. 5th, 2006 08:42 pmToday it barely felt like February. It was more like April. If I didn't know better, I would have thought that spring was well and truly on its way. It turned out to be a perfect day to trek out to the Forest Hills cemetary for a cello concert in their Forsyth Chapel. The performance was by the Tarab Cello Ensemble (a cello octet), and it was all contemporay music. Dr. Bell had a piece on the concert, so I also got to see him and Ms. Olmstead. They are wonderful people.
The concert was terrific, and all of the pieces were to my liking.
A Cappella - Dan Trueman
This was a perfect concert opener. It was charming, and I don't mean that in a condescending way. It also made good use of different string techniques.
Sisina's Reservoir - Aaron Travers
What I liked best about this piece was its gorgeous sound. Travers did beautiful things with harmonics.
Persist - Garrett Byrnes
I was gleefully impressed with this piece. It wasn't built around themes, melodies, or even rhythms, but instead around textural effects. It was very exciting and dynamic.
They Ate Cellos - Bradley Lubman
This was short, quirky, and great. Again, lots of playing with sound and texture.
Tarab - Larry Bell
I liked this piece quite a bit. It was certainly the most traditional piece on the program, being concerned with themes, counterpoint, and rhythm rather than sound and texture. I really liked the way it introduced dance-like material in unexpected ways.
Broken Cries - David Liptak
This piece struck a balance between using themes and counterpoint and exploring timbres and textures. I especially liked the final third of the piece, when it built up a lot of momentum.
The Forsyth Chapel is one of the most surprising concert venues I've ever been in. First of all, it's in a large, historic graveyard. To get to it, we literally walked through gravesites. We got there early, so we strolled around a bit, checking out the gothic tower and receiving tomb. The chapel itself is a beautiful space, designed by the same architects who designed the Sanders Theatre. It's in gothic revival style, with lots of wood and lovely stained-glass windows. Sitting there, looking at the later afternoon sun gleaming off the polished wood and streaming through the windows, I couldn't help but think how glad I was that I had chosen a life in music, if it lead to spending an unusually nice February Sunday doing this.
The concert was terrific, and all of the pieces were to my liking.
A Cappella - Dan Trueman
This was a perfect concert opener. It was charming, and I don't mean that in a condescending way. It also made good use of different string techniques.
Sisina's Reservoir - Aaron Travers
What I liked best about this piece was its gorgeous sound. Travers did beautiful things with harmonics.
Persist - Garrett Byrnes
I was gleefully impressed with this piece. It wasn't built around themes, melodies, or even rhythms, but instead around textural effects. It was very exciting and dynamic.
They Ate Cellos - Bradley Lubman
This was short, quirky, and great. Again, lots of playing with sound and texture.
Tarab - Larry Bell
I liked this piece quite a bit. It was certainly the most traditional piece on the program, being concerned with themes, counterpoint, and rhythm rather than sound and texture. I really liked the way it introduced dance-like material in unexpected ways.
Broken Cries - David Liptak
This piece struck a balance between using themes and counterpoint and exploring timbres and textures. I especially liked the final third of the piece, when it built up a lot of momentum.
The Forsyth Chapel is one of the most surprising concert venues I've ever been in. First of all, it's in a large, historic graveyard. To get to it, we literally walked through gravesites. We got there early, so we strolled around a bit, checking out the gothic tower and receiving tomb. The chapel itself is a beautiful space, designed by the same architects who designed the Sanders Theatre. It's in gothic revival style, with lots of wood and lovely stained-glass windows. Sitting there, looking at the later afternoon sun gleaming off the polished wood and streaming through the windows, I couldn't help but think how glad I was that I had chosen a life in music, if it lead to spending an unusually nice February Sunday doing this.
