Music

This concert was my fist experience listening to a bassoon, so went in very skeptical thinking it would all sound the very monotonous and dull. I found the instrument had a profound nasal tone. The reason it makes this sound is because it is a low-pitch woodwind instrument with double-reed and a long wooden body composed of two narrow pieces of cane which are held between the musician's lips (Kamien, 2004).

The "Bassoon Lite" concert was performed by two distinguished members of the University of Florida faculty. Dr. Arnold Irchai, of Russian origin, is the Assistant Professor of Bassoon at the University of Florida, School of Music, the Principal Bassoon of the National Philharmonic, and the Principal Bassoon of the Central Florida Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Principal Bassoon of the Gainesville Chamber Orchestra. He gave most of the credit of his accomplishments; which include being the principal bassoonist of the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra under world-renowned conductors at one point in his life, among many others; to the State Leningrad Conservatory, USSR, where he achieved most of his bassoon studies by receiving his masters and doctoral degrees. He was harmoniously accompanied by pianist Dr. Kevin Orr, the Associate Professor of Piano at the University of Florida School of Music. His accomplishments include several acclaimed performances all over the world, as well as his collaborative work opposite to distinguished international soloists. These two skilled performers meshed incredibly well, as both sounds of the bassoon and the piano complement each other to perfection, creating very smooth and soothing combined sounds (U of Florida School of Music, 2007).

The performance started off with Vocalize Opus 34, No.14, a piece by the Russian composer Sergey Rachmaninoff. This polyphonic piece had a very mysterious and soothing sound composed of mainly minor notes with some anticipated major notes. The tempo would probably be considered medium. The overall serene and pacific feeling of the regular rhythm of the piece was probably influenced by the time period Rachmaninoff lived in; he was one of the main Russian Romanticism representatives. He had all the characteristics of a Romantic period composer--a more secular solo style. Rachmaninoff dedicated this piece to Nezhdanova, a talented Russian singer. Some of the main characteristics of the Opus 34 songs, one of the last sets of pieces he wrote, include "simple vocal lines; sensitive accompaniments that emphasize certain words and phrases by melodic inflections and harmonic shadings", though this particular piece was wordless. (Norris, 2007). Even though this piece was written for the piano and not the bassoon, the bassoon was able to capture the never-harsh sounds and mezzo-piano and mezzo forte dynamic levels with the help of the piano (Yasser, 2007). Dynamically, this piece was one of the most unchanging or regular out of all the pieces in the recital; it took some time to get used to the low range of the bassoon.

The second piece played was Impromptu Opus 35, No.9, by the Soviet composer Reinhold Gliere. This composer is best known for his expressive melody style in his grand scale works; including opera, ballet, symphonies, etc (Grigor'yeva, 2007). He is said to be a "true romantic, in the tradition of Chopin, Tchaikovsky, and Scriabin. The music has the charm of the Russian and French salons of the fin du siecle" (Winogron, 2007). This piece definitely mirrored his style, because it was colorful and picturesque; there were many recognizable realistic representations as the piece went from major notes (representing happiness) to minor notes (representing coldness). The tempo was rather fast and the texture was homophonic. This piece was mostly led by the piano and occasionally accompanied by the bassoon, as it was written for piano. The rhythm was more accented with some syncopation and variation.

The following piece called Reverie Opus 61 was written by Eugene Jancourt during the Romantic Period. This French composer, unlike any of the other composers of this recital, was actually a bassoonist so this piece was written specifically for the bassoon. He was probably the most creative composer of all time for the bassoon. He even worked with some French bassoon makers and reformed the instrument giving it a number of improvements. So he was definitely a virtuoso of the bassoon and knew the instrument like the back of his hand and could make whatever sound he desired. He was characterized for his style of purity of sound (Waterhouse, 2007). This influenced the difficulty level of his pieces. Reverie Opus 61 was probably the most difficult to play for Dr. Irchai, as the fast tempo was evident, and the music resembled the human voice. The piece included some breaks as well as piano and bassoon solos.

The fourth and slowest piece of the bunch was Romanza Appassionata by the German composer C. M. von Weber. This piece by the bassoon and piano were not the best representation of this composer as he is known for his exploration of vocal music through operas and cantatas. His writings were mainly concerned with melodic line in a homophonic way. He used a countermelody; he is also known for using diatonic melodies; and left room for developments and codas. The rhythm was sort of a dance rhythm; it had many breaks and changes in dynamics. The piece ended with a decrescendo, or it gradually got softer until the piece was over. And the harmony was very unconventional with unusual melodies (Tusa, 2007).

Following Romanza Appassionata came Vals Venezolano by Paquito D' Rivera. This Cuban saxophonist's dream was to play jazz, however the strict Cuban government oppressed such practice. Instead he was forced to practice more prestigious modern music orchestra, where he composed the "Vals Venezolano". His music was highly influenced by the political constrain he was under (Manuel, 2007). He was not only a saxophonist but also a clarinetist and bandleader. He has extraordinary skill and he demonstrated it by interpreting South American folk and classical music in his pieces; like this Venezuelan Waltz. He has a more soulful style compared to the other composers; hence his love for jazz. This piece was distinctly more upbeat and with a faster tempo. It has a very playful dance rhythm. The texture was polyphonic and the melody was highly syncopated and accented as you would expect a jazz piece to be. This 20th century composer differs greatly from the rest of the composers due to the different time periods, influences, music passion, and background (Collins, 2007). This was my favorite piece because I could relate more to it since it is similar to modern music.

The sixth piece was The Playful Pachyderm by Gilbert Vinter. This 20th century composer is one of the composers to have provided the central core