Zackary Park

Concert Review #2

March 19, 2013

I went to go see this concert by the Boston College Symphony Orchestra because two of
my friends were playing it. Because I know that they both play the cello very well, I looked
more forward to this concert than the concert I went to for the first concert review. I enjoyed this
concert even though it seemed very long for such a short program. Also, I have never heard of
the composer before and did not recognize the music that was being played. I noticed that there
were students and adults in the orchestra. I assumed that there were no students who played the
instruments that the adults were playing, so professionals were hired to play them. Overall, I
was very impressed that people my age had such musical talent. The way the instruments
blended with each other and worked together to form a single unit in which music flowed from
was astounding. All of the performers were dressed in black, and the audience members were
dressed casual. The performance was held in Gasson 100 to accommodate the large number of
people.
The Allegretto was played first. The strings were the first to play at a piano volume. The
woodwinds and brass followed, playing at the same volume as the strings. The beginning of this
movement seemed very serene, with long notes and at a piano volume. How such harmonious
sounds came from college students, who were stereotyped wild and reckless, astounded me.
There were many cadences after the strings had many runs. Again, I was awed that such
beautiful music could come from college students. The orchestra was particularly good at
changing its dynamics, whether it was piano or forte. There was a moment of pizzicato by the
strings. Pizzicato is essentially the plucking of the strings using the fingers. The strings played
the main theme first, and the woodwinds followed. This time the woodwinds had the solos, and
the strings supported them, which is known as homophony. The timbre of the trumpets was very
different from the gracefulness of the flutes and the strings. They did not sound very blaring;

Zackary Park
Concert Review #2

March 19, 2013

they sounded very royal-like, as if they were meant for playing inside a castle. The transition
from the first movement to the second movement was almost unnoticeable because the orchestra
ended and started again in pianissimo. The second movement began with the cellos plucking
their strings. The plucking had a very twanging sound, but because the cellos strings are low in
pitch, the plucking had a rich and wholesome tone. Once the other strings play, the cellos also
began using their bows. The cellos appeared to be much like the basso continuo, playing the
same notes over and over again, becoming the underlying bass notes of the orchestra. The
violins kept going higher in pitch until they reached fortissimo, which showed me that the
orchestra had a very wide range of dynamics. The strings began playing these repeating notes
that made them sound similar to bees. Then, the brass, woodwinds, and strings alternated with
each other, creating a serene atmosphere. The orchestra is mezzo piano the entire time, with no
major changes in volume. The second movement ends with the brass blaring, and two final
pizzicatos from the strings. The only problem that I could notice was some intonation problems
in the violin sections during the runs where many notes were played very quickly, for example,
many slurred sixteenth notes. Like all symphonies from the Classical Era, it followed a form.
The first movement was livelier and had a faster tempo than the slower second movement. I was
still awed by the gracefulness of this orchestra, which consisted mostly of Boston College
students.
I cannot write about the third and fourth movements because I did not hear them. But, I
know that they were probably just as good as the first and second movements. I enjoyed the
concert by Boston College Symphony Orchestra very much. The students showed a sense of
professionalism. Their posture and dress appeared much mature than their age. Also, the music
that they played amazed me. I had no idea such music could come from a group of college kids.