A Night of Orchestra

Classical music has almost always come along with an orchestra, or vise versa. Now some people may find an orchestra tedious, given the complexities of such instruments played, and classical music as boring. I’ve never really been a classical music freak myself, though I am able to once in a while find special cravings for such sound, usually when I simply want to subconsciously put caressing pillows under such mind of mine that would clutter itself with all the strains of the real world. I honestly have such great respect for such genre and the people who can excellently play musical instruments typically used to play such relaxing and soothing music. Combine these people and their melody toys, and a certain musical sophistication arises.



I got a free invite to Brigham Young University’s (BYU) Wind Symphony and the US 8th Army Band’s performances held at the KBS Hall today, thanks to a late afternoon call from my good friend, Lemons, who had access to the event. She’s actually a student from the said university. The concert venue was just a few meter stroll from my workplace, which was probably why my friend thought of hitching me in.

Songs such as Bugler’s Holiday (Leroy Anderson), Molly on the Shore (Percy Grainger), and Dance of the Jesters (Peter I. Tchaikovsky) were played (not that I personally know the songs— I just copied them from the concert programme:-D), and I just cannot help but be drawn to how the incredibly many and varied instruments on stage were able to create such music that came together and homogenously blended themselves beautifully. I know that an orchestra technically follows a generally accepted hierarchy, with each instrumental group (woodwind, brass, percussion, and strings) having a “principal” that gets to occasionally do solos in a song or piece. Nevertheless, support from the subordinate instruments makes it richer and vibrant in sound, therefore removing such technical concept of a “hierarchy”. Each instrument is just as magnificent as everybody else.



What makes an orchestra performance even more appealing is the presence of a conductor, whom I equally give such respect to (even with his face turned against me). It was just so riveting to see him on stage do a soft sway of his head and hands at one count, then do a stomp with his feet and stiffen his whole body the next, to command everyone in the orchestra to stop. Such power of a stick. I wonder if they have a technical term for that musical wand? You look at the conductor’s movements, and he seems to be doing such an easy and seemingly unimportant job, until he again do that quick, heavy throw of both hands this time, and the whole ensemble suddenly silences. Amazing. That’s the part in every song performance that I actually like- whenever the conductor do that halting hand command.

Here’s a sneak peek of the concert, with the symphony’s rendition of the Korean traditional song called Arirang. It's a bonus track actually, done after all the songs in the programme were played.