Evening of Latin Music

On January 29, 2010 at 8:00pm there was a concert located at the conference center presented by the UT Dallas music faculty. At first, when I saw that it was Latin music I wasn't expecting anything spectacular and I also wasn't expecting the room to be so filled with people. For a concert, the room was bordering on too small but the audience was quiet for the most part and everyone had seats as far as I could tell. Being a faculty concert at an university, the room or space can be overlooked.

The music was decidedly more contemporary which leads me to believe that it was at least partly mix metered, as many contemporary composers like to do. The first piece, Suite for violin, clarinet and piano by Darius Milhaud is one such piece that was performed that day. The first movement of the work starts at a quick pace with melodies and counter-melodies, while the second movement is slower and features fewer voices at the same time. The third movement picks up the pace again and addresses the first movement with a joyous sound. A characteristic of the fourth movement that is found in many contemporary pieces is the existence of many clash notes. Using clash notes, one is able to create a moment of tension to release the next moment.

On stage, the performers, for the first piece, sat facing each other as much as possible and they though they all wore suits they all looked quite comfortable. As the performers, they are joining in this bond of music as they each play their parts and pull each other along. It is very much a different experience for the performer. The audience is left to listen to the sounds of the music, which is the bi-product of the musician's fellowship with one another.

As an audience member, listening to this music is experienced in 2 parts, the visual and the audio. What makes music beautiful to watch, in a sense, is the relation of the musicians as they play. The violin, clarinet and piano players did not look as though they involved the audience as they performed. The concert, then, was as much a performance for the audience as it was for the musicians themselves.