Reflection On The Music Concert: The Mobile Pops
On Monday, September 24, I attended the Mobile Symphonic Pops 2018 Fall Concert in the Mary G. Montgomery auditorium. They played eleven pieces with an intermission in the middle. The music played had all different sorts of tonalities, tempos, melodies, and themes. Throughout the entire concert, it felt like you were taking a trip around the world, as the speaker made clear. The use of different instruments and melodies proved this to be true.
The first piece played during the Pops’ concert was titled “Moorside March” by Gustav Holst. The song starts off with heavy brass instruments with a fast tempo. The trumpets provide a counter-melody against the other brass instruments that are played in short, staccato-like rhythms. The brass instruments abruptly stop and the woodwinds quickly pick up the same melody the brass instruments were just playing, but in decrescendo. Afterwards, the brass instruments come back in fortissimo. This pattern repeats until about the end of the song, where the song gets quieter once again, better known as decrescendo, then comes back with a very significant and abrupt ending.
The next piece played was titled Damse Bohemian, which was played in a major tonality. The instruments were fast and energetic throughout the entirety of the song. This song had a very strong presence of the xylophone, which descended and ascended extremely fast. The same beat was repeated throughout the whole piece and was played by the woodwinds and the brass instruments.
After Damse Bohemian was played, we move on to a more South American influenced song. This song is titled Fiesta, and you can tell this piece is influenced by South American sounds in that it features trumpets and maracas. This was played in minor tonality with a heavy presence of repetition. Then comes in the trumpet solo, and after that the song goes back to playing its earlier melody, which was very fast paced. Soon follows a much slower tempo lead by the flute and clarinet and gives off a suspenseful feeling. The song then gets very fast paced, yet again with an abrupt stop.
This next song is called Rio Con Brio and is allegro in pace. It features a cowbell played just as swiftly as the brass instruments, and is very repetitive. Towards the end, the music dynamics become quieter as certain sections play their own part of the music. Then, the instruments all come together one last time in fortissimo, playing loudly yet again, before the song is over with.
Bayou Breakdown is the piece played after Rio Con Brio, and is very different in that it starts off with a single clarinet playing a repetitive ostinato with a trumpet playing a counter melody in a staccato like way, giving off a feeling of suspense. More and more instruments come in and change up the melody slightly, then all instruments come together in unison to play the original melody lead by the clarinet in the first part of the song. The song then goes from being very fast paced to a much slower, adagio sound. Towards the end of this piece is a suspenseful build-up leading into the same way the song started, with a single clarinet playing the original melody. This song was my personal favorite.
Next up is Finale from Symphony 9 which starts off identical to the “Jaws” theme. This then ascends into a faster pace played by the trumpets and clarinet. Later on is a slower suspenseful sound given off by the clarinets and then transitions into other brass instruments joining in and playing in a much louder dynamic. In the middle of the song is a lot of crescendos and decrescendos, then finishes off with a suspenseful, high-pitched repetitive melody played by the clarinet once again. Merry Go Round is the next piece played by the Pops, and just like the title suggests, it has a carnival-like sound to it. It starts off with fast paced trumpets, then the instruments all get quieter, better known in dynamic terms as decrescendo. The music repeats and constantly gets louder again. The song finally ends with a crescendo in an abrupt way.
After Merry Go Round is a piece called Southern Hymn, which starts off very calm and quietly with a trumpet playing the main melody. Then comes a large crescendo accompanied by cymbals. This song makes you feel sad through minor tonality, and sounds a lot like something out of a sad scene in a movie. The following piece is called Winds of Poseidon, and starts off with a very low woodwind instrument solo. Soon follows the brass instruments, playing the part of “Poseidon”. This piece has multiple crescendos and decrescendos, with the decrescendos giving off a very calming and peaceful feeling. As the music increases in dynamics, the tempo of the song seemingly increases too before ending quickly. After Winds of Poseidon leaves the audience with feelings of anticipation and thrill, Noisy Wheels of Joy quickly takes that feeling away with a soft sound of the woodwinds. Then follows the brass section playing a much more frantic counter melody. The song suddenly runs into plenty of crescendos and decrescendos, juggling between the woodwinds and brass instruments, before finishing off with once again another abrupt ending.
The final piece played by the Mobile Pops is titled Transcendent Journey and almost immediately starts off with a fast-paced melody, including many woodwind instruments. After around thirty seconds of this, the song hits a decrescendo and the instruments play a similar yet different sounding melody, one that’s much slower and calming. Soon enough, the song picks up and ends extravagantly, with drums playing in the very last few moments of the piece.
As the concert comes to an end, I realize how each song differed from one another. The Mobile Pops played a different assortment of music, all at different tempos and with varying melodies that are interesting enough to keep a member of the audience listening throughout the entire Fall concert. All eleven songs gave off different emotions and all had different influences from different cultures and themes. All in all, I was able to apply what was learned in class into this concert to the best of my abilities and expand the way I listen to music.
