Last week was NUTS! Something planned every single day for homeschool, and we finally tanked out on Friday and just hung out at home.
It wasn't bad though, because the things we did were so fun!
My favorite of the week of course was the MN Orchestra Young People's Concert. Last year I picked and chose the concerts according to the age recommendations, but we had such a great time that this year I bought tickets to them all.
Last week's concert was entitled Wacky Sounds and taught us about using unusual instruments in the orchestra, about impossible compositions and about using instruments in unusual ways.
Andrew LOVED this concert and came home bursting to tell his Papa about some of the pieces. Here are two that were his favorites.
The first piece that he loved was the last they played. It is called Blur: The Fragrance Free Collection and is nearly impossible to find online. Download Blur_Todd_Levin.mp3 Luckily as part of the Young People's concert recordings of the program are held online for six weeks following the concert. This piece was written by Todd Levin, a young composer, and includes a breathtaking finish using metal sheets as part of the instrumentation. The kids literally were UNABLE to sit still during this rousing finish, which is even more powerful when you are in the front row a few inches from the musicians.
I loved EVERY piece they played in this concert, but both Andrew and I loved the eerie, unusual feeling found in listening to Banshee Download Cowell_Banshee_for_piano.mp3 . Cowell, the composer, was an early American composer who liked to stretch the definition of instrumentation to its limits and beyond. In this piece a pianist plays along with the orchestra, INSIDE the piano, making strokes, scratches and slides on the inner workings of the instrument. After the concert I was able to go up to the stage and ask the conductor (who played the piano part for that piece) about the musical scoring for such an odd instrumentation. She was very generous to show me the music and explain how to interpret the different sound requests. She also explained that she had put little sticker dots to label the keys inside, so she would be able to tell which notes to use.
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