Bright ceiling lights dim as a contented hush settles in the theatre hall. A soundscape emerges as an elegant low E note of velvety texture radiates from the bass oboe and slowly fills the room. Its unwavering tenderness hangs poetically in mid-air then gently and slowly ascends the musical scale with confidence. Out of this soft performance a meditating calm warmly hugs the audience.
The entire oboe family then blends in with a richer yet smoothing influence. Flutes glide in harmony, entering on the 26th bar. But the piccolo raises in volume with his treble voice, above all the woodwind members, playing the melody of his own story. This petite instrument races ahead skipping on sixteenth notes demanding importance. He emotionally caresses high C with sparkling brilliance.
The attentive listener’s explorative imagination grows as she is magically led along this flourishing and complex musical journey. Melodic notes are expressed from the brass family as they begin to coil into the mix. They vibrate and dominate for a many long bars with organized discipline. Eventually fading off, like an actor exiting stage right, the brass section allows the French horn soloist to take possession of centre stage. In a mesmerizing performance, she guides her instrument softly with precise embouchure wooing the audience through a beautiful love song.
Like two birds communicating, the double bassoon responds with a unique love call.
Frightfully the bass oboe interrupts, with alarming expressions, wildly signally a warning. Suddenly a bold whirlwind of invigorating and dense conflict ensues between percussion, woodwind and string instruments in a harsh and tough battle to display their individual personalities and to master the conductor’s attention. The tempo escalates. The dynamics vibrate jaggedly under the high painted ceiling. Under the spell of the composer’s creation the audience gasps for breath as dark staccato warnings pierce the ambiance inside the cozy theatre. The quarrelling of voices continues. The lone tuba manages to bellow out only 2 bars of distress before being cut off the 1st trumpet whose dominance and hierarchy is quickly established in this classical piece of music. He captivates the attention of the other instruments until they all gradually embrace this symphonic leadership and follow along in unison.
As the emotional tension dissipates, the 1st cello initiates a tranquil, deep chocolatey performance. The 1st clarinet accompanies her summing up the conductor’s version of this intimate and intense romance. In this section of elegant dialogue, the audience hears uplifting phrases like those of robins’ songs in springtime under a cerulean blue-sky day.
After a long performance the end of the final movement concludes with the elegant, charming strings delicately escorting the solo flute to its final destination where it fades from dancing a tiptoeing trill to peaceful silence all the while having molded the listener to an enlightened philosophy with restored energy, changed forever.
N 44 and W 080 inferred
Please let the CO know if the cache needs attention.
Please treat this cache as your own ~ be stealthy, seal tight, re-hide as you found it.
~ Thanks a bunch ~ Cedar & Co.