HONORS MUSIC 100
October 30, 2014
Midori & Aydin Concert Essay On October 1st, 2014 at 7 p.m., I attended the UCSD Experimental Violin and Piano Concert performed by Midori and Aydin. Midori (Violinist) and Aydin (Pianist) performed many experimental pieces such as "Netsuke" (2011) by Stephen Hartke and "Synchronisms No. 9" (1988) by Mario Davidovsky. Throughout the concert, I observed anything that was unique or appealing. I listened to the music style and various themes that was developing, and finally listened if each piece was performed well. These are the three criteria's where I figured out whether this concert performed well or not. In the end, The UCSD Midori and Aydin Concert was a fantastic performance.
The first criteria in determining a good concert performance for me is finding out what was unique or appealing to me. There were many examples of where I thought it was very unique or appealing. First, when Midori and Aydin performed the third movement of the piece "Netsuke", Midori was playing the violin in a unique way. Instead of playing the violin with a bow or plucking the strings with her finger. She used a guitar pick to pluck the violin strings. The distinctive sound of the guitar pick striking the string resembles the same sound of the shamisen. A shamisen is a three-string Japanese instrument which is held to be played like a guitar. Never would I thought I would hear a another kind of instrument coming from a violin, just by plucking with a guitar pick.
Next, at the same time when Midori was playing the violin like a shamisen, Aydin was also playing the piano in a unique way. I observed Aydin used some sort of long wooden block, he then reached over the piano and started hitting the strut located inside the piano. Each time when Aydin hit the strut, the sound resonated within the chamber of the piano and created an echo-effect. The combination of sounds coming from Midori's violin plucking with a guitar pick and Aydin's piano hitting the strut, created unusual sounds which sounded very 'oriental'. The sounds sounded close to almost of a Japanese folk-music. It was very appealing of how both were able to create new sounds from their instruments in unique ways.
The second criteria in determining a good concert performance for me is if any music style or theme were developed. First, the music style was definitely experimental as there were many similar examples throughout each performed piece. Throughout each piece, I could not figure out the beat, tempo or meter. In the first movement of "Road Movie" (1995) by John Adams, it was hard to determine a beat. As Midori and Aydin continued to play repeated lines, there would be off-rhythm moments which caused a confusing effect and it kept on stopping me from figuring out the beat or tempo. Another example was heard from the fourth movement of "Sonata No. 3" (1994) by Alfred Schnittke. During the movement, there was many long and short quiet moments. It was hard to determine which moment was a quarter-note rest or a full-measure rest. It was also the same when Midori played long and short high-pitched sounds. Thus, this leads me to believe that the music style that developed in this concert was experimental.
Furthermore, there were many music themes that was developed. In the third movement of "Sonata No. 3", dynamics were formed. Both Midori and Aydin were playing their instruments with strong intensity. There was moments where Midori would play loudly on the higher