Craig Berwick (800901017)

Dr. John Cloer

LBST 1103-M91
December 7, 2015
The UNC Charlotte sponsored The Wind Ensemble conducted by
Shawn Smith. This ensemble had eight different pieces that students of UNC
Charlotte students preformed. It was mainly an ensemble, but also featured
a brass ensemble, clarinet ensemble, and a saxophone quartet. During Sadie
by John Allemeier, dancers accompanied the musicians and preformed
Serendipitous Liaisons. The ensemble as a whole was a lot to take it, each
piece expressed a different feeling. There was happy, triumphant, sad,
depressing, and plain weird. I left the ensemble thinking about why the
composer created each piece, and what he was feeling when he made each
piece. Four of the pieces really stood out to me, they were: Fanfare for the
Common Man, Sadie, English Dances (set 2), and First Suite in E-flat.
Fanfare for the Common Man composed by Aaron Copland. This piece
started out with loud drums beating. It then became accompanied by brass
instruments. To me is sounds like something that would be played during the
Olympic games, or when we landed on the Moon. It is very triumphant and
you can feel it in your heart. Fanfare for the Common Man was created in
1942. This makes me believe it was made while war had just started. It could
have been used to persuade people to fight or used before a battle to rally
up the troops. I know if I was a solider in that time and heard this piece I

would feel like a hero and my ego would be through the roof. That could add
to a solders ability to fight during war. Also this is the first piece of the
ensemble. It sounds like an intro into the ensemble, as if it is welcoming you.
The welcoming feeling that I get could also act as a sense of welcoming to
the war, and you dont know what is going to be coming around the next pair
of drum beats. Even without knowing what is coming around the next drum
beats. This is why I get a feeling of triumphant from this piece.
The next piece I had great interest in is Sadie composed by John
Allemeier. This piece was a world premier and had a very creepy vibe. Im
not sure if it was the music or the dancers. Most likely it was both because
throughout the whole song I had the chills of how creepy it was. The whole
time I was trying to figure out what was going on. There were two guy and
girl couples, one girl and girl couple, and 3 girls who all seemed to be friends.
All of the dancers had one thing in common they were all dressed in clothes
that seemed to be from the 70s and they were all there to make the crowd
feel unpleasant. From slapping their own hands so they dont choke
themselves to counting with the fingers, and acting out as if their soul is
leaving their body. After about 10 minutes of just watching the dancers I
became aware of what was really going on. It started off as creepy but as it
went on it become an amazing piece of art. It took me a day to realize it but
when I did I knew that it was expressing modern society and modern
societies of teenage relationships. The music would have mysterious parts,
and short parts of joy. I believe that the mysterious parts are the

unknowingness of the people in a relationship. Them not knowing how to

deal with it since they are so young. The short parts of joy the ensemble
plays are acts of sexual interaction between the couples. The dances also
show this because there are 3 sets of couple and three girls who arent in a
relationship. You can see the 3 couples dancing and chasing after one
another. While the 3 girls who dont seem to be in a relationship are pulling
their hands away from their neck so they dont choke themselves. This
makes me believe that the composer is trying to send a message to teenage
couples that it doesnt have to be shorts burst of joy but they can always
have joy. The composer is also showing that if you are not in a relationship,
there is nothing wrong with that and you shouldnt attack yourself for not
being in a relationship.
The third piece of music that really stood out to me is English Dance
set 2 composed by Malcom Arnold. This dance set is really charming and at
first lets me believe it is for the military as a celebration for a victory, but
then the music changes and it becomes more of a dance for a formal event.
Im not exactly sure what kind of dance would go to this but Im sure that in
1951 they had something to dance to it. It defiantly sounds like the romantic
era to me since its all so classy and makes you want to skip around holding
on to the most beautiful women you can find.
In conclusion each of these pieces had very different meanings and Im
glad that they decided to put all of these pieces into one ensemble so you
could get a taste of each feeling. In a hour and a half span I got hit with a

military victory chant, a weird but oddly pleasing piece that kept me in my
chair, and back to a piece that made me want to get out of my seat and
dance. These composers all had something different going on and producing
these pieces at all different times but I noticed most of these pieces were
around world war two which leads me to believe that a lot of music was
produced during and right after world war two, which could mean that it is
where the music today came from.