Reflection for the Esprit Concert

Plug In, directed and conducted by Alex Pauk, features a program of five distinct works.

The first three pieces are the works of Canadian composers Jose Evangelista, Eugene Astapov

and Matthew Ricketts whereas the latter two pieces are the works of Korean and Chinese

composers Unsuk Chin and Tan Dun respectively.

Each of the five pieces had distinguishing characteristics that surprised me. In

Evangelista’s Symphonie minute, I was caught off guard by the sheer size of the orchestra

because the Esprit concerts I attended in the past rarely featured enough musicians to occupy

the entire stage. The orchestra’s larger size seemed to be necessary however, because the

larger orchestra was capable of amplifying the contrast in dynamics, especially in the second

movement of the piece. Astapov’s Hear My Voice featured a smaller, Esprit-sized orchestra.

Unlike traditional instrument-only pieces, however, Astapov’s work used recordings of

Alexander Graham Bell’s voice throughout the song. Matthew Ricketts’s Lilt also went against

the traditional instrument-only structure by featuring a dancer who provided a visual

representation of the gentle rise and fall, or “lilt”, in the music. Chin’s Mannequin surprised me

the most during the fourth movement as its frequent use of unexpected sforzandos and accents

contrasted the third movment’s use of controlled rhythm and dynamics. Finally, Tan Dun’s

Passacaglia: Secret of Wind and Birds surprised all members of the audience by allowing the

audience to contribute to the piece by playing recorded audio of bird sounds on their phones.

What was most surprising however, was the members of the orchestra using their phones to

play the bird noises themselves.

Three examples of instrumental interplay that I found to be interesting occured in

Evangelista, Astapov and Ricketts’s pieces. In Symphonie minute, Presto chromatique, the

violins and the cellos played chromatic scales in several parts of the movement. What was

interesting was the violins seemed to continue the cellos’ chromatic scales and vice versa. This

created an auditory illusion of a never-ending chromatic scale. Hear My Voice blends the
sounds of the bells and the piano to create a flowing effect throughout the piece. The interplay

was effective enough to have led me to believe that the piano and bells played the same notes

when those parts were a third, fifth or octave apart. Rickett’s Lilt blends the sounds of the

xylophone and the piano. While the xylophone melody would rise, the piano melody would fall at

an equal interval. This amplifies the rise and fall of Ricketts’ desired musical landscape.

Three new things that I heard appeared in the latter half of the concert. The first was

Unsuk Chin’s use of plucking to create a clockwork-like rhythm. The second was Tan Dun’s use

of cell phones and non-musical audio in his piece. The final was Dun’s use of violins and cellos

to mimic the sound of birds through some unorthodox bowing techniques.

In my future compositions, I want to use some of the ideas introduced by Evangelista,

Astapov and Ricketts. Evangelista was successful in creating a sense of discomfort or

uncertainty through the use of chromatic scales and plucking, especially in the string

instruments. This could be useful if I compose a piece that is designed to create uncertainty or

discomfort among the audience. Next, I would like to use Astapov’s use of ambiguity in his

piece. Throughout the song, the audience cannot hear what the voice says, creating a mildly

chaotic mood. Although I doubt I would use voice recordings in future compositions, I would like

to create a similar ambiguous effect in the instrumental parts. Perhaps this can be accomplished

through controlled dissonance or irregular rhythms. Finally, I would like to mimic Ricketts’ use of

overlapping hairpins, crescendos to decrescendos, in his piece. The overlapping hairpins

helped to continue the theme of rising and falling throughout the piece. I found this as a

desirable characteristic and would perhaps enjoy implementing this idea in my own

compositions.