The Eastern Michigan University Symphony Orchestra performed two pieces Friday night: Richard Wagner’s “The Flying Dutchman Overture” and Johannes Brahms’ “Symphony No.3.”
“The Flying Dutchman Overture” started with the sound of flowing waves, exemplified by downward chromatics from the orchestra and dramatic timpani rolls. The main theme sounded reminiscient of traditional pirate movies.
The brass and bassoons gave imitative counterpoint throughout, while the strings played powerful 16th note runs. The harp was used in the background, giving a dreamlike quality to the piece. It ended with a crescendo from the orchestra, followed by near silence. This was supposed to depict the Dutchman’s ship wrecking at the end of the piece.
“I enjoyed the Brahms piece over the Wagner, because the clarinets have great parts in this piece,” Clarinet player Ivan Ivanov said. “I have played almost all of Brahms’ orchestra pieces in the past. The hardest part about this piece was trying to express a deep emotion to the audience.”
“Symphony No. 3,” a four-movement piece, began with an expressive opening from the upper strings. There was a nice mix of staccato and legato melodies, as well as counterpoint from the upper strings and the flute/clarinet lines.
“I’ve always been a Brahms fan. “Symphony No. 3” was my favorite of the two pieces we played,” Trombone player Aaron Recchia said.
“The hardest part of the piece was resting for long periods of time and then having to come in again very quietly. On trombone, that’s a really hard thing to do.”
The melody jumped around to various instruments, which helped to keep the audience’s attention. The third movment, in three, sounded at first like a waltz; however, the minor key gave it a melancholy feel.
“The Brahms piece was easy for me to learn, but we only had about three weeks to prepare for the concert,” Cellist Marilynn Eguchi said. “The Wagner was harder and more technical, but I definitely liked the Brahms more. It gave a bigger role to my section.”
Between pieces, Conductor Kevin Miller acknowledged three students from the orchestra who are graduating at the end of the month: violinist Tasha Miner, French horn player Matt Hansen, and percussionist Jeff Grant. Miner will be graduating with a Masters in Violin Performance. Matt Hansen will be starting his Masters in Horn Performance at the University of Tennessee. Jeff Grant will be going on to the University of Michigan for a Masters in Percussion Performance.
