Arts

First Student Recital of the Term Showcases Classical Pieces

As Sophie Liu ’20 played melodious phrases on the piano, Douglas Yang ’20 interjected sporadically with a series of varying long and short notes on his violin. Suddenly, the piano seemed to soften and Yang played a repeating vivacious melody followed by a rapid change to a minor chord.

“Spring Sonata” by Ludwig van Beethoven was one of many pieces performed this past Wednesday at the Student Recital in the Timken Room. This concert provided students with the opportunity to showcase their work to peers and faculty in a less formal setting.

Eric You ’18 played “48 Studies, Op. 31, No. 5 and No. 8” by Franz Ferling on the alto saxophone. As You ended each musical phrase with a soft decline in volume, he decorated the next note with a trill, creating a dreamy, silky quality. This contrasted greatly with his next piece, which involved articulate sixteenth notes.

“The second piece I played was the most challenging part of my music because it was just very fast. There is this one passage where essentially I have to sort of switch notes really quickly and it is extremely easy to squeak during that run, so the hardest part about playing today was not squeaking while playing fast,” said You.

“Sonata No. 2 in E-flat Major” by Johann Sebastian Bach was performed by Angelreana Choi ’19 on the flute. Playing notes that climb upwards and downwards in smooth phrases, Choi contrasted the notes with occasional notes in a lower octave. The melody grew louder and faster until the notes suddenly formed a sustained low note.

“I usually do not play Baroque pieces, or pieces from the Baroque era, and they’re not my favorite genre of music to play on the flute, but the piece that I played today was a Baroque piece. Baroque pieces are very complex, and there a lot of small things, like articulation, and just the feel of the piece is different than any other piece in any other genre. My flute teacher actually describes it as learning another language, and I think it was challenging in a sense that it took me a while to learn the quirks of Baroque music,” said Choi.

The student recital is one of two throughout this Spring term. The next student recital will be on May 24, 2017.

“[I thought that this recital] showcased the many talents of Andover students. I went with some of the visiting students from the SESC school, our partner school in Rio De Janeiro, and one of the girls leaned over after the second performance and whispered in disbelief, ‘Are they all going to be that good?’ And of course, they were. I found out that some people who I didn’t expect to be master musicians are actually extremely talented,” said Tucker Drew ’17, an audience member.