This recital was on the well-known French composer, Francis Poulenc. It featured two of his greatest songs to date, L’histoire de Babar and Sonata for Two Pianos. The recital was on October 6th at 7:30 p.m. in Blankenship Recital Hall. Dr. Elaine Harriss and Mr. Johnathan Vest were the pianists for this particular event. The recital hall was so beautiful. It had white walls and hardwood brown flooring. The chairs were arranged in rows of eight. People were standing up everywhere, and more people continued to come through the doors. I enjoyed this recital very much so because the music was entertaining as well as soothing to the ear. During the first selection, which was L’histoire de Babar, was originally a story book that was written by Jean …show more content…
It was being read by the Chancellor of the University of Tennessee at Martin, Dr. Robert Smith. The music within this work had a lot of dissonance and also it seemed very melodramatic. At some points in the song, I kind of heard a little syncopation, but I was not sure. The music reflected what was going on in the story. If something happy was happening in the story the music sounded like it was very vivacious and lovely. Also, vice versa when something sad was going on; such as death the music would show it in the sound by being very dark and depressing as if it was being played in minor. I enjoyed this piece because overall it was a story being played through song, and Dr. Harriss did an amazing job. It felt that the story was coming alive through the music being played throughout it. I didn’t really think that this song was a serious work of Poulenc. So, I don’t see how this song could have reflected a culture, time, or place. But during the time this was written, which was in the mid-1940s, it was probably modern and classical. I am guessing that the fact that it seemed improvisational was what Francis was going for and trying to entertain his niece and other …show more content…
Dr. Harriss and Mr. Vest were the two pianists for this work by Francis Poulenc. I found this work to be quiet amusing. Just like Poulenc’s other pieces, this work was modern and classical. The song consisted of four movements. The first movement, the Prologue, to me it was dark and a lot of notes that seemed as if they did not fit together. I think that made the song a little different, but I think it was still great to listen to. The second movement, Allegro moto, was unlike the first much faster and lively. The third movement, Andante lyrico, slowed down a little and sound like a song you would here in a love scene of a movie. This movement also had a large amount of dissonance in it, but you would expect that in Poulenc’s music. The final movement, Epilogue, was also very harsh and slow, but it sped up at one point. This was the finale of the song because the entire song felt as if it was in a movie. I really enjoyed this piece because the two pianists seemed to play off of one another and that was really appealing to watch. I don’t know why this particular piece was written, but I think the composer wrote it because he enjoys playing music. Also, I think he wrote it to have fun with two