Classical Music at DePaul

I've been in Chicago the last couple days and I've been checking out as much music as I can. Last night on the 25th I attended a free classical music concert at DePaul University, a Catholic institution in Lincoln Park. Amazingly it was free and all I had to do was rsvp online and pick up my "ticket" at their box office. Not bad! 

The actual performance was quite elegant. Here's the setlist:

Mozart 

String Quartet No. 19 in C Major, K. 465 (1785) 

Beethoven 

Piano Trio in C Minor, Op. 1, No. 3 (1795)

Piano Trio in D Major, Op. 70, No. 1 "Ghost" (1809)

String Quartet in C Minor, Op. 18, No. 4 (1801)

Debussy 

String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 10 (1893)

Jean Cras (1879-1932)

Trio for Violin, Viola, and Cello (1926)

Schubert 

String Quintet in C Major, Op. 163, D. 956 (1828) 

As you can see it was quite a standard string quartet 'showcase I' as they called it on their program. The Mozart piece opened things up nicely with that characteristic 'classical' sound. The Beethoven pieces were the main showpieces. The Debussy piece was unusual, mainly because I think its the only string quartet piece that he wrote. 

I've never heard of Jean Cras, and when I asked my music mentor, a new music composer named Frank Abbinanti (find his work on YouTube), he said he had never heard of the guy either. However, his composition was quite good. There was definitely a middle eastern sound here. It was refreshing because it was the only modern piece, written in 1926. 

The Beethoven piano pieces were grand. The most virtuosity and musicianship was displayed when the pianists got onstage and woo'd the crowd with their dazzling gymnastic pyrotechnics. I tend to think that most pianists are virtuosos, due to the fact that its a solo instrument. Most guitarists aren't virutosos because its mostly an instrument of accompaniment. Anyways, these piano trio tunes were the real highlight for me. 

The other high light for me was watching the cellists bow and play emotive low notes. Cello is quite an expressive instrument and I've been interested in playing it, but I've been unable to because the instrument is too damn expensive. Maybe one day when I get a better job. Cello would be a great instrument for me to get into, and become a new music musician, one of my goals as a musician; to move from rock and jazz into the new music, modern music scene. 

Lastly, they ended the program with Schubert, classic quartet stuff. I've actually heard a lot of Franz Schubert's quartet music, thanks to YouTube, my main source for music of all kinds. It was a good note to end it on. 

Chicago is known as a blues town but I spent my first night here going to a classical concert. Its good to know that Universities put on free shows for the public, not just for those affiliated with Uni. In the words of Ice Cube, "Yeah today was a good day." 

Avant-garde classical concert, Quartet for the End of Time

When I was in Chicago I got to attend another great concert (first one being a jazz performance). This was an avant-garde classical (what we call modern or new music like Phillip Glass, John Cage, Xenakis, etc) concert that took place at the Green Mill, a famous club where the gangster Al Capone was known to hang at. The show was important for several reasons. I learned how important classical music (and harmony, theory, counterpoint) was to my music education and it gave me new ideas on music.

The concert ended up being too long but the beginning was so terrific that I don't think I'll see anything that great for probably a long time. They played Oliver Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time. I've never quite heard anything like it. Sure I've heard Webern and some atonal classical stuff but this music was different. It has squeaks, what sounded like musical jokes, fast riffs, jazz riffs that reminded me of Eric Dolph's Out to Lunch, a memorable violin solo, and wonderful cello playing. I think I got a lot out of it because I saw how much four people could do on their instruments without even having a drummer. In a lot of ways the drummer was the pianist, bass was the cello, and the two horns were the clarinet and violin. I can think of it that way if I compare it to jazz group.

The Green Mill was a great place to take it. There wasn't that many people there but I do think its important for this kind of music to be played in different places other than University or say a church. What else can I say about the Messiaen piece? It was performed by Depaul University of Chicago students who were probably around my age. They played with such virtuosity, humor, seriousness, and even fun (which is rare to see in a classical performance). The violinist introduced the piece and said,"I'm not gonna say anything about the music, but if you have questions you can buy me a drink and I'll be glad to answer any questions." I thought that was kind of funny coming from classically trained violinist. The performance really opened my ears to different sounds and harmonies. It made me realize that sometimes you don't even need a drummer.

The rest of the concert wasn't as great. The memorable moments was a piece where this percussionist recited poetry while hitting motorcycle helmets to produce different tones (high and low almost like timpani). I enjoyed that very much. Her snare drum playing was phenomenal, I've always like the sound of a crispy snare. Also, there was a performance of this guy playing a clarinet piece using toys that made noise. But he ended up taking so long that I lost interest.

The main reason why we went to this concert was because my dad's composer friend Frank Abbinanti was playing an electronic piece using accordion. However, the electronics were so low volume that you could barely hear anything (from the electronics) while Frank played his accordion. He did sound good and I sort of see where he going with the music and the accordion but the volume was so low that it didn't mesh the way he wanted it to. I wish the guy running the event could've realized that and just turned up the volume, its a very easy fix but didn't happen. 

The next day I went over to Frank's house and he taught me about music for a while. I learned a lot and it opened up my mind and made me realize that if I want to do music as a career (eventually, God willing) I have to study more and take it more seriously. I can't hope to find fortune in playing death metal or crap like that. After you've heard Quartet for the End of Time you don't go playing death metal, at least not me. So the concert really helped and changed my perspective on music. For the better I would say. I'm studying music notation and scores, reading jazz biographies and history books, and practicing a lot more with detailed focus. And it was all inspired by one trip to Chicago. As my younger brother would say,"interesting".