Every seat in the concert hall was taken. As the lights dimmed, silence filled the room as anticipation permeated the room. The empty stage shined in the bright lights except for a huge black grand piano, which deserved applause in itself for its complexity and beauty. After several slow seconds passed by, Linda Wang – a well known violinist – and Alice Rybak – the accompanying pianist stepped out on stage. Applause broke the silence immediately. It was clear that the reputation of these two great musicians was deeply cherished by many people.
Linda Wang began by playing a famous song by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, titled Rondo in C Major. Many of Mozart’s pieces, including this one, are not considered largos or adagios (which are usually long and slow) or allegros (which are usually fast and up-beat). In the music world, this piece is considered an allegretto grazioso, which is somewhere in between an allegro and a largo and often has aspects of both. Written in 1781, this piece had a feel of aristocratic elegance to it and certainly made one feel like they should sit up a little straighter and straighten their collar. Because this song is a combination of largo and allegro, it seems almost as if it was telling a story to the audience where happy and sad events continually occur. There were parts of the song that were meant to invoke emotion (whether it be melancholy or joyful), and parts of the song that were just merely nice to listen to. Although Linda Wang played this piece perfectly and made it as elegant as could be, everyone in the audience knew that this was just her warm-up song and there were much more challenging pieces yet to come. However, playing a piece by such a well known composer was a spectacular way to instill familiarity and ease in the audience. Violin concerts can hold a lot of pressure because it doesn’t take much to make an error, especially when the violinist and pianist are relying on each other to create the music.
The next piece Dr. Wang played was written by Edvard Greg in 1886-1887 while he was on a “composition vacation” in the mountains of Norway. This piece was deeply infused by the “natural landscape and folk idioms” and there is no doubt it was written to relax and spark imagination in the audience. The sound of it was inspirational, relaxing, and heart-lifting and it made one question what the mountains looked like that the music was so elegantly describing. The sound of it almost seemed as if it could cure a sickness. It seemed that its purpose was purely to please, and the loud applause from the audience made it clear that the music had completed its task, and that Linda Wang had successful played it and portrayed its musical classiness. After this song was the intermission, but people seemed so relaxed in their seats that they hardly wanted to get up from their chairs. It seemed that every conversation in the room had to do with how impressed people were.
The last major song that was played was a Chinese piece called The Stream Flows. The composer, Bright Sheng, noted in his preface to the score,
“The rising moon shines brightly
It reminds me of love in the mountains
Like the moon, you walk in the sky,
As the crystal stream flows down the mountain.
A clear breeze blows up the hill,
My love, do you hear I am calling you?”
The piece was extremely expressive and the notes constantly varied from very high notes to deep low notes. Because of the composer’s descriptive preface, people could make up their own visions of the crystal stream and clear breeze based on what they got out of the music. Throughout the song Dr. Wang would occasionally pluck the strings or bounce her bow as a description of the nature the music was describing. Also, one could feel the longing and affection in the lover’s heart. Linda Wang filled her bow with the profound sound of the music, allowing her audience to drift away into another world. The oriental melody gave the vision of flowers blowing in the breeze in the Chinese mountains.
While listening to the music, people had a variety of reactions. Some closed their eyes and seemed to slip into another world and some looked critical, intent on seeing all the motions the musicians made. Several people glanced around the room, not in boredom, but rather in thought. Some swayed with the rhythm. Each song that was played seemed to instill a different emotion in the audience.
Although there were a variety of emotions and vibes in the audience, the mood of the musicians could not have been more clear. They were in deep concentration, aware that they were playing in front of an audience, but somehow lost in the passion of their playing. As Linda Wang played her violin her body movements were symbolic of the zeal of the song. When the music was loud, intense, and no doubt more challenging to play, she would accentuate her upper body movements. Her feet never moved but it was not uncommon for her torso to twist and turn with the music. When there was a significant crescendo, she would tend to pull her violin up and move in hasty motions. When the notes were quiet and slower she tended to gently sway. It almost seems as though the way a violinist moves when they play is a reflection of who they are and what they are trying to show the audience.
It is hard to say why so many people are so passionate about the sound of classical music. Everyone certainly has a different explanation for what they find pleasing about it. Will people 1000 years from today continue to gather at a concert hall and listen to Mozart’s famous pieces, and if so, will there still be the same reactions? Did people one thousand years before now have the same feelings?
As the musicians left, the big beautiful shining stage remained and once again the big black piano stood out. But it now seemed to expose an enchanting meaning, as if it were something mysterious with endless musical possibility, waiting to entertain people. The music that was played on it tonight was a tiny percentage of beautiful music that has been and will be played.
The standing ovation (that lasted long after the musicians had left the stage) at the end of the concert proved that people were thoroughly impressed. The combination of talent, beautiful sound, complex instruments, and timelessness made it a night filled of awe and inspiration.
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