FA51 I

April Diane A. Flores

July 3, 2014
Amazing Strings Reaction Paper

1. Praeludium and Allegro

The song played in violin by Kristine Claire Uchi Galano was accompanied
by the piano. The violin played the melody and was complemented by the piano.
The violin (melody) stands out and the piano (accompaniment) stimulates a backing
sound. The song consists of a single, dominating melody that is accompanied by
chords. Sometimes the piano would go with the rhythm of the violin; other times it
contrasts, making the violin more audible. Based on that, the texture of the music is
homophonic.
Sometimes the music would be adagio, positioned in between long
moments of moderato or allegro. At first, it is a bit slow then progresses to moderate
then unhurried then moderate again then it became fast and then much faster and
so on. For dynamics, I think it was a mezzo forte (medium strong) or forte (strong)
regardless of tempo. The tempo was gradually increasing towards the end but
subsequently and maintained its fast pace until the end. Correspondingly, the
movement or melody was ascending.
Generally, the rhythm of the song gives a mixed emotion because of the
combination of the constant slowing and moderation of sound. There are changes in
mood (ground rhythm). For me, it was a bright but a heavy performance as well. It
portrayed a whirlwind of emotions, mostly dark emotions like sadness and anger.
Even though it started with a sad and sympathizing mood, it developed into anger
and rage

2. Meditation from Thais

The Orkestra Sin Arco was the accompaniment in this song. The texture
of this song is polyphonic. But it sometimes sounds homophonic because the
orchestral accompaniment sounds so unified that you think there is only one
instrument that is accompanying the violin. I think it was mainly because the purpose
of the orchestra was sort of for back up while making the violin the star.
The tempo of the song was gradually accelerating (accelerando) up to the
end. From the very start, it was lively and fast (vivace) so you could just imagine how

fast it was when it was at the final part of the song. This is with exception to the
middle part of the song wherein it was sung in moderation (moderato).
The same few lines Pong Pong Guinapong... seem to be repeated over and
over again for the whole span of the song. Even if it reached the verse, there was
still an audible background singing the same few lines. Like the Lulay, the singers
complemented each other by the imitation of lines produced at successive intervals.
Thus, I think the texture of the music is polyphonic.
In terms of dynamics, I think it was getting stronger (crescendo) with added
monosyllable voice emphasis at the very end which by the way was, for me,
startlingly good. The melody or movement was ascending.

3. Caprice 5
First of all, I think the tempo was Presto which means very fast then it
became Prestissimo which means very very fast. It kept maintaining that sort of
chasing scene. And her hand movements were very very fast as well. For a girl her
age, she is truly a musical genius.
The song is monophonic because there is no accompaniment. It was just the
violin and nothing else.
The Musical Form of this song is in Sonata form / Ternary form. The moment
that the statement part transitioned to the fantasia part, I knew that it was going to be
a Sonata form. Just like how Marsalis explained it, the Fantasia sounded like
chasing a pet to the whole building of the mall.
The rhythm was exciting and jumpy. I enjoyed the performance. Overall, I
consider it as an intense piece.