On March 3rd, 2011 4 members of our group ventured to Southern Methodist University’s Caruth Auditorium to attend a concert held by the school's performing arts program. The Meadows School of Performing Arts presented on this night Alfred Mouledous and Julie Bees who together performed piano duets. Attending this particular performance were group members Anh Vu, Andrew Jin, Mishal Mathew, and Natalie Hope.
IDEAS ABOUT MUSIC
I think one of the ideas that SMU concertgoers have about the music of this culture is that the music is supposed to be entertaining and sophisticated. Classical music requires a rather long attention span because the audience is supposed to sit and listen to the music. It is much more enjoyable when the performers and audience members interact with one another during the concert. It is common for the conductor or the performers to give some background information about the music they will be playing. One way that the performers interacted with the audience at the Alfred Mouledous & Julie Bees Piano Duet was when the performers made some comments about the trouble they were having with the music book--which made the audience laugh. The aesthetic qualities of this music culture are the way the musicians and audience members dress and the quality of the music. It is formal and sophisticated and it is probably a way that the audience shows that they support the SMU music program. As far as the quality of the music, it is meant to be pleasing, relaxing and entertaining. It can be fun to see a piano duet because the musicians interact with each other and equally take part in producing the music. The music of this culture should be performed in the evening--to give a formality to the performance--and quite often. The music is usually performed in the Caruth Auditorium, unless the performance is taking place off campus. There does not need to be a special occasion to perform this music, but it is often played on special occasions.
Natalie Hope
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ACTIVITIES INVOLVING MUSIC
The music in this culture is performed for the public in concert halls and auditoriums and the two main venues for this culture are the Caruth Auditorium which is on the SMU campus and the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center (home of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra) which is in downtown Dallas. Hearing the music live is the ideal way to listen to performances in this music culture, but if people are unable to make it to a performance there is a chance to find it online on websites like youtube.com. Faculty such as Alfred Mouledous play professionally and teach professionally while students aren’t professionals yet but are in the process of becoming one. Though there is no required race, gender, ethnicity, religion, or region to be a part of this music culture the crowd seemed predominantly Caucasian on this particular evening and the two performers were coincidentally Caucasian as well. The crowd consisted of students of the school, fellow faculty, and followers of the Meadows performances. I interviewed an audience member during an intermission and she has no formal ties to the Meadows School of Arts so this music culture welcomes all who are interested in the music. The audience member has been a season ticket holder since the 80’s and told me she preferred SMU concerts over DSO concerts because the tickets are cheaper and the SMU campus concerts are safer than the DSO’s.
Andrew Jin
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REPERTORIES OF MUSIC
The 4 pieces played that night were: Dolly Op. 56 by Gabriel Fauré, Ma Mère L’oye by Maurice Ravel, Sonate (1939) by Francis Poulenc, and Fantasia in f minor, Op. 103. Since it was a duet, the musical phrases played by both pianists overlapped in a melodic and often harmonic manner. Many of the pieces had different sound intensities and time elements throughout a single song. For example, Dolly Op. 56 began with running notes with a fast tempo but had a soft, sustained ending. The duet relied greatly on harmonies of the same rhythm but different notes.
Before going to the performance, I did a little research about the “Classical Music” genre to learn more than I already knew about the genre. According to NAXOS, The World’s Leading Classical Music Group, it is actually quite difficult to define a music culture that expresses such emotion and style (NAXOS, see below). Although many in our own group felt as if this SMU Classical music culture was very elite, according to NAXOS, it is “unfortunate” that classical music has become associated with the elite. The article further stresses the importance of our technological age and how it helps us avoid the distractions of public venues by offering classical music online, for example (NAXOS).
This leads into an interview I would like to quickly mention. During the first piece, an attentive audience member sitting in the very front politely asked his neighbors to stop talking. During intermission, I approached him to ask him why he did that. He told me that enjoyed the tranquility classical music brought to him; the “chatterboxes” next to him clearly did not understand this.
It is important to note that there was no text in any of the music performed that night; it was strictly the piano duets. Any emotion or movement felt by the audience was aroused by the power of music alone.
It was more than obvious that the performance relied on formal instruction. With the multi-sectioned piano pieces, practice was surely necessary. In fact, this music-culture shared its music through learning. Bees is Mouledous’ former student. The impact of this relationship could be seen early on. Sitting side-by-side, Bees and Mouldedous played overlapping melodies, often intertwining their hands on different sections of the piano to play a musical phrase. This comfort between the performers transmitted to the audience as well. At the end of each piece, the audience would softly chatter to each other in acceptance and appreciation of the show.
NAXOS. "Classical Music Education: Introduction to Classical Music." Classical Music - Streaming Classical Music. Web. 1 Mar. 2011. <http://www.naxos.com/education/introduction.asp>.
Mishal Mathew
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MATERIAL CULTURE OF MUSIC
When first going to the piano duet concert, I noticed that there was a very elite feel to the campus as a whole. The building setup, the way the ushers gave us programs, even the way people mingled before the concert. In terms of material culture, there weren’t many objects that stood out as part of the culture. The only “thing” we received was a simple program. After entering the huge auditorium, we seemed a bit out of place because most audiences wore fancy clothes (suits, dark-colored dresses, etc.) and I even observed elderly women carrying designer bags. Although the typical dress for the concert isn’t part of the music culture, it carries the idea that the people involved are typically on the wealthier side and tend to have a taste for sophistication. Once everyone took their seats, no objects were used. It was merely contemplation and deep observation of the performers. Obviously, during the performance, the only object that was essential to the concert was the piano. A grand Steinway piano and two benches for both performers. Another material that was used during the performance was the book of music, which may have made the performance more casual and the environment cozier because of the lack of need to memorize the music. The stage was broad, accompanied by a huge organ on top of the backstage. The lights at the top were separated into squares and there were wires and microphones arranged in a way to project the sound better. After the first half of the concert was completed, it was time for intermission, during which I got to go around and observe more of the culture. I even interviewed an older gentleman behind me, who said that he had been going to SMU concerts for many years because he loves classical music and he thinks the music department there has been excellent consistently. During the intermission, most people got up to socialize or they stayed in their seat staring off into space. However, the gentleman took out a book and started reading it. It was “Learn the Italian Language.” I looked around and I noticed the audiences who came individually pulling out their books and reading them. What I can conclude is that most audiences have a need to think or learn constantly. Overall, although this was only the first concert, I can say that the material culture of SMU’s classical music culture seems very minimal, consisting of just instruments and programs.
Anh Vu
