As I Was at the Concert of My Teacher’s Sonata

It’s my pleasure to attend piano recital on the Friday evening, February Twenty-Third at Recital Hall. The performer, Gregory Wang, who was a senior of Jacobs school of music, and this was his graduation recital. And also, Gregory Wang, he is my teacher of my Beginning Piano Class I (P110). He performed two pieces of music, which were Sonata No.2 in D Major, Op. 94a by Sergei Prokofiev in 1943 and Trio in E-Flat Major, Op.40 by Johannes Brahmas. By the way, Sonata No.

2 in D Major, Op. 94a has four individual movements, which are Moderato, Scherzo: Presto, Andante, Allegro con brio. And Trio in E-Flat Major, Op.40 also has four individual movements, which are Andante, Scherzo: Allegro, Adagio mesto, Finale: Allegro con brio. Gregory Wang played Sonata No.2 in D Major, Op. 94a with Violin played by Callum Smart; and he played Trio in E-Flat Major, Op.40 with violin played by Callum Smart and Horn played by Olivier Huebscher.

Each title he played have specific meanings.

For example, the Sonata No.2 in D Major, Op. 94a, “Sonata” means “to sound”, “D Major” is the major scale based on D, and “Op” means opus. For Trio in E-Flat Major, Op.40, “Trio” means a group of three musicians, and “E-Flat Major” is the major scale based on E-flat. For Sonata No.2 in D Major, Op. 94a are represent for different tempos, “Moderato” means the piece is played at a moderate pace, “Scherzo: Presto” means a vigorous, light, or playful composition played with extreme speed, “Andante” means the piece is played in a moderately slow tempo, and “Allegro con brio” means to perform the composition at a fast tempo with spirit.

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For Trio in E-Flat Major, Op.40, it also has three different tempos, “Andante” means the piece is played in a moderately slow tempo, “Scherzo: Allegro” means fast tempo with triple meter, “Adagio mesto” means the piece is played in a sad and slowly tempo, and “Allegro con brio” means a fast tempo with spirit.

He started the night performance with Sergei Prokofiev’s piece. Prokofiev is credited with the invention of neoclassicism, also called the classical symphony. And he belongs to the Modern period and composed in a variety of styles: expressionist, neoclassical and neoromantic. The music seemed to flow joyfully, and we can feel that from the harmony which really fits into the modern era (innovations that lead to new ways of organizing and approaching harmonic, melodic, sonic, and rhythmic aspects of music). Secondly, he played Trio in E-Flat Major, Op.40 by Johannes Brahmas. For half of whole piece, the slow melody of major chords in low pitches make me feel like someone is telling a story, with dynamic created by different softness on pressing keyboard. Than after the slow melody, the tempo shifts (it becomes a faster melody), and the piece started more intense. These two pieces are technically demanding, not only because part of pieces’ tempo are fast and with quick scales, fast arpeggios apply on both hands; but also the performer needs to put in a lot of feelings into the slower melody, which is a big challenge for the performer.

The performer, Gregory Wang, had many body languages. I believe he carries his feeling through postures and body movement to the audiences. His postures seem like really relax, especially his head, neck and spine are released and lengthening. His body movement goes with the tempo of the music, for instance, when he is playing “Scherzo: Presto” part of Sonata No.2 in D Major, Op. 94a by Sergei Prokofiev where the tempo is very fast, and he moves his body and head in the same tempo, and we can see how much he put himself in the music. His fingers running up and down on the keyboard with incredible dexterity, and his hands jumping across the keyboard with accurate precision.

This recital gives me an enjoyable evening full of intelligent art pieces. My favorite piece in the whole recital is the Sonata No.2 in D Major, Op. 94a by Sergei Prokofiev. The whole piece is really joyful and exciting; I like it because the tempo shifts between relaxing and exciting, the shifts between the slow and fast tempo wake audience up and grab their attention. Also, the different softness on pressing the keyboard also makes the whole piece dynamic.

I definitely can hear the melody he plays, and also, the recital hall environment is really nice at that day: no one is speaking a word, and everyone is so quiet and they all paying attention to Gregory Wang. At the end of the recital, he receives everyone’s applause, and indeed, he deserves it.