Jarett Jordan
Mus-110
4/22/17
Professor Crouch
Concert Report Option #1
This past weekend, I was given the ability to accompany with many others the listening of Beethoven’s Egmont Overture at the Church of St. Nicolai, Leipzig. The conductor was well acclaimed Kurt Masur. After attending the event, I found that this piece of Beethoven became a personal favorite. After listening to this piece, might I add that the conductor and performers did excellent, I wanted to know the background of this piece that Beethoven masterfully wrote to be recreated for years to come. As a listener, I did not know that this was a well known piece which can be enjoyed if you know nothing at all about what it was about.
This piece is from the Classical Era. Just a brief history lesson. The Spanish occupied the Netherlands in the 16th century, Count Egmont, a member of one of the oldest and noblest families in Flanders, led the resistance to the Inquisition and persecution of Protestants. For his troubles, he was arrested and executed.
Now knowing this, listening to the Egmont Overture you now can picture everything that is going on with this knowledge and I was able to form scenes. Within the music, you can hear and picture the arrest of the Count. The deep strings profoundly I believed brought to life the Spanish judges prosecuting him. Then you hear a sorrowful sound in the plaintive wind replicating what would be, his wife, mother of his 11 children, begging for mercy for her husband. The performers did magnificently with providing an image through this part. Next you hear, in the fortissimo staccato notes of the brass, the final…show more content… As a listener, I was fascinated with the take on the piece that the performers produced. This piece is a perfect reflection of the Classical era of
