Post-Finals Treat

For those students who actually showed up to school on the last day of school, Band Director Brad Hogarth and Orchestra Director Matthew Cmiel performed pieces for trumpet and guitar for the few students who came, Mr. Cmiel on guitar and Mr. Hogarth on trumpet. This was a real treat and a great farewell before the summer.

The pieces performed were:

•  Osvaldo Golijov, Agonia from La Pasion
• Maurice Ravel, Piece In The Form Of A Habanera
• Heitor Villa-Lobos, Aria From Bachianas Brasilieras Number 5
• Manuel De Falla, Homanaje Tombeau Por La Claude Debussy
• Astor Piazzolls, Cafe 1930 from The History Of The Tango

Trumpet and guitar are two instruments that are so different that it would seem that performing a piece together they would sound awkward and not fitting. This is, however, a misconception. I myself have been skeptical about trumpet and guitar playing together, but ever since I heard Mr. Cmiel and Mr. Hogarth playing together at one of the instrumental shows at SOTA I understood that they actually sound very beautiful together. The belligerent harshness of the trumpet and sweet, quiet tone of the guitar produce an effect of lush tone. 

The trumpet, being a volatile instrument, is prone to triumphant "shouts" of victory. The guitar, however, is capable of producing such gorgeous melodic phrases that seep through the cries of the victorious trumpet. 

The pieces Mr. Hogarth and Mr. Cmiel performed weren't originally written for trumpet and guitar, but the music was so natural in fluidity that one would have never guessed that those were arrangements. 

My three favorites were Ravel's Piece In The Form Of A Habanera, Falla's Homanaje Tombeau Por La Claude Debussy, and Piazzoll's Cafe 1930 from The History Of The Tango. 

The Ravel attracted me with the Spanish spirit present throughout the whole piece. Homanaje Tombeau Por La Claude Debussy, Mr. Cmiel's solo, had a feel of nostalgia and respect for Debussy. For the Piazzoll piece, I felt like everyone sitting in the audience wanted to just get up and begin dancing the tango. 

I am looking forward for next year's end of the year concert.