Faculty recital commemorates 9/11

By: Lainey Tepper, Staff Writer 

The Towson Brass Quintet took its audience on a trip through the ages with the Music for the Royal Court and The Fountain faculty recital last Tuesday.

“It was a really cool representation of what the brass ensemble has been from early music in the courts all the way through what was used in America during our patriotic and political changing times,” senior music education major Ariel Breidenbaugh said.

The recital was the first of a series of pieces on politics and change coming from the College of Fine Arts and Communication this year. Other parts of the series will include selections in the fall film series and an art display on Chinese culture.

The concert itself gave a tour of the world throughout different periods of time with music and quick lessons about the history behind it.

“I think it was interesting how it brought together ideas from different cultures and different times about the same themes,” assistant music professor Michelle Humphreys said.

Starting in the royal court of England, the quintet gave a feel for each period with slides moving in the background with important historical figures and moments.

Moving chronologically through time to the French court, the music gave a sense of regality and formality even in a dance tune.

From there the musicians moved to Civil War and antebellum America, filling the concert hall with the jaunty war tunes that are associated with the time period. Then from the World War I era, the audience heard music filled with the nationalism that blossomed during that time.

The concert ended with a piece written by former Towson faculty member Phil Snedecor titled “The Fountain.” Written as a memorial to the victims of 9/11, the piece was presented with slides of pictures from that day put together by EMF professor John Turner.

The piece conveyed the anxiety and fear as the world watched the World Trade Center burn and honored the heroism of those who stayed behind to help.

According to Turner,  “The Fountain” composition “enveloped [the audience] within that day once again in music and pictures.”

After the performance of “The Fountain” the audience remained silent in remembrance of Sept. 11.

“I felt like it was a very appropriate, quiet prayer of thanks for all those who fell,” Humphreys said.

 

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