James Baldassano October 10, 2012

In todays seminar class, we did a lot of discussion, getting right into it in the very start of class. Being that it was our first session since watching “Turandot”, we of course discussed it and how we felt about (for most of us, most likely) what was our first opera. It was truly an unusual experience for others, as well as myself. I found out that other classmates felt as I did. We all shared a mutual appreciation for how incredible the music was, as well as the scenery, but found the plot a little difficult to really indulge one’s self in. Nevertheless, it was a fantastic experience to have under my belt.

What really stood out about todays class was our visit from Professor Sorata (forgive my botching of his name, I didn’t catch the spelling!” and he seemed very excited about something he had accomplished. He had composed an entire symphonic piece. It was a Rhapsodic variation of Jewish Folk songs. We went into the definition of the meaning of a variation of a song. It is when you take a previously written song, and given a personal interpretation of it, keeping the general sound, but adding inflictions and more complex rhythms. Professor Soratas was very interesting, for he played us a recording of it. It had a very distinct sound, and since earlier in the class he performed a piano version of the original, we could definitely hear the similarities between the two. You could sing the original whilst listening to the variation piece. This was not how all pieces worked though, sometimes the variations strays from the original, with no more than mere traces from its predecessor piece. It was a very interesting experience for me, as I like to write songs in my spare time for piano (not nearly as magnificent) but it was definitely interesting, as I intend to make a variations on Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata”.