Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique Review

Watching the Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique provided a different experience than the Tokyo String Quartet. While The String Quartet only had four players (two violinists, a violist and a cellist), the orchestra had about twenty players just for the violin alone. Having a balcony seat during the orchestra allowed us to get a clear view of each player’s techniques and styles. As a result, I found it mesmerizing to see so many violinists moving their bows together in unison. This is in contrast to the Quartet where each individual plays a separate role in the music piece without guidance. In contrast to that, the orchestra had a conductor present. Since we had a balcony seat, the conductor’s back was always facing us but we were able to get a clear view of his movements. I found it interesting to watch him move his body along with the music. Unlike the quartet, his movement was no longer limited to just his head movements. Here the conductor was able to move his head, hand and body fast, slow, left, right, up and down to the music. Another difference between the two performances is that the orchestra had woodwind, brass and percussion instruments in addition to the strings. Since the orchestra had a larger variety of instruments, they were also able to produce more sounds. I thought that it was a nice edition to the music. Perhaps I’m biased because I used to play in a band or it could be due my need for variety because I get bored easily.

Personally, because of these differences I enjoyed the orchestra more than the string quartet. I felt that the style of music in the orchestra was closer to the type of music that I listen to. I think that the addition of the band instruments gave the music a more modern feel, deviating from the traditional classical music with just the strings. Compared to the quartet, I found that the music played by the orchestra was more upbeat and dramatic. After all, they were easily able to go from quiet creeping sounds to loud and lively music. A random thought that came to me during the orchestra performance when the quiet creeping music was playing was Tom and Jerry. It’s a cartoon that I watched as a kid about a cat and mouse that are constantly at each other’s throats.

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