In the Haydn portion of the string quartet performance, the volume of the instruments was in a crescendo. The musicians started transitioning by lowering the volume of their instruments and starting back up again in a second.  Sometimes the same thing would happen with the tempo in which the tempo would slow down and then come to a stop, but then start up again at a faster speed.

In the John Adams portion of the performance, the tempo was faster. However, the music did not flow as well as the Hayden performance. The parts were more fragmented and there were very sharp fluctuations of volume with one second pauses. The tempo also was more fragmented because the music would become faster and slower between the second pauses.

Before the Beethoven portion even began, the main violinist explained that this performance was split into seven movements. First there was a dark movement where there was dark and grueling slow music. However within a few minutes, there was a transition to a faster tempo and the music became more joyful. The violinist described it as “the sun coming up after a thunderstorm.” In the middle, the musicians continue to play fast, but then they pause. Each instrument would play a part and then they would continue playing fast and loudly together. Afterwards, the music goes back to its slow tempo. The last movement was very intense since it also had fragmented piece of different tempos and volumes. There was another interval of crescendos between loud and soft music. Overall, Beethoven had the most transitions since it had the broadest range.