Daniel Hope, the “man behind the musical magic,” is a truly talented performer who has hands that move faster than the sounds the instrument produces, haha! As I listened to the Spanish, French, American, Japanese and Middle-Eastern music, I was reminded of a few video game scores I’ve listened to in the past.
One song was entitled Dancers On A String, from the BioShock Original Soundtrack. This song is definitely more macabre (and features more instruments) than any one at the East Meets West concert, however there was something about the violin in Tzigane, rapsodie de concert that reminded me of this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3zkhrBWU0k&feature=related
The other song is titled Deference to Darkness, from the Halo 3: ODST Original Soundtrack. Although saxophones weren’t present at the concert (that’s the main instrument used in this song), the piano sections resembled those of Simon Crawford-Phillips.
I thought it was weird that these classical compositions reminded me of modern day video games, but I believe that this comparison just goes to show us how effective and powerful the music really is. The songs that were composed hundreds of years ago have come a long way to reach where they are today. As they’re performed freshly in concerts like East Meets West, younger generations can relate them to “the music of today.”
As a side note, I was confused as to whether we were supposed to blog today about the East Meets West performance or Don Juan. I know it said blog briefly about the play in the syllabus, but I interpreted that to mean the performance we attended last week. If this blog was supposed to focus on Don Juan, I would like to add this:
Towards the end of my senior year of high school, I played Raoul in The Phantom of the Opera. Our high school was one of the only ones in Queens that was given the rights to put on the show. Throughout the musical, there were references to the opera Don Juan, and I was never sure what that was. Now that we have to read the play for this seminar, I’m gaining a whole new aspect of The Phantom of the Opera and its references to other musical works.
Don Juan is someone who enjoys seducing women and causing problems for them and their lovers. This is a lot like the star of The Phantom of the Opera, The Phantom, in that he seduced Christine and fought with Raoul. I’m not that far in the play yet, but I expect to learn much more as it progresses.
