Last night I went to the First Evangelical Lutheran Church to listen to the Dickinson Orchestra perform several pieces including Stravinsky’s, The Firebird. I went into this performance quite unsure as I know little about classical music and generally have trouble reading into it they way others might, yet I thoroughly enjoyed this piece and was able to hear the variations in the music as the story progressed.

One thing in particular that I noticed was that this piece seemed to follow the Russian guidelines on classical music where one instrument takes precedent over the others. This is a very new concept to me as the only classical music I have ever listened to was of Western origin, such as Bach or Beethoven. These pieces focus on harmony among the instruments in order to bring about one cohesive sound. The Firebird, on the other hand, flips this around and routinely has one instrument or one type of instrument come forward and have its sound heard over the others.

Another part of this piece that I particularly liked was that I could hear where the story of the ballet changed in the music. In spite of my family continually trying to get me to hear it, I have never been able to distinguish between different parts and pieces of classical music. However, for whatever reason, this piece was much easier for me to listen to and understand.

Despite my typical dislike of classical music, this piece captured my attention throughout its performance. Unlike the classical music of the west, I felt that this piece had significantly more enthusiasm and excitement in it as it continually changed tempos and focused on multiple instrument groups, rather than blending them all together.