During the Duo Francois and Friends concert on September 21, Ron Francois -- violin -- and his wife Silvana Santinelli -- piano -- played three widely differing pieces with the help of Deborah Marshall on clarinet and Charles Tucker on cello. The musicians masterfully portrayed the feelings and nuances that would otherwise be trapped on the page to a polite audience in a crowded organ hall. The traditional and emotional trio from Johannes Brahms starkly differs from Béla Bartók’s rustic and odd Contrasts. Darius Milhaud’s opus acts a silly throwback to former styles of music, certainly putting itself into the quite unique category of twentieth century music.
The piece by Johannes Brahms was originally written in 1854, but the version that…show more content… It’s cacophonic feel truly highlights some cultural differences within music. This reworking of “dancing” tunes is dark, frantic, and suspicious in nature. Bartók frequently bounces between dynamics. The first movement features a note-heavy solo for clarinet and it often dominates most of the melody. The second movement maintains the dark feel, but has shifted towards haunting, crescendoing theme. The clarinet still is prominent in the melody, the violin and piano often acting exclusively as harmony. A few minutes into the piece is a short, frantic section but it quickly returns to its original feel. the beginning of the third movement has the violinist playing on an out of tune violin. It is a rushed and kooky section with many sections of trills and rapidly ascending pitch of notes. An accelerando a few minutes into the piece mirrors a section of these ascending notes. The movement shifts into a more forlorn feel with the violin playing the melody. It soon shifts into a screechy and discordant rhythmic mess, with a mischievous melody being exchanged between the violin and clarinet. It ends finally with a jarring and exuberant flourish. If Bartók remained true to the spirit of the Romanian and Hungarian dancing music, then this piece serves as a culture shock for it’s more western