This Saturday, the EPCOR Centre celebrated its 25th anniversary.
The centre had great performances from the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and Alberta Ballet. They also spoke about their history.
We got the tickets from Kids Up Front, an amazing charity with locations all across Canada that provide tickets to events to kids, giving them the opportunity to see a show or sporting event they might not have seen otherwise. If you are interested in learning more about them and how you can help out, you can check out their website!
The first movement from the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra was Festive Overtue Op.96 written by Dmitri Shotakovich on Sept. 25, 1906.
This music starts with magnificent sounds of trumpeting. Then, it suddenly turns into joyful sound with soprano woodmens such as the oboe, flute and piccolo, then they added violin and other instruments. This part of the melody made me fall in love with this piece of music. The whole piece of music basically repeated this melody and ended with base instruments again to give us lingering sound.
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The second movement was The sleeping beauty,Op.66: pas de deux by Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, who is one of the most well-known musicians. This piece of music was performed with the Alberta Ballet, which performed Prince Desire and Princess Aurora’s wedding scene.
Composer Tchaikovsky selected the scenario about a princess who is awakened from a magic spell by the first kiss of true love. This is from Charles Perrault’s well-known seventeeth-century books of fairy tales. You can feel the harmony of orchestra with ballet connected with beautiful melody and two lover’s ardent love.
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The third movement was Observer of Beautiful Forms by Jeffrey Ryan with a piano solo.
For the final movement, they performed Hoe-Down from Rodeo by Aaron Copland. It was the best finale I ever had. It made me excited from the beginning, with fast and high melodies. Trumpet, violin and high sofrano woodmens make music joyful. This music seems to present the folk life and it actually does. Hoe-Down, the final dance in copland’s ballet, is the best known and most frequently performed episode. “Two square dance tunes are included: Bonparte, and a few measures of McLeod’s Reel played in folk fiddle style,” Copland wrote.
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As you enter the Jack Singer Concert Hall of EPCOR centre, you would notice that the majestic pipe organ, holding court from its throne above the stage, is emperor of this stately space. This organ is one of the top 10 majestic organs in the world and it makes tones of sound that are even hard to hear. It can make the sounds of most of instrunments. As today was EPCOR’s birthday, they played famous organ music; Placare Christe Servulis, Op.38 No.16 by Marcel Dupre for us.
Marcel Dupre is renowned as one of the most significant organ composers of the last century, and as a prolific composer of organ works in the early twentieth century Franch style. Written in the manner of a brilliant toccata and based on Gregorian Chant theme, Placare, Christe, Serculis is the final movement of a suit dedicated to the memory of Jehan Titelouze (1562-1633) – composer of the earliest surviving Franch organ repertoire. (from Pamphlet)
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