The way my body judges music

Yesterday, I attended the concert by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. The title of the concert was Vienna Classics.

To understand why the concert was named as above-mentioned, it helps to know the programme for the concert. Here goes:

• SCHOENBERG- Verklärte Nacht, Op. 4, for string orchestra
  
• MOZART- Piano Concerto No. 17 in G Major, K453
  
• BRAHMS- Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90
  

I am not sure if this was the case, but my mind appeared to be at an "alert" state of consciousness only when the music appealed to my ears. Otherwise, I felt as if I was in a state of being half-asleep. I will not doze off, but I won't be alert either. It is a feeling as if my mind was cloudy. Maybe my level of alertness was the way that my body judges the merits of the performance.

The Schoenberg's piece for the concert was not from his atonal period. There was some degree of tonality. I attended the pre-concert talk for the concert and I got to know that Schoenberg was influenced by the music of Wagner, and this influence shows up in this piece of work, Verklärte Nacht, Op. 4. Technically speaking, this piece of work was late Romantic in style, and I should by right like it, but my ears seemed to tell me that I didn't. I was, in the state of being half-asleep, when this piece of work was played. It was only at certain points of the work that my mind turned to being more alert because I heard some interesting elements in the work. Aside from those, I was really half-asleep for much of it. Maybe I don't like this style of music?

The Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 17 was definitely not as captivating as last week's Elgar's Cello Concerto. The first movement, my mind continued to be at a half-asleep mode. For the second movement, my mind gradually turned to a more alert mode. I find that the pianist played the second and third movement better than the first. The first was executed in a rather uninteresting fashion, at least in my opinion. So it was no doubt that I enjoyed the third movement too, because I was able to stay alert. The pianist was good, especially for the second and third movement.

After the interval, the orchestra played Brahms' Symphony No. 3. Perhaps Brahms' music suits my ears, I found myself able to keep alert almost throughout the entire symphony. I was able to stay interested for this symphony. Brahms' Third Symphony is quite nice to listen to. I like the cello melody from the third movement.

Actually, I have no idea if my hypothesis about my body's response to music was accurate. Anyway, it seemed to be, based on yesterday's experience and previous experiences. At least, I did managed to stay quite alert throughout last week's concert despite a long, tiring day last Friday.