It was a beautiful day, mild temperatures and not sunny but not cloudy. After a long, rough week, I subconsciously yearned for an activity that would take my mind away from all of the stressful stimuli. Something that stimulated my senses and that helped me clear my head.
On this Sunday, it just so happened that the Cornell Symphony Orchestra was playing. As I walked there with the Rose Scholars group, I took in the refreshing views of Ithacan Spring, and breathed the fresh air. This was all a great appetizer to what was about to be the entree – the symphony’s performance.
It was exhilarating! As the musicians were preparing, my eyes remained glued to their concentrated faces. It was so impressive, I thought, how these students manage classes and other activities but still manage to come practice with the orchestra to prepare such beautiful, pleasing music.
The first piece was Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet piece. It took my breath away. As I sat in Bailey Hall with my eyes closed, I could see the images rise from the notes that were being played. Every single person on stage was in sync and it truly made seeing their precision entertaining in its own right. I had never been to see solely a symphony orchestra, but after this magnificent experience, I know that this will not be the last time.
Love the visuals you created in this post. Sounds like it was a great experience!
Just by the way you described it, the Cornell Symphony sounds amazing and I wish I could have been there! The amount of discipline required to play as in sync as they were is incredible, and a reason why I could never be a musician! Well, in addition to not playing any musical instruments…
Really wish I could’ve seen this performance. Romeo and Juliet is such a great piece. I think they played Sibelius #2 as well, which is one of my all-time favorites.
This is such a well written post. Reading it made me jealous of your experience. I wish I had been able to go to this event. Its always so amazing hearing live music be played. I’m glad you had a wonderful time.
Excellent writing! It sounds like you had a great experience at this event. I have personally attended only a solo concert here at Cornell, but it sounds like I should try the symphony orchestra. It’s very cool that this helped alleviate some stress at the time!
I think the music scene here at Cornell is something that most people don’t enjoy enough. Besides the a capella, there are so many groups that are performing awesome stuff!