Vladlen Garder

12/11/2015
Tess Boone
FA 1090
Third Written Formal Analysis
I am going to talk about the SLCC Chamber Singers, Salt City Voices &
Redwood Institute Singers at the performance they had for their SLCC Showcase
they performed at on November 13th, of 2015. They performed at the Grand Theatre
on the South City Campus. The whole performance seemed to be an LDS
performance since those groups were LDS. More than half of the performance
involved religious themes but the other half was about some current songs that
people like to enjoy. The songs were popular pop culture songs that are very
recognizable. They included Im Falling in Love with You, I Was Here, Radioactive,
When Im Gone, and Since U Been Gone. Now I am not a big fan of religious
performances I dont want to judge too harshly but the overall performance was
reasonably enjoyable since I dont personally enjoy Choir performances.
One of the songs I would like to analyze that was part of the overall
performance was the Entire Ensemble they had at the end for the Finale. The entire
ensemble performed Come Thou Fount arranged by Mack Wilberg. Now the reason
why I picked this work was not only the fact the whole cast performed, but it was
the hymn that I got the most personal emotional response with. I was expecting a
louder, energetic piece where the whole cast sang their hearts out. But instead, the
whole piece was relatively peaceful. Now it was a bit louder since there was a lot of

people on the stage, but it was still a peaceful hymn. The entire energy output of
the whole hymn was calm. There wasnt many lyrics in the hymn as it was just
mostly humming and hymning. I felt an inner peace form inside of me. I felt that
something was more complete after hearing this soothing hymn with the soothing
voices. The melody was a simply melody, there wasnt too much complexity in the
song since the tempo was slower. The tempo would probably be a strolling pace if
you were to compare it to a walk. I want to say it was a combination of the energy
and the melody that made me feel this inner peace. The Mood was a little brighter
though since there was no darker tones in the work. The tones were mid pitched
and held out to symbolize praise and Holy Spirit with the held out tones the work
had. The Amount of Space was very spaced out. There wasnt too much action in
the work and I believe this further enforces the praise and peace due to that,
movement was very little as the performers werent jumping pitch or key too much.
The Rhythm was simple as there wasnt too much elements to keep the whole
rhythm in pace. They used voice, lyrics, and piano to keep themselves in tempo.
There was no drum or other instruments other than the entire choir to voice out
their sounds. This whole piece was very well constructed for formulating its theme
for the internal peace and constant praying.
Another one of the songs in the whole performance that I want to analyze
would be the Radioactive cover created by Mark Brymer. This entire piece was an
easy piece to follow and get hypnotized by due to the energetic vibes you get from
the peace. Plus the lyrics are easy to follow and are very recognizable. Some songs
have the instruments blaring over the lyrics and there is no way you could
understand the lyrics. But since this was a lyrical cover, this was an easy piece to
follow. There was a bass guitar, drum kit, and a cello in it. The cello provided some

of the synthesizer effects that the song may have had along with the synth that was
played by the piano. And the drum kit kept the rhythm for the whole song. The song
was more upbeat than the original work, it could be power walking speed if you
want to compare the tempo with a walking pace. The original work was slower than
a walking pace but the whole cover was more upbeat. The energy output was way
higher, and one of the most energetic pieces in the entire concert. The tempo was
upbeat and very audible due to the drum kit playing in the back ground. The
vocalists used their voices as instruments as well, they all rotated though to sing
and put a piece of them in it. I did enjoy how it wasnt a couple of singers vocalizing
though the whole song. They all rotated through and it provides a bit of Timbre as
this allows for different voices to sing the context of the lyrics. This gives a different
feeling and different tones with every different singer since they all have different
voices. There was only 10 singers, but they rotated through beat boxing, humming,
and singing so yea. I want to say the Theme by context is the same as the original
song but by the energy, the whole theme is completely different. The mood emitted
by the original song is more dark and depressing as it talks about a mans struggles,
but this song is more upbeat and doesnt really represent this struggle. It sounds
more about a failure the guy had and how hes at it again to go back and kick more
butt. This change in tone with all of the instruments also really played a huge role. I
mean how was I able to talk about the upbeat moods you get from the piece if the
instruments didnt help? The piece would contradict itself if the instruments were
gloomy and depressing while the lyrics were upbeat. The tone of the piano simply
reinforced this but the cello could put some darker tones in the piece. This whole
piece was a more encouraging piece than the original. The original was depressing

and this piece didnt cut that. Its interesting to hear how this whole piece could
dramatically change by the singing style, and the instruments, and the tempo.
The entire performance was no sneezing matter as the whole theme of the
whole concert was mostly LDS. So there were some serious matters covered in the
concert as the lead would introduce pieces to us and briefly cover the theme of the
work. The overall tone of the whole performance was very calm as the hymns
covered and the prayers covered were a serious matter as the reason why those
groups are performing. They are LDS so they are performing songs they believe in. I
did admire how they didnt sing about religion the whole time and decide to throw in
some outside in the works. The covers had more energy to them than did the
hymns.
The staging of the whole concert was interesting as the way the people were
placed on the whole stage. They had their own stands and they were bending
around the piano and lead in the front of them. The stage was pretty small
compared to the actual stage, but the platform they used was large and fit the
performance well. The different groups would rotate in and out throughout the
performance.
To conclude, this whole concert was very peaceful and seemed to do the job
of helping people finding their inner peace. I wasnt influenced by the work just due
to what I believe in, but this whole work was very educational with the amount of

artistic content in the whole performance.