Danzón No. 2 Analysis Essay Example

At the Philharmonie de Paris on August 4th, 2015, the L'Orchestre de Paris performed Danzón No. 2 by Arturo Márquez, conducted by Alondra de la Parra. As part of the Philharmonie de Paris complex of concert halls, the hall that hosted this concert opened coincidentally in 2015, the same year this piece was performed. Alondra de la Parra conducted this concert, a rising star in the composing world. Alondra also became the first woman, and first Mexican to conduct the L'Orchestre de Paris.

This piece mostly stays in A minor melody Arturo Márquez - Danzón No. 2 is for the cuban dance, based on a repeated rhythm pattern called the clave. Danzón No. 2 keeps a harmony that is mostly Consonant with one dissonant section. The musical texture of this piece is sparse to show it is classic Latin rhythm, with a ternary musical form. It has dynamics mostly in mp, however switching to p, mf, pp, and f. With an average tempo of 125 bpm, the piece has solos for clarinet, oboe, piano, violin, French horn, trumpet, flute, and piccolo including the full orchestra. Finally I believe that the composer took a more passionate take to this piece, because it’s based on a Latin dance, and the composer himself is Latin and grew up with similar music. 

I liked these pieces that were performed. Additionally I thought the pieces, alongside the conducting, were entertaining and able to hold my focus throughout the entire duration. The piece Danzón No. 2 by Arturo Márquez gave me a feeling of joy, from experiencing all the tone shifts and imagining the visual images of what suits the music. The piece made it easy to imagine different scenes and picture all the tones. The way the music shifted melody’s and tones so frequently kept me engaged and on the edge of my seat throughout the entire piece. Because of how the piece flowed I felt my mood shifting from calm to joyful to tense. Danzón No. 2 has a great tone variety that uses the orchestra’s instruments well. Overall I’d have to say I enjoyed watching and listening to the concert and I’d enjoy listening to concerts similar to it.

The most notable features of this performance were the select uses of piano, mainly for bridging the melody. Then the use of the Guiro towards the end made the piece stand out, because I haven’t seen it used much in orchestra. This concert is great for lifting up your mood or simply giving you a moment of joy. Personally I found the more intense parts of the song and the crescendo’s back up in volume the most enjoyable parts of the piece. I was slightly surprised by the brief shift to minor key that occurred more towards the middle of the piece. This concert has convinced me to look into more pieces by Alondra de la Parra, and shown me that watching online concerts is more enjoyable than I initially thought it could be.