Category: Concert Review

For my concert report, I attended “Rigoletto” at the Long Center for the Performing Arts. I attended the one on Thursday, November 14th, at 7:30. We had at least briefly discussed Rigoletto in class so I understood the basis of the plot that goes on during the opera before attending. However, I still conducted a little bit of background research to discover a couple more interesting things about the opera itself. Without further ado, I will go ahead and get right into my report!

Before I get into the musical findings of the concert I wanted to talk a little about the sights and experiences I had. I had never really seen or attended an opera before, so I thought it was cool how there was sort of a “pit” in front of the stage where the orchestra played. The Long Center for the Performing Arts was a beautiful building as I was highly impressed with the architecture, especially the skyline deck located right outside of the building. Finally, I thought it was really neat to see how passionate some people were about the performance, beforehand people were genuinely excited to be there, and most of the seats filled up. Of course, the applause at the end was something that I can still picture and hear in my head.

(Historical Context of a piece performed)

The period when “Rigoletto” was composed is widely known as the Romantic Era in music. It is defined as a self-conscious break from the ideals of the Enlightenment. This era in music grew out of the social and political upheavals that occurred after the French Revolution in the late 1700s. The slogan of the French Revolution, “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity” inspired the hopes and visions of the vast amount of artists. They emphasized intense emotional expression and were highly individualistic. These new ideals of the artists and poets directly impacted music, as did the Industrial Revolution, which strongly influenced the sounds of Romantic Music. Orchestration became an art in itself, and composers now had broad palettes that they used to create certain atmospheres and evoke emotional responses. Before the age of recording, catchy excerpts from operas were marked in arrangements, which allowed the music to saturate its culture, becoming popular in economic and social senses. These profound impacts on music can be seen in “La donna è mobile”, an aria during Act 3 of Rigoletto. The composer of the piece, Giuseppe Verdi, is best known for his operas that capture the spirit of Romantic drama and passion. In “La donna è mobile” (Woman is fickle) each character presents a different point of view. The Duke woos Maddalena in a lovely bel canto-style melody. Gilda is heartbroken, and she laments her lost love (The Duke), while Rigoletto swears vengeance for his daughter. However, Gilda sacrifices herself for the man she loves, and Rigoletto’s plan to murder the Duke is foiled. When he believes he is disposing of a sack with the Duke’s body inside, it is the body of his daughter. As highlighted earlier, this piece uses a bel canto style melody that was developed during the Romantic era, which is defined by florid melodic lines delivered by voices of great agility and purity of tone. Pieces in opera such as La Donna è mobile rose to the top through catchy tunes or melodies, and by connecting to the social aspirations of the audiences or providing emotional reinforcement to political messages.

(Musical Analysis of 3 pieces)

The first piece that I will be describing is the “Prelude” (Preludio), which is the very first thing the audience gets to hear at the start of the opera. The prelude foreshadows everything that Rigoletto is going to be. It creates a dark, ominous mood that has a profound impact on everyone listening. The solo trumpet plays a repeated C while the brass plays a clanging chord, which foreshadows the curse that Monterone will place on Rigoletto and the Duke. We will hear this chord over and over throughout the opera, as this curse haunts Rigoletto. The entire orchestral prelude is based on the theme of the curse, which starts quiet and gradually builds in intensity until it bursts into a fervent outcry by the entire orchestra. The outcry ends in repeated drum rolls that alternate with brass, growing in volume only to come to a dark conclusion. In contrast, the next thing the audience hears is “party music”, which paints a picture of the lustful Duke’s court. (Questa O Quella)

Next, we stumble upon a piece called “Cortigiani, vil razza dannata”, an aria for baritone. This aria traces the emotional thoughts that Rigoletto has undergone since he learned of his daughter, Gilda, being kidnapped. He’s angry, sad, and most importantly, powerless as he begs for his daughter’s release. The repetitive notes in the string portray Rigoletto’s distress, and they also give us tumbling melodic lines that contrast against his syncopated notes, which illustrates to the audience his growing anger. As the strings create tension, Rigoletto sings slowly, becoming aware now that the courtiers stand against him. He gathers speed and power as he continuously begs Marullo to take commiseration with him. Rigoletto then changes key from minor to major, as he proceeds through his torture and makes a persuasive plea for his daughter to be released.

Finally, the last piece we will be discussing was my favorite one from the entire opera. Not surprisingly, this piece titled “La donna è mobile”, is the most popular piece of music to come out of Rigoletto. We touched on the historical background of the piece earlier, but now we can get more into its musical techniques. The aria features a solo tenor who is accompanied by an orchestra. The tenor sings a soaring melody, and the piece is in triple meter. It is made up of two strophes, each containing a ritornello. The ritornello that repeats itself throughout the piece serves as a transition to the next scene of the opera that introduces more characters. Following the aria is a quartet that features four singers and dialogue between all of the characters involved. They exchange phrases in allegro tempo, and sometimes they even speak at the same time, overlapping one another.

(Closing facts about the piece)

The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le Roi Amuse by Victor Hugo. Rigoletto premiered on March 11, 1851, in a sold-out venue. It was considered a success, and the famous “La donna e mobile” gained rapid popularity. The orchestra features 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 clarinets, 2 trumpets, 4 horns, 3 trombones, cimbasso, timpani, strings, bass drum, and cymbals. I won’t name off the entire cast but I will go through some of the main characters…Michael Chioldi (Rigoletto), Kang Wang (Duke of Mantua), Madison Leonard (Gilda), and Peter Volpe (Sparafucile).

I attended a music concert held at the Manhattan School of Music at 8:00 pm Friday, November 08. The concert was directed with various types of music using many instruments. The environment was penetrating as the concert hall was about the dimensions of an average home living room with about 45 people in the spectators. The concert was separated into two main parts with an interval of 15 minutes among the parts. In this concert report, I would like to concentrate on primarily the music pieces I’ve enjoyed and the understanding I have had.

The first part of the concert was varied and colorful as the opening two pieces were presented by both cello and violin. The continuo bass and stable tempo were continued throughout the whole piece therefore these two pieces were very dark. The melodies came typically from the cello, which was highlighted the most. The harmonies were conclusively at times a bit frustrating to the ear. As for an average citizen with an imperfect quantity of musical information, the harmonies were very unfamiliar and problematic to consume.

The melodies were at times very emotional with an abrupt gust of excitement which may be an appearance of anger. The second part of the concert was limited in variety but with a thicker texture. The instruments involved only the piano the interesting part, however, was that two pianos played a single piece as a duet. It was the first time I had seen two pianos located right across each other singing the same piece. The starter of Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major had a cute back-to-back tune.

The piece sounded like a couple, who are just starting a relationship, were singing to each other about their feelings. The rest of the pieces were done either by a solo or duet which was pretty good but didn’t leave as much of an impression as the sonata for two pianos. This was my first chamber music concert and credibly my experience was touching. The complete concert was about two hours and those two hours felt long for someone who had never been to a classical concert before. The atmosphere was very intense, but it also comes with a good advantage of staying focused only on the music.

The former’s distance to the audience was very close, which allowed me to speculate every single emotion being produced throughout the concert. The ceiling of the room itself was very tall, which made this unique echo that enlarged the sounds of the instruments. The audience appeared very professional as total silence was the only rejoinder they had until the end of the piece. The overall concert was an amazing experience and I am looking forward to attending another such chamber music concert soon.

The concert that I attended this semester was my cousin Hailey’s middle school choir concert on Wednesday, December 4th, 2019 at 7:00 PM at North Laurel Middle School. The performance took place in the gym. The concert being in the gym made it so easy to hear the choir member’s voices and the audience could take in the lyrics. My cousin is in the 7th grade, therefore she only performed 3 songs total. The first song she performed was, “America of thee I sing.” The second song she performed was, “From Sea to Shining Sea.” Lastly, the song she performed was, “Song of the Unsung Hero.”

This concert was performed by only the middle school choir and they followed the conductor. The genres that the choir performed for the audience were American musical and Christian. The only instrument used during this concert was the choir member’s voices. The reason for there being no other instruments besides their voices is because they wanted their voices to be able to shine and not be taken over. The choir members had to warm up their voices before they began singing any songs. During most of the performance the choir was singing in the same tone/pitch but there were other times when everyone was singing in flawless harmony. The choir was broken up into three parts which were bass, soprano, and alto. Altos and sopranos are usually female voices and basses are usually male voices. My cousin, being a female and having a high pitch is a soprano.

The concert lasted about an hour and it was outstanding, and my cousin did excellently. To be a middle school choir concert, the concert was well thought out and put together. To be honest, this performance was not what I expected at all and I was just going in support of my cousin. This concert was very entertaining and exceeded all of my expectations. I would most definitely go to another choir concert. The song, “Song of the Unsung Hero” was breathtaking and gave me chills. I had never heard the song before, and it was magnificent. Overall, all three of the songs that I heard my cousin’s 7th-grade choir class perform were excellent, they could not have done a better job.

Growing up with my dad being a pastor of a church, music has always played a big role in my life and has been very influential to me. I remember getting up early Sunday mornings, going to church, and hearing the gospel music. I just thoroughly enjoy listening to music and always will. Going to my cousin’s choir performance filled me with joy just like it did when I was younger going to church. I was really happy with the song choices the choir performed. Everything went smoothly and I am really glad I attended this concert and got to see my little cousin do what she loves.

I started listening to “Let’s Go Away for Awhile” (1966) on YouTube after it appeared in the movie Baby Driver, which became my favorite track. While listening to it, I remembered the “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” (1892) from The Nutcracker ballet I watched as a kid on Christmas and YouTube. The pieces are from different musical eras, 74 years apart. The first one is from the Beach Boys’ album Pet Sounds during a period where mutual inspiration between the Beatles and the Beach Boys led to “a shift toward using the recording studio as an instrument in and of itself” (Carollo), creating 1960s pop. The latter was from the late Romantic period which started to incorporate more lyrical melodies and emotions. Both introduce the melody with a pitched percussion instrument, which makes these two unique as it is not common to do so. Along with this, I am going to investigate what other similar and different traits also make the pieces unique.

The first similarity I noticed is that the main melody or recurring theme of both is introduced first by a pitched percussion instrument.

This similarity is what made me write this investigative post. The famous recurring melody audiences think of when mentioning the Sugar Plum Fairy is introduced by the celesta, a pitched percussion, in bar 5 of Figure 1.

The melody that brings peace to the audience in “Let’s Go Away For Awhile” starts at the beginning of Figure 2 by the vibraphone. The score used is a transposed version for the piano and guitar. Starting the melody with a pitched percussion is not common, making both pieces unique and interesting.

Another similarity is that both received outside artistic influences. “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” is program music, music from the Romantic period inspired by other types of artwork that employs a lot of emotion and dramatic effects. Tchaikovsky’s composition of The Nutcracker Suite was based on Alexandre Duma’s version of The Nutcracker story published in 1884. Duma’s was a children-appropriate remade version of E.T.A. Hoffman’s The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (Balanchine). Tchaikovsky’s piece was based on one of the newly added sweets characters created by Duma: the Sugar Plum Fairy who reigns as queen of the Land of Sweets. As the fairy is “the embodiment of sugar sweet and all that is delectable”, Tchaikovsky wrote used a celesta, which it’s high register and glassy timbre highlight the fairy’s main traits (Hellwig).

“Let’s Go Away For Awhile” also had a lot of artistic influences according to Brian Wilson. His inspiration brings the color of the track and allows the listeners to have a short rest in the album containing sad-themed tracks. Wilson explained that the chord progression may be in a similar form to Burt Bacharach’s subconsciously (Wilson). Additionally, the early working title, ‘Let’s Go Away for Awhile (And Then We’ll Have World Peace)’, shows Wilson’s inspiration from the comedy album How to Speak Hip (1959) by Del Close and John Brent (Linnet). Tony Asher, co-writer of the album, said that Wilson picked up a reference from the album about “if everyone were ‘laid back and cool, then we’d have world peace’” (Linnet). This reference shows Wilson wanted this track to relax and bring peace to people, through the artistic influences he received.

The last similarity is the use of accidentals for aesthetic purposes. Tchaikovsky achieved an aesthetic depiction of the Sugar Plum Fairy and its dance from the ballet through a compositional technique called chromaticism. He used chromaticism in other characteristic pieces, like the piece “March” which describes the marching of the toy soldiers in The Nutcracker.

Tchaikovsky adds accidentals such as a D#, C#, G#, and A# along with their naturals in Figure 3 bars 1-7, which is in E minor. The D# appears in the strong beat and it is later in its natural at the next strong beat in bar 6 of the celesta. The same pattern can be seen with the G# in bar 6 violin I, and the A# in bar 7. The pattern can also be seen in the pizzicato, string plucking, of Violini II, and the viole. Bars 2 and 4 of the violin II show C# used in the upbeat and C natural used in the next upbeat. The same happens in the viole with the G#. These subtle changes in notes allow the ballerina to highlight the queen as the accidentals bring out the elegance and delicacy the ballerina is portraying through a pas de bourée court in sixth position, tendu devant in pilé, and relevé (Brandt).

Chromaticism is again present in Figure 4 with the same trend in the Celesta’s 16th note scales with several triplets. The scalic passages soften the port de bras of the ballerina and convey elegance and delicacy while going on tiptoes (Brandt). Because of several highlighted dance moves, characterization of the elegant character can be achieved, which also builds the elegant aesthetic of the piece and character. Overall, with accidentals, Tchaikovsky enforces the wanted aesthetic for a character in a musical piece.

“Let’s Go Away For Awhile” used accidentals while switching between keys to construct parallel harmony. Parallel harmony is when chords of the same intervallic structure rise or fall by the same intervals in the upcoming chords. Such harmony brings the drifting and peaceful aesthetic Brian Wilson wanted.

The chords in Figure 5 bars 1-6 indicate a parallel harmony. The accidentals every two bars add to the drifting, relaxing, and peaceful aesthetic Wilson incorporates in the piece. In bars 1-2, C and E have an interval of a major 3rd. Wilson keeps the major 3rd interval in bar 3 using D and F# and in bar 4 using Eb and G. The interval leap of a perfect fourth which starts in bar 1 from G to C is also followed in bars 3, 4, and 5. Bar 3 uses A and D while bars 4 and 5 use Bb and Eb. The accidentals keep the same intervals throughout the melody of the vibraphone, conjunction melody line transitions in a flowy movement.

Even though there are various similarities between the two pieces, there are still differences noticed.

First, there is a difference in the important family of instruments both pieces use except for the pitched percussions. “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” has a large amount of instruments from the strings and woodwinds family group. The strings family includes violins, violas, cellos, and contrabasses. The woodwinds include flutes, oboes, English horns, clarinets, and bassoons. The only instrument outside of these two families is the French horn, which is in the brass family. “Let’s Go Away For Awhile”, on the other hand, has a greater focus on brass and strings rather than woodwinds. Because of this difference in instruments used, there is a difference in timbre.

This first difference leads to the second: timbre. “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” has a glassy and resonant timbre which conveys the fairy-tale ambiance. The timbre comes from the instruments, techniques, and styles used.

The celesta is a struck idiophone invented in 1886 by Auguste Muste, uses metal plates that resemble those of a glockenspiel, and has a high, delicate, bell-like sound (Plumley). It also has a register of C4 to C8. This instrument was chosen because Tchaikovsky thought it was the best to describe the Sugar Plum Fairy’s character and grace in her movements.

The celesta’s dotted 8th and 16th note rhythms bring the glassy timbre, especially in Figure 6 bars 5-7. The violins also build up timbre before the celesta enters through using pizzicato in their 8th notes.

The resonant timbre can be heard from the section with the orchestra along with the celesta’s solo melody in Figure 7 bars 21-32. The 16th note melodic passage with leaps of the celesta, the predominant 8th note tied ascending and descending scale of the clarinet, and the use of the arc in Bs of different octaves by all string instruments: violin I and II, viola, celli, and contrabass.

The resonant timbre is also in Figure 9 bars 49-51 in the slur between two different notes by the flutes, oboes, and English horn. The clarinet’s smooth one-beat 16th note downward scale after each resonating note allows a connection to the next resonating note, creating the same resonating timbre. The English horn and clarinets play the same pattern earlier in Figure 8 bars 17-19 while the fagottos follow the same pattern with an 8th note at the end instead of a 16th note.

“Let’s Go Away For Awhile” also has a magical mood with different timbres. The timbre of this piece is rounded, brassy, stringy, and mellow. The rounded timbre is mainly from the melody played by the vibraphone at the beginning. The resonance of each note which is in the middle register, above C3, brings out the rounded timbre. The 8th note motif in Figure 10 bars 1-6 with leaping intervals of a perfect fourth and a major 6th also adds to the rounded timbre. The vibraphone itself also produces a sound that resonates, further adding to the rounded timbre. The vibraphone’s smooth harmonic transition through parallel harmony brings a rounded and mellow timbre. The brassy and stringy timbre is prominently heard after the piece shifts in meter to 6/8 and when the brass and string ensemble join together. The whole notes in the middle register played by the brass and string instruments enhance the certain characteristic sounds both instruments have, again conveying the brassy and stringy timbre. The mellow timbre is heard throughout the whole piece, but prominently in the vibraphone solo sections and the section of the guitar strumming with a saxophone. The tweak in the guitar, which made it sound semi-steel, produced an effect that highlights the mellow timbre the overall piece has (Wilson). Overall, the different timbres are essential for Tchaikovsky and Wilson to further characterize the pieces they wrote.

Lastly, the meter and tempo of the two pieces are different. “Let’s Go Away For Awhile” uses a quadruple meter of 4/4 which later shifts to 6/8, a compound duple time. The piece has a tempo consisting of 88 beats per minute. Meanwhile, “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” uses the meter of 2/4, a duple time, at andante nontroppo, slow but not too much. These two differences are connected to the difference in timbre. In the Beach Boys’ piece, the change in meter occurs when the vibraphone has a solo followed by the brass and string ensemble and the strumming of the guitar. All of these add to the rounded, brassy timbre the piece has which conveys the drifting mood. In “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy”, the constant duple meter keeps a steady beat which highlights the piercing timbre played by the pizzicato strings at the up-beat along with the various accented notes in the strong beat and the staccatos of the celesta. The constant meter allows the dancer, who has to express a specific character, to dance at a set rhythm and focus on expressing the character. As seen, even though the difference in meter and tempo is subtle, it is enough to affect the timbre of the piece and to highlight certain traits of the piece.

“Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” and “Let’s Go Away For Awhile” are from totally different eras, but even with this time difference which affects the musical style and the piece, several links can still be tied. I might later do another blog post like this with two other pieces, and I may receive recommendations for it so leave suggestions in the comments below!

Bibliography

1. Balanchine, George. “George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® Program Notes.” PA Ballet, PA Ballet, paballet.org/nutcracker-program-notes/.
2. Brandt, Amy. “Visions-and Variations-of Sugar Plum.” Pointe, Pointe, 26 Nov. 2018, www.pointemagazine.com/sugar-plum-fairy-tips-2412810998.html.
3. Carollo, Lily. “The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds Came out 50 Years Ago. It Still Feels Fresh Today.” Vox.com, Vox Media, 16 May 2016, www.vox.com/2016/5/16/11675942/pet-sounds-beach-boys-50th-anniversary.
4. Hellwig, Rachel. “Sugar Plum Fairy Exposé: Dissolving The Sugar Coating.” Dance Advantage, Dance Advantage, 21 Dec. 2015, www.danceadvantage.net/sugarplum-fairy-exposed/.
5. Linett, Mark (2001). ‘Track-by-Track Notes’. In Pet Sounds (p. 19) [CD booklet]. Hollywood: Capitol Records, Inc.
6. Plumley, Gavin. “A Spoonful of Sugar: Tchaikovsky’s Use of the Celesta in The Nutcracker – Royal Opera House.” Royal Opera House, Royal Opera House Covent Garden Foundation, 2013, www.roh.org.uk/news/a-spoonful-of-sugar-tchaikovskys-use-of-the-celesta-in-the-nutcracker.
7. Wilson, Brian.(1966) Album Notes for Pet Sounds from the Beach Boys, [booklet]. Hollywood, CA: Capitol Records.
8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow4t3C_gCCY (Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy)
9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEoKf52h9ok (“Let’s Go Away For Awhile”)

 

In everyday life, respect is really important. As youngsters, we are trained (hopefully) to respect our guardians, educators, and seniors, school regulations and road laws, religious and kinship traditions, other people’s emotions and rights, our nation’s flag and authorities, the truth, and other points of view.

And we grow to cherish such traits; as we become older, we may shake our heads (or fists) at others who don’t appear to have learned to respect them. We acquire enormous esteem for those we regard as outstanding and lose respect for those we perceive to be clay-footed, so we may attempt to appreciate only those who genuinely deserve it. We may also grow to feel that, on some level, everyone is deserving of respect.

We come to discover that if we do not receive respect in our occupations and friendships, we become miserable. We may learn that respecting the things that ought to be respected improves our lives together, as well as that we should respect some things regardless of how our lives may unfold.

We may also discover that how our lives unfold is influenced by how much we regard ourselves. The importance of self-respect may be something we take for granted, or we may realize how essential it is when it is endangered, or we lose it and must strive to restore it, or we may fight to create or keep it in a dangerous situation.

In an official setting, one cannot overemphasize the importance of respect; it is indeed, one core value every firm must have ingrained in its employees of all levels and genders. By extension, this corporate value will naturally resonate in the employees’ dealings with customers, who are the ‘kings’ and ‘queens’ in every business rapport. That said, Transsion as a firm is not left out of having this core value ingrained in its employees. Having said this, bracing ourselves with a conceptual understanding of the term, respect will be the right step to take in order to ready ourselves as we explore how this all-important value plays out in our dealings here in Transsion.

Understanding Respect As A Concept

Respect is etymologically derived from the Latin word ‘respects,’ which means ‘attention, regard, or consideration.’ It is defined by Alejandra Salazar as ‘esteem for or a sense of a person’s worth or excellence, a personal quality or ability, or something considered to be a manifestation of a personal quality or ability.’

It is an essential part of one’s personal identity as well as one’s interpersonal relationships. Feeling respected could be considered a fundamental human right. Disrespect is a critical factor that can lead to breakups and even violence.

It is a concept that relates to the tendency to value and honor another individual, including both his or her words and actions, even if we do not agree with or support everything he or she does. It is accepting the other person rather than attempting to change them.

Respecting another human being does not imply passing judgment on their attitudes, behaviors, or thoughts. It is not expected of anyone to be otherwise.

Our dissimilarities are beneficial because they help us define ourselves. This implies that individual differences exist, but more importantly, that as members of society, we are all the same. Everyone deserves to be respected just for being human.

Respect for others is essential, but respect for yourself is absolutely vital because you will appreciate others to the extent that you can regard yourself. Respect as conceived here entails perceiving ourselves with high esteem which will condition how we regard others we come in contact with in our day-to-day activities.

Respect In Transsion

In Transsion, respect is one corporate core value estimably cherished. You wonder what must have kept it operating for over a decade in Africa, the firm grew to the top by holding in high regard the customers in the continent, rendering listening ears to what they want. In 2008, the firm broke into Nigerian markets selling its first mobile device and had gone on to surpass Samsung as Africa’s number one mobile phone supplier.

With about two decades gone, Transsion now operates plenty of brands, especially Infinix, Itel, and Tecno, which represent the bestselling mobile phones on the African continent. This is no mean feat and cannot be achieved in a working environment that lacks respect. Andrew Deck of the Rest of World and Zeyi Yang traced the root of Transsion’s success to its business strategy, ‘Glocalization’ – this entails creating products that will sell all over the world and at the same time, be customized to specific markets or regions. Dissecting further this ‘Glocalization’, one can decipher the role played by respect; yes, respect for local mobile device users. Simply put, listening to these users, gathering their positive expectations of what they want in their devices, and configuring them into quality mobile devices, keep them informed and communicating.

Most mobile-savvy Africans understand that they need more than one SIM card to navigate through outrageous network fees and get the best connectivity in low-coverage areas — but most cannot afford two phones. Transsion in respect, addressed this issue as it went on to sell dual SIM card phones in 2008, two years before competitors such as Nokia did. In short, some Transsion phones now include a four-SIM slot.

Another area Transsion placed a premium on the African mobile device users is the quality of pictures issued out from the cameras of its mobile phones. A camera that pays attention to the exposure of darker skin tones was imperatively needed; Transsion delivered.

Transsion spent a lot of money on research and development for this venture, examining millions of photos of dark-skinned Africans and inspecting the exposure and color temperature settings of local users. Finally, it incorporated these desires into the design of its own camera.

Understanding what languages mean to African mobile device users, Transsion has developed with respect to the local languages spoken in some areas of the continent, keyboard with native scripts. Swahili and Hausa languages have been designed for Transsion devices; these have opened up a whole new customer base for Transsion.

Respect in Transsion can be seen in cheap phone models that it has maintained over the years. Observing that entry-level mobile phone in certain parts of Africa on average costs 69% of an individual’s monthly income, a revelation made in a 2019 report from the mobile network trade association GSMA and how ravaging poverty was in the continent, Transsion looked to keep the prices of its phones low, knowing that the costs of phones matter. This it has succeeded in.

The respect in Transsion is not limited to mobile device consumers, it extends ultimately to its employees. Respect is courted by employees of Transsion, an international company that has many employees of diverse racial groups, religions, and genders. Respect will be very much needed if the right synergy for success is to be sustained. Globalization currently en vogue has made a case for respect in Transsion. Because of globalization, most of our workplaces now have a diverse mix of people of various races, religions, and ethnicities. This is critical because having a diverse workplace boosts productivity. However, the most important thing in a diverse workplace is to maintain respect among coworkers in order to reduce job stress.

To maintain workplace respect, employees must be courteous to one another, refrain from passing judgment on others, control their anger, inspire others, and so on. Little wonder, humility, respect for other people’s time, and an attempt to be empathic are all important variables in Transsion.

How best is respect reciprocated in Transsion? It can be difficult for one to get others to respect one if we do not respect ourselves. Cognizant of this, Transsion has laid down rules and regulations that guide how employees relate to achieving its goals. Not just that, training is organized by its Human Resources department which tries to inculcate this essential value. Transsion has arranged office settings that allow people of diverse races to work together and closely. This can only thrive where there is respect.

Transsion has also male and female employees all over the world. But with respect, we have seen both genders work together to achieve the goals of the company. Transsion’s employees are also of diverse religious backgrounds and the need for respect cannot be overemphasized. There is no gainsaying the fact that respect has been the guiding principle of Transsion all these years.

Transsion Closing Up On All Accolades

At this juncture, it is safe to note the formidable role played by respect in the height Transsion has reached too. Respect is reciprocal. Little wonder, the accolade Transsion has earned making many dubs it as ‘Africa’s cellphone king’. Transsion accounted for nearly half of all handsets (smartphones and feature phones) exported to the African continent last year, according to IDC data.

It has formed a continent-wide ecosystem that includes everything from hardware to software, as well as after-sales service. Its brands include Tecno, Itel, and Infinix cellphones, Oraimo digital accessories, Syinix electronics and appliances, and Carlcare after-sales service. It has also created a number of mobile operating systems and apps like Scooper to meet local needs. In this way, Transsion has spread its tentacles with esteem, closing up on further accolades.

I have chosen Mozart’s Violin Concerto in D major KV 218 for violin and orchestra which I have been working on for the past few months. Mozart composed this piece when he was 19 years old on October 1775 in Salzburg. He was granted the post of concertmaster to the Prince-Archbishop from 1773-1777. During these few years in Salzburg, he composed the majority of his works for solo string instruments and orchestra to use those works for special occasions, which proves that concertos and concertante music for solo string instruments were popular in Salzburg during this period. In the year 1775, there were more than a few hundred works that he composed which consisted of serenades, violin concertos, piano concertos, and etudes for his female students. Though all five violin concertos were composed during the years of 1773-1775 in Salzburg, except the third movement of Violin Concerto No.5 which was composed in Vienna in 1781, the rest of them have been traditionally ascribed to the year 1775, thus the accurate date of when those pieces were completed is not clear.

One of the reasons for this flourish in activity within those years was the possibility of experimenting with all the new compositional techniques acquired during his third trip to Italy and his stay of several months in Vienna from July to September in 1773. Despite the amount of successful work, he was not satisfied with working in Salzburg because of the low salary and attempted to find a position elsewhere. In 1774, he traveled to Munich by himself and wrote a letter to his father to inform him that he had no luck with church authorities there. The bishop whom he had been wanting to see for a long time had told him “Ah, Mozart, the first thing for you to do is to become famous, then we will see. You must understand that here in Munich people do not want deal with beginners. So travel and become famous!”. His father replied to his letter that “…depart from Munich if nothing more can be obtained.” In 1775, although he tried to get a fixed position with the Archbishop, the theater ended up being closed.

Mozart began his career as a violinist at the age of six, after receiving a child-size instrument from the emperor and empress during Mozart’s trip to Vienna in 1762. He played a Violin Concerto in B-flat by Vanhall and also a Strasbourg Concert on the violin when he was on a trip to Mannheim and Paris in the fall of 1777. Those performances were very successful according to a letter which he wrote to his father on October 23-25 of 1777. This proved that Mozart himself likely played some of his violin concertos, though he was not as comfortable playing on the violin as on the piano. He stopped his career as a violinist in public during his trip to Mannheim and Paris in 1777-1779 mostly because he was persuaded by his father.

Several musicians may have performed Mozart’s Violin concertos. His acquaintance, Josef Mysliveček, whom he had met on his third trip to Italy, may have been one of the reasons why he decided to compose violin concertos during the years 1773-1775. In addition to that, there must have been outstanding violinists among the court orchestra as well as among amateur musicians. While there are records of Antonio Brunetti, who was a solo violinist and concertmaster to the Archiepiscopal court, who performed Mozart’s Violin Concertos, it is not verifiable whether these works were written expressly for him. There is another Salzburg violinist Johan Anton Kolb performed Mozart’s Violin Concertos. Mozart-era violin concertos were performed indoors, at intermission between the acts of a play, or in church during movements for reflection during Mass or Vespers, unlike the concertos by Romantic composers such as Brahms or Tchaikovsky which were performed in larger concert venues. But even though several musicians performed Mozart’s Violin concertos, it still cannot be determined for whom or for what occasion Mozart wrote them.

Mozart’s violin concertos were considerably less well-known and less frequently performed than his piano concertos during his lifetime and even in the 19th century. His concertos were mostly derived from the works of Antonio Vivaldi, whose concerto form consists of three movements and a ritornello form. In addition to piano and violin concertos, he also wrote two concertos for flute, four for horn, one for Basson, one for oboe, one for clarinet, and one for a combination of flute and harp. He was an expert in improvising his cadenzas and all of his violin concertos were without any written cadenzas.

The first movement of violin concerto no.4, Allegro, starts in a martial fashion which you can find in his previous violin concerto K.216 No.3 “Strassburg” in G major. Mozart introduces a beautifully contrasting section into the orchestral ritornello and returns to the noisy energetic opening for only the last few measures before the solo section comes in. From this perspective, Mozart seems to have made a special decision to make the solo section come out of the orchestral texture. The second movement, Andante Cantabile, is in A major which is the dominant key of the first movement and implies a “singing” movement in his era. One of the things that I found special about this movement was that a lovely touch of solo violin theme is furnished by the little canonic echoes that the oboe offers the soloist just before the return of the opening material in the middle of the movement, which sounds beautiful. Although the virtuosity of the outer movements is absent here, it is replaced by a beautiful melodic outpouring. The third movement, Rondeau: Andante grazioso, opens with a brief section which is a dance-inspired in 2/4, which recurs three times throughout this movement. After that, Allegro ma non troppo in 6/8 follows and the Allegro begins the same way in its fourth appearance and then branches off into something new. This third movement may have a folk melody like “Strassburger”, but no source for it has yet been uncovered.

I have chosen Mozart’s Violin Concerto in D major KV 218 for violin and orchestra which I have been working on for the past few months. Mozart composed this piece when he was 19 years old on October 1775 in Salzburg. He was granted the post of concertmaster to the Prince-Archbishop from 1773-1777. During these few years in Salzburg, he composed the majority of his works for solo string instruments and orchestra to use those works for special occasions, which proves that concertos and concertante music for solo string instruments were popular in Salzburg during this period. In the year 1775, there were more than a few hundred works that he composed which consisted of serenades, violin concertos, piano concertos, and etudes for his female students. Though all five violin concertos were composed during the years of 1773-1775 in Salzburg, except the third movement of Violin Concerto No.5 which was composed in Vienna in 1781, the rest of them have been traditionally ascribed to the year 1775, thus the accurate date of when those pieces were completed is not clear.

One of the reasons for this flourish in activity within those years was the possibility of experimenting with all the new compositional techniques acquired during his third trip to Italy and his stay of several months in Vienna from July to September in 1773. Despite the amount of successful work, he was not satisfied with working in Salzburg because of the low salary and attempted to find a position elsewhere. In 1774, he traveled to Munich by himself and wrote a letter to his father to inform him that he had no luck with church authorities there. The bishop whom he had been wanting to see for a long time had told him “Ah, Mozart, the first thing for you to do is to become famous, then we will see. You must understand that here in Munich people do not want deal with beginners. So travel and become famous!”. His father replied to his letter that “…depart from Munich if nothing more can be obtained.” In 1775, although he tried to get a fixed position with the Archbishop, the theater ended up being closed.

Mozart began his career as a violinist at the age of six, after receiving a child-size instrument from the emperor and empress during Mozart’s trip to Vienna in 1762. He played a Violin Concerto in B-flat by Vanhall and also a Strasbourg Concert on the violin when he was on a trip to Mannheim and Paris in the fall of 1777. Those performances were very successful according to a letter which he wrote to his father on October 23-25 of 1777. This proved that Mozart himself likely played some of his violin concertos, though he was not as comfortable playing on the violin as on the piano. He stopped his career as a violinist in public during his trip to Mannheim and Paris in 1777-1779 mostly because he was persuaded by his father.

Several musicians may have performed Mozart’s Violin concertos. His acquaintance, Josef Mysliveček, whom he had met on his third trip to Italy, may have been one of the reasons why he decided to compose violin concertos during the years 1773-1775. In addition to that, there must have been outstanding violinists among the court orchestra as well as among amateur musicians. While there are records of Antonio Brunetti, who was a solo violinist and concertmaster to the Archiepiscopal court, who performed Mozart’s Violin Concertos, it is not verifiable whether these works were written expressly for him. There is another Salzburg violinist Johan Anton Kolb performed Mozart’s Violin Concertos. Mozart-era violin concertos were performed indoors, at intermission between the acts of a play, or in church during movements for reflection during Mass or Vespers, unlike the concertos by Romantic composers such as Brahms or Tchaikovsky which were performed in larger concert venues. But even though several musicians performed Mozart’s Violin concertos, it still cannot be determined for whom or for what occasion Mozart wrote them.

Mozart’s violin concertos were considerably less well-known and less frequently performed than his piano concertos during his lifetime and even in the 19th century. His concertos were mostly derived from the works of Antonio Vivaldi, whose concerto form consists of three movements and a ritornello form. In addition to piano and violin concertos, he also wrote two concertos for flute, four for horn, one for Basson, one for oboe, one for clarinet, and one for a combination of flute and harp. He was an expert in improvising his cadenzas and all of his violin concertos were without any written cadenzas.

The first movement of violin concerto no.4, Allegro, starts in a martial fashion which you can find in his previous violin concerto K.216 No.3 “Strassburg” in G major. Mozart introduces a beautifully contrasting section into the orchestral ritornello and returns to the noisy energetic opening for only the last few measures before the solo section comes in. From this perspective, Mozart seems to have made a special decision to make the solo section come out of the orchestral texture. The second movement, Andante Cantabile, is in A major which is the dominant key of the first movement and implies a “singing” movement in his era. One of the things that I found special about this movement was that a lovely touch of solo violin theme is furnished by the little canonic echoes that the oboe offers the soloist just before the return of the opening material in the middle of the movement, which sounds beautiful. Although the virtuosity of the outer movements is absent here, it is replaced by a beautiful melodic outpouring. The third movement, Rondeau: Andante grazioso, opens with a brief section which is a dance-inspired in 2/4, which recurs three times throughout this movement. After that, Allegro ma non troppo in 6/8 follows and the Allegro begins the same way in its fourth appearance and then branches off into something new. This third movement may have a folk melody like “Strassburger”, but no source for it has yet been uncovered.