Piano Concerto in A Major, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

From the Baroque era in the 17th century to the modern times of today, music has continued to change and is still evolving every day. In this essay, I will identify two concert excerpts for comparison and contrast. The concert I analyzed from the Baroque era was Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. For modern-day pop, I did a concert from the pop king himself, Michael Jackson. Live in Munich. Both excerpts from their eras were unique and different in their way, which left a mark in history.

For the first excerpt from the Baroque era, I've chosen to listen and watch “Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. I enjoyed listening to the piece more than I thought I would. Watching Mozart's expression and passion, as he plays the piano, is phenomenal. At first, watching the video, I automatically thought he was just another piano but as the video went on, I noticed that it became more than that it was art. I can only imagine the amount of teamwork it takes to create such a piece with all instruments in sync. 

Although I do not particularly listen to the genre I enjoyed this piece from Mozart. For the second excerpt, I enjoyed the performance of Michael Jackson in Munich. The heart-pumping performance he gives makes you wish you were there. The concert made me move and brought excitement. From his dance moves to his vocals had me feeling energetic and full of life. Both concerts were good to watch.

When it pertains to the similarities and differences, you can tell from the start of both videos. Classical concerts were very formal and organized. The audience was sitting and observing the piece in silence, with occasional coughing now and then. Now modern music was the total opposite. No one is sitting. Everyone was up dancing and singing along. You can see yelling and shouts from the beginning. One thing to notice there were no vocals in the classical piece from Mozart. For expressing emotion and feeling. 

He created it through the harmonies and changes of tempo. That is how most composers in the Baroque era expressed their music. In modern music, you can tell from the energy and vocals of the performance. That sets the mood in most cases. Also, a big difference between the both is the instruments used, Mozart piece was composed of one flute, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, and strings with Mozart on the piano. While Michael Jackson's performance included electric guitars, pianos, drums, strings, and many more that are all amplified by powerful speakers.

For the audience, there is no comparison between the two. Mozart performed had a little over 600 older and elegantly dressed guests who sat quietly with little movement throughout the event. Meanwhile, Michael Jackson's performance had over 80,000 fans of all ages who jumped, clapped, and sang through Michael Jackson's almost two-hour-long performance. The people who would have attended the concerts in the Baroque era were mostly those of prestige status or higher class. Usually dressed properly and seen music as art more than the entertaining aspect as in moving and dancing along. But in today's music, usually, the crowd is tied to the different personalities. As seen in the performance from Michael Jackson, those kinds of concerts of today can get wild with all the jumping, dancing, and singing along. Which differs from the classical era.

In today's society, with the advancement of technology, access to music differs greatly from in the Baroque era. Music today can be accessible from the palm of your hand in most cases. Whether it's buying tickets to using apps such as ITunes and Spotify, people can hear the music of their choice almost instantly. In the Baroque era, music was only listened to live. If you didn’t attend the concert there was no other way to view it. Also, today's artists reach places all over the world with their music more easily thanks to social media and other platforms like YouTube. So they can get visual with the song. It can even be translated to fit their language. Performances back then could only travel so far, so many didn’t know of them. Some probably didn't know of music at all. But we have one thing in common: music is the connection that everyone shares whether it's classical or music of today.