Otis Murphy Review

Otis Murphy, a saxophonist, graduated from The University of Georgia with a degree in music and received his masters in music from Indiana University. He and his wife, Haruko Murphy, team up in this concert with him playing the saxophone and Mrs. Murphy playing the piano. The first piece played was the Pequena Czarda by Pedro Iturradle. The piece began peaceful and mellow; the atmosphere was in a relaxed mood. The melody was filled with high notes. The piece contained high notes and the melody sped up as it progressed. As the piece got more in depth, it was evident to the audience the piece was polyphonic, because there was more than one melody. Mr. Murphy was the lead man of the show; even though, Mrs. Murphy’s piano playing served a great purpose to back up the saxophone.

The next piece that was demonstrated was Once Upon a Time. In the beginning of this performance, soft notes with a mixture of high pitches are played; the melody is moderate but speeds up and ends with a climax in the action. The title of the next piece demonstrated is Two movements. Murphy explained to the audience that the piece was broken into two movements before he and his wife began to play the melodies simultaneously. The first movement featured a mini solo piece by the piano, where the pianist played soft notes along with a saxophone that added low-pitched sounds. The second movement was more of an animated piece; it featured a polyphonic texture and more pitches and rhythms, opposed to the first movement.

Were You There?, is a African American Spiritual that the husband and wife played to the audience next. Mr. Murphy uses a lot of body language to show his passion of this piece. The words are as follows:

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Oh! Sometimes it causes