A little belated report on the Shostakovich 4 concert.
The weather was not good. Snow came down late Friday afternoon leading to the usual chaos (snow? in Winter? Who would have thought it!). So it was a reduced orchestra that met that evening at the Town Hall. We had a good rehearsal though, worked through some of the tricky bits and it was great to hear the added harp, percussion and celeste.
On Saturday afternoon there was a better turn out and we had pretty much everybody there for a full run through of the piece. It felt more secure than the previous Sunday and it was great having all the parts present.
The concert itself was on Saturday evening. Sadly due to the weather the audience was much smaller than was expected but we still had about 150 people there so not too disastrous. I sat with Oboe 4 in the balcony for the first half and watched the UK premier of a Russian piece. It had some interesting percussion sounds and included whistling by the strings, key slaps from woodwind and blowing through the instrument (without sounding a note) by the brass. Not really sure it is something that I would choose to listen to but it was very evocative and atmospheric. The first half also included Britten's Sea Interludes which were much more my cup of tea and absolutely wonderful.
The Shostakovich was in the second half. I slightly messed up one of my more exposed entries which was very frustrating, but I also managed to get one of them absolutely spot on - which I'd never managed in rehearsal. Overall I think it was the best that I'd played my part and the most confident I'd been in counting the bars I wasn't playing and knowing exactly where to come in. The run through in the afternoon had definitely helped. It is quite a mammoth piece and there was some stunning playing from the orchestra as a whole - especially the principal wind players who had some fiendish solos. The percussion really lifted the whole piece and there were sections which were really quite sublime and spell binding. I loved the percussive, almost jazzy, end to movement 2. The brass chords with timps at the climax of movement 3 were also quite spine tingly!
I think this was the most challenging orchestral piece I've ever had to play, but I enjoy challenges and I feel privelegd to have the opportunity to tackle this one.
Thursday 24 January 2013
Monday 14 January 2013
What a difference a day makes....
I spent a good proportion of yesterday in rehearsal for Shostokovich Symphony 4 in preparation for a concert next Saturday. This local orchestra seem to be gaining a reputation for crazy programming and tend to go for pieces that most amateur orchestras shy away from, for example, The Rite of Spring and Mahler 3 which I played in last year.
I went to my first rehearsal on this before Christmas and came out a bit shell shocked. It was the first time I'd seen the music, the normal conductor wasn't there and they seemed to focus on all the most difficult bits. I was struggling with both counting the bars rests and playing the notes. It all sounded like noise rather than music. Fortunately over the holidays I had chance to listen to the piece and could do some practice on the notes.
Yesterday's rehearsal was significantly better. The sectional rehearsal in the morning helped me see how my part fitted with the other oboes and reassured me that there were large parts of it that I can play - fortunately. The main conductor took the wind sectional and we were lead by a recent post graduate who looked about 12 but is probably in his late twenties. He was very knowledgable, very clear, very detailed and most importantly very encouraging. His enthusiasm for the music was very contagious and it was helpful to hear what different parts of the music represented - the alarm calls, the Russian factories, the references to film music and fair ground pastiche. It was an incredibly useful and helpful rehearsal.
The afternoon was the whole orchestra together and after a look at some corners we made our first attempt at playing the whole thing through without stopping. We managed it - which is encouraging - and some of it even sounded quite good. I found it really useful to see my parts in context and to develop an overview of what I need to work on.
From my perspective:
Most of the time I am playing at the same time as the other oboists which is a nice safe place to be.
There are 2 or 3 bars when I am on my own and need to hold the note when the other oboes have finished. It is good to have identified those parts and be prepared for them. None of them are difficult but I need to hold my nerve and not panic when the others drop out!
There is a lot of counting to do - whole pages of rests with one or two short entries in the middle. But I've marked in some sign posts now so I don't need to count them all. So I am fairly confident about not coming in at the wrong time.
There are some sections that I am really struggling to play but most of those are in very loud tutti sections so will be lost within the noise. I will look at those but I am not overly concerned about them.
There are some more exposed woodwind bits which I need to make sure I can play well. My practice this week will make sure they are absolutely right.
Before the rehearsal I was quite worried that I wouldn't be able to do this at all, but it now feels manageable. It's amazing what can be achieved in just one day of focussed work. But I'm still not sure whether I like it or not though!
We have another rehearsal on Friday with a final run through on Saturday afternoon before the concert on Saturday night.
I went to my first rehearsal on this before Christmas and came out a bit shell shocked. It was the first time I'd seen the music, the normal conductor wasn't there and they seemed to focus on all the most difficult bits. I was struggling with both counting the bars rests and playing the notes. It all sounded like noise rather than music. Fortunately over the holidays I had chance to listen to the piece and could do some practice on the notes.
Yesterday's rehearsal was significantly better. The sectional rehearsal in the morning helped me see how my part fitted with the other oboes and reassured me that there were large parts of it that I can play - fortunately. The main conductor took the wind sectional and we were lead by a recent post graduate who looked about 12 but is probably in his late twenties. He was very knowledgable, very clear, very detailed and most importantly very encouraging. His enthusiasm for the music was very contagious and it was helpful to hear what different parts of the music represented - the alarm calls, the Russian factories, the references to film music and fair ground pastiche. It was an incredibly useful and helpful rehearsal.
The afternoon was the whole orchestra together and after a look at some corners we made our first attempt at playing the whole thing through without stopping. We managed it - which is encouraging - and some of it even sounded quite good. I found it really useful to see my parts in context and to develop an overview of what I need to work on.
From my perspective:
Most of the time I am playing at the same time as the other oboists which is a nice safe place to be.
There are 2 or 3 bars when I am on my own and need to hold the note when the other oboes have finished. It is good to have identified those parts and be prepared for them. None of them are difficult but I need to hold my nerve and not panic when the others drop out!
There is a lot of counting to do - whole pages of rests with one or two short entries in the middle. But I've marked in some sign posts now so I don't need to count them all. So I am fairly confident about not coming in at the wrong time.
There are some sections that I am really struggling to play but most of those are in very loud tutti sections so will be lost within the noise. I will look at those but I am not overly concerned about them.
There are some more exposed woodwind bits which I need to make sure I can play well. My practice this week will make sure they are absolutely right.
Before the rehearsal I was quite worried that I wouldn't be able to do this at all, but it now feels manageable. It's amazing what can be achieved in just one day of focussed work. But I'm still not sure whether I like it or not though!
We have another rehearsal on Friday with a final run through on Saturday afternoon before the concert on Saturday night.
Tuesday 8 January 2013
New things to think about
The holidays are over, practising has settled back into a routine and I had my first lesson of 2013 last night. I have some new pieces to look at and some new things to think about imrpoving.
This week I have a new Ferling study to look at - no 42. The keys get worse as the book progresses and this one has lots of flats to get my head around. I am also starting the Derek Bourgeouis Fantasy Pieces. I don't know if these are technically studies or just unaccompanied pieces but I don't suppose it really matters. I haven't had chance to try the first one out yet but the performance notes indicate that a very smooth legato is required and carefully graded dynamics so I think it could be quite tricky.
We spent most of last night's lesson on the Arnold Sonatina. I need to make the first movement more quirky and spirited. Make sure that I don't slow down through the cantabile sections - or at least make sure that I pick the speed up again when required. We also looked at the beginning of the second movment which will challenge my tone and stamina. This is a great piece for working on vibrato and thinking about how to vary the speed of vibrato to add interest and colour.
I still need to work on the Vivaldi though we didn't look at that last night.
Key points to think about over the next few weeks -
- keeping the quality of the tone consistent throughout register. This was picked up in my previous Ferling slow study where my top A's tended to be more pronounced than the notes around them and disrupted the line of the phrase.
- I need to breath more quietly and also make sure I don't nod my head forward when I breath in. I wasn't aware that I was doing this so need to do more work in front of the mirror (or maybe get round to filming myself again) to train myself out of this.
Orchestra practice starts up again tonight and I have an all day Shostokovich 4 rehearsal on Sunday so it is shaping up to be a busy week!
This week I have a new Ferling study to look at - no 42. The keys get worse as the book progresses and this one has lots of flats to get my head around. I am also starting the Derek Bourgeouis Fantasy Pieces. I don't know if these are technically studies or just unaccompanied pieces but I don't suppose it really matters. I haven't had chance to try the first one out yet but the performance notes indicate that a very smooth legato is required and carefully graded dynamics so I think it could be quite tricky.
We spent most of last night's lesson on the Arnold Sonatina. I need to make the first movement more quirky and spirited. Make sure that I don't slow down through the cantabile sections - or at least make sure that I pick the speed up again when required. We also looked at the beginning of the second movment which will challenge my tone and stamina. This is a great piece for working on vibrato and thinking about how to vary the speed of vibrato to add interest and colour.
I still need to work on the Vivaldi though we didn't look at that last night.
Key points to think about over the next few weeks -
- keeping the quality of the tone consistent throughout register. This was picked up in my previous Ferling slow study where my top A's tended to be more pronounced than the notes around them and disrupted the line of the phrase.
- I need to breath more quietly and also make sure I don't nod my head forward when I breath in. I wasn't aware that I was doing this so need to do more work in front of the mirror (or maybe get round to filming myself again) to train myself out of this.
Orchestra practice starts up again tonight and I have an all day Shostokovich 4 rehearsal on Sunday so it is shaping up to be a busy week!
Thursday 3 January 2013
Another year over, a new one just begun..
The holidays are over and the New Year is a good time to reflect on where I am with the oboe. Over the break I have enjoyed reading through this year’s blog posts to remind myself of what I’ve done, what I’ve learned and it has given me some ideas of what to focus on in 2013.
Repertoire Covered
I’ve looked at a number of pieces in my lessons this year: Richardson’s French Suite, a number of Telemann Fantasias, Harty 3 miniatures, Binge The watermill, Reizenstein 3 Concert pieces, Mozart Oboe Quartet, Hindemith Sonata I've also started on Vivaldi Oboe Sonata and Arnold Sonatina. I have a huge amount of music ready to go for 2013. I would love to find a pianist to play with this year so that I can play through some of these pieces with the accompaniament.
Ensemble playing:
3 concerts with my normal orchestra which has included some wonderful music – especially The Unfinished Symphony and the Russian program we did in March. I was also drafted into play Mahler 3 and Rite of Spring with another orchestra which was a fantastic experience. I met up with other orchestra members to do some chamber music and went on a couple of one off play day events – one with the RLPO and another an Woodwind Event organized by ELCC. This year there are 4 orchestra concerts in the diary and I am again joining the other orchestra – this time to play Shostakovich 4 in January. I have already booked to go to the ELCC Woodwind Day in February and am doing a Chamber Music Weekend in June. Hopefully other opportunities will arise throughout the year.
Other events
I also played at an Adult Learner’s event and a Garden Party with mixed success. I went on the Big Double Reed Day in London which was fantastic and the RNCM Woodwind weekend which wasn’t so good. Hopefully this year I’ll go on the Big Double Reed Day again and would like to play at another Adult Learner’s Event but maybe a different one.
Reed making
I took my first steps in reedmaking and even managed to do some practice sessions on my own reeds. I would like to spend more time doing this in 2013 so I can begin to make some good reeds. I have a reed making day already booked for April and I would like to have progressed a little further by the time I go to that.
Fundamental Technique
Of course importantly- has my playing actually improved? I think I have taken a few steps forward.
Vibrato was a big focus for this year and I think I am making progress. It is hard to judge but it feels like my vibrato is emerging more naturally. Sometimes it disappears, sometimes it sounds too mechanical but from time to time it is just there and becomes a natural part of the sound. I need to work on bringing this out more and also controlling it better to allow variation of speed to stop it being so relentless.
Tone and tuning have also improved. I’ve spent a lot of time recently playing alongside my tuner and I think it is getting better – most importantly my ear is is improving so I am less tolerant of playing out of tune. I feel like my embouchure has also developed further to help support my tone. I am much more aware of when I am losing my embouchure and need to adjust. I can feel more clearly how I need to support using the corners of my mouth rather than biting on the reed. I need more work on this though and also would like to be able to be able to colour the tone in different ways to add more interest.
Articulation – I have done a lot of work on speeding up my articulation, making it cleaner and lighter. I can tell this has improved when I play pieces I learned last year. I still need to work on not disturbing my embouchure so much when I tongue notes.
Dynamic range – growing but still needs work!
Finger facility/ scales – I think this has quite markedly improved. This is one of the easier things to measure and I know that I can play my scales significantly faster than I could when I was preparing for my G8. I have also pretty much learned my major scales in 3rds and my extended major scales. They need more repetition to be completely secure but they are pretty much there. So for this year I need to introduce extended harmonic minor scales and minor scales in 3rds.
Breathing/ breath control – I think this has improved quite a bit this year. I seem to have become better at taking quick breaths within the flow of the music. Still work to do but it feels like something that will come more naturally now.
Stamina – this is something I feel I need to work on, the pieces I am working on are more demanding and are longer so that has highlighted the need for work on this. I need to work on playing longer chunks at a time in practice sessions to build this up.
Phrasing/ musicality –this has been a big focus in my lessons, thinking about shaping phrases and how they fit within the overall piece. There are two aspects from this, understanding what I am meant to be doing and then having the skill to actually shape the phrase in that way. I know that I understand more but my skill is lagging behind. I think I have improved here but there is a long way to go.
Cor Anglais
This was also the year I had my first go on a Cor Anglais. I fell in love with it immediately! I am hoping that 2013 is the year that I’m finally able to buy myself one.
So overall I think I can sum that up as progress on all fronts but still a long way to go.
I have no idea who, if anyone, reads this. But Happy New Year, may 2013 be a happy, productive and peaceful year for you all!
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