Orchestra progress

We are a few weeks into orchestra rehearsals for our Autumn Concert now.  I am really enjoying the music we are playing at the moment so thought it was worth a reflection on how things are going.

1. Debussy Petite Suite - this is 4 movements arranged for orchestra, it was original written as a piano duet.  Our clarinettist commented that his part contained a note that he "had never played in public before".  The oboe part suffers from similar difficulties- it goes from a bottom B all the way up to a top F#.  I have played top F# in my Grade 8 exam as part of a scale but I've never had to play it in public as part of a piece but I'm trying to treat it as any other note and hope it comes out OK.   From an oboe point of view this is the trickiest of the pieces we are playing - high notes, awkward note changes requiring alternative fingering, tempo changes and complex rhythms.  Having said that, I really like it as a piece of music which makes it less of a chore to work on. Hopefully will come together on the night.

2. Smetena - Vltava (an arrangement).  This is a well known piece, even though I wouldn't have known what it was called. Our arrangement includes all the well known themes though is abridged and  a little simplified though the flautists may argue that point.  The oboe part is generally fun to play and the Peasant's Wedding section is a real ear worm that just seems to loop around my head incessently. 

3.  Mozart  - the Magic Flute.  Another well known piece that is coming together very nicely.  There are some really lovely exchanges between the oboe and flute that I am enjoying playing.

4. Schubert - Unfinished Symphony.  I love this piece of music and there are some gorgeous oboe solo bits in both movements.  There is one rather fiendish run of demi semi quavers in the second movement - fortunately not very exposed, they are coming together though.

I find it encouraging to notice in rehearsals how I can now better manage things that were so difficult when I first joined.  I am much more confident now in coming in at the right time after multiple bars of rest, being able to pick up again if I momentarily lose my place, having the stamina to play through longer phrases and pieces.  I think this year I've managed to move on from worrying about playing the right notes at the right time with roughly the right dynamic to think about how I play the notes, how I manage the micro dynamics and phrasing, how I finish the note, making sure I don't cut short the last note (one of my teacher's repeated reminders last year, I think I've finally got it!) etc.  It is nice to feel like I am building skills and improving.