On Saturday my orchestra performed its Spring Concert. I think it went reasonably well. We were playing in a lovely local church. It is quite small but very beautiful (and incidentally our local ABRSM music exam centre). I think the orchestra took up as much room as the audience but we had a reasonable number of attendees - there were very few empty seats.
Our programme was:
Rossini - The Thieving Magpie. This went better than I expected and I was very glad to get it out of the way first. Stamina and speed wise this was the most challenging piece of the evening for me. I am quite glad not to have to play this again.
Warlock - Capriol Suite. I quite liked this in the end, even with all the strange discords in it. It was fun to play.
Bizet - L'Arlessienne Suite. Possibly the most well known of the pieces we were playing. It always reminds me of my school orchestra, but it is not actually as easy as that may suggest. I think we got through it in tact though. Though the afternoon rehearsal was, in truth, much better than the performance.
INTERVAL
Schumann - Symphony no 1. I grew to actually quite like this - especially the first movement. We seemed to have settled down a little more in the second half and, I think, played much better. This was definitely the best we had ever played this piece. So it was a triumphant way to finish the programme. A couple of people said they thought it was the most difficult symphony we had ever played. I am not sure whether that is true or not. It is hard for me to judge when my playing and orchestral skills are improving. I found everything we played much more difficult a couple of years ago. But there were some tricky moments in this one - especially around tempo and time signature changes - some of these we got right for the first and only time on the night!
It was an enjoyable evening, my reed worked, I managed to get through the programme without my lip going and overall I was pleased with how I played.
But most of all I am REALLY looking forward to some new music at tomorrow's rehearsal!
Showing posts with label Schumann. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Schumann. Show all posts
Monday, 18 March 2013
Monday, 10 December 2012
New Orchestra Programme, Spring 2013
We have now had 4 rehearsals in preparation for our next Orchestra concert. I had to miss one of them due to work so have only had 3 but still plenty of time to get a feel for the new programme.
So what are we playing?
1. Bizet - L'Arlesienne Suite No 1.
A piece forever associated in my mind with school assemblies. Every Thursday our school orchestra would play for assembly. They accompanied the hymns and then played an exit piece as we filed out of the hall. I am sure they must have played other music but it did feel like the only piece they ever played was the Prelude from this suite. In honesty, I don't really mind it and I quite like Carillon - there are some lovely sections shared by the oboe and flute.
2. Peter Warlock - Capriol Suite
We haven't attempted all the movements of this yet. It does seem fairly straight forward to play though there are some very discordant parts. I am undecided on whether I like this or not!
3. Schumann Symphony No 1
This wasn't our first choice for the Symphony, apparently we were meant to be doing a Max Bruch one but the parts were just too expenstive for us to either buy or hire. This one is nice enough. We haven't tried the second movement yet but the other movements are very playable and generally pleasant. I rather like the Scherzo/ trio section.
4. Rossini - The Thievish Magpie.
I think elsewhere it is translated as The Thieving Magpie but my score says "Thievish" which is a much more evocative word. This is, for the oboe, the hardest of the pieces we are playing. It is fast and requires a lot of stamina to get through. There are some awkward, quick, triplet figures that I'm struggling to get my fingers around. Fortunately mainly lost in a tutti section so not so prominent. There are some other more exposed twiddly bits that will require some dedicated practice before March too. This is good fun to play though and is one that most of the audience should know.
Our concert is not 'til March so we should have plenty of time to lick these into shape.
For a bit of interest in the meantime, I've also been asked to play 3rd oboe with another local orchestra when they do Shostakovich Symphony no 4 in January. This is the same orchestra that I did Mahler 3 and The Rite of Spring with earlier in the year. First rehearsal for this will be on Monday with a full day of rehearsal a week before the concert. I'm looking forward to doing something this challenging again. Should be fun.
So what are we playing?
1. Bizet - L'Arlesienne Suite No 1.
A piece forever associated in my mind with school assemblies. Every Thursday our school orchestra would play for assembly. They accompanied the hymns and then played an exit piece as we filed out of the hall. I am sure they must have played other music but it did feel like the only piece they ever played was the Prelude from this suite. In honesty, I don't really mind it and I quite like Carillon - there are some lovely sections shared by the oboe and flute.
2. Peter Warlock - Capriol Suite
We haven't attempted all the movements of this yet. It does seem fairly straight forward to play though there are some very discordant parts. I am undecided on whether I like this or not!
3. Schumann Symphony No 1
This wasn't our first choice for the Symphony, apparently we were meant to be doing a Max Bruch one but the parts were just too expenstive for us to either buy or hire. This one is nice enough. We haven't tried the second movement yet but the other movements are very playable and generally pleasant. I rather like the Scherzo/ trio section.
4. Rossini - The Thievish Magpie.
I think elsewhere it is translated as The Thieving Magpie but my score says "Thievish" which is a much more evocative word. This is, for the oboe, the hardest of the pieces we are playing. It is fast and requires a lot of stamina to get through. There are some awkward, quick, triplet figures that I'm struggling to get my fingers around. Fortunately mainly lost in a tutti section so not so prominent. There are some other more exposed twiddly bits that will require some dedicated practice before March too. This is good fun to play though and is one that most of the audience should know.
Our concert is not 'til March so we should have plenty of time to lick these into shape.
For a bit of interest in the meantime, I've also been asked to play 3rd oboe with another local orchestra when they do Shostakovich Symphony no 4 in January. This is the same orchestra that I did Mahler 3 and The Rite of Spring with earlier in the year. First rehearsal for this will be on Monday with a full day of rehearsal a week before the concert. I'm looking forward to doing something this challenging again. Should be fun.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)