Symphony Rehearsal
Have you ever been to a symphony rehearsal?
Well, let me give you a run down on the usual 'goings on' for my particular symphony.
Some devoted folks show up early to set up the chairs and music stands for the entire symphony (2 violin sections, a viola section, a cello section, a couple string basses, and about a bazillion various woodwind, brass, and percussion sections). Then the next folks show up-- the ones who are ardent about setting up their stuff and being ready for the 'downbeat' on time. Like all souls should be. Then, of course, you can't forget those who come flying through the door at 5 after with frazzled hair and crazy eyes. Yeah. Those are the people that cause everybody else to cringe because they undoubtedly sit in the very back of a section, causing everybody and their dog to shuffle out of their way. Which is no small feat when you have 3 inches of room before hitting into your neighbor and knocking down their stand and spraying their sheet music every which way.
Rehearsal usually lasts 2 hours. If we are prepared, we have a set order for the pieces we play, but that usually only happens right before our concert when we're scrambling to get everything up to par. :) But, uh, we NEVER do that. *ahem*
Moving on.
There is often much laughter and rejoicing during our rehearsals. We all really get along with each other (especially the first violin section. . . not like I'm trying to brag or anything) and so what one person finds funny, the others do as well. There will be times when we are all bright red from laughing so hard! Good times.
Well, last night's rehearsal was a little out of the ordinary. In an effort to make sure this blog entry is not 14 years long, I will just say that our conductor broke her ankle a month or so ago and so we haven't been exactly sure who will be conducting the upcoming concert. That's always fun, let me tell ya.
We've had two gentlemen who have been kind enough to step in and help during rehearsal, and they informed us that they would also be splitting the concert pieces between them so we would have two conductors for the actual concert.
Cool beans.
The concert is on Saturday. As in, two days from now. Last night, we found out that we will be adding two more conductors to the concert. No biggie, right?
One of the 'new' conductors is actually a part of the symphony and will be conducting his own composition. Got it. He's done it a few times before, so we weren't worried. Then, new conductor #2 (we'll call him Gary) waltzes in and informs the blank stares that he will be conducting the piece he arranged for the concert. Umm. . . . last full rehearsal before the concert and we have new conductors dropping from the rafters?
Bad deal.
But we all got over it. Gary took about 20 extra minutes on his piece than what he was alloted. But not before trying to woo us with the fact that he is nearly done with his Doctorate degree in Music History and then he will only need to write his dissertation. Oooooh. Ahhhhh. (No, no. That's cool. I'm not trying to bash the man. I'm glad there are some people valiant enough to get a 'Dr.' in front of their names. More power to them. He just struck me as a funny sort of fellow, is all.)
The guest cellist that will be performing Camille Saint-Saens' "Cello Concerto No.1 in A Minor, Op.33" was forced to wait that entire time. That'll show HER for showing up on time. Ha. Ha ha. NOT! In my humble opinion, it is the worst kind of tacky to make a guest soloist wait. It's just not done. Of course, I understand not being able to drop everything and cater to them. But what happened next nearly made my draw drop to the floor! The conductor for the evening (we'll call him Bob) took over as Gary stepped down. He informed us that we needed to rehearse the newly added, never before rehearsed "Fanfare for the Common Man" by Aaron Copland. I figured, for sure, he would bump that until later so that the cellist didn't have to twiddle her thumbs any longer.
Nope.
Oh, well.
The real fun started when Bob tried conducting the Saint-Saens with the cellist. It was his first time with the full symphony and soloist, and he is responsible for it on Saturday. FIRST TIME. The cellist stopped about 5 minutes after we started rehearsing the piece and was forced to say, "Who's following who?" (meaning that Bob was trying very hard to make the soloist follow his lead instead of the other way around). Bob admitted to his dire hatred of relinquishing control, and we tried to move ahead. We did tolerably until the last, oh, 20 measures of the piece. There is a sudden tempo change and we were just not getting it. We had done it successfully the week prior with another conductor, so we were stumped as to why we were all of a sudden handicapped.
I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count.
The soloist and various members from the symphony tried giving some hints to the conductor about how fast it should go or whether he should conduct it 'in 1' or 'in 2' but each time they did, Bob's eyes would seem to shoot flames and it made the tension in the room that much more tangible.
After playing it (I kid you not) 10 times straight, we finally got a system worked out and it was a success. By then, it was 5 minutes after we were all supposed to be done, and we still had one more concerto to go. We bit the bullet and finished, but by the time we were done, we couldn't stand up straight.
It was QUITE the rehearsal! hahahaha!
So. . . just to sedate your morbid curiosity, here are some of the pieces we will be playing two evenings from now:
Cello Concerto No.1 in A Minor, Op. 33
(Camille Saint-Saens)
Poet and Peasant Overture -- stick it out until (or skip to) around 3:20 in the piece, because it gets FUN!
(Franz von Suppe)
Egmont Overture
(Ludwig van Beethoven)
Rondo Allegro from Clarinet Concerto
(Amadeus Mozart)
Alllegro from Concerto for Two Violins
(Johann Sebastian Bach)
Well, let me give you a run down on the usual 'goings on' for my particular symphony.
Some devoted folks show up early to set up the chairs and music stands for the entire symphony (2 violin sections, a viola section, a cello section, a couple string basses, and about a bazillion various woodwind, brass, and percussion sections). Then the next folks show up-- the ones who are ardent about setting up their stuff and being ready for the 'downbeat' on time. Like all souls should be. Then, of course, you can't forget those who come flying through the door at 5 after with frazzled hair and crazy eyes. Yeah. Those are the people that cause everybody else to cringe because they undoubtedly sit in the very back of a section, causing everybody and their dog to shuffle out of their way. Which is no small feat when you have 3 inches of room before hitting into your neighbor and knocking down their stand and spraying their sheet music every which way.
Rehearsal usually lasts 2 hours. If we are prepared, we have a set order for the pieces we play, but that usually only happens right before our concert when we're scrambling to get everything up to par. :) But, uh, we NEVER do that. *ahem*
Moving on.
There is often much laughter and rejoicing during our rehearsals. We all really get along with each other (especially the first violin section. . . not like I'm trying to brag or anything) and so what one person finds funny, the others do as well. There will be times when we are all bright red from laughing so hard! Good times.
Well, last night's rehearsal was a little out of the ordinary. In an effort to make sure this blog entry is not 14 years long, I will just say that our conductor broke her ankle a month or so ago and so we haven't been exactly sure who will be conducting the upcoming concert. That's always fun, let me tell ya.
We've had two gentlemen who have been kind enough to step in and help during rehearsal, and they informed us that they would also be splitting the concert pieces between them so we would have two conductors for the actual concert.
Cool beans.
The concert is on Saturday. As in, two days from now. Last night, we found out that we will be adding two more conductors to the concert. No biggie, right?
One of the 'new' conductors is actually a part of the symphony and will be conducting his own composition. Got it. He's done it a few times before, so we weren't worried. Then, new conductor #2 (we'll call him Gary) waltzes in and informs the blank stares that he will be conducting the piece he arranged for the concert. Umm. . . . last full rehearsal before the concert and we have new conductors dropping from the rafters?
Bad deal.
But we all got over it. Gary took about 20 extra minutes on his piece than what he was alloted. But not before trying to woo us with the fact that he is nearly done with his Doctorate degree in Music History and then he will only need to write his dissertation. Oooooh. Ahhhhh. (No, no. That's cool. I'm not trying to bash the man. I'm glad there are some people valiant enough to get a 'Dr.' in front of their names. More power to them. He just struck me as a funny sort of fellow, is all.)
The guest cellist that will be performing Camille Saint-Saens' "Cello Concerto No.1 in A Minor, Op.33" was forced to wait that entire time. That'll show HER for showing up on time. Ha. Ha ha. NOT! In my humble opinion, it is the worst kind of tacky to make a guest soloist wait. It's just not done. Of course, I understand not being able to drop everything and cater to them. But what happened next nearly made my draw drop to the floor! The conductor for the evening (we'll call him Bob) took over as Gary stepped down. He informed us that we needed to rehearse the newly added, never before rehearsed "Fanfare for the Common Man" by Aaron Copland. I figured, for sure, he would bump that until later so that the cellist didn't have to twiddle her thumbs any longer.
Nope.
Oh, well.
The real fun started when Bob tried conducting the Saint-Saens with the cellist. It was his first time with the full symphony and soloist, and he is responsible for it on Saturday. FIRST TIME. The cellist stopped about 5 minutes after we started rehearsing the piece and was forced to say, "Who's following who?" (meaning that Bob was trying very hard to make the soloist follow his lead instead of the other way around). Bob admitted to his dire hatred of relinquishing control, and we tried to move ahead. We did tolerably until the last, oh, 20 measures of the piece. There is a sudden tempo change and we were just not getting it. We had done it successfully the week prior with another conductor, so we were stumped as to why we were all of a sudden handicapped.
I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count.
The soloist and various members from the symphony tried giving some hints to the conductor about how fast it should go or whether he should conduct it 'in 1' or 'in 2' but each time they did, Bob's eyes would seem to shoot flames and it made the tension in the room that much more tangible.
After playing it (I kid you not) 10 times straight, we finally got a system worked out and it was a success. By then, it was 5 minutes after we were all supposed to be done, and we still had one more concerto to go. We bit the bullet and finished, but by the time we were done, we couldn't stand up straight.
It was QUITE the rehearsal! hahahaha!
So. . . just to sedate your morbid curiosity, here are some of the pieces we will be playing two evenings from now:
Cello Concerto No.1 in A Minor, Op. 33
(Camille Saint-Saens)
Poet and Peasant Overture -- stick it out until (or skip to) around 3:20 in the piece, because it gets FUN!
(Franz von Suppe)
Egmont Overture
(Ludwig van Beethoven)
Rondo Allegro from Clarinet Concerto
(Amadeus Mozart)
Alllegro from Concerto for Two Violins
(Johann Sebastian Bach)
so... the poet and the peasant one (when you go to the part you suggested) reminds me of a cartoon from my past... I sure don't know which one, but something tells me it was in a cartoon I once saw... also why am I not the harpist for your symphony?
ReplyDeleteLastly, I really like the Allegro from Concerto for Two Violins
ReplyDelete