The first quote of the week is paraphrased to protect the identity and location of the speaker….

“She’s been playing in two orchestras. The first one’s claim to fame is that they were founded one year before the oldest professional orchestra in the country and, having once played there, I believe many of the original members are still playing. The second, so-called Beethoven Orchestra, is remarkable in that its members all seem to share one trait with Beethoven- but unfortunately, that would be deafness… We must help her.” 

The second quote comes from an Audience Survey passed out at last week’s OES concert. Under the general category of “Any suggestions?” one audience member wrote-

 “Pencils to fill in survey.” 

Friday Schedule-

10AM Rehearse Schubert and Tchaikovsky with Suzanne, Adam, David and Parry

12 Noon Rehearse Beethoven op 18 no 1 with Adam, Suzanne and David

1 PM Lunch

2 PM Meet with Christina to finalize press release announcing my departure

3-5 PM String Sectional

5 PM- meetings and chats

7-10 PM Dress rehearsal

Yes- the sole purpose of outlining my Friday schedule and for the entire detailed description of my week’s activities is to try to make you see why it is that I was unable to return your email last week, whoever you are…. Of course, it will also be clear to you, whoever you may be, why David Yang, Parry Karp, Suzanne Casey or Adam Lamotte didn’t return your email either.

The days activities begin in the auditorium of the Pendleton Center for the Arts, where we will be performing the chamber music concert on Sunday. The contrasts from yesterday’s reading are quickly apparent- my head is back in the music, David and Adam didn’t just jump out of the car after a 200 mile dash, David hadn’t flown 4 hours to get to said 200 mile dash, but most of all, we can HEAR each other. I love playing at the PCA- it’s intimate, it sounds good and you can hear what is going on. On the other hand, the Vert is a (I can say this out loud now that I am leaving) a lousy acoustic space for orchestral music, but an  impossible one for chamber music- you really can’t hear your colleagues there.

So with 2 hours to rehearse Tchaik and Schubert (all told, about 85 minutes of music) that gives us about 1.7 minutes of rehearsal time for every minute of music to be performed. Still, it’s encouraging how fast it starts to come together. Parry and I play together pretty easily- students and teachers usually do (I always enjoy playing with my students). Suzanne and I had worked a little bit on the big F minor duet for 1^st violin and 1^st cello in the slow movement- enough to decide it was really, really, really hard. However, with the rest of the band chugging away, it feels less scary. Everyone seems to agree that we played the Scherzo too fast yesterday, but I think the Scherzo is easy-ish at any tempo- it’s the Trio that turns your hair grey (not least because it is so emotionally harrowing). By the time we get to the Finale, we’re not only running out of time, we’ve not left any time for the Tchaik- oops…..

After a short break, it’s on the Beethoven. For most string players this is one of the first 4 or 5 quartets we played (other likely candidate include the Dvorak American, also hard and also in F major, and a couple of choice Mozarts). The reason for this is compelling- it is the first piece in the book of Beethoven quartets. It is NOT and easy piece- hard as hell is more like it. In the end, we only have a few minutes to look at it, so we start by reading the movements we didn’t get to on day one. No worries that we’ll be stale and over-rehearsed on this one.

Thank goodness we have a string sectional on this concert- it wasn’t easy to save it given budget pressures in a lousy economy. However, it’s not necessarily obvious how we can best use the time. It’s clear to me that the Bloch is the biggest challenge of the week, but as I go through the score at lunch, I can’t find much in the string parts that would benefit from the kind of technical drilling we can do in sectionals, nor are there pesky questions of what bow stroke or note lengths to use.

(intense concertration in rehearsal- photo steve bass) 

However, the Dvorak gives us LOTS to work on- almost the whole piece is worthy of looking at in string sectionals, and the result of that work is easy to hear. Tchaik needs a bit of targeted work as well- we go through the pizzicato scherzo, which we have yet to read with the full orchestra since it only uses strings, do the middle of the 2^nd mvt, look at some passage work in the finale, and generally try to make a nice sound. There are lots of high points, as it all starts to sound much better quickly, but only one low point. The parts of the Tchaik are almost as bad as those for the Bloch- 8va’s in the violins for notes in the staff, a completely confusing layout of the 3^rd movement with a confusing da capo al segno layout when the score is through composed (much better, since turning back and forward in fast music can be disastrous), and inconsistencies in who has what letters. The Dvorak, on the other had, has only one flaw- the measure numbers have been excised from the parts of the critical edition as reprinted by Kalmus (take out the bar numbers, and apparently you can avoid copyright issues), but that’s a smallish problem.

(workin’ it in the viola section)

 There’s a fair bit of housekeeping between rehearsals, so dinner is out, but Christina brings me a strong coffee before the rehearsal, thereby saving the concert from complete catastrophe.

7:05 and it is time to begin. Starting rehearsals at 7:05 has been a masterstroke of planning for us, as it has cut down late arrivals enormously, but finishing at 9:35 has been more problematic. Funny that the very musician who always remembers they have that extra five minutes for dinner always forgets that at 9:30 it’s still five minutes to Miller Time….

Tonight it is me who needs the five minutes to gather myself between board meeting and rehearsal. I knew this would be the night to tell the musicians about my departure- something I was dreading much more than informing the board. On the one hand, it seems strange to announce something like this then rehearse for 2 ½ hours before getting to talk to anyone about it, but on the other hand, especially after how distracted and disorganized I’d felt rehearsing in the afternoon rehearsing Schubert, I decided to rip the Band-Aid right off.

I don’t remember my exact words, but the main thing I wanted to get across was that I was going, that I was leaving of my own accord with a smile on my face, that the reason I hadn’t left a long time ago was because I loved working with them, and that I hoped we had a really fun final season together.

Then, it was off to work, and a race against the clock to assemble a difficult program. Tchaik 4 is a piece I feel like I know inside out, and one I’ve spent years thinking about. This is by far the best state to be in when preparing a piece- you are so comfortable with the music that many things just aren’t a problem. Likewise, this piece is in everyone’s ears and fingers, so that although it is huge and hugely difficult, we all know what the challenges are. One problem, however, is that because of the day’s cancellations, we’re starting without a full oboe or horn section, so I’ve got to pick how best to use my time. First off- skip the intro until we’ve got all four horns. Straight into the first movement and finale- bow strokes, articulations, sound. Minutes race by. Soon, we’re not only out of time, we’re behind….

Next on is the Dvorak Husitska Overuture. Is it just me, or is everyone also being rather eerily quiet tonight? The Dvorak is a workout, especially for the strings. However, even the horn part is 10 pages long, which is close to unheard of for an overture (maybe that’s why this is an unheard of overture). I seriously  love this piece- it is one of the few Dvorak pieces that has the kind of heat that makes the 7^th Symphony one of my all-time favorite pieces. This is a piece that nobody in the orchestra has ever done before (including Lucia, our Czech first violinist, who obligingly explains the interested how to pronounce the title. Top tip- say “ska” as if you were throwing your arms in the air with joy.), and the writing is fierce, but everyone understands the language, and once we start to find a sound concept, it starts to get fun, but all too soon, we’ve got to move on.

After break, it’s time to start on the Bloch. Parry sounds amazing, but the sheer scale of the piece is daunting. The difficulties are primarily ones of listening and counting, and the publishers have not helped things in this regard. Rather than write out bars of rest, someone has simply written “tacet’ whenever there are long rests. There’s no way for the poor player to know if that tacet is 20 bars or 200. The score that came with the parts is being rapidly passed around the orchestra as people frantically write cues in their parts.

(excitement abounds as ken makes his way through the bloch for the first time. photo- steve bass) 

There are other problems too- there are lots of discrepancies between score and parts, but in this case, the score also is problematic. Not only have Schirmer sent me an $80 score with all the pages falling out because nobody wanted to spring for glue that week, there are many mistakes in that score. I’m quickly realizing that this piece needs some scholarly TLC- it is originally a piano piece, and we’re quickly turning to the piano score as the supreme authority, which is strange and disconcerting for an orchestral piece. What I’d really like to do is get the 2 autographs and put together a real critical edition, instead of this sloppy, error ridden, poorly printed, unbound mess.

Of course, where everyone knows Tchaik 4, and everyone knows Dvorak’s language, almost nobody knows much Bloch these days. With such a vast and episodic piece, it feels like every section has a problem to be solved, and as we finish the 2^nd movement, it’s already 9:35…..

Tired as I am, I’m determined to find a bit of energy to join the band at the Rainbow- I usually gripe about background chat in rehearsals and meetings, but I’ve had enough silent reactions today, and am ready to catch up with old friends over cold beers. Joyous news- this venerable watering hole of Rodeo champions throughout the 20th c.  has uprgraded their beer selection, adding Inversion IPA, a vast improvement over the usually stale Fat Tire of past years (which was, in its day, a vast improvement on the canned Heineken which was once the best on offer). Sad news- I’m told that Randy, the musically mega-knowledgeable fry cook is apparently spending time on a non-volunteer getaway funded by the state (er, they tell us he’s in the slammer)…..I hope he’s okay- nicest guy ever, and knows music like few musicians.

(photo- steve bass)

Acknowledging the dichotomy between real time and blog time, I’ll begin by admitting I’m back in Cardiff after all the excitement and brouhaha of the week in Pendleton, but rather than starting with the end, or even cutting to the chase with thoughts about my resignation from the OES, I want to instead just talk through the week as if all were normal and I’d had the odd minute to blog while it was all going on.

Thursday is always the day that a Pendleton week gets up to speed, mainly because it is the day that all the out of town musicians descend on the city. Much as I love the town, I think it is a bit hard to overestimate the difference between “Pendleton the town,” and “Pendleton the town plus 50 professional musicians.” Suddenly, sleepy restaurants and bars spring to life all over the city, and you can hear people practicing Mahler or Tchaikowsky through random windows of hotels, houses and apartments all over town.

This, however, promises to be a Thursday like no other so far- in addition to awaiting the arrival of the better part of a symphony orchestra, I’m also awaiting the arrival of my chamber music colleagues, David Yang and Adam LaMotte, who are joining Suzanne, Parry Karp (who arrived the night before) and I for the great Schubert C major quintet on Sunday. David is flying in from Philly and driving over with Adam. Since we have only three days, and Parry has to play a huge concerto with the orchestra, we’re very keen to have a substantial rehearsal today to spread the workload out. However, there’s always uncertainty where airlines are concerned, and it wouldn’t take much of a delay for us to lose all our meager rehearsal time.

On top of all of this, hanging over the day like the proverbial sword of Damocles is the fact that, as only Christina (our ED), Suzanne and I know: that I intend to announce my resignation at the board meeting this afternoon.

What this day doesn’t seem to offer is much hope of time to prepare musically for two difficult concerts. Jet lag does help a bit, so I come in around 7AM, coffee in hand, and try to decide what is most desperately urgent- getting used to the new cello before our rehearsal this afternoon, or looking at the scores for the orchestra concert.Given that I’m meeting Parry at 9 to go through the Bloch, I decide that’s where I should spend my time. It’s a hugely difficult accompaniment for the conductor- as treacherous as the Elgar Violin Concerto we did last year, but with much less of a performance history.

Having spent 50 minutes on Bloch’s music of Java and my cup o java, at 8AM it’s off to the radio station for an interrview with Tommy on Coffee Hour. I like working with Tommy alot- he’s even had me on his sports show, where we spent an hour talking Packer trivia, before the current ownership pooed on everything the organization stood for. It feels a little funny getting through the whole interview without mentioning this is my last season, but it would be wildly inappropriate to announce my departure here before telling the board and players. After 20 minutes or so, we’re done and I’m back to the office.

Parry is right on time and in good humor- we get to work, with him playing and me singing, muttering, growling and beating along in the absence of a rehearsal pianist (who would probably just cause problems anyway). It’s a big piece, with a lot of material, and Bloch’s somewhat rhapsodic approach to form makes it just the tiniest bit more challenging for me to create a mental map of what Parry is doing and when. Although I’m usually happy to just skip the pre-rehearsal run-thru with soloists, even with a tricky and unknown piece like the Schumann Violin Concerto last, I’d be content to go through this piece 5 or 6 times with Parry before the rehearsal to really get it in my bones.

Instead, Christina has to interrupt us after the 2^nd (of 4) movements. She’s had a call from a husband and wife couple who play 2^nd oboe and 3^rd horn- they’re sick and have cancelled on the concert (as a matter of fact, I’m not feeling so great once I hear their news, but I’m not canceling for sure). I suggest Christina call Pablo for oboe, but I’m too in Bloch world to think through horn player’s schedules. Christina says not to worry- she’s got a list and will get cracking, but she just had to tell someone else what had happened first. After she leaves, Parry smiles and says I was awfully cool given the prospect of missing two solo players less than 48 hours before a concert in the middle of nowhere.

“Don’t worry, I’m loosing it inside!” is my response. Soon enough, we’ve made it through the piece, and I’ve got to run back to my office. What I REALLY want to do is practice some cello and get acclimated to the new cello, but there is, believe it or not, a more pressing issue to deal with.

Given the tough financial times the orchestra has gone through during our long ED search, the fire and now the economic ups and downs, Christina has decided (wisely) that we need some kind of strategic plan for the board outlining where we are and what we need to do to get through the coming months in strong financial shape. She and I talked through it at length on Tuesday when I arrived- there are many good prescriptions in there, but not a lot of history (she’s only been in the job a few months), and I think more background on the evolution of our artistic management structure is needed. She’s agreed, so it’s up to me to fill in a few blanks, so that’s the rest of my morning spent editing and writing before emailing it across the hallway.

Lunch with Parry and our families is a delight- Como’s food has improved a lot over the years, and then it’s the agonizing wait for word of David and Adam’s progress. Back at the office, Christina has read my changes and we talk through it a bit, with her taking breaks to call horn players, and me taking breaks to call David and Adam.  At some point, it sounds like she’s found a horn player, who has the very, very promising name of Harry Bell. If I was a horn player, I would want to be called Harry Bell, and I would look like a refuge from a Harley rally, and would be the loudest damn horn player on earth. My playing would sound like I’d just eaten a raw yak.

Strategic report done and dusted, I finally get about 25 minutes on the cello before David gets through to tell us they’re about 35 minutes away. Time to grab a coffee.

Four PM, and we’re all in the hall and ready to play. I’ve got to join the board at 5:30, so the goal is to play as much of the program as we can before I have to leave. This is not a group that has ever played together before, but right away I am relieved that our sounds all seem to work together. Nevertheless, even though we sound okay, I’m not sure the experience of reading Schubert minutes before announcing a resignation is one I would ever want to repeat again- the word “distracted” is hardly adequate.

All too soon (with two movements of Beethoven still to go), Christina comes upstairs- they’ve made it through the rest of the agenda and it’s time for me to tell everyone my news and for us to take them through the strategic plan we’ve outlined.

I can’t imagine anything more boring to read than a detailed description of a board meeting, but suffice it to say, I never thought I would live to attend such a quiet board meeting in Pendleton.

All that done, and I still have 15 minutes to clear my head or look at Dvorak before the orchestra rehearsal starts….

The latest audio ad for the current OES concert can be heard here.

In other news- “Best Damn Redneck Orchestra in the World” T-shirts are now available. They come in all sizes, and any color you like, as long as that color is black. $15 + shipping. Email the OES at info@oregoneastsymphony.org to place your order.

I’m sorry that this blog has been so quiet of late. It turns out there is such a thing as “too busy,” something that I always thought of as more of a state of mind than a state of reality….

It is a quirk of this time of year that not only do I have a lot of concerts going on, but that, for a variety of reasons, rehearsals for different programs overlap with each other, which means one’s study time becomes incredibly tight. Since my last full post, I’ve had rehearsals for five different programs, with all the travel those sessions entail. Yesterday, I arrived in Pendleton, where for the next five days I have the luxury of focusing all my energy on one orchestra concert and one chamber music program with NO TRAVEL!!!! Happy days! (However, the travel did catch up with me to the extent that I have a mild but irritating cold)

This week’s Oregon East Symphony program is

Dvorak- Husitkska Overture

Bloch- Suite for Cello and Orchestra (originally for viola)

Parry Karp, cello

Tchaikowsky- Symphony no. 4 

The next day, we’re playing a chamber concert-

Beethoven- String Quartet no. 1 in F Major, op 18 no. 1

Tchaikowsky- Andante Cantabile for Cello and String Quartet

Schubert- Quintet in C major

Suzanne Casey and Adam LaMotte, violinsDavid Yang, viola

Kenneth Woods and Parry Karp, cellos

The Dvorak is a piece I’ve wanted to do for many years, ever since Rafael Kubelik tore my head off my shoulders with it at the Chicago Symphony. I still think that’s the best I’ve ever heard the orchestra, except possibly for Big Bad Bernie H’s Mahler 6 this month at the Proms.  I’ve never encountered another live performance of it, and nobody in this country seems to know it. I think this is because nobody can pronounce the title (including me). Fortunately, we have a Czech fiddle player in the band who I’m going to ask to give a masterclass on pronunciation of “Husitska” in rehearsal this week. After hearing the Kubelik/CSO performance, I searched high and low for a score, but it was out of print in the US. I finally found it in a shop in Prague where Janacek used to shop. It’s been sitting on my shelf now for about 14 years waiting for a performance. Now it’s easily found as a reprint- my assistant’s Kalmus score will last for decades, while my communist-era paper is already crumbling, but mine looks cooler. The piece is rare, but thrilling- more exciting (and better written) than Carnival or any of his other overtures. It might be the greatest overture ever written, in the history of music. I’m told Beethoven turned to Schumann in heaven and said “thank god Dvorak gave it an unpronounceable name so people will still think Manfred and Leonore 3 are the greatest overtures ever written…”

Speaking of rarities, on Saturday the 27^th, the Surrey Mozart Players where joined by Alexandra Wood for the Schumann fiddle concerto. What a joy to finally do this piece after so many months and years of planning. Alexandra played beautifully- she “gets” Schumann, which is something many young soloists don’t do. It’s a pity so many teenagers are let loose on the first movement of the Piano Concerto when they have not the technique, culture or life experience to do the piece justice! Also on the program was Mozart 39, which went very well indeed- that’s a piece I’ve avoided for many years because I think it’s really hard to pull off. Less than 12 hours after finishing that performance in Guildford, I was rehearsing Mozart 40 in Lancashire, alongside the Gal Violin Concerto, before heading to London to fly here. The Gal is stunning music, but the parts are a little messy, which slows progress in rehearsal just a bit.

Speaking of publishers, just a quick rant- my Bloch Suite score, for which I paid a small fortune to the good folks at Schirmers, is already disintegrating. Not, in this case, because the guys in New York can only access communist-era Czech paper, but because it is not properly bound. Rather than binding it like a book, they’ve just a simple glue binding, but not used enough glue, so the pages are falling out faster than my hair. It’s 174 pages of music- what are the odds those will stay in order between now and Saturday? Yes, I can get it rebound, but if I’m going to spend all that time, why shouldn’t I have just made a copy of a library score for $5, which would have been on better paper, and the binding of which would have lasted forever??????? Then there’s my Schumann Vn Con score, which was only available as an eye-wrecking mini score which, no matter how many gazillions of hours I spent with it on my piano and desk, wouldn’t stay open. It just feels lame when Dover will sell you Gotterdammerung for $20 and it’s readble, it stays open and it will last forever, but Eulenberg want $50 for an unreadable mini score that won’t stay open of a 25 minute Schumann concerto….. Argh!!!

Rant over.

There’s a lot of admin stuff to sort out for the OES in the next 24 hours, but I also must find some time on my PDT cello, which is very different from my regular one at home, before we start rehearsing Schubert tomorrow…..

In other words, I’ll try to get back on track with the postings, especially as I think there will be much to report on here in the coming hours and days, but please be patient. I was actually too tired after rehearsal to go to the Rainbow- so the memories will have to sustain me for a while- read this for a flavor of the place. If only I could hire and assistant blogger. Maybe I can……