by Kenneth Woods | Apr 13, 2006 | Mahler
One of my basic conducting philosophies is that one should give the players at least two opportunities to play without fear of being corrected or interrupted- two chances where they can be absolutely fearless and take risks. For me, those are the first rehearsal and...
by Kenneth Woods | Apr 11, 2006 | Mahler
Finally, the first rehearsal is here. After all the buildup, it’s a surprisingly normal evening. A word about the OES: We have a consistent local core of musicians, most of whom have been with the orchestra for a long time, who come to all of our rehearsals. They...
by Kenneth Woods | Apr 10, 2006 | Mahler
I land in Seattle and have two messages on my voice mail from our principal trumpet. It seems that the third trumpet’s promise to find someone meant that he would ask the principal to find someone for him. Actually, James is remarkably good humored about it (he would...
by Kenneth Woods | Apr 8, 2006 | Mahler
Performing a Mahler symphony is like power lifting in ice skates. The musical demands are immense- it is heavy lifting for everyone- and yet the complicated logistics of extra players, off stage instruments, soloists and so on mean that you’re constantly putting...
by Kenneth Woods | Apr 5, 2006 | Explore the Score, Mahler, Mahler 2 Notes, Nuts and bolts
Mahler’s Second Symphony is in five movements and was completed in 1894, but the first of those was composed and published several years earlier in 1888 (at the same time as the First Symphony) as a tone poem called “Totenfeier” or “Funeral Rites.” It wasn’t until...
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