With the whole brass choir, the main issue is also one of finding a section sound- Tchaik 4 is a funny piece, in that there are almost no brass solos (on the other hand, think of the great horn solos in Tchaik 2 and 5). Instead, everything is section work- it\u2019s a piece that benefits from section continuity, something missing this week. James, our principal trumpet, has spent his summer on long tone work and sounds HUGE, but this means we have to either get the others to step it up or have him back it off a bit. Again, except for the absolute climaxes of the piece, you never want it to sound like everyone is playing as loudly as they can- the brass should sound like they crush the wee mortals at anytime, not like this is all they\u2019ve got. If the audience can see the veins popping out of the side of the neck, the players are too close to their max.<\/p>\n
We barely have time for about 2\/3rds of the 1st<\/sup> mvt, a partial run of the 2nd<\/sup> mvt so the soloists (oboe and bassoon) get a shot at it and bits of the Scherzo, followed bit a tap dance through the finale. We\u2019ve done the main part of the Scherzo in sectionals, but the Trio is difficult and scary for the wind, and, to my surprise, the brass keep slowing down in their bit. Remembering well that tempo problems are usually the conductor\u2019s fault I try a couple of beats, as well as mentioning the issue, but it\u2019s still sluggish. There\u2019s also one of those \u201ccounting things\u201d that we all dread- these happen at even the best orchestras and sometimes all you can do is give someone a week off, but that\u2019s not an option here. Then, I look up, and it\u2019s time for a break- no Dvorak tonight. How scary is that.<\/p>\n Having fought our way through the first two movements of Bloch last night, we start with the 3rd<\/sup> tonight. It\u2019s beautiful stuff, and has the advantage of being less sectional than the first two movements, but it\u2019s VERY slow and still needs flexibility. Throughout much of the movement, there is a nasty ostinato of very slow triplets and very slow off-beat triplets. Until people understand what is going on, the on-the-beat people tend to wait for the off-beat people, making the \u201cslow\u201d into the \u201cstopped.\u201d On the other hand, some folks want to play the triplets at the universal tempo, getting miles ahead.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Then, there\u2019s the finale- a rollicking Danse Chinoise, full of pentatonic melodies and splashy percussion touches, but it\u2019s also tricky in spots, mostly making the tempo relationships work. Feeling rather annoyed with myself, I\u2019m realizing that some of how I\u2019d thought this would work doesn\u2019t, so there\u2019s nothing for it but to try things differently- beating in 1 instead of 2 or taking this a bit slower than I\u2019d thought we would. \u00a0However, much of the movement is a summing up of ideas and themes from the rest of the piece, so at least we\u2019re encountering familiar material.<\/p>\n Even starting the piece early, it\u2019s getting late as we go back to start the first movement for the 2nd<\/sup> time. It\u2019s going faster than day one, but not much. I think we\u2019re all tired, but it\u2019s just not hanging together, and people sound tentative. Part of this may have to do with how it\u2019s written- Bloch scored the piece with a HUGE orchestra but with a viola in mind, so the parts are mostly written in pp and p. I start suggesting we take things up a notch and play out- Parry has a huge sound, and we don\u2019t have a huge string section. This helps give some structure and clarity to what is going on, thank goodness. Still, the clock runs out on us before we can quite finish the 1st<\/sup> mvt.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve seen the band pull some things off in my day, but I\u2019m getting really worried. In 2 rehearsals, we\u2019ve been unable to get through the whole piece either time. Heck- we can\u2019t even seem to get through the first movement in less than 45 minutes. Maybe part of that is me stopping for things like balance and articulation that we can let slide in a concert, but is there any way we can actually play through the whole 40 minute beast in concert in 24 hours?<\/p>\n We have a 2 hour rehearsal the next day, in which we\u2019ll have to do whatever we\u2019re going to do with the Dvorak and its 10-page horn parts, cover as much Tchaik as possible and get this Bloch ready for prime time. I\u2019m feeling tired, beaten and bloody. I worked hard on this piece and feel like it is kicking my ass on every level, and with so much starting and stopping, I\u2019m no longer even sure whether it works or I like it anymore.<\/p>\n Parry, who has played like a god all night, is all smiles afterwards, which gives me hope. Still, I\u2019m just about ready to collapse\u2026<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/photos-d.ak.facebook.com\/photos-ak-snc1\/v343\/130\/39\/671658230\/n671658230_1022579_4714.jpg\")
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