The sharp fall off in blog posts here at Vftp over the Summer has been one symptom of the fact I\u2019ve been mostly on the road and away from my desk for months on end. Given that I\u2019ve had little or no time to write for most of that time, it\u2019s no wonder I\u2019ve done fairly little reading as well. As I\u2019ve worked my way through the blogroll, which I hope to update soon, I\u2019ve been a bit saddened to see that many of my favorite blogs have gone really quiet- possibly permanently.<\/p>\n
I suppose it is in the nature of most blogs to have a life-span- how many times can I say \u201cMahler good- Hannah Montana bad\u201d\u00a0 before it gets boring to me and the reader? Still, I\u2019ve come to believe in the value of the medium and desperately want to see a continuing wealth of conversation and comment. I suppose I can help this by trying to read and comment on those blogs I wish to support- comments are crack for bloggers, doubly so when they come from your peers.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, there are some new blogs out there well worth reading. Among the very best, and most essential for every single young conductor out there, is that by Dallas Symphony librarian Karen Schnackenberg, aptly names \u201cFrom the Orchestra Library.<\/a>\u201d I\u2019m serious- if you\u2019re a conductor, you have to know what she\u2019s telling you. For simple etiquette, you can\u2019t miss out on \u201cThe Call to the Stage\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n Nothing good ever comes of a conductor calling a librarian to the stage. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Really.\u00a0 Nothing good at all. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Before you get all over me with the reasons why you think this tactic might be necessary \u2013 please hear me out. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n There is rarely anything so important, or so simple<\/em>, that it can be solved by the orchestra librarian\u2019s mere appearance onstage during a rehearsal.\u00a0 Most things that a conductor wants to change require the librarian to have physical control of the parts or score in question, and for some amount of time.\u00a0 There is nothing we can actually DO at that exact moment unless the rehearsal is being stopped and time is being given to pull the parts and score to make revisions.\u00a0 Believe me, if we could walk out there, wiggle our noses and magically fix something like Samantha in \u201cBewitched\u201d nothing would make us happier. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The Call to the Stage is usually used to draw attention to something that is wrong or that a conductor wants changed in the\u00a0 parts or score.\u00a0 I\u2019ll even go so far as to say it is often designed to draw attention<\/u>, and leave it at that.\u00a0 Whatever the motive, it\u2019s probably an unconscious one on the part of the conductor, but the only thing calling a librarian to the stage accomplishes is creating the impression in front of 100 people that the librarian is at fault for something.\u00a0 And they may be.\u00a0 Or they may not be.\u00a0 But a public airing of any issues doesn\u2019t help anyone.\u00a0 Think about it: <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n 1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0The librarian gets called out, via the conductor\u2019s emissary or over the stage monitor. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n 2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The librarian comes to the stage, and the rehearsal is stopped. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n 3)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Some instruction is given to the librarian such as \u201cWe need to add the horns to the trumpet line at D\u201d or \u201cI want the strings to turn pages in a different spot\u201d or \u201cThere is an error in the flute part\u201d or, even, \u201cthe bowings in the second violins don\u2019t match the firsts\u201d\u2026\u2026or 1000 other examples. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n 4)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The librarian says something like \u201cOkay, I\u2019ll take care of it at break or after rehearsal.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n 5)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The librarian leaves the stage. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n 6)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The rehearsal resumes. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Nothing has happened now, except to waste everyone\u2019s time and cause the orchestra to wonder why this wasn\u2019t taken care of beforehand.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/span>Fellow Mahlerites will want to read her post on parts for Mahler 1<\/a> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n On the second classical program the orchestra will give the world premiere of Christopher Theofanidis\u2019 new cello concerto followed by Mahler Symphony No. 1.\u00a0\u00a0 This symphony has a less-complicated and confusing publishing history than the composer\u2019s 5th (see post from July 12) and, therefore, is a more straight-forward music preparation project.\u00a0 In a way. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n By that, I mean an orchestra is safe to buy the most recent Kalmus printing of scores and parts (no need to rent anything), correct the errors, mark the parts, and it is good to go.\u00a0 Although Mahler made profound changes in this work early on, eventually omitting the original Blumine <\/em>second movement, and then continued revising it for more than another decade, there were only two publications of it in his lifetime.\u00a0 The Kalmus edition that is available for sale these days is a reprint of the second and final version.\u00a0 (The older Kalmus edition is NOT, and is quite different, so don\u2019t get them mixed up!) <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n But don\u2019t assume this is a short or easy marking project; you certainly can\u2019t just buy the set, mark in some bowings and put it on the stands.\u00a0 Remember what I said a few sentences ago about errors?\u00a0 Lots of errors.\u00a0 Between the various errata lists that MOLA librarians have created and other sources, there are between 750-1000 errors to fix in both the scores and parts.\u00a0 We have been though our set in great detail two different times, so we have double and triple checked things, fixed all of those errors and any others we found along the way (because you always do find more).\u00a0 We have used the set for a few performances and it is in good shape to use again.\u00a0 This is a relief, because on top of everything else, having to correct Mahler 1 again would clearly have put us back a few months. <\/span><\/span><\/span>And on Mahler 5<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n A few words about Mahler symphonies from the library perspective:\u00a0 not everything is always as it seems.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Although probably most librarians realize this (so please forgive the tutorial), it may bear repeating for those just getting started professionally (not only librarians, but also players, conductors and administrators).\u00a0 Mahler made lots of changes in the symphonies during his lifetime, and editors have added their opinions, so one must proceed with caution when acquiring the parts.\u00a0 If your conductor or artistic administrator says you are doing Mahler Symphony No. 5, for example, your first question needs to be \u201cWhich version?\u201d If your conductor says \u201cthe critical edition\u201d then you need to get a rental quote from C.F. Peters and tell your administrator.\u00a0 If your administrator then says \u201cbut I looked in the Kalmus catalogue and you can buy it for much less\u201d then your response is \u201conly the original version is available for purchase and the conductor wants to do the critical edition which is still under copyright and a rental.\u201d\u00a0 Your administrator may then reply \u201cAren\u2019t they basically the same thing, and can\u2019t we just buy the Kalmus and make the changes? We have to save money.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Your answer at this point must include the following:\u00a0 \u201cNO. They are very different, that would be considered a copyright violation, and if you want to save the money and buy the older version, then the conductor will have to use the same score and that is not what he\/she wants to do. \u201c <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n For the record, I don\u2019t know of a conductor who would ever agree to do the original version of this particular work.\u00a0 The critical edition incorporates Mahler\u2019s own changes made fairly soon after the original edition was first published.\u00a0 These were his wishes. It is one situation in which the money needs to be spent if an orchestra is going to enter the arena of performing such a major work and represent the composer\u2019s artistic intent accurately.\u00a0 Kind of the cost of doing business.\u00a0 My vote (and most conductors\u2019 votes) would be that if you aren\u2019t going to do the correct version, don\u2019t do the piece.\u00a0 Of course, librarians don\u2019t get a vote, so I digress. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n To complicate matters there are now three critical edition scores done by different editors and published by Peters: the 1964 edited by Ratz, 1988 by F\u00fcssl, and 2002 by Kubik.\u00a0 So you have to find out which of the critical edition scores the conductor is using on top of it.\u00a0 (If you aren\u2019t sure, fax or scan score pages or send full scores around to compare, but always <\/em>know exactly what the conductor is using.\u00a0 ALWAYS.) There are enough editorial differences that the conductor will be expecting to hear what is in front of him\/her and some of the changes are definitely noticeable.\u00a0 Many conductors want to perform the latest edition of any work, but some do not. People can get very heated about what they believe to be the correct editorial decisions and why \u2014 I know, as geeky as it sounds, it\u2019s true. (One of our MOLA conferences in recent years brought in leading editors for a panel discussion and you would have thought we were trying to solve global warming.) <\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n A sad confession- When OES did Mahler 5 last year, we did it using the Kalmus parts. I had repeatedly begged for the new Critical edition edited by Kubik, the math got the best of me. We could hire another 3 string player for what the rental would have cost us. At least I could comfort myself with the knowledge that the Kalmus represents a version by Mahler, just not his final one. With that in mind, we accepted all differences between that and the final version as legitimate and made no effort to correct those. We used a set borrowed from a distinguished American music festival, but the parts had not been proof-read to MOLA standards, and we couldn’t begin to make up for that. Instead, we tried just to fix wrong notes and rhythms- the most basic form of editorial triage. In the end (remember these parts had already been used) we found something like 60 wrong notes in 3 rehearsals. There are a lot of differences between life in a major orchestra and a regional one, but the library may be the biggest difference, and the most frustrating one for a conductor.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n