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Doublereed Archive - Posting 000061.txt from 2007/05
From: Barbara Trautwein <mzeztee@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [DR-L] What time's the next Swan?
Date: Tue, 08 May 2007 12:21:13 -0400
OUCH !
Dave Metzger wrote:
> WTH?! Do you ever talk about something that is not about you?
>
> No regard,
> Dave
>
>
>> From: "HAROLD" <harold@-----.br>
>> Reply-To: doublereed@-----.org
>> To: <doublereed@-----.org>
>> Subject: [DR-L] What time's the next Swan?
>> Date: Sun, 6 May 2007 19:37:19 -0300
>>
>> Dear David,Jerry and the List:
>> I have just performed my second Swan in this lifetime(the first being
>> the
>> Swan Lake of Tsch) and would recommend that everyone who plays
>> oboe/EH go
>> through this experience at least once in this musical lifetime.My
>> opinion of
>> Sibeliuses music goes up higher and higher with every year as I get
>> older.Mozart and Gershwin were my beloveds in my teens,Brahms and
>> Schumann
>> in my 20s,Mahler in my 30s ,Villa Lobos and Rachmaninoff in my 40s
>> ,Stravinsky never,etc and as we go to "senior citizen :Sibelius.
>> Unfortunately back at Music and Art High School--my alma mater--I was
>> subjected by a tyrannical conductor to rehearsing not only
>> Beethoven's 5th
>> but one of Sibeliuses more mundane(in my opinion) works:Finlandia for
>> one
>> whole year,five times a week!
>> This abundance of Sibelius(and Beethoven) gave me the wrong idea
>> about one
>> of the greatest composers of the 20th century.
>> The Swan and the Symponies of this great Finnish master hit something
>> in my
>> gut and heart.
>> But I must warn "beginners"(like myself until today) to Sibeliuses
>> "Swan"that living and performing it for almost two weeks is a very
>> difficult
>> and trying experience because the Swan is so sad,depressive(in
>> Scandinavian
>> suicidial style),etc. I liken playing Sibeliuses Swan to an actor
>> reciting
>> Hamlet. My temperament tries to be on the sunny side and this great
>> work has
>> an effect.
>> But it is so lovely for an EH to play with strings.Wonder if the
>> work has
>> ever been tried on the bassoon with strings(the arrangement says it
>> can be
>> played by Eb alto sax or tp)?
>> For what I have learned here are my tips: (1)Get the piano reduction
>> and
>> play from it.(Better memorize the piece and play it by heart!)
>> (2)Despite my own esteemed teacher's advice to "sit down,"I performed
>> the
>> work standing ,nearby(on the side) of the conductor(a blonde
>> Brazilian who
>> looks like a Viking descendant).I tried sitting in the orchestra and
>> sitting
>> in front of the orchestrato play my Swan but came to the
>> conclusion--thank
>> you Delmar for the suggestion--that for ME and my breathing and the
>> sound(everyone agreed) best was playing in front of the
>> orchestra,standing.
>>
>> (3)Practice at
>> home with the recording. This might be the most important moment of your
>> double reed career (and my first solo in front on the orch. on EH)
>> but it's
>> only a small part of the program.(Our concert included the Sibeliuses
>> 1st
>> and a Brazilian piano concerto). Nevertheless I did manage to get in
>> five
>> short rehearsals with the last one being this morning at 9:30am prior
>> to our
>> 10":30am concert(German tradition:Sunday morning concert before lunch).
>> (4)Carry
>> that
>> drying out spray can in your pocket and spritz the G key before going
>> out
>> and bore. (We use heavy air conditioning and fortunately nothing
>> gurgled but
>> the F# was getting wet by the end via water in the E key). English horns
>> also have other problems which are worrisome:will the reed fall off the
>> bocal, if I have to take apart the EH to clean it ,where will I put
>> it,will
>> I lose my bocal,etc?
>> (5)Have 3-5
>> reeds prepared(I like both the Chudnow silver and gold eh tubes) and use
>> what is most comfy on the day of the concert
>> (6)The
>> triplets --the Swan's wings(?)--are not to be rush but played slowly and
>> calmly.(A member of the audience actually told me she saw a swan as I
>> played!)The high Bs,As and Cs are written ff but really it might be
>> better
>> to hit them lightly and crescendo into them.Vibrato should be
>> controlled or
>> otherwise you might sound like an old goat instead of a Swan!
>>
>> (7)Courage,a
>> good yoga lesson,a tranquillizer or Rescue drops or whatever you
>> use from
>> Beta blockers to passion fruit juice(maracuja in Brazil) and
>> tranquility are
>> most important in the world for this work. Accustomed to playing oboe
>> concertos where technique is always the most important item, playing the
>> slow Swan is really a challenge.
>> Well there goes one Swan! What time 's the
>> next Swan?
>>
>> Rgds,
>>
>> Harold Emert
>> Rio-Brazil
>
>
> Exercise your brain! Try Flexicon.
> http://games.msn.com/en/flexicon/default.htm?icid=flexicon_hmemailtaglineapril07
>
>
>
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>
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