Klarinet Archive - Posting 000886.txt from 2000/06

From: "David B. Niethamer" <dnietham@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Despised music?
Date: Wed, 21 Jun 2000 21:14:08 -0400

>On Wed, 21 Jun 2000, John W. Sheridan wrote:
>
>> Is there anything that you would never play again if given the choice?

on 6/20/00 11:23 PM, Edwin V. Lacy wrote:

>I have a rather long list of works I would avoid like the plague.
>
(BIG SNIP)

>And the winner is:
>
>A tie between:
>
>11. Franck: Symphony in D Minor

This is the first piece I ever played in a professional orchestra -
Harrisburg, PA, (US) under the direction (if you could call it that) of
Edwin MacArthur. I thought it was a piece of repetitive drivel then and
haven't changed my mind much since then, although in general my tastes
have changed. But MacArthur was a real piece of work. The first downbeat
I ever saw in a professional orchestra was the slow introduction to the
Franck. It is in 4/4 time, but the "parkinsons" style subdivision made it
completely undecipherable. I learned a very important lesson about
orchestral playing - bury your head in the stand and don't look up, ever!

For those of you who don't know the name (aren't over 95!!) Edwin
MacArthur was Kirsten Flagstad's pianist when she sang recitals, and her
opera coach. As she became more famous, she also became more difficult,
and refused to work with many conductors (who would not do it her way, I
guess). Thus Eddie became a conductor - she could tell him what to do.
MacArthur was terrible, but a few weeks later I saw another new side of
the biz that they don't much teach in Music School. We did a benefit
concert, where we played Strauss Waltzes and such. MacArthur would start
the orchestra, then leave the podium (a blessing by some counts) and
waltz with the wives of rich donors. It raised a lot of money.

on 6/21/00 12:16 AM, klarANNette h satterfield wrote:

>I am not strongly tired of Tschaikovsky but after 7 years of Nutcrackers
>wouldn't be sad to never play Waltz of the Flowers again.

I actually like the Nutcracker, in spite of 20 years of multiple
performances. But the 2 dress rehearsals we have each year are torture,
because, after we run the show, we have to do the 2nd act dances for the
multiple casts. At each rehearsal, this may mean as many as 3 *MORE*
times thorough the Waltz of DeFlowers, as we love to call it. The
performances are a piece of cake by comparison.

I have two obscure pieces that I'd like to add to the list - if I never
play them again, it will be too soon.

1.) John Adams - Harmonium (a minimalist work for chorus and orchestra)

2.) David Schiff - Slow Dance. This is a 30 minute piece for orchestra
with a prominent alto sax part. 30 minutes seems like 30 hours. We called
it "Slow Death".

David

David Niethamer
Principal Clarinet, Richmond Symphony
dnietham@-----.edu
http://members.aol.com/dbnclar1/

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