 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: clarjunkie
Date: 2015-04-14 23:39
I play 2nd clarinet in a community orchestra. The 1st was absent (as was half the rest of the woodwind section). The conductor was humming the solo parts for the 1st so I grabbed an extra copy of that part and sight read it for the rehearsal since the 2nd part didn't have much going on and we weren't that far into rehearsals. Of course, I made mistakes but labored through. Only to have the conductor ask if I was playing that part for real (of course not, the missing 1st player is a total ringer!) and telling me to just play the 2nd. OUCH! Handled as nicely as possible on his part but still it was a humiliating experience. Also, since I really was trying to be helpful to the group as a whole given the big gaps from the absent woodwind players, it was hard not feel like I had set myself up for a no good deed goes unpunished experience.
Occurred to me that maybe there is some established protocol for this situation and perhaps I did the wrong thing by taking it upon myself to cover the absent 1st part. I have observed other players in the group do this from time to time so thought it was ok. What should the 2nd player do?
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Author: Sylvain
Date: 2015-04-14 23:52
The established protocol is for your personnel manager or the 1st player to find a substitute player during his absences.
If this fails, it is usually better to ask the conductor beforehand if he would like you to try to cover the part instead of playing your assigned music. But rest assured, you did not commit any major breach of etiquette, what you did happens all the time!
--
Sylvain Bouix <sbouix@gmail.com>
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Author: davyd
Date: 2015-04-14 23:56
I'm curious: what pieces were on the agenda?
As a longtime community player, I'm going to take your side. You didn't do anything "wrong" by stepping up to cover the 1st part. Who knows: you might need to play 1st at the concert. Even if you were playing the part badly, at least you were showing initiative and making an effort.
IMHO, the conductor should have nodded politely and said nothing; if he had a problem with what you were doing, he should have said so privately.
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Author: GBK
Date: 2015-04-15 00:02
Orchestra conductors, in my experience (and I've played under MANY) always like to feel they are the ones making all the decisions, not the players.
Proper etiquette is to ask first: "The principal player is not here tonight, would you like me to try and cover the 1st part?"
Often times they'll say yes. Other times they will decline your offer, wanting to hear the inner parts alone, for a change.
...GBK
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Author: clarjunkie
Date: 2015-04-15 01:05
Once bitten, twice shy. Not going to do it again. Probably not going to take any initiative to ask either but will wait for a specific request. Not the best situation since, as pointed out, the dynamics of community orchestras often are a loose ebb and flow and you never know when you might be back up at 1st.
The piece was the New World. Not easy of course to play well but many of the solo parts were not so technically difficult that I felt intimidated from sight reading them "to fill the hole." However, the particular passage which provoked the go-back-to-2nd directive turned out to be scored in octaves anyway. That added to my frustration as it seemed rather unnecessary to make a point of calling me out just so I could play the same damn thing over again just lower.
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2015-04-16 20:49
In professional orchestras, Sylvain, and perhaps some "almost professional" community orchestras, getting a substitute, ideally from a list of acceptable substitutes, whenever a member has to miss a rehearsal (or performance) is SOP. I can assure you, though, that such a policy is not practical (or enforceable) for many, if not most, volunteer amateur community groups, particularly if only one rehearsal is involved.
I have considerable experience playing in volunteer community orchestras, both as principal and as second. IMO, part of the 2nd player's responsibilities in such an orchestra (and, I suspect, in many professional orchestras, the associate principal's responsibility) is to be prepared to cover the first part in the principal's absence. (What if the principal gets sick or falls and breaks an arm (that actually happened to us) or gets called out-of-town for his/her "day" job the day of a concert?)
Ideally, being prepared to cover the first part entails two things: (1) preparing the part in advance so that you don't have to sight read it, if called upon, (2) playing the parts in rehearsal if an opportunity arises. (Unfortunately, the opportunity arises about as often as backup quarterbacks in the NFL get to practice with the starters.)
BTW, I learned this the hard way. When I first started playing (as a sub) with my first orchestra, I was called to play 2nd on a concert that included Gershwin's "American in Paris" and Copland's "Lincoln Portrait." "American has some tricky rhythms and a few exposed solos in the 1st part. "Lincoln" has a rather long altissimo section.
This orchestra rehearsed on Wednesday nights, with a one-hour (in theory) run-through/hall check/dress rehearsal and concert on concert Sundays. For this particular concert, the orchestra had 5 weeks of rehearsals. The first week, the principal didn't show up. I wasn't surprised because, for this orchestra, the first rehearsal was a relatively quick run-through and the principal (along with a number of other orchestra members) didn't "bother" to come. (But why join a community orchestra if you don't want to play?) He also didn't show the second week. Again, not a surprise because it was Passover and he was/is devout. The third week was a string sectional. The fourth week, he still didn't show. By now, I was starting to get a little nervous but the conductor assured me that he had talked with the principal, the principal had to work that night, and he would be there the following week. (I should mention that the principal was a monster player who had performed the works before.) All this time, I continued playing the second parts in rehearsal because they had their own challenges and I thought I'd be doing them on the concert. The final Wednesday before the concert, I arrived, set up, and sat waiting for the principal to show up. About this time, the director came over to me, put his arm around my shoulder, and asked, "How are your feeling, Jack?" The principal was not going to perform the concert and the director wanted me to shift to the first part. I had known from the beginning that he had a local free-lance professional coming in on Sunday to play the bass clarinet part in "American" and he said he would find someone to come in and sight-read the second part. That left me Thursday - Sunday afternoon to prepare two (for me) really difficult exposed parts for the concert... except it didn't because I had to work Thursday, Thursday night and Friday. So I really only had Friday night, Saturday and Sunday morning. Now, that seems like a lot of time to me but then, I had very little orchestral experience. Counting rests was still a major challenge. I went to the woodshed during the time I had and practiced along with recordings. To this day, I have never figured out how I managed to miss one of the exposed solos in "American" while I was practicing, but I did -- and we didn't hit it during the Sunday run-through, either, probably because I nailed my first solo. At the concert, Copland went fine. So did most of the Gershwin... except for that exposed solo I had overlooked. When it popped up, it caught me by complete surprise. The result was truly ugly and I was so embarrassed, I skipped the reception and sneaked out the back door after the concert. Since then, I ALWAYS prepare the first parts as well as my own when I'm playing second. And I always play the first part in rehearsal if the principal isn't there. (Once I even covered the first Krommer Concerto in rehearsal for a principal whose mother became ill and went into the hospital the day before the rehearsal. The principal came to rehearsal but left before we got to his piece telling me to have fun with the piece because he just didn't feel like playing that night. The director was surprised when I played it. He thought it was an obscure work that only our principal, who was Czech, would know about. I assured him it was a fairly well-known 2nd-tier concerto. Fortunately, the principal's mother got well and left the hospital the day before the concert. Otherwise....)
Eileen, IMSNHO, you did not do "the wrong thing by taking it upon [your]self to cover the absent 1st part." I think your mistake was that you weren't prepared to cover that part and had to sightread it.. leading to mistakes that the conductor obviously noticed. Actually, I think you are in the driver's seat in a situation like this. If you've had an opportunity to prepare to cover the part, then do it. But, if you haven't and you don't think you can cover it well, then stick to your own part.
I will tell you one protocol to follow, however. Practice the first parts at home. NEVER practice them before or at rehearsal unless you know the principal is not going to be there.
Best regards,
jnk
Post Edited (2015-04-16 20:52)
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2015-04-16 21:31
I'll second both Glenn and Jack. You should probably have asked the conductor once you knew there was no first player at the rehearsal. But the chances are much better that he would have let you continue to play 1st for the night even without your having asked if you had sounded prepared, so if you want to be able to step into the part when the principal is absent, you should prepare the first parts ahead of time, especially if there's "have much going on" in your 2nd part.
Were these missing woodwind players ringers who hadn't come in yet, or regular members of the orchestra?
Karl
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Author: runner
Date: 2015-04-17 05:40
I've played second bassoon in a community orchestra for 16 years. Since I'm a prima donna I play the first part, unless my part is more important. The conductor expects it. Occasionally the 1st player leaves her music for me. Sometimes she gives me the solo so I get a chance to shine.
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