Author: ohsuzan
Date: 2005-11-10 14:17
<<A solo-chamber player probably wouldn't *focus* as much on developing their resonance as a symphonic player would. This doesn't necessarily mean they don't have a dynamic range, it just means that their tone doesn't have to carry through a large hall.
Similarly, an orchestral player might not focus on the quietest of playing because it just isn't necessary in ensemble playing.
maybe this answers one of your questions Suzan?>>
Thanks, d-oboe.
It is beginning to answer my questions. I love your concept of "amplified pianissimo". And I like vboboe's analogy about choral singing. And Robert Bloom's (via Ken Shaw) concept of many colors in the tone palette.
The practical question I have been trying to answer, for myself, is whether I in fact have been playing "too loud" or somehow else offensively, in an ensemble context. Or, have I simply run into a situation where a conductor is oboe-phobic.
I'm leaning toward the latter explanation.
I've only played with two other ensembles -- one larger, one smaller. In my experience with the larger group, the conductor couldn't get done praising my playing -- on my first night, he even stopped the rehearsal to exclaim to me and the ensemble how lovely my playing was, and this continued, week after week. The smaller group was a pro pick-up group functioning as a pit orchestra for a musical. Nobody said much about anybody's playing (except we all hated the trombone player) -- but they did invite me back.
So, I was really unprepared to be negatively singled out (or at least, that's how it felt). But then I started to worry that maybe there is something I'm really not doing right, and that I should question myself.
A conductor certainly has the responsibility to shape the tone color of his or her ensemble, and not every player will please every conductor. Ideally, I would like to be flexible enough to fit in as demanded. But when it gets to the point of having to, as my clarinetist friend said, "suck the tone back up the horn," it may not be worth it.
This has been a really informative thread. Thanks for the excellent comments.
Susan
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