Confession time
Tuesday May 27 2008
Well, it’s been almost 4 months now, so I figured I’ll ‘fess up.
Barbara the oboe is long gone. I had a crisis of conscience whether to change the name of my blog, but ultimately I decided against it. I just got too frustrated playing on a Royal and feeling restricted, so I switched to a DM bore (one that I mentioned back in November or December or so) from Peter Hurd. That instrument played exceptionally, and had a nice, dark, covered sound to it. I played the Strauss on it for the Concerto Final Rounds.
And finally, when I needed to get it fixed and Peter lent me the C series, I fell in love with that one. I gave the DM bore back to Peter (which if I was completely certain I wanted to play a modern instrument, that would be it) and kept the C series for myself. David Weber says some qualities about CI72 are even better than his own. Adam Shapiro commented that it was a “good instrument” but too bright for him, but I find that it has more flexibility than any instrument I’ve ever played. After trying it, Christina, my surprise visitor from Portland who came down for my recital, commented “—all I could think about on the drive home was how responsive that C series was.” She also commented that she could play bright, and she could play dark, and everywhere in between, which is exactly how I feel about it.
So, where is Barbara might you be asking? I gave it to Hannah Selznick of Hannah’s oboes to sell. She’s had it for about two months now, and she commented to me that the oboe selling business was in a slight slump (she speculated perhaps because people were paying their taxes) but now it is picking back up so we’re hopeful. It’s a great Royal, with a plastic top joint. TOTALLY… FIXED… UP by David Weber. And here’s a final bonus in case one of you readers decide to buy it: I’ll make 3 reeds a month for free to whomever purchases it! I haven’t told Hannah that bonus yet, but I promise I’ll keep my word!
On the upside, I’ve had several people recently tell me how much better they like my reeds nowadays. The C series is a brighter instrument, and is much more sensitive to “chirps” and “buzzes”, so I really do have to refine my reeds much more, so I suppose this makes sense. But I’m glad the switch in instruments is yielding better results for business.
Post recital withdrawal and future plans.
Tuesday May 27 2008
Rachel once wrote about life after recital, and I have to agree. Some come up to you and ask “How do you feel?” while others talk about how much more relaxing life must be. Still, the majority are still asking me, “So, when is your recital again?” Oops.
It’s hard to believe that the whole thing is done with, and it’s been even harder to motivate myself to practice. But I found a way. IDRS… accepted me to play on a masterclass, and I chose the David Weiss orchestral excerpts masterclass (well, actually my professor kind of pointed me in that direction.) Prof. Schuring is teaching a masterclass on Baroque music, but I think my professor still wants to push me beyond my comfort level, and so she basically told me to sign up for that one.
So I’m doing Le Tombeau, Don Juan, and Mendelssohn 3rd symphony for my excerpts. Scary stuff, and to think that it will be video recorded, and then streamed on the IDRS… convention website means that whatever I do, however I do it, it will be available for all to see and hear. GULP…! That’s enough motivation right there to get my rear end back into the practice room FAST….
Le Tombeau is such a toughy for me. That little run on the bottom of the 2nd page in the 1st movement freaks me out. Do people hold down the left hand Eb throughout most of that passage (on the forked Fs) or do you actually release the Eb for each forked F? Wouldn’t it just be easier to play left hand F?
I read in the Tabuteau book this evening that the Tabuteau model of oboe is one that has no F resonance, but does have a left F. He thought forked F was “the most beautiful note on the oboe” and had color advantages when decrescendoing, which the latter I would agree with if it didn’t have a F resonance. This was one of the reasons I had it blocked off on my Royal, but now I’m playing on the C series so there’s no way to close it off. Perhaps I’ll try to attach a screw to do this when I begin work with Mr. Weber.
In any event, I have two months to get these excerpts up REALLY… good before IDRS….
I’m still planning on leaving for Arizona in late June, going through SF, down through Santa Barbara, and through LA before cutting over to Phoenix. Anyone along that route care to meet up? I’d like to take my time and meet other oboists along the way.
Program Notes
Wednesday May 21 2008
Program Notes
Paul Hindemith – Sonata for Oboe and Piano (1938)
Paul Hindemith began studying violin, composition, and conducting, and developed into one of the most important composers of his time. During a period when much of the music culture around him was breaking from tonality, Hindemith chose to use new harmonies combined with traditional structures rather than lose all tonality. His music was highly controversial at the time, and some called him a mere “degenerate” or “atonal noisemaker”, yet, others hailed his work as the music of the future..
However, 1938 was a year of turbulence for the family: Hindemith emigrated with his family to Switzerland, largely due to the fact that he was coming under increased scrutiny because of his Jewish wife. Like many other composers (such as Tchaikovsky, Mahler, and Beethoven,) the strain on his life brought a burst of creativity, and the year was one of Hindemith’s most prolific. In addition to the oboe sonata, Hindemith completed the bassoon sonata, cello sonata, piano sonata for four hands, and a ballet, among other works.
The oboe sonata is two movements; the first movement written in traditional ABA’ structure. This movement is polymetric, giving the listener the feeling that that the musical line is repeatedly jarred out of a comfortable pulse. The second movement is written in ABA’B’C form, and begins with a calm, reflective tone. The line quickly launches into a brisk 3/8 fugue, complex in the feeling of 2 against 3. The piece finishes triumphantly, settling into a longer-flowing lyrical line.
Georg Philipp Telemann – Quartet in D minor for two Flutes, Recorder, and Basso Continuo from Tafelmusik II
Georg Phillipp Telemann was a contemporary of J.S. Bach and Georg Frederic Handel during the Baroque period. Telemann wrote at least 800 confirmed works, and may have written as many as 3000, including over forty operas, forty-six Passions, 125 orchestral suites, 125 concertos, 130 trios, 145 pieces for keyboard, and hundreds of other works. Many included unusual instrumentations to accommodate whatever musicians were available for that week.
Telemann’s Tafelmusik, literally meaning “dinner music”, was printed and released in 1733. Phillip Huscher writes this about Tafelmusik:
“Each set of Tafelmusik includes an assortment of pieces for increasingly smaller performing forces—an orchestral suite, a concerto, a quartet, a trio sonata, and a solo sonata. The set is rounded off with a “conclusion,” scored for the same large forces employed in the opening suite. The three sets were issued as installments—one each in the late spring, early fall, and at Christmas. All three compilations demonstrate not only the ease with which Telemann turned out vast quantities of music, but more importantly his extraordinary versatility and fluency in various forms and styles.
Henri Tomasi – Evocations
Henri Tomasi was born into a working class family. At age five, his family moved to Mazarques where his father worked as a postal worker and enrolled his son in music theory lessons. By the age of seven, Henri entered the Conservatoire du Musique de Marseilles and won first place in music theory and piano at the age of ten. Henri’s father took him around, to play for upper class families, where he felt “humiliated to be on show like a trained animal.”
Despite his early success, Tomasi was not happy being a musician. He had dreams and aspirations to be a sailor, and often skipped music classes to go swimming or read Les Pieds Nickelés. Tomasi’s education continued to the highest of levels, and eventually culminated at the Paris Conservatoire. However, his passion for faraway lands and exotic places never ceased. At the age of 38, after already having established himself as a celebrated composer and conductor, he secretly boarded a ship for Dakar, Senegal, swearing to leave his old life behind. However in a cruel twist of fate, upon arrival in Morocco, Tomasi discovered he had been drafted. He was soon shipped back to France, where he was assigned head of the marching band, and he never traveled again. Despite his unsuccessful escape, Tomasi continued to write colorful pieces with the harmonies of Japan, Laos, and the Sahara Desert in North Africa. This piece, written only a few years before the end of his life, demonstrates Tomasi’s neverending dreams of faraway lands (of which he never made the journey to) it demonstrates his idea of the music of Peru, Nigeria, Cambodia (omitted), and Scotland.
This piece is very programmatic, depicting in my imagination the following. Peruviènne begins with distant sounds of drums in the jungle followed by a full display of tribal calls to the gods above. The movement requires the broadest spectrum of dynamics on the instrument, and is well written for the instrument demonstrating a variety of color. Nigeriènne takes the listener to the plains of Nigeria, where a dancing gazelle happily plays in the long grass. A lion stalks the gazelle and chases it, only to fail miserably and stalk hungrily and exhausted back to its home. The final movement, titled Ècossaise after the traditional Scottish dance, begins on the Scottish Highlands, before entering in a bar to find that the townsfolk are enjoying an evening of drinking and dancing. As the night progresses (and the ale flows), the dancing gets a bit quicker, spinning out of control until too many people bump into each other, causing the occasional table to fall over, in which the dancers pick it back up, and resume their dancing.
Camille Saint-Saëns – Sonata for Oboe and Piano
Born in 1835, Camille Saint-Saëns became one of the most definitive French Romantic composers. At the early age of three, his father passed away and the family moved in with his aunt, Charlotte Masson, who introduced the 2 year old to the piano. It was quickly discovered that young Camille had perfect pitch and thus, Saint-Saëns’ musical career began. At age 10, Saint-Saëns gave his debut piano recital, and at age 16 his first symphony was completed, of which the composer Hector Berlioz commented “Il sait tout, mais il manque d’inexpérience.” (He knows everything, but lacks inexperience).
Saint-Saëns continued to make his living as a church organist, composer and performer. In 1887, he made a historic tour to St. Petersburg with flutist Paul Taffanel, clarinetist Charles-Paul Turban, and oboist Georges Gillet who was also the professor at the Paris Conservatoire. During this trip Saint-Saëns composed the Caprice sur des Airs Russes et Danois for flute, oboe, clarinet, and piano. One would imagine he would draw these memories of playing with such incredible performers when he finally decided to write a sonata for every major wind instrument in 1921. The Flute sonata and English Horn sonata were not completed, however Saint-Saëns did complete a bassoon, oboe, and clarinet sonata, all which have become standards in their respective repertoires, during his final year of life.
Saint-Saëns style is commonly considered elegant and clean. His oboe sonata equally as fine as his other chamber compositions, with a first movement full of warm, tonal colors and transparent textures. The second movement is a light 9/8 skipping paced melody, sandwiched by more meditative cadenza-like gestures. Finally, the third movement, marked Molto Allegro, is full of fire and drive.
Howard Hanson – Pastorale for Oboe and Piano
Howard Hanson’s name will forever be linked to the Eastman School of Music. He was appointed to direct the school by George Eastman and continued to do so for 40 years. During this period, besides his administrative duties, he found the time to conduct the orchestra, establish the Rochester Symphony Orchestra, compose four more symphonies (he wrote seven in total), as well as multiple choral, chamber, and keyboard works.
The Pastorale for oboe and piano was the only piece the famous Marcel Tabuteau (founder of the American school of oboe) ever premiered. It was written in 1949 for the fourth general meeting of UNESCO… in Paris. The convention called for eleven composers from eleven different countries to write pieces for the special concert in commemoration of Chopin’s Centennial. Jules Goetgheluck played the oboe part with Hanson playing the piano during its submission. The piece was later orchestrated for solo oboe, strings and harp. Robert Sprenkle, professor of oboe at the Eastman School of Music at the time (who would later perform the definitive recording of the piece) noted that the orchestration was “so thick it would better suit a trumpet”. The piece was obviously dear to Hanson’s heart: it was dedicated to his wife whom he had married 3 years earlier. The piece continued to serve him eight years later when he toured with Eastman students in 1958 while performing for the television series “Paintings with Sound”, with my previous professor Daniel Stolper playing the solo oboe part.
uncategorized (4) comments | permalink
And the recital was…
Tuesday May 20 2008
Not bad! I’m actually surprised it went better than I expected! And it’s not often any serious musician can say that.
The Hindemith went about as well as I could have hoped. One note didn’t speak in one of the slow sections of the 2nd movement.
The Telemann went okay. There were some weird stuff that happened, but I played worse on the previous two performances, so I’m glad I played the best on this performance.
The Tomasi was tough. I let the the last movement get away from me, (too fast,) but it could have been a lot worse. I kept waiting for absolute silence for the first notes of that piece, but people kept shuffling their program notes and stuff, and it really rattled my concentration as I grew increasingly impatient. I put a lot of energy into it and on the recording it came through.
The Saint Saens I thought I played the worse, but I heard multiple sources (including my flutist, or is it flautist?) say that it was the best of the recital. In both the middle section of the 2nd movement and the 3rd movement, my accompanist took off like a bat out of you know where, and I couldn’t control the tempo from there on out. That piece is so transparent that any little mistake blares in contrast to the rest of the piece.
Finally the Hanson, which I dedicated to my first oboe teacher did NOT… go so well. It’s a very syncopated, tricky piece, and I got off twice, but we got back on quickly enough that it didn’t sound terribly out of place. Several other people, including my mother (who does not like 20th century music) said it was their favorite piece.
Overall, I’m pleased with how the recital came across. Maybe tomorrow when a bit more sober (10 shots of tequila certainly does you over!) I’ll feel differently, but that was my initial reaction.
Finally, I want to thank Peter Hurd for coming all the way from Bellingham (6 hours), Wesley Turner who is my best friend since 3rd grade and was my best man in my wedding for coming down from Seattle (4 hours) and for being my responsible designated driver, and finally, a woman named Christina who has been reading my blog for some time and drove down from Portland (2 hours) just to hear my recital and hear me! I felt incredibly honored that she would make such a pilgrimage, despite never having heard me play or having ever met me previously. I hope I made the trip worth while and that you enjoyed the performance. She was curious about trying this “C series oboe” that I’ve been blogging about, so I let her play it alongside the DM bore (both bought from Peter Hurd) and she agreed with me that the C series is a much freer, more flexible instrument. It was good to hear her input, and I gave her my reed that I played the Saint Saens on. She said she was surprised at how responsive it was; whether this was a good thing or a bad thing I’m not sure of, but she got a good sense of my reed style (and Mr. Weber’s). However, I did not get her contact info, so if you’re out there reading Christina, please send me your info! I’d love to keep in touch with you!
I think I’m going to use my school email to upload the sound files. If anyone wants to hear recordings of the pieces I played on my recital, let me know and I’ll figure out a way to get them to you. Just listening to the Hindemith, I’m surprised at the tone quality (not quite as full as I expected), but at least I finished the recital with some tank in the gas.
I’ll write more tomorrow when I’m more sober. Thanks for reading.
Dress rehearsal
Monday May 19 2008
Well, the dress rehearsal DIDN…’T go well. At all. My fingers just weren’t there.
But I spent an hour and a half tonight work on my fingers and I feel good now. Mixed rhythms always seem to smooth those Saint-Saens runs over, so ready or not, here I come!