Last Regular Rehearsal

Well, this Wednesday was it. Our last rehearsal before the dress rehearsal. One last shot at polishing it up before we get into the actual concert hall. Because, if you've been with the (or a) band before, you know rehearsing in a band room is one thing, rehearsing on stage is another. Even if you've played that particular hall before, there is a whole new set of variables to get used to. You might have to back off on the forte dynamics (and in turn your piano dynamics), your staccatos might have to get crisper. It's just more things to be mindful of - on top of watching John, listening around the ensemble and nailing all of the technical passages.

Overall, I think we are in pretty good shape. I think all of us have been challenged with this concert - between the Sousa Symphony and Sidus. I don't know if any of us are like "Yes, we're going to nail this, and it's going to be perfect!" But, together we are making some really nice musical moments. It's like that teamwork poster on the right. :)

Hope to see you there on Sunday. Afterall, it's not any fun performing without applause coming back at us.

Repertoire

Hey everyone. I had to miss rehearsal last week, so I can't comment on what happened. So, I thought I'd use this post to list the pieces we'll be playing at our concert - Hands Across the Sea (not necessarily in this order).

The White Rose - Philip Sparke
Sidus - Thomas Doss
The Immovable Do - Grainger
Divertimento for Wind Orchestra - Jindrich Feld
The Girl with the Flaxen Hair - Debussy
Hands Across the Sea March - John Philip Sousa
Symphony on the Themes of John Philip Sousa - Mvt. IV, after "Hands Across the Sea" - Ira Hearshen

Should be a good one - we hope to see you there! And, if you haven't yet purchased your tickets, visit this page to find out how, and get $1 off!

Woodshedding

So, we're working on hard on "woodshedding" (i.e. making sure things are very accurate, and attempting to add finesse) parts of the Hearshen (see previous post on Symphony on the Themes of John Philip Sousa). There's a tricky measure, where there's a lot of back and forth play between sections - beats one and three belong to one group of voices and beats two and four belong to another.

John has us work on it slowly - to make sure the notes all fall in line. It's the kind of thing you do over and over a few times and it gets better. But can you believe - the nerve! He wanted not only the right people to play at the right time (in tempo), but wanted all the right notes too! I might have mentioned this before, too, but there are accidentals all over this piece.

Speaking of accidentals, I'm starting to second guess myself with them. Sections I think I know, and I'm sure the F's are sharp and the B's are natural, suddenly I'm not sure. Oh vey.

I need to get my act together - and so do the rest of the woodwinds at 306! It sort of fell apart there this week when we worked on it. Instead of working us to death on it, John just trusted that it would work itself out. I hope he's right - for our sake and the audience!

My growing admiration

One of the main works on the Fall program is Sidus, by Thomas Doss. Born in Linz, Austria, with both parents as professional musicians, he has been studying music since age 7. He's been composing since age 11.

I gotta say, the guy is good.

Sidus is growing on me, big time. Now, there are some non-traditional parts of this piece. Measures that are 'timed' in terms of seconds (eg 15-sec, 20 sec), rather than your traditional four-beats. There are also measures where the band sings, hisses (part reads "S___" and you say "Essssssssssssss"), shushes (part reads "Sh_____" and you say "Shhhhhhhhhh") and even whistle. It's different.

I think this was slightly intimidating to the ensemble at first, because we started rehearsing at this section with little to no context about the piece. But after a few times of running the whole thing down, it starts to make sense. Sidus has all the elements of a great film score - lush melodies, action-oriented musical sequences and brilliant fanfares. This piece changes character so many times over it's course, you might think it needs psychiatric care. But, I know it will have you on the edge of your seat.

You can hear a sample of Sidus by clicking here

Perhaps the composer said it best...
"Music makes us grasp our finiteness and glimpse at infinity. "

- Thomas Doss

Progress

The 4th Movement of Ira Hearshen's Symphony on Themes of John Philip Sousa has proven to be quite challenging, and a pain point for most folks across the band. Looking at and listening to some of the challenging licks, we know this piece isn't an homage to the performers in anyway shape or form! But, we're persevering.

Aside: that's Mr. Hearshen on the left. I can't get over the fact that this is the guy who wrote music for Toy Story2 and a Bug's Life. Such nice, sweet movies. I'm sure the scores are challenging, but I'm not sure they are as challenging as this!

Last week, we started rehearsing at measure 250, which I had nearly forgotten about, because I was so concerned about 306 (more on that next week, I'm sure).

Even amongst the midst of sixteenth notes, sextuplets and boat loads of accidentals, I could hear things coming together. Not only are we getting more and more accurate (and faster - at least closer to the intended tempo), but we're paying attention to things musically.

In other news, we have another month to polish it up!
Our next concert: November 18th!

Welcome to Musical Musings

Hello everyone! My name is Heather and I'm a member of the clarinet section in the Knightwind Ensemble. I'll be using this space to share thoughts and perspectives on our rehearsals and general band happenings.

Hopefully this will give you a little insight into the amount of effort we put in to make this all look effortless during the performance! Our goal is to foster, encourage, and develop the appreciation of wind music in the community.

Check back for more details on how we're progressing. I might even share an inside joke or two from our maestro, John Steinke.

Countdown to concert: 39 days ... 6 rehearsals, including dress. :)