Sunday 9 March 2008

An atonal noise maker

Thus was the music of Hindemith described in 1934, by the regime in Germany. I bet that's a great compound noun too. Mathis der Maler passed off without incident and so too did the Kurt Weill Violin Concerto. All power to the soloist. The orchestra is just double wind, two horns, one trumpet, double basses and loads of percussion. Thirty minutes of serious counting. Only one moment of conductor trouble where he was beating beats not bars and having heard how badly the score was laid out, who could blame him. He is also a percussionist and this is what you needs when successive bars are in 3/8, 9/16, 5/8, 3/4 etc. You could really feel everyone collectively counting. Phew. If you had got out, that would have been it.

Next gig with this lot? Dvorak Cello Concerto (YIPPEE!!!) and Tchaik 4 (groovy too.) so a lot less to worry about.

Just the Faure Requiem to get through on Tues. (Yes it will be fine, just that bit in the Sanctus and that other bit in the Dies Irae. The whole horn 1 part is only 4 sides compared to 15 in the Weill.)

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