Orchestral Bowings (The ART)

My conducting lesson this week was all about learning about the ART of string bowings. It was a very interesting trip, to say the least. My objective was to bow the first violin part of Mozart Piano Concerto 25. I have learned several things about bowings in general--some from Maestro Haddock and some from the book "Orchestral Bowings" by Elizabeth Green.

1. Bowing is about balance and conservation.
2. There are rules about bowing, but most are made to be broken.
3. The bowing should serve the musical idea intended, not just be a technical creation (although this can be a point of starting)
4. There are MULTIPLE solutions for each measure. It is the conductors job to sort out what he thinks best serves the musical idea.
5. Accomplished players like the Cleveland's, Chicago's, and Vienna Phil's of the world have players that can play any bowing they choose and still have it sound the exact same as what the "party-line" bowing is.
6. Bowing doesn't necessarily have to be a strict and rigid thing. Stokowski had his policy of "free bowings" that he used in Philadelphia to create the "Philadelphia Sound." He trusted his accomplished players enough to give them license to vary the bowings.
7. Bowings are important in all pieces, but more important in thinly textured pieces and all pre-Romantic works. The clarity needed in these pieces calls for a more dramatic use of the same bowings. In Romantic works, it is less important because the sound is intended to be much larger. (Some may contest this point, and I would definitely see their point of view)

So that was my excursion into the realm of orchestral bowings. I have definitely learned about and have gained a new appreciation level of paying attention to bowing in performances I see and in my rehearsals.

NOTE: String players reading this are probably thinking, "Yeah, DUH!", but thanks for bearing with me.

Beauty and the Beast observations

What have I learned from playing Beauty and the Beast?

1. My high range accuracy improves with repeated repetition. (I know...duh!)
2. Playing broadway shows are definitely a wonderful study in endurance.
3. Broadway composers are definitely good craftsmen. They make short, recognizable tunes which they then spin out and use over and over in different ways that you don't realize they do until you actually think about it.
4. You meet and get to know some really great people in the pit.
5. Seeing how adjustments made by the actors/singers over time affect the audience's response.
6. Thorough warm up and warm down are important!
7. Sightreading is a good habit to learn--though it can only improve by doing it.
8. Playing in the pit is actually fun...if you make it fun! :)

Just some general observations about my week-long run of Beauty and the Beast.

A slight drift

This week I am drifting into the world of musicals. I am playing Beauty and the Beast here in Columbus. Playing for musicals is similar to playing in an opera, on the parts are trickier. Not so much rhythmically (although there's a fair share of that as well), but more technically. Beauty and the Beast music has A LOT of stopped and muted horn passages (50% at least) compared to open/normally played passages. The horn is either the melody or the percussive rhythmic accompaniment...not in between. :)

Off to play it!

The fine printed line

So a thought that I have been thinking a lot about recently is how much variance performers should take from the written page.

For instance, I was playing the Hindemith Sonata for Horn and Piano in my horn lesson this week. At one point in the end of the second movement, my teacher recommended that on these three quarter notes, I should make a huge ritard (slowing down) on each of them and then pick back up the pace after I play the high note that they lead to. None of what he said to do was printed on my music, so I asked him why and how he knew about doing that and he said that it was just "tradition."

So how much "artistic license" should I take as a performer with a piece? Which begs the question: how much "artistic license" would the composer want/allow me to take?

Just thoughts...

Music of the day...

I'm currently studying Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 5 in my conducting class. What a piece.