ensemble360 (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} ensemble360) wrote,@ 2006-11-21 11:44:00 |
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The Rising Sun
We (The Elias Quartet) have been learning some new pieces in the last couple of weeks, and in preparation for an important concert like the one coming up in the Studio, we always try to play new repertoire in as many different circumstances as possible. This is to find out what mistakes we are likely to make in stressful situations, and, by recording ourselves, to get a chance to evaluate the musical choices we have made. And it is good for the nerves on the big night to know that we have been able to get through the piece at least once in concert.
Fortunately for us we have The Pub...
Every month or so, members of the ensemble gather in the pub The Rising Sun to give a very informal concert, where we try out new and old repertoire to a relaxed audience. They, as well as we, are equipped with the obligatory pint of beer.
Tonight, we had within the ensemble expressed our wish to perform Borodin’s 2nd string quartet and Janacek’s 1st, and it would be our very first performance ever. After a long day of rehearsal, sandwiched between our recording sessions of Spohr’s nonet (last week) and his septet (this week), we headed for an Indian restaurant near the pub do have a quick dinner before the concert. Over dinner we found some time to make up programs for next year’s quartet concerts in the studio.
When we got to the pub, the concert room (there are two spaces; one for the “concert” and one for the guests who just wants to…drink!) was almost full, and Tim was playing away at the piano to a captivated audience. We unpacked our instruments in the dart alcove, and, after Tim had finished, we set up on the improvised stage. It is always interesting and a bit scary to find out, during a first performance, if the musical ideas we have come up with really work. In the special circumstance of playing a concert in front of an audience, things can sound laboured or strange, even if they felt great in the rehearsal room. A certain choice of bowing can turn out to not work because of the different acoustics of the hall, an unfortunately placed page turn that doesn’t matter so much during a rehearsal can sound like a whiplash in a concert situation.
We got through both Borodin and Janacek without too many accidents, and we got it recorded on my Minidisc. And we got many encouraging smiles and comments from the audience, the stuff that make all the hard labour worthwhile. Now we have to go back to the drawing board...
After the play through, our own piano wizard Tim took some requests from the audience. I requested Schubert’s F-minor impromptu, and was fortunate enough to witness some of the best music ever written played exquisitely in a setting arguably not unlike the one it might have been composed for. And if you add a pint of Moonshine to all that, things can hardly get much better!
Several pints later, I decided to walk home. Without really knowing where I was, and a bit tipsy, I decided to trust Sheffield’s topography, and headed downhill, downhill…
Martin.
We (The Elias Quartet) have been learning some new pieces in the last couple of weeks, and in preparation for an important concert like the one coming up in the Studio, we always try to play new repertoire in as many different circumstances as possible. This is to find out what mistakes we are likely to make in stressful situations, and, by recording ourselves, to get a chance to evaluate the musical choices we have made. And it is good for the nerves on the big night to know that we have been able to get through the piece at least once in concert.
Fortunately for us we have The Pub...
Every month or so, members of the ensemble gather in the pub The Rising Sun to give a very informal concert, where we try out new and old repertoire to a relaxed audience. They, as well as we, are equipped with the obligatory pint of beer.
Tonight, we had within the ensemble expressed our wish to perform Borodin’s 2nd string quartet and Janacek’s 1st, and it would be our very first performance ever. After a long day of rehearsal, sandwiched between our recording sessions of Spohr’s nonet (last week) and his septet (this week), we headed for an Indian restaurant near the pub do have a quick dinner before the concert. Over dinner we found some time to make up programs for next year’s quartet concerts in the studio.
When we got to the pub, the concert room (there are two spaces; one for the “concert” and one for the guests who just wants to…drink!) was almost full, and Tim was playing away at the piano to a captivated audience. We unpacked our instruments in the dart alcove, and, after Tim had finished, we set up on the improvised stage. It is always interesting and a bit scary to find out, during a first performance, if the musical ideas we have come up with really work. In the special circumstance of playing a concert in front of an audience, things can sound laboured or strange, even if they felt great in the rehearsal room. A certain choice of bowing can turn out to not work because of the different acoustics of the hall, an unfortunately placed page turn that doesn’t matter so much during a rehearsal can sound like a whiplash in a concert situation.
We got through both Borodin and Janacek without too many accidents, and we got it recorded on my Minidisc. And we got many encouraging smiles and comments from the audience, the stuff that make all the hard labour worthwhile. Now we have to go back to the drawing board...
After the play through, our own piano wizard Tim took some requests from the audience. I requested Schubert’s F-minor impromptu, and was fortunate enough to witness some of the best music ever written played exquisitely in a setting arguably not unlike the one it might have been composed for. And if you add a pint of Moonshine to all that, things can hardly get much better!
Several pints later, I decided to walk home. Without really knowing where I was, and a bit tipsy, I decided to trust Sheffield’s topography, and headed downhill, downhill…
Martin.
