Building and rebuilding
Sometimes I wish I could drag a few friends into one of these rehearsals to just watch and listen. Make no mistake: I am definitely no authority on musicology (believe
it or not, I have no formal training and thus have very little knowledge of music theory) so each and every rehearsal, no matter how difficult or divine the experience, is always one of discovery.
Today we finally rehearsed the Beethoven with all parts present, and let me tell you: hearing both Frank Corrado (narrator) and Christina
Kowalski (soprano soloist) added an even richer, deeper layer to the excitement. They have come to share their marvellous talents, bringing the music and the story of Göthe to life as we will not only be performing the famous overture, but also the incidental music to the story of the Count of Egmont.
Perhaps one of the most fascinating parts of each rehearsal has been the times when we work a passage of music in detail.
As we rehearsed key spots in the Khachaturian, we came across a passage that sounded rather homogeneous—as if played by one instrument—yet as Maestro disassembled it, I learned it was actually split between the lower strings! While I’m a huge fan of STOMP, it reminded me that with teamwork and focus, the seemingly obscure counting needed among parts add to a pretty large sum. In this case, a monumentous symphony.
Each time we start with an orchestral work, we rehearse it, taking apart each complex section and reduce everything to simple (and sometimes not-so-simple) parts. In the end, like curious children taking apart their toys, we sometimes end up learning something quite interesting.
And in rehearsal, my friends, is where I do all of my musical learning :)
The concert’s this Sunday at 3 in the afternoon. Meany Hall is the venue, right on the UW campus. Go check out our website for tickets or for more information.
Oh, right: did you know you can print a voucher that will let concertgoers of age 16 or younger attend for free? (Oh, and click on the King FM link at the bottom of the page—you might find a nice surprise for those older than 16 :)
From the Seattle Philharmonic’s string section, good day!
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