Reflecting on the dissertation, part 1

I am slated to complete my doctoral research, which has been dramatically altered, this semester.  The original project was intended to be the creation of a critical edition of the fourth symphony of Portuguese composer, Joly Braga Santos.  However, events in my personal life as well as the general upheaval in the composer's native land, have proven to make that an impossible task.  Thus, I have changed the project into a conductor's guide to the Variaciones Concertantes of Alberto Ginastera.  Much of the "descriptive material" is completed and now I find myself reflecting on the actual process that goes into the study of any score.

These days it seems as though there are as many texts on conducting as there are conductors.  Still, a limited number of these are considered to be the "Bibles" of the profession.  These include Elizabeth A. H. Green's The Modern Conductor and The Grammar of Conducting by Max Rudolf.  There are few who would discount the impact that both texts have had on subsequent generations of the wielders of the baton, amateur and professional (or those of us who try to straddle both worlds).  Still, while many of these texts are long on technique, most are lacking in more than a cursory presentation of what could be the most important part of the conductor's art:  the actual study of the score.

Green, in its seventh incarnation (released in 2004 by Mark Gibson nine years following Ms. Green's death) devotes a great deal of time, effort (and pages) to technical aspects.  Part I: "Technique" encompasses fully 140 of the approximately 215 pages of text.  Part II, which is entitled "Score Study" actually includes little in the way of significant instruction a comprehensive approach to the score.  Chapters include:

• Clefs and Transpositions (maybe I'm a dolt, but aren't those a given?)
• Instrumental Conducting: Orchestra and Band Scores (discusses more the structure of these)
• Choral Conducting (my pet-peeve, as though the approach to a choral score is any different than any other kind of score.  My motto Conducting is conducting).
• Applied Musicianship: Orchestra, Band, Chorus (and this mean?)
• Conductor as Collaborator: Concertos and Operas.
• Memorizing the score (I certainly wish that there was little emphasis placed upon this "skill."  Some of us have the ability; some of us don't.  I conduct certain pieces in my personal repertoire without looking at the score, but it is always there).  Of course we have Toscanini to blame for this but his insistence on memorization was born out of necessity: his eyesight was so bad that he couldn't read the score on the podium!

The most profound thoughts on score study in Green are actually found in the opening essay by the late Philadelphia Orchestra Conductor, Eugene Ormandy, entitled "The Art of Conducting."  Herein the author separates the "art" into three parts: personal study, rehearsal and performance.  And he approaches these concepts in a concise and cogent two pages.  Besides a knowledge of the relationships of the notes on the page, we are reminded to continually understand works within the context of their time (Ormandy uses the Eroica Symphony as an example. We are told to listen and study objectively, remembering Richard Strauss's dictum, "...You are making music not for your own pleasure but for the joy of your listeners."

An examination of Rudolf, now in its third edition (1994) notes a completely different text than "my father's"--actually my own--Grammar of Conducting.  Whereas the original was, in the words of the author, more of a "primer," the book is now "a general guide and source of pertinent information."  It is now divided into four sections, with a significant amount of material aimed toward study and interpretation.

Part III: "Execution and Performance," focuses on:

• Score Study and the Preparation of Orchestra materials (no delineation of band music here).
• Rehearsal Techniques
• Opera and Choral Works with Orchestra

The entirety of Part IV is devoted to Interpretation and Style and includes:

• Aspects of interpretation
• Choice of Tempo
• Performance Practice 
• Aspects of Musical Style

Which is the better?  It would seem as though Rudolf has surpassed Mme. Green in the "score study" department, but still, her contributions to our art cannot be discounted.

One thing that I have learned today is that I need to visit the revised Grammar.  There is much more there than in the old.  I may actually learn something.

Thursday Thoughts

The $50 million lobby for a locked-out orchestra

In the outside world:  the music has died in the Twin Cities...

Orchestras here and abroad remain on the brink.  Both the the mighty (I insist) Minnesota Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra have locked out their players due to financial issues all while the former spends $50 million on a new lobby for Orchestra Hall.  Drew McManus has written extensively in his Adaptistration blog about the mess, including a down to the word analysis of the proposed master agreement (the red line version).  Recently Bill Eddins, in his Sticks and Drones, has offered his final words on the matter.

To the Minnesota Orchestra Association (management), he states that they must reverse their current path and,

1. Fire the Executive Director and immediately re-open negotiations with the musicians with the help of an independent arbitrator; or
2. Resign en masse.

To the players of the Minnesota Orchestra, he offers,

If neither of the above actions happen then I fear that your careers as true artists with this particular organization are over. Those of you who can leave, leave, whether by retirement, audition, or whatever other method is open to you. There may still be a paycheck here at the M.O. but there is little doubt in my mind that it would be soul-sucking.

To music director Osmo Vanska:

....if the board does not do a volta-face then the only way for you to keep your artistic honor is to resign as Music Director of this orchestra. There will certainly be nothing left for you here but an utterly demoralized collection of unhappy and disgruntled people looking for a way out. Your artistic vision will always be 2nd place to the smooth functioning of the “corporation.” You have no need to be a part of this. You are better than this.

(Eddins is Music Director of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and a former assistant conductor with the Chicago Symphony.  He is currently a resident of the Twin Cities.)

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Robert and Clara

Norman Lebrecht has reviewed Martin Geck's new biography of Robert Schumann in the Wall Street Journal.  His comments can be found here.

Who couldn't be drawn to a text described thus?

The marriage produced eight children and a fresh set of romantic stereotypes—of a couple united in tender devotion and tempestuous passion. No musical marriage is so exhaustively chronicled. The Schumanns kept a joint diary with alternate entries, marking with an f-like symbol the nights they made love. The diaries were written to be read by posterity.

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Closer to home and around the dinner table on Sunday evening...

Following an extremely successful (in terms of both quality and size of audience--our largest in six years!) Quad City Wind Ensemble concert, many of us gathered for a post-performance meal.  Discussion eventually turned toward local musical matters, including the operations of several of the area's regional orchestras.  Two of the ensembles in question appear to be cramming their rehearsal and performance schedules into fewer days, causing more than a bit of angst from the players.  The management/music directors from these ensembles refuse to accept that both orchestras glean musicians from the same pool.  Whenever someone is not available (because of a service with the other), the orchestra simply hires someone else on the sub list.  The end result is an orchestra that never has the same players (and it's not even close) from concert to concert.

One of the music directors maintains a permanent residence far from the orchestra's base and seems to be using his home (and the musicians around it) as a potential pool for additional players.  Of course, one must take into account the amount of money the orchestra is paying for mileage (I don't know the distance, but can vouch that it is more than a six-hour drive!) rather than staying closer to home.  And this from an orchestra that was unhappy with its previous Music Director because he lived less than three hours away!  I don't understand....maybe I'm not supposed to.

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The funding is in from (I can't recall whom) and we are proceeding with plans for our "all women composers" QCWE concert on March 3.  The program will include the following:

Ann McGinty:  To Keep Thine Honor Bright 

            

Jennifer Higdon:  Oboe Concerto, featuring our outstanding principal oboe, Mark Fitkin

Nancy Galbraith: Danza de los Duendes 

Tania Leon:  Alegre 

Shelley Hanson: Dances with Winds

I.               Gaida

II.             Irish Star

III.           Serbian Dance

Julie Giroux:  Vigils Keep

I remain continually excited about the prospects for this concert as well as our April closer, a tribute to the "greatest generation" of wind band composers.  Stay tuned for more information as the days draw nigh.

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That's enough thinking for one Thursday.  I have orchestra parts to bow.

My Musical Moments

Arthur Rubenstein

Arts critic Anthony Tomassini (he of the infamous list of greatest composers) has begun a new series in the New York Times, found here.  In it he discusses (in print and with a continuing video) those musical moments forever etched in his mind and heart.  His first example is a brief phrase in Chopin's G-minor Ballade (as performed on LP by Arthur Rubenstein):

"The ballade opened with a forceful line that began in the low register of the piano and rose up the keyboard in octaves, as if making some grim declaration. At the peak of the ascent the line twisted into a soft plaintive turn, delivered in two halting phrases.

Then something stunning happened, just for a moment: a short gesture, a softly sighing three-note melodic fragment landing on a dissonant-seeming chord that at first sounded as if it were wrong. Yet the harmony lingered, and the pungency of the clashing notes was strangely beautiful, almost comforting. This led into what seemed the saddest melody I had ever heard. The main business of the ballade had started.

I remember how powerfully I reacted to that moment with the sighing phrase. I still get shivers when I hear it or play it."

Tomassini goes on to state (and I completely agree) that these moments do not have to be viscerally thrilling or climactic.  In fact, it might very well be the absence of these factors that more completely imprints in our psyche.

For me, I can never forget the first time I ever heard Guiseppe Giordani's Caro Mio Ben.  Of course, it had yet to become a kind of classical "top 40" hit then.  I remember the performance as if it was yesterday, sung in our old choir room at Grand Ledge High School.  I fell in love with that singer that day.  I never told her of it, even though we did date for a little while our junior year.  I acted like an idiot; she found another and they're still very happily married today.

But from my own conducting experiences I can recount at least two moments that, for me, are monumental musical moments.

Gustav Holst's E-flat Suite (Op. 28a) is one of the cornerstones of the band literature.  There remains a fair amount of debate in the wind world about which of his two suites is better.  I believe that the E-flat is, due in no small part to the composer's manipulation of a tiny motive in structuring the themes in each of the three movements.  In the third movement, the opening theme of the march and the tune of the trio come together in astounding counterpoint.  At measure 130, I conduct the passage differently than almost any other performance I've heard, allowing the "Land of Hope and Glory" tune to shine through without a break in the phrase.  I've led the work dozens of times (at least) but this moment gives me shivers--and sometimes before the fact.

My other "moment" (at least for today) is from Richard Strauss's Serenade, Op. 7.  At m. 71, he writes an awe-inspiring climactic phrase to begin to close off the work's exposition.  The kicker is that he employs only seven of his thirteen instruments:  four horns, two bassoons, and contrabassoon.  The combination of sounds cannot be described....

Perhaps I will write as Tomassini has and make this a continuing series.

A view of the forest....

Everyone involved in making art for a living (or as an avocation) needs to read this piece by Henry Peyrebrune that just appeared in Drew McManus' Adaptistration blog.  I have never read a more convincing argument for what we do, how we do it, and why it is vital to humanity.  Read here; you'll be glad you did. 

It's going to come crashing down....

Indianapolis--locked out.  No apparent end in sight.

Atlanta--locked out.  Musicians cave on $5.2 million in concessions.

Minneapolis--locked out.  Management unwilling to talk.  On a much better note, former conductor Stanislaw Skrowaczewski will lead members of the orchestra in an October 16 (the original starting date for the new season) concert, to be held at the Convention Center.

Richmond--players reject management's offer (7% wage cut).  Players continue to perform.

Jacksonville--on the brink.  Musicians continue season on a "play and talk" basis.

Mitt Romney--threatens assassination of Big Bird.

A recent story in the Chicago Tribune reports that the vaulted CSO--coming off a "micro strike" by its players--may be in for financial troubles down the road.  The organization is apparently carrying a large debt load, due to the 1997 renovation of the Symphony Center, combined with operating deficits that are expected to reach over one million dollars this year.  Lest this outstanding organization be forced to go the way of the orchestras in Detroit (which will take years to recover from horrible management decisions related to facilities) or Philadelphia (crawling out from under Chapter 11 bankruptcy), the time is now for management to take hold of runaway expenditures.

There's much more, but--to say the least--our culture is in big trouble....

The domino effect

The facts are hard and chilling but point to the fact that classical music--and the organizations that present it--are in dire straits.  While this calamity has been predicted before (see Time magazine, 1969), this time it is for real.  Some of the victims include the orchestras, musicians and--most of all--the communities served by:



Atlanta Symphony Orchestra:  musicians locked out; concerts cancelled.  This was after the musicians agreed to a 11% pay cut.

Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra:  ibid, after musicians agreed to a temporary extension of the current contract in order to avoid canceling concerts.

In Minnesota:

Minnesota Orchestra:  Running nearly $4 million deficit; announced 28% pay cut for musicians while engaged in a $50 million renovation of the lobby areas of Orchestra Hall.
St. Paul Chamber Orchestra:  In a "significant stretch" for the organization, has offered players a two-tiered system of minimum salaries resulting in a 15% pay reduction.

San Antonio Symphony:  no approved budget, no contract with its musicians and no date set to come up with a new plan.

AND, Boston is still without a music director.

AND, Philadelphia is crawling out of bankruptcy proceedings that benefitted few but the attorneys.

MEANWHILE:

In Louisville, things still appear tense, but the show is going on.

Detroit Symphony: recovering from a six-month-long strike two years ago, has hired a new concertmaster, lured a principal flutist away from the "Dude's" LA Phil, and filled a number of the gaps brought about by musicians' exoduses.

The New Mexico Philharmonic has risen from the ashes of the bankrupt New Mexico Symphony.

The Hawaii Symphony (formerly the Honolulu Symphony) has no current program information on its website.

The Syracuse (NY) Symphony is dead, but former members of that organization (down to 40 players of the original 61) are attempting to revive an ensemble under the name Symphony Syracuse.  They face an uphill battle.

JUST IN FROM THE JACKSONVILLE (FL) SYMPHONY:  The Board has declared an impasse and will impose the stipulations of their most recent contract offer, which include a base salary decrease of 20% and a 45% decrease in health insurance coverage--in addition to a season that is four weeks shorter.

Sean Andrew Chen writes in the Next American City that the fate of the contemporary symphony orchestra may be tied to the community it serves:

Is it possible that the fate of our orchestras is tied more to the fate of our cities than to the preferences of our ears? While some cities have come back from the brink, bringing with them great orchestras like the New York Philharmonic (and raising new ones like the Los Angeles Philharmonic), smaller, regional cities have been left struggling along with their orchestras. And to survive, orchestras like Philadelphia’s will have to not only keep their heads above water, but reinvent themselves just as recovering cities have done.

A program of 20th century chamber pieces sells out!

Waterloo Elks Lodge

Some people are aware that I am the program annotator for the Waterloo-Cedar Falls (Iowa) Symphony Orchestra.  Therefore it may be inappropriate to place my imprimatur on the orchestra's programming as the most original and/or exciting in my immediate vicinity.  However, a writer is entitled to his opinions, but I will offer these few words with a grain of salt; I am an employee--albeit a very minor one--of the organization.  While they pay me for my research and literary knowledge, that is the end of it.

I usually complete the full season's set of notes in one sitting over the summer months, but that didn't happen this year.  So harm done; my first deadline arrived and I delivered on time.  (I am currently finished with the fall in toto and about 30% finished for the spring; once I get working on these projects, I get more than a bit of tunnel vision and simply want to get it done so I do not have to think of it anymore.)  But as I was preparing the copy for the November concert, I really became enthralled with the program.  It includes:

• Walter Piston:  Divertimento:  written in 1946 for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, string quartet, and contrabass, this piece marks Piston's departure from his earlier works.  Joseph Stevenson writes,  “It is not a change of style or technique; the music remains contrapuntal and chromatic. It is a question of tone and mood: There is more optimism, less cynicism.”
• John Harbison:  North and South, a six-song cycle based on the poetry of Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979).  The author herself had wished that someone would set her poetry to music and Harbison has done an amazing job, crafting six evocative poems into a set written for the late Lorraine Hunt Lieberson.
• Morton Gould:  Benny's Gig, a set of duos for clarinet and double bass, written for the legendary Benny Goodman.
• Bohuslav Martinu:  the wacky ballet score, Le Revue de Cuisine.
• Samuel Barber's popular (and rightly so) Knoxville, Summer of 1915, written on a commission from soprano Eleanor Steber (performer of the title role in the 1958 Met production of Barber’s Vanessa) who premiered it in 1948, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Serge Koussevitzky. Barber’s compositional imagery has been described as rhapsodic as the music is such a poignant accompaniment to the text.

Now comes the hard part.  The concert, slated for November 16 at 7:30 p.m. at the Waterloo Elks Lodge 290, is sold out.  Even I can't get in!

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