Last night's concert was outstanding, top-notch, glorious to behold. It will be easy to write this review. And it was followed by a gala party, complete with food, wine and a jazz band, at a recently restored mansion, now arts center, to celebrate the conductor's birthday.
Did you know that the entire second movement of Haydn's 13th Symphony in D major is a cello solo? I didn't. An unexpected cello adagio cantabile. What a treat!
Today's cello choir recital was fine, all things considered. We met early to rehearse our two pieces. The first time through our more difficult piece, I thought went very well, but some of the others weren't happy and wanted to try it again. The second time, I got confused. In the performance, several people got confused, and we had to actually stop and start over. Between the three times, though, it was good enough. :-)
Showing posts with label recitals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recitals. Show all posts
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Friday, April 13, 2007
Recital, Workshop, and Concert with Eugene Friesen
Yesterday was a great cello day.
Eugene Friesen, a friend of my teacher's, came for his annual visit to our group class, which included 22 students, mostly kids, ranging in age from about 5 to high school age. I was one of 3 adult students who attended. We were arranged in a circle in an old and picturesque community center on the waterfront. Our little recital went fine: 4 tunes from Suzuki Book 1, and a group piece by the high school girls. I always enjoy playing with large groups of celli.
Eugene is a wonderful contemporary cellist who also teaches at Berklee School of Music in Boston. He plays all genres of music and encourages students to experiment, to improvise, to find music that is their own. He taught us a few techniques for improvising using pentatonic scales. For instance, using pentatonic A minor: one student, or the class, plays a pizzicato accompaniment: With right hand, pizz open C, with left hand pizz open A, then open G with right hand, followed by open D with left hand. Another student improvises, using only the notes in the A minor pentatonic scale: A, C, D, E, G. Very easy, and it sounds great, encouraging one to think that improvisation is indeed possible.
After the workshop, Eugene performed in a recently restored historic mansion (now arts center). His theme was similar, that the cello is a wonderful instrument and can be used to play all genres of music. He played Bach, fiddle music, blues, whale sounds, rock, and one-person jazz band. He played in a squirrel mask and in a Pablo Casals mask, impersonating each believably.
I learned a couple of things relevant for my fiddling group performances: many types of accompaniment are appropriate, it is ok to improvise on limited musical theory knowledge, and it is possible to play standing up. Eugene played standing for much of our workshop. At the concert, he took out a long canvas strap, and belted his cello to his waist, saying, to the many kids present, "Never do this." He put a rattle-type noisemaker on one foot, a tambourine around his neck, and a stovepipe hat, which turned out to house a cymbal, on his head. He hit the cymbol and the tambourine with his bow, stamped his foot to produce a rattle sound, and played the rollicking jazz on the cello strapped to his waist. Very amusing.
One of the fiddlers in my group was there and I joked about strapping my cello to my waist. He thought it might be better for us all to wear the cymbal hats. I can imagine, everyone wearing a cymbal hat, the bows flying, except perhaps for the expensive ones, as people hit the hats of their fellow fiddlers, in time to the fiddle tunes.
Eugene Friesen, a friend of my teacher's, came for his annual visit to our group class, which included 22 students, mostly kids, ranging in age from about 5 to high school age. I was one of 3 adult students who attended. We were arranged in a circle in an old and picturesque community center on the waterfront. Our little recital went fine: 4 tunes from Suzuki Book 1, and a group piece by the high school girls. I always enjoy playing with large groups of celli.
Eugene is a wonderful contemporary cellist who also teaches at Berklee School of Music in Boston. He plays all genres of music and encourages students to experiment, to improvise, to find music that is their own. He taught us a few techniques for improvising using pentatonic scales. For instance, using pentatonic A minor: one student, or the class, plays a pizzicato accompaniment: With right hand, pizz open C, with left hand pizz open A, then open G with right hand, followed by open D with left hand. Another student improvises, using only the notes in the A minor pentatonic scale: A, C, D, E, G. Very easy, and it sounds great, encouraging one to think that improvisation is indeed possible.
After the workshop, Eugene performed in a recently restored historic mansion (now arts center). His theme was similar, that the cello is a wonderful instrument and can be used to play all genres of music. He played Bach, fiddle music, blues, whale sounds, rock, and one-person jazz band. He played in a squirrel mask and in a Pablo Casals mask, impersonating each believably.
I learned a couple of things relevant for my fiddling group performances: many types of accompaniment are appropriate, it is ok to improvise on limited musical theory knowledge, and it is possible to play standing up. Eugene played standing for much of our workshop. At the concert, he took out a long canvas strap, and belted his cello to his waist, saying, to the many kids present, "Never do this." He put a rattle-type noisemaker on one foot, a tambourine around his neck, and a stovepipe hat, which turned out to house a cymbal, on his head. He hit the cymbol and the tambourine with his bow, stamped his foot to produce a rattle sound, and played the rollicking jazz on the cello strapped to his waist. Very amusing.
One of the fiddlers in my group was there and I joked about strapping my cello to my waist. He thought it might be better for us all to wear the cymbal hats. I can imagine, everyone wearing a cymbal hat, the bows flying, except perhaps for the expensive ones, as people hit the hats of their fellow fiddlers, in time to the fiddle tunes.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Group Recital Next Week
My teacher rarely has group recitals, but we are having one next week, in honor of a visit by contemporary cellist Eugene Friesent. It will be mostly kids; maybe 4 adults. I am the most “advanced” of the adults who will be there, but some of the kids are more advanced and/or have been playing longer. We are playing several pieces from Suzuki Book 1 from memory, in unison; Four high school girls will play the Telemann quartet that I am currently rehearsing with my cello choir, which is directed by another teacher. It will be interesting to hear the kids play it! There are no solo pieces and not too much to worry about.
I do kind of wish we would do more formal recitals, just so I can hear the others play, but my teacher focuses on individual Suzuki book recitals in which one plays every piece in the book by memory, with piano accompaniment. I add ensemble pieces to my recitals, initially because I needed an audience, and couldn’t imagine anyone sitting through a book one recital unless they also got to play. Now that the pieces are more complicated, it would be easier to have a group recital, in which each student would play only one solo piece, at least as practice for a book recital. I have been to recitals of the teacher of my cello choir, and it is inspiring to see how students improve over time.
Our recital next week will be quite short and is actually only the warm-up for the main event, which will be a workshop with
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Playing the cello
If I had known how hard it is to learn to play the cello well, I would never have had the courage to begin. Fortunately, I didn't investigate the issue too thoroughly, and decided to jump right in.
After 7+ years of playing, I am now finishing up Suzuki book 3. I've been in book 3 for over 4 years. Kind of hard to believe, as I know there are many people in their 3rd year of study who are in book 4, 5, or 6. I take lessons with an excellent teacher who follows the Suzuki method closely. I memorize all the pieces, every fingering, every bowing; I have a book recital at the end of each book, in which I play all the pieces with a pianist, from memory. I was having a lot of trouble holding all of book 3 in my head at the same time, so, in December I had a "Half-Book 3" recital, and in a couple of months, I will have another recital for the second half of Book 3. I play with numerous other people in small ensembles and involve them in the recitals. My first book 3 recital included five Suzuki pieces and about a dozen ensemble pieces with others singing and playing cello, flute, violin, fiddle, banjo, piano, harpsichord, Irish drum, and guitar. I do enjoy this part of my recitals, but it does, of course, increase the preparation time.
So, while I am proceeding incredibly slowly through the Suzuki system, I work hard at polishing it, and I play a lot of other music. But I often feel I should be better than I am, for playing seven years. I used to practice 2 hours a day, but for a long time have had difficulty finding enough time to practice (in part because I have rehearsals four nights a week, sometimes more, so it is not that I am not playing at all). I love playing, I love the ensembles, but I know there is no substitute for regular, organized, disciplined practicing. (I also play other instruments, work more than full-time, have a family, and all the usual time-consuming obligations.)
I am hoping that writing this blog will encourage me to practice more (though it may just encourage me to write more).
I enjoy playing classical music, early music, fiddle and folk music, and want to try more improvisation. Maybe even jazz. My goals at the moment:
1. Always, to improve intonation
2. To feel more comfortable in the upper positions and tenor clef
3. To work on fiddle accompaniment and improvisation techniques
4. Generally, to feel more fluid and lyrical, more expressive and confident, to play the way the woman in the red dress looks.
Once, at a symphony concert, the cellist soloist came out on stage, looking gorgeous in her red dress. My young daughter turned to me and said, seriously, "Someday, mom, that will be you." Perhaps not, but it is good to have something to aim for.
After 7+ years of playing, I am now finishing up Suzuki book 3. I've been in book 3 for over 4 years. Kind of hard to believe, as I know there are many people in their 3rd year of study who are in book 4, 5, or 6. I take lessons with an excellent teacher who follows the Suzuki method closely. I memorize all the pieces, every fingering, every bowing; I have a book recital at the end of each book, in which I play all the pieces with a pianist, from memory. I was having a lot of trouble holding all of book 3 in my head at the same time, so, in December I had a "Half-Book 3" recital, and in a couple of months, I will have another recital for the second half of Book 3. I play with numerous other people in small ensembles and involve them in the recitals. My first book 3 recital included five Suzuki pieces and about a dozen ensemble pieces with others singing and playing cello, flute, violin, fiddle, banjo, piano, harpsichord, Irish drum, and guitar. I do enjoy this part of my recitals, but it does, of course, increase the preparation time.
So, while I am proceeding incredibly slowly through the Suzuki system, I work hard at polishing it, and I play a lot of other music. But I often feel I should be better than I am, for playing seven years. I used to practice 2 hours a day, but for a long time have had difficulty finding enough time to practice (in part because I have rehearsals four nights a week, sometimes more, so it is not that I am not playing at all). I love playing, I love the ensembles, but I know there is no substitute for regular, organized, disciplined practicing. (I also play other instruments, work more than full-time, have a family, and all the usual time-consuming obligations.)
I am hoping that writing this blog will encourage me to practice more (though it may just encourage me to write more).
I enjoy playing classical music, early music, fiddle and folk music, and want to try more improvisation. Maybe even jazz. My goals at the moment:
1. Always, to improve intonation
2. To feel more comfortable in the upper positions and tenor clef
3. To work on fiddle accompaniment and improvisation techniques
4. Generally, to feel more fluid and lyrical, more expressive and confident, to play the way the woman in the red dress looks.
Once, at a symphony concert, the cellist soloist came out on stage, looking gorgeous in her red dress. My young daughter turned to me and said, seriously, "Someday, mom, that will be you." Perhaps not, but it is good to have something to aim for.
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