Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Jul 15, 2013 19:18:34 GMT
They work fine straight from the Ipod but the lead is very long. I do think £133 is a terrific price for them though. However, I might be telling porkies 'cos I have beer ears and eyes!! If anything, I think my hearing would be the last thing to go.... I'm more chilled at the moment than I've ever been I can tell you. I have to check every post over and over for spellings!! Listen to last night's prom if you like orchestral. The Rite of Spring on period instruments. It was brilliant!!! Israel would have loved it. Right .... back to nod. (got another week signed off - luxury)
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BMF
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Post by BMF on Jul 16, 2013 0:53:53 GMT
Listen to last night's prom if you like orchestral. The Rite of Spring on period instruments. It was brilliant!!!
Where can I find this?
Thanks
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Jul 16, 2013 6:04:36 GMT
BBC IPlayer, but I don't think you can get it in the USA. In the UK, the Proms are on BBC Radio 3 at 7'30pm bst. I think we're 5 hours apart, so for you that may be around 2'30 in the afternoon.
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Post by imagemaker18 on Jul 16, 2013 8:39:42 GMT
O Listen to last night's prom if you like orchestral. The Rite of Spring on period instruments. It was brilliant!!! Israel would have loved it. Ian, How did you know that Le Sacre du Printemps is one of my favorite works? You are indeed right! I would have loved to have heard it! I wonder if Gardiner has recorded it. I never saw a recording of it on period instruments. It may be even more authentic if a recording would also include the rioting and interruptions by the Paris audience at its first performance! I was one of the lucky orchestral musicians to have played some of Stravinsky's works with him conducting. I will never forget it! And, no! It was not in Paris 100 years ago! Cheers! Israel
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Jul 16, 2013 9:39:54 GMT
Hi Israel,
It's always a treat to hear from you.
I moved the Rite out of the way of the Ember thread for neatness!!
I thought of you straight away. The 'period' instrument idea worked REALLY well. Although I sometimes have problems with Baroque wheezings, this was more focused.
The opening bassoon solo was played on an original French bassoon and you could hear it struggling up there and almost like a baby whining. (Modern bassoons have more depth of sound (even up there)
Brass were more 'edgy' but not as full bodied as modern brass so that they cut through like a a hot knife through butter. Woodwind were slightly more 'squeaky. Percussion were less 'full' bodied but contained more initial whack. Strings about the same.
The difference it made to the textures was quite surprising and made the piece easier to hear through so that you could much more easily track the polyrhythms and polytonality going on between instruments and sections. The alto flute was a really soft sound and in the night time sequence before the timps let rip and the double basses with those repetitive strikes on the same note in the second half (11 times I think it is) and the the band goes berserk, the woodwind play this soft sequence of quavers that just moves up and down ...
I can't remember what key, but it sounds like f#gf#gf#gagf#gf#gaga Bb a (kind of) and then the french horns put the bells up and let rip with something along the lines of A G ag F# E, F# A G ag F# E .... in unison. WOW - the hairs went up!!!!!
The orchestra was a French one called La Siercle. I might look out for the BBC music magazine since they give away free CD's and sometimes, prom ones turn up.
This was a classic prom. Superb. One of the speeds that they went off at was incredibly fast; I've never heard it that fast .... the section after the clarinets and bass clarinets do this wobble, finishing with that infamous descending chromatic scale on the bass clarinet and the orchestra start to charge towards the end with that crazy rhythm ....
Oom Cha, Oom Cha , Ooom chaaaa.... ta ta ta. (You might get it from that!!
The clarity of the tones made everything so much clearer than modern performances where the sounds are much fuller and tend to cloud the textures.
If I can find a period recording of the Rite, I'm going to get it. I was completely sold and the orchestrations actually make much more sense in the noisy parts.
I know the first performance caused a fraca but to me, it's not so much modern dissonance but more a romantic scream. To me, it's full of romanticism with the use of folk song and the expressionist screams and deranged rhythms.
Basically some of what Mahler had been doing in his final tenth with that trumpet scream and the orchestral dissonance that is planted on it while it continues to scream. That's another point where I feel, Romanticism had run its course and Mahler was really introducing sunch modern ideas there at that point with that musical scream. Every time I hear that, I become a physical wreck and even thinking of it now gets to me!!
Rite of Spring is similar to me but just more extended.
I wish you were closer Israel. I'd love to talk to you about Stravinsky and music in general. I remember him going (was it in the 70's?)
I'm also very keen on Gershwin and Bernstein. Candide has me in bits at the end. The moral of the story emerges and it's SO true. (Voltaire) I love the melodies, rhythms and emotion contained in Porgy. Stravinsky's early period is glorious - I'm not as keen on all of neo classical stuff that he went into since he was becoming more subjective in his approach to music and it felt more mathematical to me.
It's a pity that we're all so far apart.
I suspect you've been through another 'period of listening' and hope all went well Israel. I do think about you a lot and you're always conspicuous by your absence!!
I've also been ill but in my case, I'm having a break 'enforced' on me which is actually really nice since it's giving me time to do the things I like to do rather than what I have to do. You always thin that you're indispensible in this job, when in fact that's not the case. 100's are lined up behind you ready to take your job!!! That creates stress in itself!!
Hope you're well.
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Post by imagemaker18 on Jul 16, 2013 23:35:27 GMT
Hi Israel, It's always a treat to hear from you. I moved the Rite out of the way of the Ember thread for neatness!! I thought of you straight away. The 'period' instrument idea worked REALLY well. Although I sometimes have problems with Baroque wheezings, this was more focused. Thanks for thinking of me, and for your kind words! I have been under the weather for about a couple of months now. The chemotherapy really screwed up my chemistry, and I had to face some pretty serious issues with my blood pressure. I am now on four different blood pressure medications, and am doing better. Wouldn't you have wished to be at the première of this ballet on May 29, 1913? Debussy was present at that performance, and he had some pretty nasty things to say about the opening (French) bassoon solo. If I am not mistaken, he mistook it for a Cor Anglais solo. I love those rhythms! I recall my first orchestral performing experience with Le Sacre in 1951 with Igor Markevitch conducting. He rehearsed without a score, and it was truly by memory! He conducted the Dance Sacral perfectly, and I was very impressed by his uncanny memory! At the time he was touted as the foremost interpreter of Stravinsky's works. Me too, Ian. Stravinsky passed away on April 6, 1971 in New York City. I was lucky and honored to have met him and play with him in 1968. He was truly the JS Bach of the Twentieth Century, and only truly appreciated in the later part of his life. Thank you for your words, Ian, and I hope you are feeling better! Very few people realize how stressful a performing musician's life really is, no matter how successful he/she is! In my opinion, to be a good musician and a fine performer demands perfectionism, and that takes a toll as much as it can be extremely satisfying! I loved being a performer, and wouldn't have traded it for anything else, but I do bear the scars of having lived an exiting life! Cheers! Israel
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Jul 17, 2013 10:16:07 GMT
With regards to performing, Israel; people don't think musicians become ill until they die!!
I performed at my Mum's funeral a few weeks ago and that was very difficult to do. Yet, even my own family think that it's perfectly normal and nothing cold possibly go wrong!!
TBH, I think that got to me more than I admitted at the time; plus stress at work and a bigger job on the way that was stressing me out. Managed to get the job on the way negotiated but once you sign these damned contracts, you don't have the luxury of being ill normally. However, I've managed to negotiate something where I can do the more lucrative nights and have a holiday for the rest of the three (or four maybe) weeks that I have to be away from home.
The other problem is that (as you know) your own head thinks you're the same age as you were at 25.
The funny thing is that I think that the world of orchestral music is much the same as popular in terms of stress and expectations.
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Post by imagemaker18 on Jul 17, 2013 21:22:15 GMT
Ian, I am so sorry to read about your Mum! It must have been incredibly difficult to bear the loss, and in addition, having to play at her funeral! I don't think I could even begin to think of doing something like this! You are indeed a brave man! Please accept my sincerest condolences! I recall a few years ago one of my physicians, who was Dean of the Medical School at the University where I taught. She was wondering why musicians talk about the stressful lives they lead, for according to her, playing music for large audiences would be relaxing!? First chance I had was to fire her! By the way, I logged on to the BBC website, listened, and saw some videos of the Stravinsky Le Sacre performance on period instruments. I enjoyed it thoroughly! I am wondering however, why the alto flute sounded so soft, for by that time (May, 1913), some excellent Boehm System alto flutes were available. A few years ago I had a chance to play on an original Nickel-Silver Boehm Alto Flute, dating from the 19th Century, made by old man Theobald himself, and my impression then was that it had an incredibly powerful sound, especially in the low register. Toward the end of his life, Theobald Boehm was in love with the alto flute, and he more or less played on it mostly to the exclusion of the Concert Flute. Perhaps the alto flute played at the first performance of Le Sacre was a different brand, which may have not had the volume potential of the Boehm, and for authenticity's sake they used an original from a collection. I just love the transparency of texture with these period instruments, however. By the way, a few years ago I played under the conductor that led the first performance of Le Sacre, Pierre Monteux, when he came to guest-conduct the Little Orchestra of New York of which I was a member. I also knew his flutist/coductor son, Claude Monteux, with whom I also played. That really dates me, doesn't it? Wow, it was indeed a lifetime (or two) ago! Cheers! Israel
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Jul 18, 2013 7:40:58 GMT
My Mum went suddenly, Israel. I'm thankful for that after the prolonged death of my Dad. I'd bought her a house long ago and she agreed to move into a flat nearer my brother (for safety). She moved and I must say, she settled overnight. She loved it. She moved in on a Saturday and I took her to a local pub on Sunday for lunch. She was in great form and she dropped on Wednesday. Stroke. She came to, still speaking and I sat with her until she died at 1:00am. I couldn't believe she'd gone and sat with her all night until she was cold.
The funny thing is, while my parents were alive, they were kind of proud of my music as well as embarrassed!! So Dad would hate something and have a rant and Mum would go on about what she liked etc. So I played an old song she liked at her funeral and I also had to sing as well. It wasn't nice and it was a bit sickening that she'd only had 3 days in her new place as well. She was so chuffed since it was decorated and we had new carpets put in for her and a stair chair, which my daughter couldn't leave alone and ended up going up and down on it for a day.
When she moved in, I went to see her with a baby toy piano. I let myself in, sat in her chair and while it took me up, I started playing one of my old songs on the piano and singing which did make her laugh. I told her that the could control the volume by moving me up or down the stairs on the chairlift!! She then sent it to the bottom and told me to stand at the door to see if that turned it down enough!!!!! She was quite cheeky ... a bit like me. Then she put her door phone on and said it sounded better from the speaker!!!
Funny old dear. I miss her.
The French woodwind at the start of the 1900's was kind of different I think Israel. As today, the French seem to like different routes to everyone else (!!!) and their woodwind was quite distinct. (It still is) French flute sounds tend to be quite robust and yet their oboes sound quite reedy to me. (Definitely not an English type of sound)
I played a Marigeaux oboe for a little while and didn't like it at all. It was thinner that what I liked and very reedy so I got hold of a pre war Louis. I was taught by a well known English oboe player called Sydney Sutcliffe who got it for me. (It was beefier and sounded more 'English to me) French bassoons also sound a bit more reedy and clarinets, quite piercing.
On the Stravinsky recording, the Eb clarinet cuts through easily and yet, I found some of the trumpet playing recessed. I loved the difference in timbre between the bass drum and timpani. You must know the section where the the bass drum thuds followed very quickly by the timp and it was very obvious on this recording that two instruments were being played. Modern bass drums sound more like 'thunder' and are a little closer to timps, but this one really 'whacked' and the attack is what you get really distinctly before the timp thunder!!
Did you notice how different some of the dynamics were? In the famous loud section at the section after the bassoon whimpers, you get all these little themes intertwining before the ostinato starts and then the strings hammer out those repeated chords (E major and Eb superimposed with the offbeat accents). What surprised me was that after the melodic section above the chords (Bb Bb Bb Bb Ab G F G.... then the chords) Normally, the chords are played loud after the melody, but in the original version, Stavinsky left them down at low volume so you can really hear what is behind them. Modern recordings don't contain that.
It is a slightly different perspective on the piece and it shows Stravinsky's orchestral writing to be amazingly astute .... we have actually lost some of that in modern performing. We go for the drama and don't bring out the complex textures in the Rite so well. We also seem to do the same with Bach who I love.
The alto flute was a puzzle to me. It is very low in the mix and not as powerful. However, a lot of the woodwind 'powerful' stuff came as a development of German technology I think. (wasn't it) If that's the case, the French would have turned their backs on it and revealed their rears. Especially in 1913, the French and Germans didn't exactly see eye to eye so I guess German technology was well out of French, so the French developed their own distinct sounds.
I know the oboes are very different - even using slightly different fingering for the note 'C' which makes the sound go slightly strident and thin on that particular note. The American oboes are the same - ask an American oboist to play the middle C and it sounds thin and nasal. That's because of the French fingering system. Bohm changed all that with keys and English oboes have a much more mellow C.
It's surprising how we continue to play these older pieces with modern instruments which can make a mess of the original scoring as a result.
The BBC got special permission from Boosey (who own Stravinsky's original score) to perform it in it's original version. I have no idea why Stravinsky revised it, but then again, he did that a lot with his pieces. However, the scoring on this version is more opaque I think and makes much more sense of the rhythms and textures that are going off all at once!!
That's why so many find it a difficult piece to listen to - they don't hear the inner complexities of the rhythms. I remember as a kid finding out that the bass drum at the end section where everyone is going 'nuts' and the tam tam whooshes etc ..... the bass drum seems to be randomly thudding. However, once you realise that he is in a three time signature while others are in 4, you realise that is is very well organised. Same in the opening section after the bassoon folk tune .... it sounds as though everyone is playing random tunes, but follow just one of those tunes, and you realise that they are playing in different keys (perfectly normal snippets of tunes) and when you think about it, in the ballet, the different groups are coming on before the processions and each tune represents a different group of people. Then the offical processions before the final dance of death. Such a brilliant piece.
Then again, so is Firebird and Petouchka. Absolutely stunning pieces. I think La Siecle has a recording of Firebird on period instruments available.
I love the French flute sound though.
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Post by imagemaker18 on Jul 19, 2013 18:21:49 GMT
As you very well know, our world changes when we lose our parents, Ian, no matter at what age! I was on my own at an early age (14), and thought I was about to lose my parents during WWII, but they survived, as well as I, and then I had to lose them all over again! Everyone has their way in dealing with such loss, and I can only imagine what it must have been for you! IMHO, because of better, faster global travel and communications, today the differences in style and sonority in flute playing are quite subtle. Undoubtedly, the French flute style has strongly influenced flute players around the globe, and I myself was brought up on the French. However, there is some evidence in the opposite direction. The late Jean-Pierre Rampal, a dear friend, who used to come to do recitals at the university where I taught, and with whom I played a few times on those occasions, is a wonderful example! When he first started his solo career, he played on a gold Louis Lot flute, which had a wonderful sweet reedy sound with slight nasality. While in the US, he had a chance to hear some excellent American Flute players who played with a more robust and voluminous sonority, partly thanks to some excellent American made flutes, such as Powell, and Haynes, which were the gold standard of all American flute players. He subsequently had a Gold Haynes made for him on which he played exclusively, and retired his Louis Lot to his collection. The instrument making scene today has changed completely, and the flute of today, thanks to people like the late dear Albert Cooper, WYB, and others, whether made by Albert Cooper, Brannen Brothers, Emmanuel Arista, Muramatsu, and many other American and Asian makers, has become internationalized, though admittedly, the French style flavor is very much there, only to evolve into the "International Style" if you wish. It seems that in Europe the differences are more apparent in the reed instruments than in flute sonority. I agree with you here! Many big orchestras, especilally the New York Philharmonic, have two dynamic levels - "Forte" and "Fortissimo". One of the reasons I love the Abbado recordings of Mahler with his hand-picked Lucerne Festival Orchestra, which plays so sensitively! The players don't seem to try and outplay each other, and the impression is of one large chamber ensemble, if you wish, where the musicians are listening to each other, and are aware where and when they need to shine, and when to stay out of the way and let their colleagues shine! IMO this kind of attitude is rare, but admirable. We mustn't forget however, that Theobald Boehm licensed his invention of the cylindrical bore flute to Godfroy, and other French flute makers in Paris as well as Rudall & Rose in London as early as the second half of the 19th Century, and the French had the ability to make a perfectly good alto flute by 1913, so it is also a puzzle to me. One had to strain to hear the important alto flute solos, which in many places was almost obliterated by the Cor Anglais, but amazingly not by the bass trumpet in E flat! I am compelled to attribute this to poor judgement, and as much I hate to do this, am compelled to blame it on poor judgement of either the musicians or Maestro Francois-Xavier Roth. He could have shushed the too loud Cor Anglais payer in the chromatic scale entry ahead of the alto flute solo in the Ritual Action of the Ancestors, (rehearsal number 130), but was unsuccessful in doing so. I still think that it is possible to play it transparently enough if there is more sense of balance and texture on the part of conductors and performers!! I will look for it.
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Jul 19, 2013 20:43:02 GMT
Yes, the globisation of an internationaly type of standard of 'timbre' has seemed to happen Israel, due to us being more aware of others in the world I guess.
I never forget first hearing an American oboe sound in the original series of Dallas. I found it very odd. In fact, I avoided american orchestral recordings because of the oboe sound although I love the American brass sound. I think the American top brass players are amazing and make this really robust, healthy sound that you don't hear in most parts of the world. The other trumpet sound I like is (funnily enough) is that fruity Mexican sound. I think of the final shootout in the Good, Bad and Ugly where that Mexican trumpet goes off with a big screaming melody before anyone fires. It's the famous scene where on screen you just see eyes and the tension builds. I remember as a kid, I saw a clown in a circus from Italy who played with that same sound and it stayed with me for life,
The big thing with oboes in the 70's was the Berlin Philharmonic oboe sound. Very thick and many British oboists started trying to emulate it.
Flute players have always revolved around the French sound I guess.
In a way, it's a shame since world orchestras really did have their own unique sound. The Vienna Philharmonic could easily be distinguished from the LSO and one American Orchestra I loved was the New York Philharmonic as well as the San Francisco orchestra. They did actually sound different so that it does make you wonder what the composers were actually writing for.
Russian orchestras could be very aggressive and I have never forgotten a performance of Swan Lake by the Bolshoi where it was SO dramatic, I was quite overwhelmed at what I always found 'corny' - the section where the B minor oboe solo is played by the whole orchestra in the major key!! I've always found that a bit hammy, but boy, when the Bolshoi played it with their raucous enthusiasm, it really hit. I also heard a riveting performance of Tchaik 4th by a Russian orchestra (Moscow I think) No sophistication, just raw energy and emotion. After that, when you sometimes hear a tamed down version of it on say a polite, English orchestral sound, it just sounds like they're doing lip service by coparison.
That's why I was so interested in the inner textures of the Rite of Spring. The orchestration was the original in that performance and I wonder how much of the dynamic playing was Stravinsky's original marking which he revised later on - therefore, maybe the alto flue solo was in fact marked down by him so that the other textures come through stronger - I don't know because Boosey don't let that score out very often.
Another part where the dynamic was very different was in the beginning section where on modern recordings, you hear the first trumpet really whack that call - Bb F, Bb Eb Ab, Bb, Bb F. But having it back in the mix meant that you hear all the swirling patterns underneath much more easily, with the polytonality and the polyrhythms flying around!!
It would be easy to lower the dynamic on a modern trumpet, but I wonder whether the original was actually scored like that.
Stravinsky did do a lot of modifications to his scores with time and hearing performances of his works. However, I also think many conductors use other recordings as references and so copy what they hear and sometimes turn a deaf 'un to the marked dynamic. (It's hard for a trumpet up on a top Bb to stay low)
I find with Baroque recordings on original instruments, you really get a different perspective on the piece (and his scoring) When you hear them. The big oboe solo in the Brandenburg Concerto 1 (slow Movement) tends to be played SO romantically on modern instruments when on a baroque oboe, it sounds really plaintive and so is romantic just by the fact that the sound is pure rather than this enforced romanticism that some players do with Bach. Baroque instruments seem to let the textures through easier and the romanticism seems to appear with no effort. (If that makes sense)
Quite interesting really, since even if we go back to the 1920's, even they would be considered as period instruments now since it's getting close to 100 years!!! Makes you wonder what Gerswhin imagined for his scoring of Porgy in comparison to what we hear now even!!
On the BBC, they played a pianola roll of Rachmaninov (I think it was) How spooky is that? Watching the keys move knowing that he was pushing them originally!!
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Post by imagemaker18 on Jul 20, 2013 1:29:01 GMT
Hi, Ian I listened again to the BBC broadcast of Le Sacre as played by La Siecle, and as much as I was impressed by the transparency and uniqueness of the performance, I do have a few nit-pickings: While the Dance of the Earth (closing section of the first part) was excitingly fast and brilliant, I didn't care for the long pause before starting the second part. Also, and it seems to be the case with other conductors, Maestro Francois-Xavier Roth takes a great big long pause before the 11/4 bar leading into the Naming and Honoring of the Chosen One (the 5/8, 5/8, 9/8, 5/8...etc..... section). He also waits way too long before starting the Sacrificial Dance, after the bass clarinet chromatic descending staccato scale, leading to the short chord before starting the dance. He also takes long pauses at the last three bars, which is somewhat disturbing, and not indicated in the score, and I seriously doubt that it is in the Boosey original score. I have heard these mannerisms in other recordings, including the Maazel recording with the Cleveland Orchestra. In his later recording with the same orchestra, Boulez seems to like a rather slow tempo in the Sacrificial Dance, which loses the excitement that is generated by the complex rhythms. Boulez's earlier recording of 1969 is much better and more exciting. I must be prejudiced, because I have studied this work thoroughly, and have some definite opinions about it. Taking these long pauses as above breaks the tension, excitement, and intensity of this work, at least for me. Well, these are nit-pickings, and there must be reasons for these liberties, but for me "it doesn't seem to ring my bell"! I just love Le Sacre, and in my head I have the ideal performance that probably doesn't exist other than in my imagination! Cheers! Israel
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Post by Rabbit on Jul 20, 2013 7:20:25 GMT
I just love Le Sacre, and in my head I have the ideal performance that probably doesn't exist other than in my imagination! Probably for many people too Israel. Yes, there are pauses between sections - I guessed that it was either marked or in the ballet, it allows dancers to get the word .. 'and' in before they take a step!! You know how bad they are at music and how they need a lead in!! I've not seen the original ballet although I have seen the weird costumes. I sometimes hear weird differences in Tchaik ballets as well (and pauses)when they do it like the ballet as opposed to concert performances. Speeds can also be all over the place!! The recording does contain a lot of pauses. One thing puzzled me and I've only heard this once before .... the final chord after the rising chromatic scale is normally like (what I call a Donkey) ei String/band (eeee/ haw) I learned the oboe part with words because some of it is difficult to count!!! In this recording, the band follows the strings very quickly so you don't get that 'donkey' soound. Almost joined together. The idea of period instruments though is very interesting but it can be quite difficult to decide where to change the instruments, since they didn't all change suddenly and different technologies emerged gradually at different times in different orchestras!! Baroque oboes are a lot easier to blow than modern ones in that they don't need so much pressure but I bet when the narrow bore was invented, it crept in slowly around the world and so there would have been mixtures of old and new!! I was watching the Rachmaninov Prom on TV Iplayer - Stephen Hough playing Paganini Variations and I noticed the flute player using a wooden flute!! So some modern players prefer the 'wood' sound to the more usual (nowadays) metal. I wonder whether the alto flute in 1913 was a wooden instrument?
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Post by imagemaker18 on Jul 20, 2013 15:25:56 GMT
Yes, there are pauses between sections - I guessed that it was either marked or in the ballet, it allows dancers to get the word .. 'and' in before they take a step!! You know how bad they are at music and how they need a lead in!! <snip> I sometimes hear weird differences in Tchaik ballets as well (and pauses)when they do it like the ballet as opposed to concert performances. Speeds can also be all over the place!! It reminds me of an anecdote: A famous ballet choreographer/ballet dancer asked Stravinsky: "Igor, why don't you write for me something in 3/4 time like 'One Two Three Pause, One Two Three Pause', ....?" This is exactly one of the issues I mentioned in my previous post! I recall Igor Markevitch, the conductor, close friend of Stravinsky, and at the time his foremost interpreter, in 1951 describing how the latter arrived at this ending. He was supposedly at the sink, filling a bottle with water, and that gave him the idea to imitate that sound! "Burllllllllup!" -- "brlip - BANG!" In other words: "That's All, Folks! I agree! Where is the dividing line? Musicians at the time played on whatever was available, and subject to their personal tastes and preferences. They did not need the historians' approval! I have played on all of them through my career. Silver, platinum, gold, nickel/silver, and now, my flute is wood! For several years I played on a platinum flute, and even when playing softly, never had a problem cutting through even a 100 piece orchestra! It was as heavy as a submachine gun, however, and rather inflexible, demanding a perfect embouchure and exacting treatment! I later switched to gold, and now my flute is an old American-made wooden Boehm.
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Jul 20, 2013 17:05:59 GMT
Israel, which studio versions do you think are good ones? There are so many to choose from, I haven't a clue. I must admit, I haven't heard a recorded one that I thought was top notch.
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