tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post4785567305163219527..comments2024-03-27T23:06:03.736-05:00Comments on The Music Salon: Bach and the OrchestraBryan Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-25362065862842104892014-04-14T14:29:56.452-05:002014-04-14T14:29:56.452-05:00Time is our most valuable possession! I know what ...Time is our most valuable possession! I know what it is like trying to find time for everything. You can understand why Elliot Carter went to live in the Arizona desert for a year.... No interruptions!Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-49860048860505246462014-04-14T14:13:46.922-05:002014-04-14T14:13:46.922-05:00Thanks! I admit it isn't easy but I try to do ...Thanks! I admit it isn't easy but I try to do my best. Like your composer friend you mention sometimes roughly said: I try to find what sounds good.<br /><br />Recently I've been slacking when it comes to practicing the playing itself (haven't practiced piano playing for some months now!!!) so that's certainly a bad thing. I need to focus more on the playing as it can become a limiting factor in improvisations and when finding good sounding parts. I think I basically got out of my practice habits when the bachelor thesis project started and I had to work with it with my group at times that didn't fit me (I basically had specific times reserved in the evening for ear training, piano playing and composing but couldn't keep it). My goal is to get back to normal state of things tomorrow (I keep telling myself that I will get back to it tomorrow but it never happens, this time (since I've wrote it here) I mean it).Rickardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08084578675339015204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-13309312227630352882014-04-12T09:44:16.855-05:002014-04-12T09:44:16.855-05:00Just had a chance to listen to your variations pie...Just had a chance to listen to your variations piece. Wow, I'm impressed with how much progress you have made! The bass lines especially are far more dynamic and engaging. Good piece.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-16147474126764484802014-04-11T11:06:15.940-05:002014-04-11T11:06:15.940-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.A.C. Douglashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12090447201234367871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-55188128255590548532014-04-11T10:50:30.437-05:002014-04-11T10:50:30.437-05:00I think you are both, in different ways, proving m...I think you are both, in different ways, proving my point. It is no longer desirable to beef up the orchestra, and orchestras prefer to only occasionally cut down their forces to ones suitable for Bach performance, so while we certainly get some, we don't get a lot of Bach performances by full orchestras. Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-38670592757969501802014-04-11T10:33:06.625-05:002014-04-11T10:33:06.625-05:00In my experience concerts that include Bach's ...In my experience concerts that include Bach's music are rare here in Gothenburg, Sweden. I listened to Bach's Mass in B Minor and Bach's 2nd Brandenburg Concerto recently. The Mass in B minor used a fairly sized orchestra, not sure how many players there were, it's a vocal work anyways so the choir takes up much of the place. The Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 on the other hand was played with a properly sized ensemble. It was played during the first half of the concert (before the pause, after the pause it was Glass' Violin Concerto and Beethoven's 7th symphony) so basically the rest of the players came in during the 2nd half. I think A.C. Douglas has a point, it's very possible to play Bach with smaller ensembles in a concert without sending 75% of the orchestra home. The other players that don't play the Bach can either have reduced workload or better prepare for other pieces (especially if something extra challenging is going to be played later). It's probably a matter of organization too, can the orchestra switch around their positions during a concert? In orchestral concerts in Gothenburg there can for instance be 2 pieces during the first or second half of the concert and there sometimes is a need to change the layout and if the layout changes aren't too big then it's done in a matter of a few minutes between the 1st and 2nd pieces during a half while the audience is waiting.<br /><br />Btw, I have a new finished piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD2JpFWV4aURickardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08084578675339015204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-7381905132124216672014-04-11T09:59:37.688-05:002014-04-11T09:59:37.688-05:00Bryan Townsend wrote: [I]f you program a Bach piec...<b>Bryan Townsend wrote:</b> <i>[I]f you program a Bach piece for your upcoming season if you are running a full orchestra, you are faced with two disagreeable alternatives: either you send 75% of the orchestra home or you beef up Bach's score by adding additional parts for all the players that he didn't write for.</i><br /><br />————————————————————————————————————————<br /><br />No self-respecting symphony orchestra today would even <i>think</i> of employing your latter alternative (if one could dignify such a practice by calling it an alternative), and your former alternative is a bit of a straw man. No need to "send 75% of the orchestra home" when performing a Bach orchestral work. One merely need have the unnecessary players sit out the selection as is regularly done today. If orchestral Bach were as popular in America with symphony orchestra concert-going audiences as he deserves to be (and sad to say, he is not as I've previously suggested), Bach's name on those lists would be right up there at or near the top.<br /><br />--<br />ACD<br />http://www.soundsandfury.com/<br />A.C. Douglashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12090447201234367871noreply@blogger.com