This blog series is going to be a little different from my normal blog posts. Normally I post about tips and tricks for clarinet technique, but I thought I would do something a little different, a bit more vulnerable, but hopefully just as relevant to my readers.
In a couple weeks I will be performing with the Salem Philharmonia for the first time on 2nd clarinet. I was approached by the 1st clarinet player, my friend Connie, to play with her because the other clarinetist decided she was unable to commit to the group. I said yes, even though I knew that it meant I would have to rearrange my students and that Tuesdays would be a very long day for me.
I wanted to play. I had to play. My soul, my heart, demanded it.
I had been playing with the Eugene Symphonic Band on alto clarinet and I didn’t feel challenged, so I left that group. I’m so glad that I am playing with this group now. Every Tuesday I look forward to making music with some great community musicians.
Now the concert is only 2 weeks away and I’m working hard to clean up my part to make sure that I can perform at my very best. This is the first orchestra that I will be performing with in an ongoing capacity, not as a substitute or as a part of a college class. I want my part to be great. I want to make a good impression.
That all being said, getting back into the practicing orchestral pieces has been an interesting experience. I graduated from my masters program back in 2011 and since then I’ve been playing either in symphonic bands, pit orchestras, small ensembles, or as a soloist. Practicing for orchestral pieces is very different. Your melody is not as pronounced and you have to be cognizant of all the other parts around you so that you don’t get lost in your rests (counting is also essential, obviously). As the 2nd clarinet your part is even more harmonic so practicing without the group can be frustrating.
What is this supposed to sound like!? Really? What is my direction for this phrase? Ugh.
So I thought I would share my personal orchestral preparation journey with you. It’s definitely a new journey for me. In college I played 1st and sometimes I can be a bit bossy as a section leader, so being the 2nd chair is strange. This group is also going through a transitional period, as their last director Dr. Sean Paul Mills, who also directed the Willamette Valley Symphony Orchestra, left to go to Indiana.
This concert is being directed by Mark Perlmann. He directs a number of groups in the Portland area and is also an accomplished cellist, ironically the same instrument as Dr. Mills. For this concert set he’s picked Death and Transfiguration by Richard Strauss, Tristan and Isolde by Richard Wagner, and Violin Symphonia #?? By W.A. Mozart. You know I should really know what that other piece is….
I play on the Wagner (A Clarinet) and the Strauss (Bb Clarinet). Both pieces are challenging for different reasons.
The Strauss is technically challenging in some parts, both rhythmically and technically. I’ve been practicing the development section (show picture below) and the part that trips me up is the running triplets, trying to make them seamless when the fingerings are less than ideal for me. I’ve been playing it down tempo, tempo is at least 124, and I can comfortably get about 110 before I start losing my crispness in the fingers.
The Wagner technically is not challenging for me. What is challenging is playing an extremely stuffy A clarinet that I’m borrowing from the orchestra. It’s times like these that I regret not buying my own A clarinet in college. I’m hoping that taking it to the shop this week will help. I find that if we play Wagner first and then end rehearsal with Strauss my embouchure is week and I’m winded by the 3rd page because I’ve used up all of my energy trying to get the A clarinet to speak the way I want.
Alright so lets get to practicng!
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