Mussorgsky Pictures – String Quintet version?

I was spending a quiet afternoon listening to the Ravel orchestration of Mussorgsky’s “Pictures In An Exhibition”, and found myself getting mugged down memory lane from the times I spent helping out behind the scenes at the Leeds International Piano Competition. I also found myself hunting for a score on IMSLP. I found much more than I bargained for – Robert Patterson of Great River Music has arranged this for string quintet (quartet + bass). The score and parts are available at IMSLP.

This looks like it could be fun. I’m going to have to see if I can play this with some friends soon… It’ll make a change from that blasted Beethoven/Khym quintet!

Massenet – Cendrillon (“Cinderella”)

I’ve recently spent a week playing the bass part in Massenet’s opera “Cendrillon” for Leeds University Union’s OperaSoc. The plot should be familiar to all of you, as it is just another version of the Cinderella story…

There’s nothing much to worry the double bass player, unless you are doing this as part of a very small orchestra – there are places where the double bass part divides (albeit usually as a pizz & arco versions of the same note). However, if your band has only one cellist, then you might have to cover some of the lines where the cello part divides as well. There were points where I found myself covering three cello lines as well as the two basslines. Fortunately, there’s significant overlap!

The only other advice is my usual operatic advice: WATCH THE CONDUCTOR. Singers miss beats, or add in extra ones, and it’s up to the band to follow the conductor. Make sure, therefore, that you’ve got a good sightline between you and the conductor and put your music in it, so you don’t have to move your eyes too far between dots and beats.

 

Incidentally, what *was* Massenet on? In Manon, he had her singing about a table, and in Cinders, she sings about a chair. Was he some sort of furniture fetishist?

Haydn Symphonies – Reduced

I just spent an evening playing a couple of late Haydn symphonies – Symphony 94 – Surprise & Symphony 104 – London. These were an official, Haydn-endorsed reduction done by Johann Peter Salomon for String Quartet + Flute, and have recently been re-edited by Christopher Hogwood. (I keep wanting to write “Hogwash” or “Hogweed” there… I blame my father.) A friend has added a double bass part to these to add a bit of oomph – mainly by taking the orchestral bass part, with a couple of extra bits where the cello in the reduction has to go filling in something else…

Not particularly challenging apart from the odd semiquaver passage, but fun, and worth a heads-up. (“Surprise” needs a bottom C for the slow movement, and the bass part I was playing had its own surprise in a bit of triple & quadruple-stopping. Thank you Tony!)

Acorn Antiques

This is a bit different to the normal stuff I do.  I don’t know if you’re familiar with Ms Victoria Wood’s work?  If not, she’s a stand-up comedian who’s also done a few good songs (“Barry & Freda / Let’s Do It” being the one that springs to my mind).  Aaanyway, one of the regular sketches in her TV show was “Acorn Antiques”, a mickey-take of cheap soap operas, and that ballooned into a full-on three hour musical in 2005. Thankfully, we didn’t do the original full version of the musical, but an extended version of the second half – this is going on what I’m reading on the Wikipedia article (dangerous, I know, to use Wiki as a source…), and what I have found on YouTube. It seems that the original version wasn’t well received, so Wood rewrote it around the second half, which was the sort of thing that the audiences associate with “Acorn Antiques”.

Note to the unwary classical-type double bassist: this isn’t an ordinary double bass part.  As well as standard double bass, there are numbers that are scored for electric bass (fretless, for preference, as there are opportunities for slides).  You can get by with doing it all on stand-up (as I did), but it’ll shred your plucking fingers (and I have to be careful how I say that). My advice: surgical spirit before-hand, and a supply of Germolene New Skin for during the run. You’ll take it off during each half, but it’ll help, believe me.

Things you’ll need to know:

1. Vamp.  Also known as “Vamp ’til ready”.  Usually a short (one or two bar) phrase to be repeated while there’s some business on stage.  Use this as an opportunity to practise watching the MD like a hawk.  Chances are that the MD will be busily vamping as well, as the MD is also responsible for keyboard 1.
2. How to dump your bow and pick it up again very quickly.  I use a bow holster – very handy.  Some of the pizzicato passages are virtually impossible if you’re holding the bow at the same time.
3. We didn’t do the opening Manchesterford scene-setting number.
4. This show is not for kids, as it involves “adult themes”. And swearing about biscuits and cakes. There is a very real possibility I’ll never be able to think again of custard creams without smirking. See the “Macaroons” number – NSFW.

Technically, the music isn’t difficult.  Watch out for the not-so-subtle keychanges that cause you to suddenly look at the music and think “*how* many sharps?”.  There are a couple of trickier moments, however:

08 – Have You Met Miss Babs

Babs, dancing with a standard lamp. Raunchy music, needs a lot of power to get through. Some trickyish switches between quavers and triplets, as well as an unfriendly 12/8 bar. Here – have a look.

11 – The Old Small Print

This seems to have been… borrowed… from “The Old Landmark” – you know, the number in The Blues Brothers with James Brown. At least, that’s what I was thinking of at the time I was playing it… This is one of the Electric Bass parts rather than normal upright string bass, and therefore requires more oomph. Pizzicato all the way, some longer notes that need to riiiing out. And a ton of octave work, which I could only play by using the thumb on the bottom string and a finger (or two) on the upper…

It starts in F (nice and easy), but slips up a semitone into F# for the second verse, and ends in G. Here’s some of the middle bit. Remember – all pizz. I hope your fingers are tougher than mine were at the start of the week!

Those are the only bits I can remember being particularly difficult. There’s a number that goes sailing up to an E – the one in the treble clef, above A440, but it’s long sustained notes, so isn’t a problem. Have fun!

Bizet – Symphony in C

This seems to be a work written when Bizet was a student, which he then put aside and forgot about. It was first performed in 1935, at which point Bizet was (a) 97 years old, and (b) very dead…

It’s good and jolly, but there are some very long repeats – even us basses had to turn pages to get back to the top! Apart from that, there’s not much to worry us. The movements look tame, but the time signatures and tempi are brisker than you might expect from looking at it.

The really interesting bit is in the second (slow) movement. We’re in 9/8, it feels like a big slow 3, and it’s all going nice and easily until figure [5] when we’re suddenly exposed (fortunately doubling the cello section, but even so)… This excerpt starts from figure [5], and runs to the bar of figure [6], and is just a little uncomfortable:

The last two movements go at a cracking pace, but there’s nothing much else to worry us.

Martinu Nonet

The Spohr Grand Nonet is a popular piece of music. It involves one of each stringed instrument (violin, viola, cello, double bass), and one of each woodwind (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon) and horn. The piece is one of those “standards” that can quite happily fill a large chunk of a concert; however, there’s often perceived to be the problem of what to play with it. Someone once collated a list of 99 pieces to go with the Spohr. This then generated a correspondence along the lines of “you missed out “, which generated another list of 99 works…

This Nonet by Martinu is one of those works for the “Grand Nonet” combination. It’s a more recent work (1959), and can be quite tricky in places but approachable in others. It needs to be studied and worked carefully, particularly if being tackled by a group containing more than a couple of people who are new to the work. It took me about eight years (of, admittedly, irregular attempts) to get the hang of it!

First movement – think of this as being in 2 rather than 4, even though the time says 4/4. It helps to keep things moving. Generally, this isn’t tricky, but there is a slightly hairy bit at around bar 170 (figure [17]):

The second movement, although it’s marked as being slow, shouldn’t be *too* slow, otherwise it will drag, you’ll lose all sense of pulse, and the thing grinds to a halt. Apart from that, nothing much to worry the bass department.

The final movement, however, is a different kettle of fish. The time signature changes every few bars:

Keep the quaver beat going in your head – this is always the same – but don’t try to count them individually!

Good luck.

What I Did On My Holidays – 2012

Band Camp Report – 2012

It’s good to see old friends, and make some new ones. And see some very old friends for the first time in, oh, 15-20 years…

Aaaanyway. On with the music.

Saturday

Arrive, unload, drink coffee, natter, eat, and then start the musical week off with a big orchestral session:

• Mendelssohn’s overture “Fair Melusine”
• Beethoven’s 4th Symphony

Sunday

String orchestra:

• Purcell – Trumpet overture
• Pachelbel – Kanon & Gigue
• Mozart – Divertimento K138
• Mendelssohn – String Symphony 1
• Latann – Herz & Herz

Big massed cello session, including the (in)famous Bachananas Brasilieras and various other lollipops.

Round the day off with a string quintet session – Dvorak & Onslow op 38. The latter is definitely a double-cello (or double-viola) quintet, rather than a bass quintet. It is named “the bullet”, and the later movements are called things like “fever” and “recuperation”. Apparently, Georges Onslow wrote the quintet when he was recovering from a shooting accident…

Monday

Another day, another string orchestra:

• Purcell – “The Married Beau”
• C Forster – Suite in G. This is reckoned to be one of the earliest string quartets, Forster having been a contemporary of JSB.
• Purcell – trumpet sonata
• Mendelssohn – String Symphony 2
• Bratton – The Teddy Bears’ Picnic (quartet arrangement)

Then a mixed group:

• Stanford Serenade in G op 95 – string quartet + bass, flute, clarinet, horn, bassoon.
• Martinu Nonet – same personnel as the Spohr Grand Nonet (one of each string, one of each wind)

Finally (for me) some big orchestral stuff again:

• Haydn – Symphony 88
• Mozart – Aria – “Per Questa Bella Mano”, K612 (orchestra, bass voice, double bass obligato)
• Schubert – Symphony 5

Tuesday

The traditional “day of rest” – give the wind players a chance to get their lips back in shape. However, there was a big orchestral session in the evening, two pieces of which I’ve never heard:

• Schumann – Overture, Scherzo, Finale, op 52
• Bizet – Symphony in C

Wednesday

Lots of string orchestra work:

• Ireland – A Downland Suite
• R*tter – A Suite for Strings (apparently just a re-arrangement of the suite for brass…)
• Mozart – Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
• J S Bach – Four Pieces from Suite 3
• Grainger – Molly On The Shore (another expanded quartet thing)
• Marsh – a couple of things written by one of our number…

And some other stuff:

• Dubois – Dixtuor – A new one for me. Can’t remember anything particularly challenging for the bass-player.
• Beethoven – Septet – five of the seven players are from my family.

A free evening. How did that happen? How was that allowed to happen? I’ll have words with Da Management!

Thursday

Lots more string orchestra stuff:

• Albinoni – Concerto a cinque in D
• Ireland – Concertino Pastorale
• Elgar – Serenade op 20
• Mozart Divertimento K136
• Finzi – Prelude and Romance

Some big(ish) ensemble pieces involving piano:

• Glinka – Piano Sextet (piano, string quartet, bass)
• Saint-Saens – Septet (as Glinka + trumpet)

Both of these appear to be fairly heavy going for the poor pianist, but very approachable for the rest of us!

Full(ish) Orchestra in the evening:

• Haydn Symphony 22 – “The Philosopher”. Unusual, in that it’s full strings, two horns, and two cors anglais
• Mozart – Horn Concerto #2 in Eflat. Directed by the soloist…
• Mozart – Symphony 29. There was a problem with the parts, so the first horn (whose part was missing, but who had a part for Haydn 45) had to stand and read over the conductor’s shoulder.

Friday – the final reckoning

And so here we are, the end of the week. Just a few things before we go home on Saturday, starting with a Baroque & roll session:

• JS Bach – Suite in B minor
• Telemann – Viola Concerto
• JSB – Brandenburg 4

The Schubert Octet rounded off the morning very nicely.

The afternoon started off with Strauss’s Metamorphosen – the full 23-parter, rather than the septet reduction (or is the septet the original, and the 23 part job an expansion?) Glad I was first bass – the second part is nowhere near as busy, and the third bass has a *huge* amount of counting to do.

More orchestral stuff followed:

• Mozart – overture “Marriage of Figaro” (insert viola joke here)
• Bruch – Concerto for Clarinet & Viola – a new one to me. Very enjoyable.
• Arriaga – Symphony in D. We’re beginning to get tired…

Finally ending the day with a brace of nonets:

• Spohr – Grand Nonet – the daddy of ‘em all
• Farrenc – Nonet – very easy-going and light-hearted. A good end to the week.

Saturday

And home…

Notes

I’m going to have to get the cello overhauled soon, and start working on that, as I enjoyed the hour or two I spent playing it this year.

I’ve also identified some potential “Practice Notes” posts to write about a few of the works I’ve looked at this week. Don’t rush me, because I’ve also got to play Rosenkavalier over the next couple of weekends, and I need to have a look at the part and get the cuts in first… I may be some time.

Those dreaded notes…

…the ones no bass-player wants to see…

Twenty-seveneight times. I lose count every time…

 

I should really link to this …

For those of you lucky enough to not know what this is, it’s the first two bars of the (in)famous Pachelbel Kanon in D, which should be followed by a Gigue, but most people don’t bother… The bassline is that two bar phrase, repeated over and over again, just with occasionally shifting dynamics. After you’ve played that thing 28 times, go back to the first note (D) and stop.

Opera time again!

Well, to be more accurate, operetta, then musical, then opera.

Operatta – Gilbert & Sullivan – The Mikado

Leeds University Union’s Opera Society is putting on G&S’s Mikado next month.
Performance Dates: 2012-05-02 – 2012-05-05
Location: Riley Smith Hall, Leeds University
More details at OperaSoc’s website

Musical – Victoria Wood – Acorn Antiques, the Musical

I know very little about this, having just been approached to see if it’s a go-er for me. It is. Google tells me that it’s being put on by Cleckheaton and Spenborough’s Amateur Operatic & Dramatic Society.
Performance Dates: 2012-05-16 – 2012-05-19
Location: Cleckheaton Town Hall
More information at CSAODS’s website

Opera – Massenet – Manon

Leeds Youth Opera’s summer production is Massenet’s classic opera, Manon. Not done this before – anyone got any tips?
Performance Dates: 2012-07-04 – 2012-07-07
Location: Carriageworks Theatre, Leeds
More information, as it becomes available, at Leeds Youth Opera Group’s website

Gilbert & Sullivan – Iolanthe

This week, I’m playing in Leeds Gilbert & Sullivan Society‘s production of G&S’s Iolanthe, at the Carriageworks Theatre in Leeds.

As with most G&S operettas, there’s not a lot to worry the bassists, apart from a few little bits. These excerpts are all from Act 1 (but one of them is repeated in Act 2, Sullivan being an eco-friendly composer, recycling material throughout…)

06a – Entrance of the Chancellor

The cello/bass department kicks off the fugue here – it’s brisk-ish, but the notes just don’t quite lie under the fingers.

This figure is repeated in Act 2 at the start of Number 7 (Recit & Song)

10 – Song

This next little riff occurs twice in each verse…:

11 – Recit

How are your scales?

Did you play a G at the end? Look again.

13 – Finale

The finale to Act 1 contains this passage to delight – it’s a long first half, and this is near the end of a long Finale. ’nuff said.

(While preparing this, I noticed that the last note of the first bar of the second line may be a C – it’s difficult to tell from the part – and I can’t remember what the Truth actually is…)