Organizing a percussion section, where every work recquires a different number of percussionists, different instruments, asigning parts to musicians…, is a hard task. This involves the principal (who asigns parts, determines which instruments are to be used, where to set them up…), the stage mannager (who is in charge of the logistics), the personnel mannager (who contracts the extra percussionists needed), the artistic comitee and the music director (in charge of deciding the works to be played during the season).
All this hard work was done by the orchestras themselves, as there was not a global archive with all the repertory specifying the distribution of parts, number of extras needed, what instruments to use, if they can be shared among musicians… It was back in 2004 that Percussion Orchestrations landed on the internet filling that gap.
This powerful site is now a fundamental tool for orchestras arround the world. Since early this year, it´s not only written in English: it also features an Italian, German, French and Spanish version.
I was in charge of translating the web into Spanish, and I´d like to thank Ed Cervenka (founder of Percussion Orchestrations) for the confidence he put on me to make this project possible.
As the Gijón Symphony Orchestra was including "The Typewriter" (Leroy Anderson) for its New Year´s Concert, I thought it would be funny to tape a rehearsal and share this unusual experience (because of the instrument being played) with you.
The original score suggests two aditional percussionists (apart from the "typer"): one in charge of the bell, and other one imitating the carriage with a güiro. For the sake of the theatrical aspect, and for a better rhythmical fit, I decided to play everything myself. I also added some "notes" that were not on the original score, which I think make for a better phrasing.
This is the result:
Voilá... My letter to Santa is ready!
I´d like to whish you all a very happy, musical and percusive 2012.
It´s been a long time since I don´t show you something funny but, today, I´ve found a video on YouTube that I think is worth sharing with you.
It´s about a man who, since he was a little boy, caught the idea of trying to imitate a xylophone:
You have to agree with me that this video is pure kitsch: this gentleman with a flower in the buttonhole of his lapel trying his best to look good on TV, his "fluency" and "self-confidence" before the camera, phrases pasted together with eh...., ah...., uummmmm...., takes while playing crouched down, then standing up, giving the impresion of a picture descending from heaven....
It´s also funny how he pronunces "zilaphone" instead of "xylophone" and, when trying to explain his development, nothing comes to mind and says: "...And this is the result!"
But, the weird thing is when he says (and he seems to have realized after having said it): "About five years ago, I was in my backyard entertaining a friend with my hands". No need to say, in this context, that phrase is hilarious.
This is a video which could have been filmed by Luis Buñuel himself.
I can´t deny it´s been a surprise for Neil Grover to contact me asking for permission to add my video to the above mentioned sections. I´m proud the most prestigious brand of tambourines and other percussion instruments has liked my video.
On this video you can see the 1st Alborada, together with the end of Scena e Canto Gitano linking with the Fandango Asturiano, where I also play castanets:
As you can see, due to the "heat of the moment", the maestro takes a faster tempo than that on the rehearsals; even in this scenario I could play the tambourine the way I planned (not without some suffering, but it could be done).
For all of you who could not travel to Rome, tune the Vatican TV or TPA, I´m passing you a link for you to download the whole concert. It´s an historic ocassion, as it was the first time a Spanish orchestra played at The Vatican, being H.H. Benedict XVI in the audience.
As I´m playing again the wonderful "Capriccio Espagnol" by Rimsky-Korsakov (I have played this work several times with different orchestras, different instruments, it was the last work I played before moving to London, and it was the first I listened to being played by an orchestra in London), I´d like to write about the tambourine part, the different techniques we can use, the various "tempi" conductors can take, phrasing...
As always, before going on, here you have a copy of the part:
The tambourine doubles the melody, so precise rhythm and phrasing are a must. Having said this, there are many ways to play this excerpt but, if there´s something that is going to determine how we play it, it will be, no doubt, the tempo chosen by the maestro. Indeed, there are techniques that don´t work when the tempo is slow (the knee technique comes to mind), and others don´t work when the tempo is fast (the ordinary technique, for example). Knowing the tempo the maestro is going to take is paramount in order to successfully choose a technique to play this fragment. Once we know the tempo, we can adapt our technique.
During the last week, preparing the concert I was going to play with the Asturias Symphony Orchestra at the Vatican City, I used the regular/normal technique, as the tempo was slow enough so I could use just one hand. This also allowed me to keep the instrument high, reinforcing the visual concept.
On this video you can see various options, but it´s only at the end that technique is put into context, playing with the rest of the orchestra. The first four techniques were recorded in my classroom at the Gijón Conservatory, while the last one was recorded at "Príncipe Felipe" Auditorium during a rehearsal with the Asturias Symphony Orchestra, the camera on the music stand:
As you can see, the tempo is pretty slow, so I can use the "normal" technique. Any other, given that speed, wouldn´t have worked.
On the contrary, I want you to listen to this same fragment recorded with the Gijón Symphony Orchestra, me on tambourine as well:
It is quite obvious that the tempo is much faster, and I wouldn´t have been able to play that fast using the technique on the last video: on this recording I´m using my knee.
As you see, it´s very important to be flexible and have as many musical resources as possible, so we can face the different musical situations.
The indication "strepitoso" in the part (which literally means "with great din, racket") doesn´t involve to play with no phrasing or musical direction. It is the triangle the one in charge of "making noise", which plays 16th notes left, right and centre: in my opinion, it´s this instrument the one adding the festive and noisy character to the alborada (phrasing the triangle would be, in my modest opinion, overplaying: it is a rhythmical and phrasing pedal that should be played impassive). On the contrary, the tambourine (and later on the snare drum) has to phrase and follow the melody. My musical idea with respect to the tambourine is as follows:
You can see there are many possibilities, but just one fits a certain context. The more ways we have to face a fragment, the more possibilities of making music. Also, it´s obvious that every single technique has its own timbre, character and dynamic posibilities so, depending on what we want, we can "dive" into our "technical catalogue" and choose the technique that best suits the musical context.
As soon as I get a copy of the video featuring the concert we played at "Sala Nervi" in the Vatican City, I´ll post it so you can see the result of my "tambourine obsession".
Last October 22nd, the Gijón Symphony Orchestra played, among other works, Prokofiev´s Symphony #1 ("Classical"). As always, playing works by this composer is a real pleasure, and this article will deal with a fragment of its "Allegro con brio".
Before going on, here´s the score for that fragment (you can click on it to see it bigger):
This is the timpani part:
Estudying the score, we can see that, four bars before M (four before 20 in the score or, simply, 19 -sorry about the different editions) celli and basses play 8th notes (C-E-G-E, C-E-G-E...). The rest of the orchestra is playing either two quarter notes a bar, or a sustained note. The timpani are in no man´s land, as they sustain a long note while articulating 16th´s (no other instruments play this figure). Also, instruments playing long notes are clarinets, oboes and flutes which, in principle, are not related to timpani.
For all these reasons, my decision was to play the same thing as celli and basses do, ending my interpretation being this:
This is the final result (audio starts right on L), recorded live at Teatro Jovellanos in Gijón under Óliver Díaz (I´m sorry I cannot offer you a video like in previous occasions... Just audio this time):
As you already know, I´m in favor (always with a deep knowledge and the utmost respect for Music) of modifying the parts.
