Orchestral blues

[Empty_of_Clouds]

After spending the last 8 weeks in virtual solitary confinement - zero physical or mental support - something occurred to me. It has nothing to do with pens.


What happens if a selected piece of music is not to the personal taste of, say, half the players? (maybe this never happens, but still) While everyone is obviously a consummate professional, does musical taste alter the way such a piece of music gets rendered? Would it be noticeable to a discerning audience? Do the members of the orchestra have any say in what gets played? I just wondered how 'heart' affects music when played by a large group rather than by an individual.


Thanks in advance.

David

[silverlifter]

Not classical, but a related anecdote.

I hung out with some jazz musicians in Sydney in the 1980-90s. One of them, a bassist, detested playing standards (think anything that came via a Broadway songbook), but night after night, he'd get up and grin his way through it.

I asked him how he did it. He said, "it pays the bills". I guess jazz and classical players are alike in that respect; it's not many that can afford to be purists...

[carlos.q]

pps. For those who may not be aware there will be another virtual pen show from Rome next Sunday (details on Pentrace). The first one was very much fun (I attended), and it was good to be able to put a face to a name, mainly Art Ross and Sarj Minhas. I didn't talk to anyone because... well, I'm a bit shy in new company, but Art for one has really made me welcome. Hoping to make the next one!

This is very valuable information that I believe you should share over at the “Clubs, Shows and Geek gatherings” section. Maybe you can share your experience and direct fellow geeks as to how to connect for the next show. I am not a member of Pentrace and wouldn't know how to begin....

[guyy]

There’s a recording of a Brahms or Beethoven piano concerto with Glenn Gould as the soloist where Leonard Bernstein prefaces the performance by saying “I don’t like what this lunatic is doing with the piano part here, but he’s a great artist so i’m going to play along. But just so you know, i really don’t like it.” Of course, that only makes you listen to the solo piano more intently to try to figure out what was bugging Bernstein so much.

[Looked it up, and it was the Brahms D minor concerto.]


EoC, thanks for the tip on the meeting. For some reason i can’t get into Pentrace today. Is there an alternative way of getting the meeting info?

[manoeuver]

I'm not Jon (not even close) but I spent a lot of time playing in large ensembles when I was a music major. Percussion even!
I can tell you for sure that performing music is entirely different than listening to it.

I can blithely, joyously play drums for music I'd choose to avoid in any other context. It's very very different to be inside the music, causing it.
Perhaps less so when the ensemble is very large, but it's still real.

A skilled and subtle musician can pull off a sardonic solo, and an angry drummer in a rock band type configuration can perpetrate severe emotional abuse on bandmates and listeners alike (I've been that guy.)

In a large ensemble of professionals doing their jobs acceptably, I don't believe the average concertgoer would be able to tell if half of them didn't care for the piece. A skilled and sensitive conductor, probably.

On the other side of the coin, if most of the orchestra members were super-excited to play a particular selection, I think that would be palpable to most anybody in attendance with a pulse.

[View from the Loft]

I was never good enough to play professionally, but played in youth orchestras and some good amateur orchestras. In my experience, the audience can tell if the conductor doesn't like a particular piece, and it's easily discernible if the orchestra really enjoys what they are playing.

As a violist at school, I was in demand and played in most school orchestras in the city. Loved the big orchestral works and works such as The Messiah, and operas.

Not so keen on works such as those by Gilbert & Sullivan. My most detested part was enduring a work so long it was played over two nights. I was tricked - it was written, I was assured for a viola come 2nd Violin part. Like bleep it was - I had to borrow a violin and until then I had never played a violin but this could not be played on a viola. The actors never knew how much I hated this, nor did the audience - but the conductor was well aware!

I think any good professional in whatever field should be able to rise beyond their own dislikes and turn in a good standard of work. For instance, there were some clients in the riding school that I did not enjoy teaching, but they had no idea - and kept asking for me because they enjoyed their lessons with me. The owner of the riding school rewarded me with a glass of wine each week after I had taught them (they were always the last lesson of the day)!

[Chuck Naill]

Gastroenterologists and colonoscopies come to mind. It may get boring, but someone's life depends on you paying attention. No pretending or grinning.....

[Nurk2]

As a "jobbing" musician, I don't pick the tunes. I don't pick the shows. I play what I'm asked to play in the manner in which I am asked to play it. I put my "heart" into it because that's what I'm being asked to do. Every job is an audition for the next job, and the competition is fierce.

If you want to play just stuff that you "like," start your own ensemble and go try to book it somewhere.