Dvorak Romance in F minor for Violin and Orchestra
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On Sunday the 15th January, I took part in the fourth annual OCMS Orchestral Day, held at Charterhouse School in Surrey. Each year, past pupils from Charterhouse who have either gone on to become professional musicians or continued to play to a good amateur standard meet at the school and spend an afternoon preparing for a concert to be performed in the school Hall the same evening. Participants range from recent leavers to those who attended the school many years ago. Each time, we hold a collection for a good cause and this year, our concert was in aid of the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice , for which we are delighted to have raised a much needed £2500.
The concert started with a distinguished performance of the first movement of Mozart’s 20th Piano Concerto in D minor (K. 466). This piece requires a delicacy as well as a restless turbulence that the soloist Matt Shipton (brother of Bill who organises the event) performed with real musicianship.
Next on the programme was a performance of Dvorak’s Romance in F minor for Violin and Orchestra (Op. 11) with myself as soloist (see the video below). I have to admit that for me , this work fell into the category of overly-familiar violin pieces that I wasn’t too interested in learning. I soon discovered that I was completely wrong and that this piece of music is masterful in all respects. Dvorak could write memorable melodies effortlessly, but it is the abundant harmonic richness that marks out this piece. He manages to suffuse the main melody with so many different shades that we as listeners go through a whole array of emotions from yearning and pathos to exultation. Dvorak may occasionally appear too easy on the ear but this work proves he was one of the immortals!
The programme then sandwiched the Faure Pavane between Sibelius’s ‘Finlandia’ ana Wagner’s Prelude to ‘Die Meistersingers Von Nurnberg. Both of these received rousing performances under the baton of John Landor (who rehearsed us efficiently and gave us confidence to really commit ourselves to the music). Many audience members were surprised that the whole concert had been rehearsed in a meagre 4 hours and were impressed by the standard. A memorable and day was experienced by orchestra and audience alike and we are very much looking forward to playing another concert together in the Autumn.
Projecting outwards…..
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I had a wonderful violin lesson on Monday with Kato Havas where everything I’d learned seemed to come together. The ‘giving’ left hand she speaks of, with the performer thinking in terms of three intervals with the fingers ‘gliding’ into the notes, one finger preparing for the next in perpetuity; and the right arm with it’s two ‘hinges’ (shoulder and elbow) allowing for a constant ‘swinging’ that enabling the trajectory of the music to flow way beyond the confines of the instrument - like a ball leaving a racket. This all seemed to merge into a quote from Lionel Tertis (courtesy of a friend) that ‘…the instrument and bow in your imagination should be non-existent.” The less restricted we are by physical and energetic blocks, the freer the ’swing’ is; and the more the swinging gathers momentum, the less the instrument seems to get in the way. In yesterday’s lesson my left shoulder opened and my right elbow swung forward properly on the up stroke and the result was that I felt as though I was playing ‘through’ the instrument and not ‘on’ it.
These flowing movements have an underlying energy which comes through the outward projection of our voice. She often gets her pupils to sing whilst playing, but the singing is much more prominent than the playing. With an underlying rhythmical pulse, an active imagination and taking our intentions totally from the composer (rather than any pre-conceived notions) we then have a chance of stepping out of the way and allowing the composer’s voice to come through clearly. ‘Don’t hold Haydn responsible’ she said (after I’d made heavy weather of a phrase) ‘. . . he can take care of himself!’
I’ve often been struck by the projecting power of birdsong. The wren is an example of a tiny bird whose sweet song can be heard from quite a distance on a clear day. This ties in with proponents of martial arts who are able to break objects with the side of their hand without the slightest physical injury. Perhaps the secret to these is the ability to focus energy and the same is true of actors and musicians who project their sounds in large spaces. It’s not the hand that breaks the brick, nor the instrument that fills the hall but an underlying force that these people have harnessed and can outwardly project.
The problem is that the musical instrument itself can prove to be a barrier which stops the energy flowing properly. Until the physical blocks are removed and our movements swing from inside to out, our musicianship and emotion can remain (to some degree) trapped inside and our musicianship can become stifled. That is why ‘practice’ alone can often result in playing ‘on’ the instrument rather than ‘through’ it. The family of stringed instruments have all been designed with one thing in mind: to vibrate freely. Yet how often have players experienced the ‘holding’ or ‘gripping’ of the bow, the ’shifting’ of the left hand fingers, the ‘pressing down’ of the same fingers to suppress and squeeze these vibrations until they are contained and unable to project outwards? That is why there are musicians who can sound very ‘big’ close up but whose sound disappears at a distance.
If we are able to physically liberate ourselves from our instruments; if we are able to generate momentum through space with flowing elbow and shoulder movements: then we can allow the instrument to vibrate and the music to project. The listener recognises when the music swings – it has a life enhancing effect which everyone delights in - rather than the often heavy feeling of hearing a constricted performance where all the
Playing it by Ear…..
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Playing in a string quartet can be one of the most satisfying ways of making music. All four parts have the opportunity to be ‘heard’ (as opposed to an orchestral string section where this rarely happens), yet there is a constant blending and give and take. The other three parts assume a role more important than one’s own (in that our ears are finely focussed on their parts in relation to ours) and yet there is a conversational quality to it that is very sociable. This conversation can be of a jocular nature (as in many of Haydn’s quartets); it can be temperamentally volatile (like some of Beethoven’s) or introspective and melancholy (like Shostakovich’s 8th quartet). In addition, string quartets (in common with other chamber music combinations) bring out the most deeply personal aspects of a composer.
Much emphasis is given to ensemble training at a college level and many students spend hours rehearsing in great detail. Occasionally four compatible personalities will ‘gel’ and make an outstanding ensemble. But for most musicians finding this combination is a lifelong quest and one which is comparable with finding an ideal partner for marriage! After all, the qualities that make a totally integrated group often take years to develop: such as the internal metronome; the ability to change one’s fine tuning in context with different intervals or registers; the constant yet subtle adjustment of rubato; and the ability to subordinate one’s own line to allow the melody to emerge. All these can be taught in a masterclass but it is only when they become part of one’s musical makeup that they can then flow naturally without sounding ‘rehearsed’.
One aspect of playing which often varies widely from one group to another is the use of sight to anticipate changes in tempo and aid ensemble. I was most relieved to read an interview with the celebrated Guarneri Quartet (in their book ‘The Art of Quartet Playing’) that direct eye contact contributed little to their playing. When asked whether they looked at each other in an effort to improve ensemble, they replied ‘We try to avoid that. . .I haven’t looked at these guys in years. . .Eye contact doesn’t do any good, because you don’t play with your eyes’. The problem in so many situations is that as soon as you’ve looked, the moment has gone! It’s almost like walking down the street with another person walking directly towards you, you look up and immediately confuse one another, both attempting to change your course. When you don’t look, both people effortlessly steer their own courses, naturally sidestepping the obstacle (or other person) by instinct. Certainly at the beginning and end of movements all four players will have direct eye contact, but for the rest, peripheral vision allied with a mutual feeling of the rhythmic pulse will suffice in almost every situation.
I’ve often noticed players who have reached an exceptional standard of playing and yet have quite a poor grasp of the rhythmic pulse of the music. In virtuosic passages they will ‘fit’ all of the notes in, and yet dislocate the basic ‘beat’ which all music possesses. In quartet playing, this would probably result in the wheels coming off the cart! Even in virtuosic passages, the rhythmic pulse must always be very clear with a singing line that possesses a natural flow.
The Twelve Days of Christmas……
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When I came to choose and arrange the carols for the second volume ‘It Came Upon The Midnight Clear’, one of the first pieces I wrote down was ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ - a traditional and well loved melody that could be arranged in an inventive and entertaining way for strings, making use of various playing techniques for each of the twelve days. The arrangement was completed and the track recorded and it was only when I came to write the sleeve notes for the album that I realised the piece was not just a traditional melody as I had assumed!
The first part of the song is certainly traditional and therefore falls in the public domain (meaning that it is out of copyright and can be performed and sold as a recording without obtaining a license from the owner of the publishing). However, the part from ‘five gold rings’ onwards was added much later by a composer called Frederic Austin who died in 1952. As his work is still in U.K copyright (until 70 years after his death), I needed to seek permission from the publishers to license the recording - in this case Novello.
Novello had a meeting about my request and replied (quite understandably) that 33.3% of any income from this one piece on the album would be payable as publishing royalties. As every other piece on the album was traditional and needed no additional copyright clearance, the administration involved in working out 33.3% of the income from one track - (be it a physical disc, download or online stream) would be so time consuming that we decided reluctantly, not to include this one track which would have finished off the album.
Nevertheless, It Came Upon The Midnight Clear and other carols has a collection of 23 carols which all suit the medium of the string quartet - so hopefully there is enough variety to satisfy the listener.
Wedding at Le Manoir, Great Milton
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On Thursday December 29th, we performed our last wedding of 2011 at one of our favourite local venues - Le Manoir Aux Quat’ Saisons in Great Milton, Oxfordshire.
As the couple were getting married in the Milton Suite, a string duo was perfect for this intimate space with 45 guests present. We were able to take our place at the top of the stone steps which meant that we had a clear view of the bride as she entered and were able to project well acoustically.
After the ceremony, we continued to play for the hour and a half taken by the drinks reception and many guests enjoyed our lively and varied selection of music. The venue was tastefully decorated for the Christmas period and had a magical feel to it for this winter wedding.
