Week Seven - The Test

This week we were asked to prepare compositions for performance and recording.

We had 2 hours to get through 4 compositions. This worked out to be about 20 minutes for each composer to work with the musicians. This includes rehearsal time (the musicians are sight reading the pieces – amazing!), performance and recording.

I prepared a piece for an ensemble consisting of a flute, violin and cello. This week we were moved into a recital hall *gulp* (to get better acoustics for recording I think….). Sadly, because of this change in venue, there seemed to be a bit of a mix up and not all the musicians found their way to the venue. Sadly for me, the flautist, violinist and cellist were the ones who did not find their way there.

So there I was in the middle of a grand recital hall scrambling like anything trying to re-arrange my piece for a bassoon, marimba and piano.

My classmates were very gracious and let me go last but I found myself getting pretty nervous as the night wore on. By the time it was my turn to step onto the performance forestage, I was trembling. The experience of working with live musicians and having them play your creation and gauging their plus everyone else’s reaction is completely and overwhelmingly daunting. It was very scary. But I loved it. It felt like falling and soaring all in the same instance.

When the bassoonist came up to me and asked me whether I’d like her part to be played slurred or tongued, I was pretty much dying. (Note:- Differences in articulation produce different effects. For example, legato playing produced by slurring sounds much smoother than the short, staccato effect produced by tonguing.)

As daunting as the experience was, it is one I dearly cherish. The musicians are currently studying year 12 at the Conservatorium High School. They are masters of their instruments but at the same time they are really just kids who love playing music. They are quick-witted, daring, honest and generous at heart. I know one of them wants to study composition in Paris and another wants to study voice in New York. As I stood back and listened to them play my piece, I found myself smiling. At the end of the night, I went up to them and thanked them. I wanted them to know I will remember them for always.

The original concept I had in mind for my composition was 2 instruments (the flute and the violin) having a conversation under the moonlight. But I think I’ll talk more about my composition next week when we are given our recordings. I hope to find a way to upload, at the very least, an excerpt of it on my website (yes, despite my misfortune, I will keep to my promise. I always do.).

‘Please stand by.’