Day 28 - End of Act 1

Today was another concert in London with a fairly early start so practise consisted of two minutes before breakfast and 15 afterwards. It was dedicated to my sister Viki and partner Gary. She'd probably deny it but I consider Viki to be my first pupil. We both played the recorder and played duets together (this was when she was still young enough to do what I told her to) and with my coaching were Northampton Music Festival champions (14 years and under) sometime in the early 90s. She took up the flute and we did the flute and clarinet duets for the Christmas tapes for the grandparents. Eventually she had other interests to pursue and despite mum's best efforts she gave up. Viki doesn't regret it and has said that one musician in the family is enough. However I have plans for her son Josh and will encourage him to take up something. I have a recorder for him and a spare saxophone for when the time is right. (Don't worry Gaz, I'll supply ear plugs as well!) Viki's practice session featured scales and arpeggios up to 82 so progress clearly has been made here. I had another look at The Ball. I really enjoy this one and after I had put the dynamics in I could see/hear/imagine the ball being thrown in the distance, getting closer and closer until finally it is dropped (that's the gliss!). Each bar is repeated making this easy to remember so this goes into my repertoire, ready for performance.

From The Ball to Mahler 10. That's quite a jump in one day! I was on bass clarinet for this evening's performance with the Ernest Read Symphony Orchestra. Mahler died 100 years ago, leaving his Symphony no. 10 unfinished. He had completed some movements and had sketched out the rest but it was only completed in the 1960s. Mahler can be heavy-going but the work grew on my during the rehearsal period. It is 75 minutes long with 19 pages in the bass clarinet part and my very important, highly exposed bit was on page 19 about 2 minutes from the end! This meant quite intense concentration throughout but I suppose this is good practise for the Grade-1-a-thon orchestra! There was a harpist, Tamara, who is studying for a Master's at my old college Trinity. I had a quick chat with her and discovered she'd not played Mahler 10 before so was sight-reading. She said the part wasn't too difficult, just exposed so everything had to be just right. Her harp was quite ornate, and a lovely dark colour. She said it was German and about 20 years old. She was interested in my challenge and wished me luck! King's Cross station is not the most glamorous place to contemplate the midway point of an important challenge but I reflected on an enjoyable first four weeks and looked forward to the next four. It will soon be time for some performances!