Day 39 - Saffron Hall

I had my first opportunity to play at Saffron Hall a wonderful new concert hall in Saffron Walden. I was playing 3rd and bass clarinet with the Saffron Walden Symphony Orchestra in a concert of film music. The programme included themes from the past 75 years including Lawrence of Arabia, ET, Dr Zhivago, James Bond, Harry Potter and others in a large orchestra complete with a large string section, full woodwind and brass, lots of percussion, piano and of course, harp. I was delighted to discover that Danielle Perrett was the harpist! I know Danielle from my work with Trinity College London exam board and through my professional society but more recently I have enjoyed following her as a harpist having seen her in concert and attended her playdays and courses. She is the composer of the studies I am currently working on including Showing Off so I was able to let her know how I was getting on (I can play it at half speed so far!) and get a few tips. Her main advice was that it is a cross between a Nadermann study and a ballet cadenza, and that 'it's all in the articulation', which I have been told before so I need to make sure my fingers articulate clearly. Danielle also published the volume with Cross Currents in and pieces for this book were commissioned with the aim of adding good contemporary material to the lever harp repertoire.

The hall lived up to the very high expectations. The stage was spacious, looked smart and the sound quality was excellent. I sat up in the auditorium for one of the pieces during the rehearsal and could hear clearly each part yet it blended well.

View from 3rd / bass clarinet seat

The concert went very well and we played to a pretty full house which included my husband Chris and my Aunty Ann and Uncle Chris, cousin Debbie and family friend Pat. This was the first time that they had been to an orchestral concert and they very much enjoyed it. As they live in Saffron Walden they are planning on taking advantage of the new concert hall on their doorstep. As the concert was an afternoon event we were able to get ourselves invited back to Ann & Chris's for tea.

As I knew we were going to be late back (we always make ourselves at home at Ann & Chris's, whether they like it or not!) I got up early (bear in mind today is Sunday) and did a good twenty minutes this morning. This session was dedicated to another Palace Band member, Carolyn, a flautist who has the distinction of being one of the original, as well as one of the most recent members at the same time. She was a member back in the early days then had a few years off and re-joined last year. Carolyn's session started with a few scales and I then focussed on the Latin piece Manha de Carnaval learning a few bars at a time and planning finger placement. This has quite a few lever changes but they are all nicely spaced out so not too tricky.

When we got in from the concert I did a little research on the piece, Composed by Luis Bonfa it was originally for the 1959 film Black Orfeus (the film won an Academy award) and it has been covered many times. It is a Bossa Nova and as it is a Jazz standard I am more familiar with it as played by Stan Getz on the tenor sax. I'll be listening to more versions to try and influence my own 'interpretation'!