Conductor's Notebook
Writings, including academic papers and music criticism, as well as videos, audio, notes, and other content.
Viewing entries tagged
Art of Rehearsal
...There are quite a few other techniques that I would broadly lump broadly into this category. Each could have their own essay, and some already do. Here are a few examples:
Knowing when to stop and fix something.
Knowing how to prioritize between competing priorities.
Knowing when to move on from a passage.
Knowing when practicing under- or at-tempo would be (in)effective....
Simon Rattle rehearses the choir and orchestra of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra as they get ready for a performance of Haydn’s Creation. This brief clip demonstrates rehearsal instructions centered choral diction around a brief passage in Haydn’s Creation. The frequent stopping and starting indicates rare high-quality footage of a professional organization engaged in a true detail rehearsal, not merely a dress rehearsal run-through.
…while removing context can cut away the unimportant, it also runs the risk of cutting away the glue that holds the music together in the first place.
“….taking the elevator down another level.”
“Pearson has managed a feat here by succinctly building on Klein’s earlier definition but expanding it to include a range of conscious activity that can be performed on and around the unconscious activity. Malcolm Gladwell famously called our subconscious ‘the locked door,’ but on Pearson’s account, there might be a few ways to slide some paper under the door, or to put an ear to the door for some helpful signals.”
…This is the type of practical analysis that interests me: the kind that aims squarely at enhancing the performer’s ability to consistently perform a desired shape. Tabuteau accomplishes this by first asking the performer to extending her mind - “offloading” musical thoughts onto the score for safekeeping. But it isn’t merely a way to store information; it is also a way to refine our musical thinking in the first place.
