- BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
- 16 Dec 08, 03:53 PM
I was recording a feature for one of the BBC SSO's seasonal broadcasts last week, and spent an hour talking with Allison Gardener, Head of Cinemas at the Glasgow Film Theatre. We were discussing 'Classics in the Movies' the use of existing classical music in a film as opposed to an original score. During this fascinating conversation, Allison made the point that watching a film is the first time that many people are exposed to the sound of a symphony orchestra. She's dead right, of course. But it surprises and upsets me that film music is held up by much of the musical establishment as an inferior kind of composition. For more thoughts on that, you'll need to tune in to the 'Christmas at the Movies' broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland on the evening of Sunday 21st December...
Continue reading "Listening seriously (Stephen Duffy)"
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- BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
- 9 Dec 08, 03:08 PM
After the dinosaurs......some relevant irreverence
I love Stravinsky's music. The dinosaurs did it to me. It was Disney's Fantasia, aka Rite of Spring, when I was eight. Now, the dinosaurs are long gone, I'm still here, and I still get a buzz when his music is down to be played. So, what's he got that others haven't? Authority. Perfection. As a performer, these qualities make me feel safe - 'this is the real thing'. We're doing a 'Russian Winter' series at the moment - lots of Rachmaninov and Stravinsky. Stravinsky revealing his all......or is he? Us oldsters, veterans from Maksymiuk's tenure, know his music well; Maksymiuk did lots of it, then he did it again, and then on tour as well, and then some.
Continue reading "Ant's Rants "
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- BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
- 31 Oct 08, 07:56 AM
Allison
Thanks for your comments and compliments.....keep them coming!....well, only if they can be genuine.... Actually, I've been following a thread, needling away in my usual way: there has always been criticism about the stuffiness of some of our concerts, sometimes specific and sometimes aimed at classical music in general. However, I've no grumbles against our audience. All our recent concerts seemed to stir up the right feelings, even the squeaky gate Osborne one - very satisfying. I worry (I always worry....that's me) that classical music is getting all dusty stuck in a cupboard up in some ivory tower. It's not. Having spent my life in a studio band paddock, I'm now looking over the hedge and wondering if enough people are really enjoying 'doing' music - playing an instrument and going to concerts. (You, very obviously, are.) If they're not, then we have to make concerts more attractive - without diluting anything. In China and at the Proms, I was struck more than ever by what a huge difference the audience can make to a performance, and to the piece of music itself, and I've been obsessing about that since. Maybe I'm more tuned in to the audience now, but it feels a lot better here in Glasgow than ever before. And, yes, the hall itself has its own important part to play.......and presentation.......you wouldn't slap a beautifully prepared meal down on any old plate and leave it in the back court in the hope that someone might wander by and enjoy it. And the programmes need to be attractive - this season's are brilliant. The music market is changing shape, and nobody is sure, in this brave new digital world, what shape it's changing to. When I came to Glasgow the SNO could regularly fill the City Hall two nights a week; at which time 90% of our work was 'dry' studio recordings. Now we rarely do a dry recording (except CD sessions). I like the informality of our afternoon concerts - whether it's Discovering Music or straight concerts, like next week - and, considering the limited market for daytime audiences, a goodly number of people turn up. I feel that nowadays there is a better overall sense (politically speaking) of the importance of orchestras. My daughter was in Bremen during the October week, with some members of the Glasgow Schools Symphony Orchestra, playing in an international youth orchestra. She returned overwhelmed by the sheer buzz of being part of an orchestra - the people, the music, the cultural bridges, the whole performance thing. How many people can look back on these events as some of the greatest fun they ever had? There are equivalents in the likes of sport and drama; so the essential ingredient X seems to be in the 'group' bit of the whole thing. And, by the way, amateur pianists and orchestras on Radio 3 this month? What a great idea - the BBC (aka your licence money) building the base of the cultural pyramid on which it depends. No judgement, no competition - just doing it. Mind you, over there in China, they've realised what our government hasn't realised yet: if you want to improve literacy and numeracy then you do music first.........shucks, my record's stuck in a groove, just read my blog of the 21st January.
Anthony
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- BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
- 7 Oct 08, 09:36 AM
The urbane and windswept gypsy look is so de rigueur this season, I'm here to tell you. If you were in doubt...meet Greg, the BBC SSO's Mr. October... or as he's better known, Greg Lawson, our Principal Second Violin.
Greg is one of nine players who we've chosen to front this season's Glasgow campaign and represent the diverse personality of the orchestra. We'll be introducing them to you throughout the course of the season. He's quite a fellow, our Greg. He joined the orchestra earlier year as Principal Second Violin; he's the featured soloist in the folk-jazz-klezmer outfit Moshie's Bagel and he's an established and justly acclaimed soloist in his own right. We've not just chosen him, and our 8 other models, for his come-hither glance and the fact he takes a great photo. In this age of celebrity, it's far more effective to promote individuals as de facto ambassadors for our art rather than a large group.
The BBC SSO is (justly) acclaimed for its ensemble precision, described on the classical music blog On an Overgrown Path as an orchestra that "plays together as a single instrument". But what is an orchestra but a collection of individuals. Most musicians in a large orchestra believe they're anonymous. But regular concert-goers know who the musicians are - by name if not by face. At every concert I get cornered by punters who comment directly about many the merits of our individual players, and I've yet to hear a negative remark. So if Lesley Garret is to opera what Charlie Dimmock is to Landscape Gardening, who represents the modern face of orchestral music? Charles Hazlewood? Sue Perkins? Goldie? I suggest that Ilan Volkov, Greg Lawson and the rest of the BBC SSO are pretty good advocates.
Next to the varied opinions we all have of the repertoire on the players' music stands, the media we use to promote the work of the orchestra are never going to be to everyone's taste. We would argue it's the subjectivity of the choices that makes it interesting, though, because for every player that we use to promote the work of the orchestra there are 75 others we could have chosen just as easily. By keeping them anonymous, we're merely doing them a disservice.
Stephen Duffy
Marketing Communications Manager, BBC SSO
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- BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
- 7 Oct 08, 09:31 AM
Some nice responses to my 'On the bill with Beethoven' blog - thanks. Chili Pipers, Chilli Peppers, Shmilli Pizzas - whoever they were, they were great, and they stirred up a real hoolie from the audience. I'm such an old fogey I didn't even know who they were.....sorry! You ('you' plural) half picked me up right about enjoying these open air gigs - I'm ambivalent about them. Conditions are difficult for playing - the most beautiful evenings are cold and damp by 9:00. Rehearsals are messy and piecemeal because of all the technical stuff that has to be sorted out. For myself, I'm not much of a partying type, I'm uncomfortable in large crowds; and, anyway, we are so pre-occupied up on the big sound stage that it is virtually impossible to feel in the flow of the fun and camaraderie going on in the huge audience. We spend our lives trying to make beautiful and refined sounds - but there has to be industrial amplification. We need gutsy power in our playing, but if it's achieved by just turning a knob, then, isn't it depersonalised - isn't that somehow artificial? I remember doing the cello solo part in Vivaldi's 4 Seasons ("Viv") with Nigel Kennedy......in the rain......on the Edinburgh Castle esplanade......making a noise through the PA that probably scared the shoppers down in Princes Street. But......his "Viv" was the first classical piece to make it into the pop charts. After every big open air concert, even after a whole evening of rain at Glamis Castle, I come away exhilarated by the sheer sense of fun and comradeship whipped up in these concerts. The warm blast of appreciation - that's what we're for - intoxicating.
I haven't been to T in the Park, or Glastonbury, or Womad etc. I look at the pictures of thousands squelching around in mud.....they wouldn't be there if there wasn't something very important going on. All that open-air-ness, the craft stalls, queuing for the loos........ Is it a 'back to basics' thing going on - a re-earthing of community and identity - I'd be interested in your ideas.
I was asking a serious question: without pandering to anyone, or diluting anything that we do, could some of that fun migrate to our regular concerts? What is the open air element that doesn't happen indoors? The last two concerts in the City Hall nearly answered my question. Beethoven 9 was a great experience - plenty of uninhibited cheering - the piece itself is as much a community rite as a work of art. And the 'Hear and Now' Nigel Osborne concert last Saturday - a good turnout, relaxed atmosphere, plenty of uninhibited cheering - what was the secret? It was cutting edge modern music - especially the beautiful viola duo - but all accessible. Tom Service and Nigel were chatty and personable in the lengthy interview bits. Why is there an intimidating etiquette (or whatever) at some of our concerts? Plenty of classical music is serious and sombre, but does that need to create an inhibiting atmosphere? Inhibition is false seriousness. Pomposity and pumped up intellectualism are death to creativity - they also destroy camaraderie. The audience on Saturday brought an almost Prom like contribution - they exuded a sense of, 'We're here at this modern music bash because we like it, and we're going to enjoy ourselves'. They ditched the restraints - and that helped us, the players. For various non-musical reasons the rehearsals had been a struggle, and then the audience brought something for us that was liberating, and that helped create a memorable event. Let's have more.
Anthony
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- BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
- 24 Sep 08, 10:46 AM
The final grab for something summery - Proms in the Park - is over, and we're into autumn. The high heid yins in London insist that this Last Night binge is to be done in the open air, but none of them did enough geography at school to understand that the climate up here is different from London....... However, thousands turn up to Glasgow Green and have a great time. Simple maths (the kind that even I can do) tells me that the vast majority that come to Glasgow Green don't normally come to indoor symphony concerts. There must be a powerful appeal - more than just to sit in the rain for four hours. It must also be about the worst way to see and hear the actual music. What is it that is so appealing? Doesn't that appealing element happen in our everyday concerts in the City Hall? If you're coming to Beethoven 9 this week (you won't be if you haven't already got a ticket), would you want the Red Hot Chilli Peppers as a supporting act, or vice versa? (Mind you, I would welcome their dancing girls to accompany anything that we do!) As players, we can't avoid being a bit detached from the big tribal gathering experience that is going on out there in front of us - we are more than pre-occupied trying not to make complete arses of ourselves playing in horrendous conditions. We're there, but we don't belong - wandering minstrels? I wonder if any of you noticed: in the main BBC 1 broadcast, during the rousing rendering of Rule Britannia, there was a sequence of shots showing the various crowds at Proms in the Park venues around the land, all waving flags and shouting. You saw Glasgow Green, you heard Rule Britannia......we were actually singing Highland Cathedral! Oops! Is the BBC colluding with our English overlords? A head should roll.
Enough levity. Back to Beethoven 9. What a piece. We don't often get a bash at it, and this Thursday it launches our season, the Merchant City Festival and it's live on TV. Did Beethoven realise what he was doing when he wrote this? He kicks down the walls of his deafness, bulldozes away the colonnades of tradition, and shouts out something that will go on to echo around Europe, and the whole world. Schiller's Ode might seem a tad effete.......until Beethoven put boots and dungarees on it. The audience at the first performance got the message - though legend has it that LvB couldn't hear them raving, and he had to be turned round to see. What sort of an artist do you have to be to achieve something like that? What sort of authority and credibility must you have? Did he have any vision of the place that he was taking in the history of art, if not in European politics?
Our warm up act in Glasgow is Janacek's Taras Bulba. I've raved about this before. All human life is there - and more. And it is just the warm up. The story makes me feel weepy even before the music starts; though I've never seen the graphic details mentioned in a programme note. You don't want to know. Suffice it to say that it shows the futility of violence, the endless cycles of pain, the cruelty and loss - unleashed if we can't tune in to ideals of brotherhood and equality. The lessons have never been more urgent, and the problems no less intractable. Some aspects have struck me. Janacek was writing in the aftermath of the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo. The assassination blew the gasket on the pressure cooker of Balkan hatred, and launched WW1 (not to mention WW2 and all that came after that). The assassin, Princip, is quoted as taunting his captors to "nail him up and set light to him so that he can become a beacon for freedom". That is what happened to Taras Bulba. Did Janacek know this about Princip? Maybe Princip knew Gogol's story as well as Janacek? Also, Janacek's infidelities had led to his wife's attempted suicide - he was just embarking on a madly obsessive love for another married woman. The most touching and plangent moment in Taras Bulba is at the beginning, and it depicts Taras' son's traitorous love for a Polish girl. We repeat Beethoven 9 in Aberdeen, and the warm up act there is Elliot Carter's Three Illusions - three fantasies about what will make our lives better. The rare contra-bass clarinet appears again (see my last blog, '.....mutter.....mutter...'). This piece was premiered in Boston, on the same day that Soundings (wot we done the other day at the Proms) was premiered in Chicago - so there must be at least two contra-bass clarinets in America. There is no doubt about the respect that Carter commands, but can he prove that Janacek was wrong to say that "There is no music without key"? He is 100 in December, and so may not have too much time left to make his case.
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- BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
- 19 Sep 08, 04:32 PM
Thanks all for your comments, let's get as many of us as possible blogging!
So...hands up who was scared to play in front of Ilan? I think Louise did an absolutely fantastic job; I can't think of two people for whom I would find it more scary to play for than my mother and Ilan Volkov! Anyway Ilan was very impressed with us and is looking forward to the gig, and in reply to Allison....so is Jeremy Bushell!! It's a fantastic opportunity for us to perform with a professional soloist, but I also think Jeremy should feel very privileged to play with the most enthusiastic and sociable orchestra in the land!
I skived early from the pub so see a certain sociable trombonist for all the news....
I'll only be popping in briefly this week as I'm doing my real job looking after the SSO!
Ciao amici, Sally :)
