Future projects; new orchestra "season...?"

Written by Joshua Iyer
Published: October 23, 2015 at 2:06 AM [UTC]

We're moving into the Romantic era slowly for our orchestra repertoire. For our Winter Concert in February, we're playing Brahms' "Tragic Overture", and Elgar's "Serenade for Strings" (I believe). For the Christmas concert, where we have a larger orchestra than usual (with harp for one piece!), we're playing Elgar's "Enigma Variations" (lots from the English composer!), movements VIII and XI, the latter of which is very beautiful, and a couple of modern pieces. I'm very excited with all of this new music we're going to be working with for the next couple of months. I'm sitting right in the middle of the orchestra, in the back (second row) of the second violins, so I'm able to hear a lot more of the winds and brass (and harp glissandos along with violin pizzicatos I play!) than I could before. It's been a lot of fun playing for our first concert, so I'm very excited to continue working.

I'm performing my "Minuet" for piano (although I may be renaming it...) for a recital next week, and Dr. Bancks said he loved how there was Ravel in it, but there was also so much he wouldn't do, that doesn't sound weird... because I did it! I'm taking a small break from my chamber piece, although I'm hoping to get parts out before Fall Break, so I'll have that as something else to practice when I'm back at home... which will be so weird! I've also thought up an idea for a brand-new composition - a "mini-Daphnis", so to speak (Daphnis et Chloe). I'm basing the story off a play I wrote in May 2013 in my Creative Writing class, because as I reread the play I noticed it felt like a film, and like I was writing film music in it. For the time being, I'm just going to sketch motifs, and then I'll wait and see what'll happen with it. If I do decide to work on it throughout the winter, I'm hoping it won't be too long, and I can really focus on precision, like Ravel, that "Swiss watchmaker", as Stravinsky told him. :)

Finally, here is a video I made last week of the Ravel "Berceuse" on violin, which I promised you in my last post. Enjoy! I've been working a lot in the practice room on really producing a good tone I can take with me into rehearsal, but it's been pretty good. I'm also working on a few of the Bartók violin duos I "rediscovered" during my Musicianship class. Each one of them is like a little piece of dark chocolate for the violin. Hopefully I can do a video of me playing through them. In any case, maybe you'll look forward to all these projects to come, as I have quite a bunch of them planned!

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