col legno

This week the NAO is playing two concerts instead of just one.

On Wednesday, we are performing a series of concerts with the violinist Lindsay Deutsche and are playing a violin arrangement of Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin, as well as some music from Porgy & Bess, Bernstein’s Waterfront Suite, and the Star Wars Suite by John Williams. Interesting set of music – it should be fun to play.

The Porgy & Bess reminded me of what conductor Bill Eddins is doing right now in Lyon. I follow his blog, and you can find the link to it on my sidebar. He is the music director of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, which is where I hail from originally.

On Sunday – only a few days later – we are playing Gustav Holst’s The Planets. Fabulously entertaining work for the listener. So much colour and imagination in the work.

Holst is a contemporary of Schoenberg and Stravinsky, amongst others.

He composed The Planets out of his interest in astrology – something he called his pet vice; he continued to read astrological fortunes until his death in 1934.

At the beginning of the suite, Mars: The Bringer of War, the violin section is required to play col legno; a very interesting technique sometimes objected to by section players, due to its abrasive nature. There are actually two kinds of col legno – col legno battuto and col legno tratto.

Col legno battuto is when the stick of the bow is used to strike the string, creating an eerie, percussive sound.

Col legno tratto is when the bow is actually drawn across the wood.

Most of the times when col legno appears in music, it is assumed that battuto is the desired technique.

Go have a listen to the suite, and hear how it sounds. Listen to the whole suite while you’re at it – you might recognize one of the themes in Jupiter – it is now familiar as the English tune “I Vow to Thee My Country.”

I’m off to practice; despite the fact that it is disgustingly hot and humid here, and there is no air conditioning in our apartment, and apparently we are in for one blazer of a week.

Fans are definitely my friend.

Rehearsal is at 2:00; I’ve got to practice some before then.

Coming up – I am hoping to pick the brains of some of the country’s conductors and music directors regarding what they like to see in a concertmaster and a section violinist.