'Johan de Meij' concert

On the last day of term our school band performed a concert at Melba Hall with the Grainger Wind Symphony. Originally composer Johan de Meij was supposed to be guest-conducting GWS in his Symphony No. 3 Planet Earth.

Our program was:

Esprit de Corps - Robert Jager

In Stillness - Brian Hogg

Nett Interference - Taran Carter

Don Ricardo - Gabriel Musella & Rick Rodriguez

First Suite in Eb - Gustav Holst

This program was a big challenge for us. It's a significant amount of music, and to finish with the Holst is a big deal. The piece in itself requires significant stamina especially from the brass. I tried to space the demands upon the brass across the program. Esprit de Corps is also a big blow and in some ways a risky start due to the high tessitura of most parts and possible issues with intonation.

Although I'm yet to hear a recording the concert felt really good. The students definitely played Esprit de Corps the best they had so far - really lifted for the concert. In Stillness was very moving. The expression, dynamics and phrasing are really coming along in that piece. I felt the audience were satisfied with our reading of it. Nett Interference has become much more comfortable for us after several performances - I am very happy with all we have achieved through working on this piece. The composer was at the concert which was brilliant and I got to talk to him briefly afterwards. Don Ricardo was slightly undercooked - we had had the music for the shortest time. I think we have some more work to do on the contrast and really making the high points sparkle. It needs more drama.

The Holst was considerably better than their last performance. The chamber sections in the first movement were much more settled and the stress and phrasing in the March was much better. My project for term 2 will be to improve our soft dynamics - this would open up a whole new dimension to the Intermezzo.

Symphony No. 3 - 'Planet Earth'

Grainger Wind Symphony performed the Planet Earth Symphony, but without Johan de Meij who was unexpectedly unable to make it to the concert (!). The work opens with recorded artificial sounds of what one imagines to be depicting comets or asteroids passing and big bangs designed to represent - yes, the Big Bang! The piece was epic in scale and alternated between strong, fully scored sections and more introspective moments which showcased some beautiful bassoon solos in particular. It also employed celli and double bass which provided an interesting new colour and texture. The taped sounds recur throughout the work. Some difficult moments were when the band came back in with the tape and the pitch was slightly different. Towards the end of the work the texture was full and loud for an extended period which became a bit repetitive - partly due to how small the venue was for prolonged fff's and the piercing high woodwind and mallet parts. It was performed well (from what I could tell without a score). The brass were to be commeneded on their stamina - the piece was approx 50mins. long and they didn't really show any signs of flagging at any stage.

All in all it was a successful evening - even if I didn't get home till after 12am following unpacking the truck at school.

Looking forward to the next big performance!