Last night was a long rehearsal. It was a tough one. By the time everyone got there, they were hot, sweaty, and tired. Everyone was ready for the season to change and settle down. This indecision on Mother Nature’s part puts sensitive people on edge, and by nature, musicians are sensitive. Also in New York City, when one is going to a rehearsal, you do not throw your instrument and music in the back seat of the car and drive to where you are going in air-conditioned comfort. You hike the blocks to the subway, and if you are lucky only have to take one train, then hike the however many blocks to the appointed place. Depending on the train line and temperature outside, the train platforms can be way over a hundred degrees with the humidity factored into the equation. Forget about the fact that you have to grab something quickly to eat, then really run. So like I said at the beginning of this paragraph, everyone was hot, sweaty, and tired.
We worked through a lot of problem areas, and added the narration to <em>Songs from a Jade Garden</em>. It boils down to the fact that we could spend weeks rehearsing this music because it is so detailed, which is the very character of art song. One of the perks of being in a university or conservatory setting is that rehearsal does not cost like it does in the real world. Everyone in conservatory always thinks they are overworked, which they are, but there is a big difference. When you are in conservatory, you are not going to a day job, and if you are, you know that it is a means to an end. If you are working because you have to, there is part of you invested in the day job whether you like it or not. In short, in conservatory you think that eventually you will be able to make great music and make your living by it (1% do), when you have been out a few years, you soon begin to realize that the day job will always be there (hopefully). It is an irrevocable part of your life and you will have to make music around it. This is easier said than done.
So in six days will we pull it off? I think we have a very good chance. The people involved are committed to ironing out the issues. Always it takes a few times through to figure out someone has an extra measure, or a wrong note in printed in a part. It is only when we get past that point that we can begin making music. One of the pieces has never been performed. This means that anything can be wrong with it and has yet to be discovered. Often errors in notation are not found until many times through. It is assumed that it is just human error on the player’s parts. Then when the same thing happens several times, one looks further into the matter. This is where we were last night. Hopefully we found all the little snafus, and fixed the tempo errors. Things went marvelously once those issues had been addressed.
Now we see what happens on Friday.
