Etude no. 4: Jolivet

Ever since joining the symphony orchestra, I noticed that I've been feeling a lot happier and energized on Mondays and the following Tuesdays, which is always a GREAT thing.   It’s fun working on your part and rehearsing it in orchestra to experience all the jigsaw pieces coming together.  The conductor is a funny guy and pretty laid back, but I can still tell that he’s had decades of experience and is not one you should disappoint.  We’re currently working on André Jolivet's Concertino for trumpet, piano, and orchestra (1948) which is a train wreck, but the thing is that it’s supposed to sound like a train wreck: a fantastical, atonal, syncopated train that roaringly rips out and grates on the meticulously-laid steel tracks of “classical conventional compositions” along the way.  It then speeds (not slows) into an abrupt, staccato’d stop.  Have a listen to this musical, disastrous piece of work here.  Despite his usually casual and cheerful disposition,  our conductor sternly buckled down and had us plow through the pieces, rehearsal number by rehearsal number, giving us tips and tricks along the way.  Two hours into rehearsal, my standpartner was turning the pages, trying to see how many rehearsal numbers were left – but the realization that we were only on #29 out of #38 left us depressed.  It sounds like a mess, but there’s no denying that this is a work meant to display a virtuosic technique with the fast-paced changing of tempos.  At one point, one of our woodwinds gave up and shouted, “I freaking suck at counting!”, to which our conductor kept conducting and shouted back "aren't you an accountant?!"… heh.  Anyway, I think we’ll get through this one with a bit of elbow grease to keep this train going.  :)