Skip to main content

Just Glad to Be Here

We were driving home from the dress rehearsal tonight, and griping like musicians do.  The tempos were too slow.  We didn’t love the programming.  Why were the OTHER musicians so out of tune?  You know, normal after-work complaining.  Everyone does it.

But as I was sitting in the orchestra tonight, I just felt so fortunate.  How many people in the world got to be part of a Brahms Symphony this evening?  How many people got to be in the middle of that kind of lushness?  How many of those people sat in my chair, the principal oboe chair, the best seat in the orchestra?  Yes, it was Brahms’s 4th Symphony, and my part is not overloaded with oboe solos, but still every entrance is precious.  Everything fits, and when, like tonight, the group is all pulling together and the conductor is giving us what we need and the empty hall sounds liquid and clear and warm, there’s nothing I’d rather be doing. 

We’ve had a rough winter.  The work has been slim, and the weather has been dreadful, and we’ve been trapped inside the house getting more and more furious with life and each other for what seems like four months but has only been two and a half months… but tonight reminded me of why I do what I do. Great musical experiences are worth waiting for, and worth working for, and I am LUCKY.  BLESSED to be able to make my living this way. 

Come out and hear us in Northwest Indiana Friday night - details HERE. 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Blog has MOVED

 Have you been waiting ... and waiting ... and WAITING for a new Prone Oboe post?  Don't wait here anymore!  The blog has moved to https://jennetingle.com/prone-oboe/  and will not be updated here on Blogger anymore.  Please come and check me out there!  I love you all - stay safe out there!  Jennet
Post a Comment
Read more

How Do You WISH You Could Describe Your Reeds?

In Reed Club last Monday, we took a moment before we started scraping to set some intentions.  We each said one word - an adjective to describe what we WANTED our reeds to be.  An aspirational adjective. Efficient was a word that came up, and Consistent . Dark and Mysterious . Mellow . Predictable .  Trustworthy .  Honest .  BIGGER . Reed affirmations actually felt helpful - both in the moment and in the results we found as we worked.  I don't know why that surprises me - I set intentions at the beginning of the year, at the beginning of the month, at the beginning of a run, in the morning before I work.  I love a good affirmation.  I love WORDS.  But I'd sort of forgotten about the possibility of applying one to the mundane work of reed-making.   You don't have to know exactly how to GET to that result.  But having clarity in your mind about what that result is?  Helps you to stop going down unhelpful rabbit holes...
2 comments
Read more

Micro Rests

 For oboists, endurance is a huge problem.  We can play an endlessly long phrase, because of the way the instrument is constructed, but we can really only do that a few times in a row before our embouchure starts to get fatigued.  We develop a buildup of air that feels exhausting to hold onto, and the thought of sustaining that kind of energy over  an entire page of music, much less a 45 minute recital program, is intimidating.    There's almost always a lesson, a week or two before a jury or a recital, where my student comes in and says, "I just can't DO this! I can play every detail in my music, but I can't put the whole thing together!  My mouth comes right off the oboe when I try - I'm going to fall apart in front of the audience, and it's going to be terrible!"  Look, I'm putting this on my students now - but there's a moment a week or so before MY performances that feels exactly the same! I have not outgrown this moment of panic. And at that...
Post a Comment
Read more