It's ALIVE!!!!

Yes, dear loyal, patient, trusted readers and friends.  I went on Amazon yesterday and TBSH is available for pre-order, coming out on Feb. 2.  Five years almost to the day that I started working on it.  Spread the good word, if you will.

Meanwhile, I'll start writing more, I promise.  A lot of new stuff is in the works, inspired by classes with my students, recent among them being the "Pendulum" and the "Zorro."  There is a whole discussion of codependency in the rehearsal process and chapters devoted the "Key of F,""The Case Against Shostakovich 5," and "Endangered Species."  Conducting lessons on 20 works, including  Haydn 103, Britten Sea Interludes, and Verdi Requiem.  Many of you already know the title…wait for it…"On the Rebound."

All of you are my inspiration and motivation.  Together I believe we can improve and build the conducting craft, one fewer beat at a time.  So again, I will encourage you to spread the word about TBSH.

Presently in the middle of Massenet's Cendrillon at CCM.  It is, I swear, the single most beautiful piece of music I have ever conducted, at least the Act 3 duet.  My final perf is tonight; the gifted Yael Front will conduct tomorrow's matinee.  Prepare to be enchanted.

Hugs of gratitude to you all.  Now back to work...
MG

"When bad things happen to good symphonies" - retrieved from the archives

...from last fall, in the throes of a disappointing performance of Elgar's 1st Symphony:

"Dear Friends,

Alas, the laws of performance were not broken during last night's performance at CCM.  While the Alborada del Gracioso sparkled under the baton of Rebecca Tong and the 1st act duet from Madama Butterfly was lovingly played by the CCM Philharmonia and sung exquisitely by Nicolette Book and Rob Stahley, the Elgar 1 simply proved too tall a challenge for us on this night.  It is, under the best conditions, dauntingly difficult.  First of all, why on earth would he write it in A-Flat Major?  Not that much of the piece actually sounds in that key.  Nonetheless, name another symphonic work in A-Flat Major, go ahead…

2ndly, why did he make it so hard to play?  The cello part goes up to high G in the treble clef (4 leger lines above the staff, in tono, not an octave down); Del Mar even comments on it being the highest passage in the standard rep.  The extreme chromaticism occasionally out-Ravels Daphnis and the phrase structure is elusive at best.  It is just hard to know where one is, after the opening material.  And then it just keeps on going!  After the sublime 3rd movement, the 4th is just page after page of notes. Simply brutal.  The closest thing I know to it is Copland 3, in its relentless virtuosity and physical demands.

And yet, that is our job.  One of our jobs - learn and master the notes.  Elgar 1 is not the only difficult, note-y, obscure piece in the repertoire.  Rachmaninoff 2 ends with a slew of notes in the last movement, and no one ever accused Heldenleben of being anything less than heroic to execute. The first decade of the 20th-century is replete with scores that demand the nearly superhuman from an orchestra. And then there is Hindemith; I recall Mathis der Maler with the Philharmonia a few years ago - when we got to the ending, the 1st violins just laughed, as if to say, "You've got to be kidding."

Still, Elgar 1.  Here we are.  Or rather, there we were.  No place to hide.  There were lessons learned, among them:
1)  Sometimes you guess wrong.  Well, I already knew that; it is one of my "eternal truths." In this case, it was a misjudgment in programming.
2)  Elgar 1 may be a great symphony, but it is not one for our time in our place.  The cultural equation is more complicated than that, given the makeup of the CCM Philharmonia.  Elgar- apart perhaps from the Enigma Variations - is simply not a musical language that is well understood or intuited by many ofour students.
3) It joins a select list of works I probably won't program again, including Copland 3, Dvorak 7, Hindemith Mathis der Maler, Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht and Dvorak String Serenade.  Not because I don't love and cherish them dearly, but because of our circumstances at CCM, they cannot be effectively rehearsed in the amount of time I could allot to them.
4)  Not every performance will be magical, brilliant, well-executed and fulfilling.  It happens, then you go on to the next concert.
5) You can't make people CARE.  This is a tough one, friends.  If your orchestra has no "lust"(in the German sense of the word) for a given piece, there is not much you can do.

And yet, friends, we have to keep these works alive.  How and under what conditions, I'm not quite sure, but we must at least try, else we lose large hunks of repertoire.  Are we really that ready to let the entire 2nd Viennese School die because it doesn't sound "good"and it is hard to play?   Are we going to stick with Beethoven and Brahms because we already know they are great?  This fall, we begin with more unexplored territory - masterworks of Polish composers:  Lutoslawski, Penderecki, Gorecki, Szymanowski, Skrowaczewski, Moniuszko and more. Why?  Because that is our job.  We must speak for the composer.  We are not only the composer's advocate, in Leinsdorf's memorable phrase, we are the composer's voice.  Without us, the composer's voice dies, goes extinct, and if we care even about the survival of a spotted owl as a species, we must care about the survival of a Webern, a Szymanowski, or even a Ponchielli.  Because it is our JOB.

OK, off to the airport.  Thanks for indulging me in a little preaching tonight.  Take a look at the Elgar 1; we may have guessed wrong in programming it, but we weren't wrong in trying.

- MG

Lockbox and other items of interest.

En route to picking up my wife at the airport in Lexington (flight to Cincinnati was canceled), I am enjoying a little dinner downtown at the 21C Hotel restaurant, called "Lockbox."  Awaiting my grilled asparagus and a green garlic spaghetti, washing it down with a nice Tempranillo from Ribera del Duero.  Don't worry, this isn't turning into a food blog, nor a travel blog, but on the subject of TRAVELING, I have the honor this summer of conducting the world premiere of "Fellow Travelers," a brilliant new opera by Greg Spears, libretto by Greg Pierce.  The piece is based on a historical novel of the same title by the author, Thomas Mallon.  It revolves around an illicit romance during the McCarthy era (mid-1950's), during which time the US government hunted down not only Communists, but homosexuals, as they were considered corruptible and morally depraved.  This dark period in our history is know as the "Lavender Scare," and many good people lost their lives, reputations and/or livelihoods.

Aside from its powerful and timely socio-political message, it happens to be a stunning work of theater and a frankly beautiful piece of music, flattering for the voice and yes, "hummable."  And I must add, tears literally flow at every staging rehearsal, the piece is so moving.  Performances June 17-July 10, at the Jarson-Kaplan Theater in the Aronoff Center for the Arts, downtown Cincinnati.  The production also marks my debut with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, albeit a small subsection thereof, as the work is scored for 17 players.  First orchestra reading tomorrow morning.

Also on my study desk presently are major works of Lutoslawski and Szymanowski, in preparation for this fall's Polish Music Festival at CCM.  Why have I not done the Lutoslawski Concerto for Orchestra yet?? Tremendous piece of music; great way to start the season (Sept. 9).  I think that for many years I found it intimidating, but as I often say, it is just the same 12 notes, in different orders and patterns.  So now I study, breaking down all those chords, those fugal entrances, those scurrying scalar figures. And it comes to me, slowly but securely.

The Szymanowski Symphony No. 3, "Song of the Night," is a setting of an Arabic poem, of all things, translated into Polish, written for a big orchestra, chorus and tenor soloist.  The style is essentially Polish Impressionism, and risky to program, because as thrilling as it is, it doesn't end with a bang.  Yet sublimely beautiful and very powerful.

Why do these pieces?  Isn't Beethoven 9 a more thrilling choral/orchestral work?  And why not do the Bartok Concerto for Orchestra?  Well, we are doing the Bartok, in November, for the first time in a while, and the Beethoven…well, as I have suggested to the members of the Philharmonia, there are other works.  Elgar's "The Music Makers" was in a similar vein; it is just too great not to do.  And as far as Beethoven goes, not to worry; we do the Eroica in January, paired with Don Quixote of Richard Strauss in a program we call "Hero/Antihero."

The spaghetti (actually "alla chitarra") was delish.  Asparagus with Boursin and olive oil was too much alongside the pasta; the rest of it is in a box by my side.  On my other side is a butterscotch pudding, which one must just have when it tops a dessert menu, topped with whipped cream and sorghum chips.

THE BOOK.  The book is in the capable hands of Oxford Univ. Press, though with a small - but not minor - addition, a brief citation honoring the recent passing of my beloved teacher, Gustav Meier (1929-2016).  Gustav was in my life for some 38 years, first as teacher, then mentor, then 2nd father, then colleague and friend; it is because of him that I am in this profession.  That said, friends, the torch has been passed on to us, and there is much work to do.  Back to work; he would have wanted nothing less.

So, ENJOY YOUR SUMMER, but keep a score close at hand, please.  At least the conductors among you.  And for other reading, I just finished "The Road to Little Dribbling,"Bill Bryson's latest offering. Laughed out loud; you will too. And I confess that K and I recently indulged on Hulu in the entire series of "Angie Tribeca," a new faux crime show from the demented mind of Steve Carell.  It is in essence the twisted offspring resulting from the mating of "Brooklyn 99" and "Airplane."  "Black-ish" is making me laugh as well.

Be well, all. - MG

NOTES ON REHEARSAL

Dear Readers,
My class and I have determined the following today:
1) "Rehearsal = Triage"
2) In honor of National Poetry Month, a verse:
    "This sounds bad,
     This sounds worst;
     This is what we must fix first."

Best to all.

MG

IT'S OFFICIAL!

"The Beat Stops Here" was just passed through final peer review and is due to be published by Oxford University Press this year.  Thanks to all of you who encouraged me and who have supported the blog and my writing.  Now please help me spread the good word; Oxford is hoping for a good response from the public.
 
Best to all!

Mark Gibson

"This is gonna...

…sound beautiful on the saxes."

That is today's entry, from an anonymous source.  More later.
The above quote refers to a phrase in Mahler.

Best to all! - MG