Jimi Michiel

Ed-

This is a very good topic. I quite literally "own" the Brandenburg--it's a piece that I have performed several times and plan on playing regularly for the rest of my career, so for my last performance I finally bought a complete set of Barenreiter Urtext parts. I can fall out of bed and play it, but each time I've performed it, I've gained new incites into the music.

Another piece that comes to mind is the Hindemith Sonate. I did this piece in high school and it had a lot to do with the way I began to start conceptualizing my sound. I did it again on my senior recital in college and it proved to be a perfect way to display the phrasing and musicality that I gained during my four years in college. It's not a technically difficult piece, but it never finds it's way to far from my music stand.

The last piece that comes to mind is the Stravinsky Octet. At NEC, we call edit the school fight song. It was the first piece by Stravinsky that I ever performed and I've played both parts several times. Most recently, I played, as well as coached an un-conducted ensemble. It brought a whole new level of satisfaction to preparing and performing it.

-Jimi

Hags888

Great topic Ed,

1. Hindemith Sonata
2. Tryptiques, Tomasi
3. Colchester Fantasy (quintet I know...but still), Ewazen

There are many others, but these three top the list. The Hindemith was one of the first "serious" pieces of trumpet lit I learned. I learned it for a scholarship contest in high school and I have performed it several times since. Like Jimi said, technically it's not difficult, but I have learned so much from this piece. One of the most interesting moments I had with this was when I spent a month in St. Petersburg, Russia and took a few lessons with pro over there. We spent an entire lesson on the first half of the first page, just working on sound concepts. The Tomasi is one of those pieces that is just plain "fun" to play. I learned it out of the etude book first, but I also break it out to play just for the fun of it. The Ewazen is one of my favorite brass quintet pieces. It's full of wonderful neo-romanticism, but I still enjoy playing it every time. The thing about these three things are, while I get immense enjoyment out of playing them, I feel like I "own" them too. I always have enough confidence to play "the crap out of" these pieces. :)

dambly

Hi Ed,

As I prepare for yet another Cantata 51 this weekend (I first performed it as a senior in college, in concert on Bach's 300th birthday), I realize that I only rent my repertoire, and will never own it -- regular payments are required.

ecarroll

Scott,

Wonderful. Exactly what I'm looking for.

Dambly,

Renters can't be choosers (and thanks for a wonderful line)

Best,
EC

Smithi20

I can´t help contributing to this thread, it brings out the naughty boy in me! For 18 years now I´ve owned, and had to take responsibility for all I´ve played, I´m in the enviable position of creating music with wonderful players, like Derek Bailey, and most recently Vinnie Golia, what a sweetheart! The true point of my choice was that although I liked interpreting... I felt that there was much left unsaid that could be created and developed by me (he says modestly!) and although I am relinquishing a certain amount of control to the other players around me, I find that self expression and spontaneous composition is the way i feel most comfortable as a player. To hook this back to the thread, when interpreting others´work, owning the piece should feel so fresh that you feel like you´re creating it on the spot.

Vulgano Brother

I've been pondering all this ever since Ed started the thread. There are those pieces I own, and since they are my property I can do whatever I want with them.

There are then too, those pieces that own me. Mathis der Maler, not for the brass--I was captured from the first note! An old cheap Everest recording played through an old mono tube amplifier connected to one big speaker and the effect was total enchantment, total immersion and rapture. No other piece has affected me the same way.

Hindemith's Sonate is another piece that owns me, but not from the first hearing. It took a really nasty break-up with the girl that I worshiped (and still do 30 years later). Suddenly the piece made sense, and I could express the feelings I couldn't articulate. These feelings call for my absolute envelopes of dynamics, not just loud and soft, but sighs, sobs, and above all, silence. An absolute silence, devoid of sound, yes, but also devoid of motion and volition. Anger and pain at the same time. It is all there, and I am incapable of a "safe" performance.

Thanks, Ed!

ecarroll

Ian,

In my opinion, free improvisation connects us more to the moment that any other type of musical expression. Your "repertoire" is your vocabulary and ability to express yourself/compose in real time. Vinnie, of course, is a good friend (we're colleagues at CalArts).

That said, you've hit the nail on the head with your thought that I quote above. If we can't achieve this elevated state, it's hard to call what we do "art".

Cheers and I look forward to meeting,
EC

ecarroll

Vulg,

I define a concert as "a shared listening experience" between performer(s) and audience. The deeper we listen, especially to the silence with which all sounds are measured against, the deeper the concert experience is for the audience. Perhaps this topic is worthy of a dedicated thread?

I owe you a beer.

Best, my brother
EC

kjt

This is an excellent topic, Ed.

I guess for me, the pieces I consider self-defining are not actually the ones I've performed the most (or even necessarily the best). They are the ones that I can't help but keep revisiting in my own time alone, even if I don't have a performance pending, as they reflect my inner desires and needs in music. These are the pieces too for me that have provided the most personal, emotional impact at performance time--the pieces where I get so involved in the music that I forget there is an audience. Here are my biggest hitters so far:

Hvoslef: Tromba Solo
Friedman: Solus
Henderson: Variation Movements
Turrin: Two Portraits
Ewazen: Trio
Chaynes: Concerto
Desenclos: Incantation, Threne et Danse
Fischer: Concerto in C (for oboe)
Hummel: Introduction, Theme and Variations (for oboe)

-keith

rowuk

Quote:
Originally Posted by Vulgano Brother
not just loud and soft, but sighs, sobs, and above all, silence. An absolute silence, devoid of sound, yes, but also devoid of motion and volition. Anger and pain at the same time. It is all there, and I am incapable of a "safe" performance.

Ed,
it is worth a dedicated thread. Silence is one of the most difficult states for modern human beings. Most of us have NO EXPERIENCE with it and therefore a basic fear. How many of us have been accused of talking too much, or get the subtle hint that we too should make use of the option of breathing between sentences........................... Silence in the concert hall is thus an incredible challenge for the player AND listener alike.

I got locked up in an anechoic chamber at a speaker building company by accident many years ago for about 8 hours. After the fascination of the first 2 hours, you become overly sensitized and even the blood flowing through your vains becomes audible. I started to take notes after I realized that my body was starting to enter panic mode. Those notes reduced the strain greatly. When the door was finally unlocked, the ambient noise was so "loud", that I was not capable of communicating for a long while. I had to acclimatize to the new "old" environment.

On a side note, when I fly, I have some noise cancelling headphones that reduce the noise floor and the effects on my body and brain dramatically.

A second thread would be maybe about pieces that own us. VB has clearly articulated the concept!