trumpeterb

Manny,

I am completing my grad degree in trumpet performance, and I am currently preparing for a recital that will take place within the next few months. I am going to be playing the Claude Bolling "Toot Suite" in its entirety. Although I can play all of the individual movements, I find that putting all 6 together in a recital setting is just killer by the time you get to that last piccolo movement. I was going to take an intermission between movements 3-4, but I am considering taking an intermission between mvts. 2-3 and 4-5 instead. Do you have any suggestions in regards to the performance of this piece or any advice regarding how best to approach this piece from a chop standpoint?

Thanks for you help and for your inspiration.
Sincerely,
Andy

Manny Laureano

Andy,

What about not taking an intermision and talking to the audience between each piece? There's so much to discuss: Styles and FIVE different horns to begin with. I think you can have a lot of fun engaging the audience with the unusual characteristics of the piece.

ML

Alex Yates

Very good advice. Make it more of a lecture recital. It will keep you in the groove.

MahlerBrass

That's what my trumpet prof did at his recital, including the Tomasi, Hummel, and Vivaldi Bb concerti. He spent a couple of minutes giving a brief background on the piece and what not, and it helped him recover his lips quite a bit.

trumpeterb

Thanks for that great advice. I think that talking in between movements, in addition to an intermission, would be a GREAT idea. It will also give me a chance to introduce the drummer, pianist, and bassist. They work as hard as the trumpeter does in that piece. Thanks again....

kjt

I always talk to the audience between pieces on my recitals. Not only does it provide some rest, but it also simply creates a better rapport with the audience. The whole experience becomes more personal, sometimes we (both audience and performer) learn something from it, and it makes the audience feel as though they are part of something instead of watching something.

It's especially useful to spend a little time talking after a particularly emotional piece because both audience and performer usually aren't ready to move on right away. Talking also gives the performer a chance to calm his nerves a bit before jumping right into the next piece.

Good luck with your recital. Toot Suite is great fun to perform--time for me to pull that out again as well.

-keith

tromj

What's refreshing about this suggestion is that we too often obsess about the mythology of proper "classical" performance, thus further alienating ourselves from the potential audience for good music. With this idea, we reveal both the music and the person behind the horn, thus humanizing the whole process.

BradHarrison

I think this is a great idea but make sure you mention it to your teacher(s), head of the department, etc. When I was at U of T this wasn't really done except for a small "Thanks for coming, had a great time" before the last piece(and often not even that). You wouldn't want to get docked for marks because your adjudicator is stubborn and old fashioned and thinks it's unprofessional to talk to the audience.

As we all know, the mark you get on your recital has almost nothing to do with your career but your degree might!

NickD

Great comments so far. I hope I didn't miss this one (I was reading quickly while my sutdents were taking a quiz), but I was coached for my graduate recital to be careful in rushing cadenzas. My teachers told me that a second or two from the auidence point of view may seem like an eternity to the performer. I had a tendency to rush and plow thorugh my cadenzas. I needed to relax and build a sense of repose into them. Take your time with pauses and cadenzas.

Hope that helps!

D/&out

ROGERIO

Andy,

One thing I wished I had done more of when I was preparing for a recital is to play the recital at other venues as many times as possible BEFORE the final "graded" performance.

If you think about it and are willing to make a few cold calls, you may find not only churches that will allow you to perform after the last service of the day, but also retirement homes, clubs (book clubs, visisal arts clubs etc etc)... you know what I mean. The idea is that you'll have a sympathetic, less critical audience to "practice on". If you can do the same recital three or four times prior to the BIG SHOW, it will be just a walk in the park... and may even be fun cause you'll have tons of self confidence.

Just something I wished I had done and thought you might consider.