Nielsen's 4th... Holy xxxx
 

Hey, I have this music on my stand now. Luckily I have the Zimmemann CD Excerpts from Cherry Classics. If not, I would never have a chance to do this in a few weeks practice along with the Beeth.'s Triple.

This is the 4th of the 4th..
http://therealadam.com/archive/2007/...symphony-no-4/

FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELTS!:eek:

That's the BBC. Now, for you 5-str. lovers, try the same with a bigger neck here with a Danish Orch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sD9I-UiYfW8

I just saw this played at Grant Park this past weekend - definitely a workout, and a cool piece to boot

Yup..
 

All I could find so far on Utube is that part of the 4th. Hopefully I will have all the notes under my fingers at the first of only 3-4 rehearsals a week or so before the actual concert. Too much anticipation is a bit to dwell on. We also have a Beethoven piece as well but I will have this one close to 'spec' by the time I get that music a few weeks in advance.

Any update on how your concert went? Or hasn't happened yet?

Not yet..
 

This is the Orchestra I play in; http://www.northpennsymphony.org/

The Nielsen Concert is on Oct. 11th with only 3 rehearsals that same week. All other practice is up to me on my own. I just got the music today and started looking over the Beethoven. I have a few low notes to play so I will need the C-Ext. I have quite a few sections of Solo with only 1-Bass/1-Cello to do so that will be fun as well.

I went thru my 3 Basses again today now that I know I need the C-Ext. I think for now I will play the Hart. An hour earlier it was the Gilkes and just before that was the Martini but the Pizz is not as fat as on the Gilkes. The Hart however is sweeter sounding to me than the Gilkes and when playing the E/C string, grabs better. That might just be the difference of string types/gauges on each Bass but for now, I am not messing with any of the Basses. I am just going to do my practicing on the Hart and see how it feels. The Hart is the longer string length of the 3 but has a full Eb Neck/Heel. It also has the widest shoulders and the Neck/Left hand lays further away from my body than the other two Basses. I have only used the Hart on a few concerts as opposed to the Gilkes or Martini which I have used quite a bit in the last 4 years.

Hey, if one or two of them sell between now and then, my Bass choice will be much easier to make..:D

posted from a European Orchestra Pro..
 

Well, yes. I have the 32nds just about memorized now. I go up the D-string for the G#/A each time up and down and play the B/C# with a smaller shift on the G-string. I play the high F# with my Thumb but running up there I seem to sometimes just play it any way and use the Thumb afterwards from there on down. Is this anything like the way you finger it?

4th
 

oh that is the place you wanted to buzz about.. well i can give you my fingerings. i have to find them for 4th movement.. but i think the worst is with the 1st movement. with 8 basses playing as one. oh by the way.. thanks for the danish orchestra clip. michael schonwandt was also conducting the helsinki phil. and he always stopped after the 32 runs of the 4th movement and told the whole orchestra how amazing basses we have :) also remembered us with a standing ovation from the audience (and the most lovely smiles from our violin ladies!)
such an super musical guy, a tad lowsy and bad conductor but boy did we play! the whole orchestra was just as good as the score demands! and it demands, it really demands!
from the danish orchestras version there is some music beyond all the abstract nielsen stuff from 3:21 i think... with the best staff,one of the most mackical moments of music.. 3:56 .. the modulation.. WHOAA!

oh for that fast run with the opening of the 4 th movement. we made a healluful rumble goin up, then you have to be aware of these couple of shifts with your thumb, like the f#, going with the g-string and then using a really amazing amount of bow. for the sound, all the daktyles should be played from the frog to the tip and when everyone does it.. wau!
having this amazing "shwung".. i am not really sure if it is legitimate in US but here in northernmost of europe, next to danmark where nielsen lived it is ok.

Oh was it this? i was refering: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sD9I-UiYfW8

i heard one older, retired colleague of mine (who studied in denmark & germany) talking about this :
"taka-takatakatakataka-thummmmmmm-taka thummmmmm-takatakatakatakataka-thummmmm-taka thummmmm.."
"so let your finger lay on the string until the reverb has died down in your lowsy halls"

and yes, i agree. most of the halls are so dry they do not bind any music together.. section to section. like this piece. the infamous 4th! :)

oh another note.. i myself think that the bbc orchestra doublebasses look like invalids. also live. i am so sowwey. nite.

KEN? How is it going with Nielsens symphony? I think it is just one of the most difficult pieces around as a section. This time, as a principal myself too, I would like to know how did you manage your section to play it up to perfection?

I myself did not do anything else than hear "DO IT!".
And we did. Anything else would be nice to hear! :)

well..
 

I just got home from the Dress Rehearsal. The Concert is tomorrow night. We are also doing Beethoven's Triple Concerto. In the Triple' the first movement has a Bass Solo with Cello for most of it under the Soloists and Orch. with only a few Bass Tutti's. The rest of the piece is all Tutti. The Nielsen also has that one 6-bar solo at Reh.34. That one is fun but so soft and slow, it's hard to milk it as much as I would like. I am using my Martini Bass for this as it's currently my main Orchestra Bass. The Hart and Gilkes are out for sale and the other 'goodies' are all in restoration or waiting in line for one.

How are we doing.. well, our Orchestra is a contract Orchestra and not a full time Orchestra. It is one of the best in the area but still, not the Philly or NY Phil by any means. I have 2 new basses in the section now (maybe for all or maybe subs, depends). Sometimes when counting rests, we have a few sleepers not coming in when they should. I yelled out 'Tick Tock'!! (meaning COUNT!!). They got the message. All in all, it is not that bad. You were right though about the Unisons in the 1st movement and throughout for that matter. With 5 Basses and 7 Cellos, Yikes.. Where's the Beat!!

Thank's for the two Tymps.. They drown out most of the mistakes, just not all.

I will let you know after tomorrow's concert how it all went. I told one of the section players he could leave is stool on stage (we all bring our own stools usually). He said he needed it to practice.. That's a good sign. I left mine on stage but mainly because I don't need it to practice, if I have the time before. Usually I get to the Stage an hour or so early and go over a few sections. Then a quick break, put on my Bow Tie and get back on stage just in time to Tune!

Any last minute Tips??:eek:

Just go with the music man! I myself did found out the music behind Nielsens symphony. It is very difficult but at the same time (knowing your work) very satisfying!

But the thing is that you just have to know your part (as in any symphony) and mix it better with the orchestra. And the orchestra knows the part better than you. And that is it. If you have some other principles then please let me know!

OH BTW!
Knowing the Triple by Beethoven I can assure you. Play it as close to the bridge you can. You will be alone and very sad (:( ) but you have to bring it up as a chamber musician. There are no solos. With Nielsen the same thing. Just nearer the bridge and more sound as a soloist. It takes 8 seconds to play it through with Nielsen but nevertheless.. You have to Prove yourself everytime. I played this passage with Mittenwaldian bass (5-string) http://www.contrabass.co.uk/2721.htm . Not the same but with the very name!
-M

Nielsen..
 

Ok, it's done. We did it. Thanks to the Tymp's behind me it covered a lot of the faster note mistakes. We only had about 4 hours of rehearsal over 3 days. I think it was way too little and there is a 6 bar (one bass) solo as I mentioned before.

In the Beeth. Triple, there is one Bass/one Cello through most of the first movement after the first page. The conductor had 2 Celli/1 Bass though.;) That was the easy part of the night in comparision to the Nielsen.

I think it's a very hard piece to perform and with a part time orchestra, not the piece to play, ever.....!:mad:

I would like to play it again a few more times and get at least a second chance. If one or two basses are off it makes it difficult. As a section, Basses and Cellos it was.. Ok at best or maybe passable for the audience but if this was an audition, we would have all failed it. I would have failed even myself!:eek:

So, there it is. The first Concert if the season and I would have rather watched re-runs on TV!:(

yo man,

it must have been a very good profiled thing to everybody with your orchestra. i think just hearing 4th of nilesen done by ANY orhchestra would be difficult but you as a principal playing those beethovens weirdness by let us sat orestre it would have caused a lot of trouble in any occasion.

all the best,
you have done it,
i think it is just amazing!

-m;)

Oh, with what bass you played with?

what bass?
 

I used my sweet smooth olive oil sounding Martini. Mainly because I needed the C-Extension for the Beethoven. Maybe a few 'Olive Martini's' before the Concert would have helped..lol

Well why didnt you? :) You should go European or better yet, London style.

Just before concert:

-"What are you playing?"
-"Some olive Martinis.."
- *Applause*
- *Best gig ever*
- *Fantastic colleagues*
-Some more olive Martinis
-Good Review

Did you get any reviews BTW?

Reviews?
 

Reviews? I packed up. Went out for a late snack with another guy in the section. Went home. Slept. And then yesterday, cashed my Check.. Cycle complete... lol

Oh, ok.. I know the problem now.. geezzz.. I don't Drink!!:eek:

Maybe, I should consider starting...;)

I think it should be named "The Unreadable" instead of "The Inextinguishable". Or perhaps "The Unlistenable"...I saw this performed a few years back. It was interesting, but not exactly "nice" music.