To quote one of my favourite bloggers and composers, Nico Muhly, “I am the worst blogger in the world! I have been remiss. I have been absentee.”

And I am sorry. Hopefully there will be new and exciting comics in the days to come, but lately I have been feeling singularly unmotivated–about everything. It is depressing, not being able to get past a few Barrett studies makes me dread lessons and practicing. RARGH.

However! Last night, renowned Baroque oboist Washington McClain came to Laurier to give our studio a masterclass on Baroque oboe and how to play Baroque music on the oboe.

He spent the first hour essentially lecturing–although I suppose it was technically a Q&A. He answered questions like, “Why is the ball on the end of the English Horn?” (There is no reason for it, the Cor Anglais used to be a tenor oboe, then people complained that it was too big to reach, so they bent it, but there is still to reason for the ball.)

He told us about his interesting brand of vibrato called “finger vibrato,” which I suppose is a fairly common Baroque Oboe technique. It appeared to me like a trill, but not to a different note. He told us that there was no vibrato the way we think of it until 60 or 70 years ago, and before that it was strictly an ornament used to colour the ends of important notes.

He talked about phrasing, too. “Strings run the orchestra,” he said, ” so the way they play phrases is the way we have to play phrases.” For example, in a short phrase, the last note must be clipped a bit because the tip of the bow was much lighter than the frog back in the Baroque era. This feature of the bow also led to the up and down bow markings: they evolved from the letters M and V, the first letters of the Latin words for “good” and “bad”. (Quick note: I am not sure which words he said, but they sounded like “Mobilus” and “Vibilus”.) In other words, when we play Baroque music, we have to keep in mind a system of “good” and “bad” notes, in order to emulate the strings.

We finally got around to playing for Wash (as Jim called him), and Gwen began with the Marcello Concerto in C minor. He told her that she should get the D minor version, not to play, but so she could see the skeletal version that Bach ornamented for her version. He also told her that she should play with less vibrato, to use it only on the important, structural notes.

Aimee played a Handel sonata, and he told her to remember that everything she plays is based on gesture. He told us that in the Baroque era, rhetoric was taught in schools, and that everyone used it, so certain gestures always mean certain things. He suggested we watch some period theatre to get the feel for it, that a simple fist in the air would mean revenge, and a performer would just hold that one pose to illustrate the meaning, rather than moving all around.

He also got Aimee to group her articulation more clearly–not the way indicated on her music–in a way that also supported the bass of the accompaniment.

Danie played the Sonata in G Minor by Bach. Wash told us that the bass line was all that existed originally, and someone thought it was for oboe because of the key it was in, but in fact, it was out of range for the oboe of the time. He said he likes playing it as a Trio Sonata, though, with violin and continuo.

He also talked about the oft-argued “ornamenting Bach” question. He said that he is not opposed, but that Bach usually wrote out all his ornaments directly in his music, so not much ornamentation is needed. He told Danie that she had a good feel for how to ornament the music, but that since the first movement of the sonata is very repetitive, she should save most of it for later in the piece.

Wash gave us three points to remember about playing Baroque music.

1. See the original, to learn what the skeleton is, and to see the original articulation.

2. All 17th, 18th, and early 19th century music is based on harmony, not melody, so find out where the harmonically important moments are, and apply vibrato *there*.

3. When you ornament, understand what you’re dealing with. They played and notated in different languages back then, so the only way to do it, really, is to understand what you are trying to say.

It was a great masterclass! I have to recommend that if you get the opportunity to sit in on one, or hear Washington McClain play, DO IT.

Still to come: I took a couple of videos of some interesting parts of the masterclass; about 15 minutes worth. They are currently uploading onto YouTube, and I shall post them (in all of their seasick-wobbly glory) HERE.

Shout out?

My reeds have been going really well recently! I made 6 blanks earlier this week, and *four* of them turned out well! I am psyched, guys. Good reeds mean that I actually enjoy practicing, and enjoying practicing means that I will actually practice, and that my actual practice will sink in. My playing was suffering (I think because of my reeds, but probably that is not the whole problem), but now I am feeling much more confident! I’ve been stuck on the last few articulation studies in the Barret. I don’t know why! They are were eluding me. I guess I must have put up a mental block about them. BUT I will conquer them this week. Practice is going well! I have been playing Schumann’s Romances, in my Beth Anns (accompaniment rehearsals/coachings), and they are fun! It is a challenge to get through all of them without dying, of course, but it feels like a long time since I have played something long and lyrical when I can really get into my tone and phrasing.

ICE (Improvisational Concert Ensemble) is going well too! Jim has some very pointed views on improv as an artform (in that he doesn’t think it is on par with studies or interpretive ensembles like orchestra or band), but I think I disagree. Improv is a creative art, rather than an interpretive one, but that doesn’t make it any less of a skill! I think it’s helping my oboe playing and musicianship, too. In ICE I don’t have sheet music to distract me from listening closely to the other musicians, and playing in tune and with the best possible tone. It’s so cool to get into that space where I’m in a zone with the music with no distractions and can really focus! I wish I knew of some other oboists who do improv; I’d love to hear it.

There should be a blog coming soon by bassoonist Adam Romey about the Sue Heineman masterclass that happened last week.

I have been a bad blogger/comicker. So bad. So lazy. So…running out of ideas. Had a crazy oboe experience? Tell me! I’ll probably turn it into a comic. Someone say something in your lesson which amused you? Tell me! I might turn it into a comic. Come up with a terrible pun about double reeds or music in general? Tell me! I will *totally* turn it into a comic.

Anyway. I am going to see what I can fish out of the idea pile for the next little while. The problem is that I keep jotting my ideas down on little scraps of paper during masterclass, and then they get lost…I’m sure I’ve got a bunch in my various clipboards and notebooks. Oh, how I wish I were more organized!

But yes. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ideas!

What is new…in the non-oboe parts of my life, I’m writing a duet for trombone and trumpet. I’m using Ragas, but trying to not make it sound like Indian music! It is going to be fun and bouncy and probably called “Scoot”. I’m also starting work on a piece for orchestra. The KWS comes every year and does a reading of student composers pieces. Peter suggested that I do one, so I am! I am expanding my string quartet from last year, “Internet”, into a longer, more complex work. Man–Peter was doing his best at my last lesson to intimidate me. “So which instruments do you want to have playing together? And what will they be doing? And at what dynamic? Who should be in the foreground? Where do the others sit? What mutes/techniques should they use? Okay, next bar.” Thanks, Peter. Theter. So I am a lot more nervous than I was–and I was already pretty nervous. Less so about the actual writing, since “Internet” is pretty minimal, but…I mean…JIM will be playing. Jim will be playing my music (and he has never heard my compositions) and he will almost certainly be judging me. Uh oh! And Edwin Outwater will possibly be conducting!      UH OH.

That said, the reading is not for a couple of months.

DID YOU KNOW that in Waterloo it is legal to park on people’s lawns if there is no “Private Property” sign posted? Did you? These construction workers have been parking in our yard every day for a couple of months now, and every time we call bylaw, they just say, “We can only give them a warning.” Now a van has taken to parking directly in front of our door, which is a safety hazard! What if we were to have a fire and emergency vehicles weren’t able to get in? Anyway, I am contacting people like crazy and leaving notes under windshield wipers and hopefully something will be done. I hate construction. They have also torn up the sidewalk on both sides of the road so that it is impossible to walk anywhere but down the centre of the street, and even then I get all muddy. Yeesh.

P.S. You guys, Nico Muhly’s blog is the greatest. You should check it out. Peter keeps hinting that NUMUS might get him to come to KW for Open Ears which would be super-exciting!