Outrageous orchestral behaviour!
Mike Quigley
OrchestraNET <mwal...@webprojects.co.uk> wrote:
>In the pit of a well known London opera house, Gary was responsible for
>firing a starting pistol at the culmination of a stage fight in a modern
>work.
I heard a story that many years ago the Vancouver Symphony was playing
Lukas Foss's Phorion (which does weird things to a Bach partita). Part of
this piece involves a total free-for-all by the orchestra, and the tympani
player shot off a starting pistol. One of the trumpet player was so rattled
by this unexpected development that he came out and said this had ruined
his nerves. The tympani player then turned around and threatened to sue him
for libel or defamation of character or something! ";-/
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OrchestraNET
In the spirit of the continuing anecdotes:
From Mark Walmsley (Percussionist)
This is UK percussion legend. The hugely talented Gary Kettel would
freely admit that he can put peoples backs up.
In the pit of a well known London opera house, Gary was responsible for
firing a starting pistol at the culmination of a stage fight in a modern
work.
He had placed a mirror on the pit wall in order to see the action
but had fallen out badly with the conductor. When his moment came, as
one of the combatants aimed his pistol, the conductor gave Gary his cue
but was met with a rude hand gesture and a resolutely shaking head!
The conductor went puce and urged the wayward percussionist to fire the
shot with no avail.
Fortunately, the combatant on stage had the presence of mind to discard
the weapon in disgust, and drew a dagger!
As he plunged it into his opponent at the climax of the scene, there was
a sharp crack from then pit. Gary had been watching in his mirror.
--
Mark Walmsley "OrchestraNET" (The internet home of British Orchestras)
ORCHESTRAS - NEWS - CONCERTS - SURVEY - QUIZ - FUN - LINKS
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Thomas G. Weiss
On 31 Jul 1996, Richard Schultz wrote:
> Mike Quigley (Mr_Gi...@mindlink.net) wrote:
>
> : I heard a story that many years ago the Vancouver Symphony was playing
> : Lukas Foss's Phorion (which does weird things to a Bach partita).
>
> Is there a performance of this piece in print anywhere? For some reason,
> I never got around to buying it on vinyl (I think that was because the
> Coop never actually had it in stock before Nonesuch deleted it), and it
> doesn't seem to exist on CD, which is too bad, because it's a lot
> of fun.
>
> -----
> Richard Schultz sch...@ashur.cc.biu.ac.il
I saw Foss perform this with the Pittsburgh Symphony in the '70s along
with some "real" Bach and the Saint Saens Organ Sym. Phorion means
"stolen goods", which was apt. I've had the chane to speak to Foss
several times since then - he remembers the concert with some amusement.
I can't recall a darn thing about the work of if I even liked it at the time!
Tom
Richard Schultz
Mike Quigley (Mr_Gi...@mindlink.net) wrote:
: I heard a story that many years ago the Vancouver Symphony was playing
: Lukas Foss's Phorion (which does weird things to a Bach partita).
Is there a performance of this piece in print anywhere? For some reason,
I never got around to buying it on vinyl (I think that was because the
Coop never actually had it in stock before Nonesuch deleted it), and it
doesn't seem to exist on CD, which is too bad, because it's a lot
of fun.
-----
Richard Schultz sch...@ashur.cc.biu.ac.il
Department of Chemistry tel: 972-3-531-8065
Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel fax: 972-3-535-1250
-----
They do not think whom they souse with spray.
Richard Schultz
Once I was in the auditorium when the Pittsburgh Symphony was rehearsing
the Symphonie Fantastique (Leonard Slatkin was guest conducting). When
they got to the last movement, the first time the offstage bells clanged,
all of the first violinists fell off their chairs. I have no idea what
that was all about.
Also, there's a story that Andre Previn told about an LSO member who
told him that he *always* came in at the correct time, so Previn bet
him that he (Previn) could get the musician to come in wrong. Previn
saw the guy counting bars of rest "five, six, seven, eight. . ." and
started mouthing "six, seven, eight, nine. . ." Needless to say, the
musician was completely confused and Previn won the bet.
I also heard a story about Previn, although this may be apocryphal. It
seems that once as a joke, the entire orchestra decided at a rehearsal
to play some piece in a key a semitone lower than written. Previn let
them go through the whole first movement, and then said "let's take it
from the top, but a half-step higher this time."
-----
Richard Schultz sch...@ashur.cc.biu.ac.il
Department of Chemistry tel: 972-3-531-8065
Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel fax: 972-3-535-1250
-----
"It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either
charming or tedious."
Nils-Eivind Naas
In <4tph56$d...@cnn.cc.biu.ac.il>, sch...@ashur.cc.biu.ac.il (Richard Schultz) writes:
>I also heard a story about Previn, although this may be apocryphal. It
>seems that once as a joke, the entire orchestra decided at a rehearsal
>to play some piece in a key a semitone lower than written. Previn let
>them go through the whole first movement, and then said "let's take it
>from the top, but a half-step higher this time."
>
Previn told this story to The Gramophone some 25 or 30 years ago.
From what is left of my memory, the occasion was his debut as a
17-year-old with a hardened Hollywood film orchestra, who were determined
to test, or break, the upstart.
The oboe intoned his A a semitone flat; young Previn was quick-witted
enough to smell the rat and let the orchestra tune to that note (as they
had plotted), raised his baton, and as he let it go yelled to the orchestra:
"and now everyone transpose a semitone up".
That, apparently, broke the ice :-)
(However, there may be several, different versions of this story in
different interviews over the years).
--
Nils-Eivind Naas Mail: nils-eiv...@isaf.no
Manager, Computer Services
Institute Group for Social Research Tel.: +47 22 55 45 10
Munthesgt. 31 Fax: +47 22 43 13 85
0260 Oslo, Norway
Alan Cooper
There are disadvantages to perfect pitch as well. Pity the hapless soul
who is driven to distraction by the various tunings of early instrument
groups and even some modern performers. A friend of mine with perfect
pitch had to walk out on a Stokowski American Symphony concert because of
the way Stoky tuned to A/460 in order to brighten the string sound.
Incidentally, many musicians I have known insist that perfect pitch can
be acquired by training. I wonder if that has been verified. (I
certainly don't have it.)
Alan Cooper
James F. Amundson
>The oboe intoned his A a semitone flat; young Previn was quick-witted
>enough to smell the rat and let the orchestra tune to that note (as they
>had plotted), raised his baton, and as he let it go yelled to the orchestra:
>"and now everyone transpose a semitone up".
It's a good story. Really, though, it doesn't take perfect pitch. Even
people with average tonal memory will recognize a note they've heard over
and over, like the A given by the oboe for tuning. When I was but a
youngin', playing in the Minnesota Youth Symphony, there was a rehersal
where the oboist played her tuning A about a quarter tone flat. I
certainly don't have perfect pitch, but I (and most of the rest of the
orchestra) immediately burst out laughing. The oboist turned beet red.
Matthew B. Tepper
Richard Schultz wrote:
>
> Once I was in the auditorium when the Pittsburgh Symphony was
> rehearsing the Symphonie Fantastique (Leonard Slatkin was guest
> conducting). When they got to the last movement, the first time the
> offstage bells clanged, all of the first violinists fell off their
> chairs. I have no idea what that was all about.
Ook ook! Perhaps this is as likely a place as any to say that I once
saw Leonard Slatkin *riding a city bus* in Minneapolis. That's right,
public transportation. I know it was he because I recognized him (I had
done a master class with him a while before). It was the middle of
summer, back when he was the music director of the MO's Sommerfest, and
he was carrying a violin case. I imagine he was delivering an
instrument back to its player, and a bus came along, and he felt like
saving a few steps and a few minutes, so....
> Also, there's a story that Andre Previn told about an LSO member who
> told him that he *always* came in at the correct time, so Previn bet
> him that he (Previn) could get the musician to come in wrong. Previn
> saw the guy counting bars of rest "five, six, seven, eight. . ." and
> started mouthing "six, seven, eight, nine. . ." Needless to say, the
> musician was completely confused and Previn won the bet.
>
> I also heard a story about Previn, although this may be apocryphal. It
> seems that once as a joke, the entire orchestra decided at a rehearsal
> to play some piece in a key a semitone lower than written. Previn let
> them go through the whole first movement, and then said "let's take it
> from the top, but a half-step higher this time."
I've heard this story too, and it was indeed told about Previn.
> -----
> Richard Schultz sch...@ashur.cc.biu.ac.il
> Department of Chemistry tel: 972-3-531-8065
> Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel fax: 972-3-535-1250
> -----
> "It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either
> charming or tedious."
--
"Robert A. Heinlein -- An incontestably great science fiction writer,
whose social philosophies were as nearly as ludicrous as his politics
were loathsome." -- from _The Tepper's Dictionary_, work in progress
Matthew B. Tepper http://www.deltanet.com/~ducky/index.htm Quack!
Mike Quigley
sch...@ashur.cc.biu.ac.il (Richard Schultz) wrote:
>I also heard a story about Previn, although this may be apocryphal. It
>seems that once as a joke, the entire orchestra decided at a rehearsal
>to play some piece in a key a semitone lower than written. Previn let
>them go through the whole first movement, and then said "let's take it
>from the top, but a half-step higher this time."
This was allegedly on a Hollywood sound stage, where Previn was making his
first appearance as a conductor. The orchestral musicians figured Previn
was just some young snothead, but quickly changed their tune after he laid
the above on them!
Alan Swindells
Alan Cooper (amco...@ix.netcom.com) wrote:
Coincidentally there has just been (in the second interval of tonight's
Prom) a programme on this very subject. Inference one was that while a
very small percentage of the general population have perfect or absolute
pitch (far less than 1%) the rate is much higher in musicians (as much as
5%). The other inference was that while a good trainer can instil a degree
of accuracy to someone not blessed with absolute pitch, it cannot be
completely learned, except perhaps in very early childhood.
For the record I am not so blessed (or cursed) but can usually get a good
A. Throw an f sharp at me out of the blue, though, and I would be hard
pressed to get it right.
--
Regards: Alan
* alan...@argonet.co.uk *
'Life! Don't talk to me about life!'
Marvin the Paranoid Android