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  • #1

    Utah Symphony

    Went to the symphony last Saturday with my father. They played Beethoven's 6th symphony and Brahms' 2nd Piano Concerto. Really good. My mother would have loved it.

    Some things I learned in the preconcert lecture

    Beethoven wrote the 5th and 6th symphonies back to back and debuted them in the same concert

    Beethoven was the first to use trombones in the orchestration of a symphony - 5th and 6th

    For this concert they cut down the number of violins to mimic the loudness of the violins during the early 19th century - the change in strings have caused the violins to play much louder now. This was done so audience could hear the woodwinds better. They didn't say if this was permanant or just for this concert.

    Thierry Fischer, the new mucic director, has changed the arrangement of the symphony on the stage. He has split the 1st and 2nd violins putting them on each side of the conductor, moved the cellos to directly in front of the conductor and flipped the basses from the conductors right to his left. He felt that acoustics of Abaranel Hall made the music sound better that way.

    The guest conductor reminded me of a mad stork - He was very tall and lanky and really moved around on the podium.

    They talked about his schedule for the 10 weeks starting in Mid August - 4 continents - 6 countries, not in the same country on back to back weeks.
    Last edited by happyone; 09-13-2010, 01:01 PM.

    I may be small, but I'm slow.

    A veteran - whether active duty, retired, or national guard or reserve is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to, "The United States of America ", for an amount of "up to and including my life - it's an honor."
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  • #2
    Originally posted by happyone View Post
    Thierry Fischer, the new mucic director, has changed the arrangement of the symphony on the stage. He has split the 1st and 2nd violins putting them on each side of the conductor, moved the cellos to directly in front of the conductor and flipped the basses from the conductors right to his left. He felt that acoustics of Abaranel Hall made the music sound better that way.
    Hmmm...that's really strange. I don't think I've ever seen an orchestra arranged that way. I wonder if it has anything to do with the cutback on the violins, and maybe won't be permanent.
    At least the Big Ten went after a big-time addition in Nebraska; the Pac-10 wanted a game so badly, it added Utah
    -Berry Trammel, 12/3/10

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    • #3
      Originally posted by ERCougar View Post
      Hmmm...that's really strange. I don't think I've ever seen an orchestra arranged that way. I wonder if it has anything to do with the cutback on the violins, and maybe won't be permanent.
      I've been going to symphony for about 20 yrs and I've never seen it before either - you could hear the woodwinds more distinctly though.

      I may be small, but I'm slow.

      A veteran - whether active duty, retired, or national guard or reserve is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to, "The United States of America ", for an amount of "up to and including my life - it's an honor."

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      • #4
        Originally posted by happyone View Post
        For this concert they cut down the number of violins to mimic the loudness of the violins during the early 19th century. They didn't say if this was permanant or just for this concert.

        Thierry Fischer, the new mucic director, has changed the arrangement of the symphony on the stage. He has split the 1st and 2nd violins putting them on each side of the conductor, moved the cellos to directly in front of the conductor and flipped the basses from the conductors right to his left. He felt that acoustics of Abaranel Hall made the music sound better that way.
        yeah, it has been standard to bury the cellos for some time now.

        btw, I rather think the strings players would riot if a conductor ever even considered firing a dozen violinists for the sake of two flutes and a piccolo.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Babs View Post
          yeah, it has been standard to bury the cellos for some time now.

          btw, I rather think the strings players would riot if a conductor ever even considered firing a dozen violinists for the sake of two flutes and a piccolo.
          Don't forget the oboes

          I may be small, but I'm slow.

          A veteran - whether active duty, retired, or national guard or reserve is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to, "The United States of America ", for an amount of "up to and including my life - it's an honor."

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          • #6
            Originally posted by happyone View Post
            W...Some things I learned in the preconcert lecture

            The 5 and 6 symphonies were written back to back and debuted in the same concert.
            That was quite a concert. It also included other selections including piano and violin concerti composed and performed by Beethoven himself. A critic writing in a Vienna newspaper the next morning pronounced the entire event "very disappointing." It's human nature to react a bit too quickly and unthinkingly to what sometimes proves to be be greatness. This observation does not apply to critics of BYU's performance Saturday.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by ERCougar View Post
              Hmmm...that's really strange. I don't think I've ever seen an orchestra arranged that way.
              Originally posted by happyone View Post
              I've been going to symphony for about 20 yrs and I've never seen it before either - you could hear the woodwinds more distinctly though.
              That's really surprising. It was all the rage starting five or ten years ago, but it's fallen back out of favor. Yours might have been just for the one performance, but for awhile symphonies were doing it for the whole season. I imagine that Fischer, a renowned floutist, prefers this arrangement.

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              • #8
                I just got my renewal packet for the symphony next year. For those who love Beethoven, they are performing all nine of his symphonies next season in reverse order staring with the Nineth on opening night. Also the Kings Singers will be in town next fall.

                I may be small, but I'm slow.

                A veteran - whether active duty, retired, or national guard or reserve is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to, "The United States of America ", for an amount of "up to and including my life - it's an honor."

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                • #9
                  I went to the symphony last Saturday and "Also Sprach Zarathustra" was on the program. It is definately one of those pieces that is associated with a movie in my mind - 2001, A Space Odyssey. I can never hear the first 2, 2 1/2 minutes and not see the scene with the space station in my mind.

                  Some other music that I when I hear brings specific movies or TV shows to mind

                  Holst - The Planets: The Right Stuff
                  Orff - Carmina Burana: Conan the Barbarian
                  It has been used in a lot of other movies - but that is the one that made the connection for me.

                  Ravel - Bolero: 10 or Torvel and Dean Ice Dancing from the Sarajavo Olympics
                  and as a child of the 50's, early 60's -
                  Rossini - The William Tell Overture - The Lone Ranger

                  One semi amusing ancedote I learned from the preconcert lecture - The Blue Danube was also on the program. It had become so iconic that when one of the Strauss' step kids asked Brahms for his autograph he wrote the first few notes of The Blue Danube in the child's autograph book and then signed "Unfortunately not by Johannes Brahms"
                  Last edited by happyone; 04-18-2011, 09:07 AM.

                  I may be small, but I'm slow.

                  A veteran - whether active duty, retired, or national guard or reserve is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to, "The United States of America ", for an amount of "up to and including my life - it's an honor."

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    I can't listen to Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries without thinking of the helicopter scene of Apocalypse Now.
                    For that matter Chuck Jones' brilliant "What's Opera, Doc? " includes a fun treatment of several songs from Wagner's Ring Cycle including Ride. "Kill the Wabbit!... "

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Originally posted by NorthwestUteFan View Post
                      I can't listen to Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries without thinking of the helicopter scene of Apocalypse Now.
                      For that matter Chuck Jones' brilliant "What's Opera, Doc? " includes a fun treatment of several songs from Wagner's Ring Cycle including Ride. "Kill the Wabbit!... "
                      I had not thought of those two, but I agree on both counts.

                      Whatever you think of Wagner as a person, IMO he was not a nice human being - the man could write music! The Overture to the "Flying Dutchman" was also on the program last weekend.
                      Last edited by happyone; 04-18-2011, 09:08 AM.

                      I may be small, but I'm slow.

                      A veteran - whether active duty, retired, or national guard or reserve is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to, "The United States of America ", for an amount of "up to and including my life - it's an honor."

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        I saw the Utah Symphony perform Peer Gynt a few years ago. It was well done

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Babs View Post
                          That's really surprising. It was all the rage starting five or ten years ago, but it's fallen back out of favor. Yours might have been just for the one performance, but for awhile symphonies were doing it for the whole season. I imagine that Fischer, a renowned floutist, prefers this arrangement.
                          FWIW - It has been this way the whole season.
                          Last edited by happyone; 04-18-2011, 02:03 PM.

                          I may be small, but I'm slow.

                          A veteran - whether active duty, retired, or national guard or reserve is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to, "The United States of America ", for an amount of "up to and including my life - it's an honor."

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            Went to the Symphony with the Kings Singers over the weekend - they were excellent concert as always

                            The Symphony performed Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstances" before the Kings Singers came on. P&S definitely sounds much better played by a professional orchestra rather than a HS band

                            I may be small, but I'm slow.

                            A veteran - whether active duty, retired, or national guard or reserve is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to, "The United States of America ", for an amount of "up to and including my life - it's an honor."

                            Comment

                            • #15
                              Originally posted by happyone View Post
                              Went to the Symphony with the Kings Singers over the weekend - they were excellent concert as always

                              The Symphony performed Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstances" before the Kings Singers came on. P&S definitely sounds much better played by a professional orchestra rather than a HS band
                              We we there on Saturday night. Kings Singers are great.
                              Te Occidere Possunt Sed Te Edere Non Possunt Nefas Est.

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