Jazz for aficionados

The Learsfool: (Our resident Brass guru).

In the latest issue of GRAMOPHONE, in the obituaries, is listed the Principal Trumpet player of The LSO. He was Principal for 25 years. Killed in an auto crash.

Before the crash he had excperienced health issues and had asked to be assigned to the Third Trumpet chair. No action had been taken before his death.

My question is, if his request had been granted, would all the trumpet players just move up one chair? Would they look for another principal?

Paganini: Some time ago we discussed "playing all the notes in a piece by Paganini". I think you and The Frogman said it could be a matter or taking all the repeats, or not. Well the magazine returns to Paganini, and this time what they mean is clear.

Apparently many condutors and/or players just cut out certain portions of the music. In a performance by Michael Rabin, 151 bars are cut or deleted.. The article implies there is no rhyme or reason. So if you want to hear every note of Paganini do your research.

Speaking of brass: Just received a copy of Dvorak's "New World". Wiener/Karajan. Brass galore!! Outstanding recording!

How great, if any, is the ability between the Principal players and the others members of that section, in an Orchestra. Esp the Brass players.

Cheers

Frogman, this is so beautiful; it's about musicians from different parts of the world coming together in "Bombay", and creating new music. What is that instrument Caroline, the lady in the cap playing?

I've liked these musicians individually for quite awhile now, since this was done some years ago, we get to see the outcome. I'm looking forward to your creative musicians analysis of this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFb9-lik2cg

Enjoy the music.

Does anybody remember "Les Baxter"? Honest to God, I really believed this is the way music sounded in all of those faraway places with strange sounding names when I heard Les Baxter.

I just thought this would be a good nostalgia trip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTwwnEggw24

Enjoy the music.

Hi Rok - those are some good questions. As far as the LSO situation, that is always a complicated issue. First of all, if he even asked to be moved down to third, that probably means that there was already a third trumpet opening, or there was about to be. Otherwise, there would already be someone playing that job, and it wouldn't be available to him. That would be my guess. And yes, if he moved down, then they would be auditioning for a new principal.

There is probably no implication in your article you mentioned that "there is no rhyme or reason" for the cuts - there would have to be some rhyme and reason for it, as is not simply a matter of cutting out part of it, the result has to make musical sense. There could be any number of reasons for making cuts - length being one (for fitting it onto the recording); the artist feels that part of the piece is not as good as the rest, and so cuts it out; the artist cuts out a part that is particularly difficult for them (though this would not be the case with Michael Rabin, who was world class), or other reasons. Sometimes composers give options, too, I believe those Paganini caprices have optional sections in them. Other times there are different versions of the same work by the composer, for instance there are at least three different revisions of Stravinsky's ballet, the Firebird. Often conductors will put together a suite consisting of parts of each version. This happens often with Bruckner symphonies.

As far as differences between the principal and other members of their sections, this of course will vary greatly from orchestra to orchestra, because of several reasons - age, experience, actual ability, etc. There are many factors - for example, in the horn section, different positions require different skills. For instance, the first and third horn players are "high horn" players, and the second and fourth horn are "low horn" players (think of the horn section as two pairs, first and second are a high/low pair, third and fourth are a high/low pair - in the days before valves were invented, these two pairs would have been in different keys, to give the composer more note options). The fourth horn player in particular is not expected to have as good of a high register as the first and third horns, but is definitely required to have a very good low register, much better than the high players. The differences are not quite as great in the trumpet section, though they also exist there as well. The principals are paid more, as they are the leaders and do play most of the solos. But as far as actually being better, while they are much of the time, this is not always true. When I first joined my orchestra twenty years ago, it just so happened that several of the second players in the woodwind and brass sections were actually better overall players than their principals, though this is not the case any more, with turnover over the last two decades.

In any orchestra, there is a probationary period of one or two years. Anyone winning an audition that turns out not to be up to the required level is let go after this period. If they are up to the level, then they are tenured. So the main point I would actually like to emphasize in answering this question is that anyone in a major orchestra, no matter what part they are playing, is a damn good player. It is the most competitive field to get into there is, barring professional athletics and perhaps singing and acting. And in every major city, there are many free-lance musicians who are just as good as the people who actually have positions in the major orchestra in town. Knowing he will not toot his own horn, so to speak, I will go ahead and mention that the Frogman most definitely is one of these in New York, as evidenced by the fact that he gets hired to play substitute/extra with the top groups on a regular basis. He is also unique in that he has a lot of work in the jazz scene there as well - that is relatively rare nowadays.

Learsfool:

Excellent response to all my questions. Thanks. You mentioned that the principal players are 'The Leaders', does that mean they have duties other than just playing?

I am sure you are correct about The Frogman. Once he comes out of his latest 'Pouting' episode, we all look forward to his continued input.

Cheers