...Izee's Thread

[MageNathaniel1]

Smiles always enjoy your recollections of your performances and classes etc.  Though not a fan of the 3b's honestly. Motzart is more melodious and relaxing to me in the classic genre of music.

[Izee]

...You do have a good point, Nate, Mozart did write really relaxing and pleasant music.  From what I have read of Mozart, Tom Hulce's portrayal of Mozart in Amadeus may have been what Mozart was really like.  I have looked at a number of photographs of his musical compositions, and they do look like he was just taking down dictation.  Contrast that with Stravinski...they are messy...whole sections crossed out, notes written over each other.   

My all time FAVORATE work by Mozart is his "Dissonance Quartet".  I fell in love with it when it was assigned to our quartet at Conservatory, and wanted to play it all the time!!!     At Chamber Music retreats, I would ALWAYS grab the work from the Librarian...I would track her down and ask for the music...and write on the announcement board that I wanted to play it during the relaxed time after dinner.  The other three parts would fill up very quickly with good players.  I would be a bit of a bitch when we played it.  'Shushing' everyone when we approached a 'pp' marking...(That is where you play REAL soft)...and POUNDING my bow and saying "Come on" when we had a 'FF' marking...(That is where you play real loud).  I would be sweating and my arms would be very tired when we finished.

Whenever we performed it, the audience would be very appreciative, because we put our hearts and souls into it.

Here it is....

https://youtu.be/f3oK4XVMARs

[Izee]

...Funny story...

My Professor of Piano was a cranky old man who didn't care much for the 'sensibilities' of his students.  He actually kicked me out of my weekly hour long lesson a few times, because he could tell that I had not practiced enough.  ONCE, I tried to explain that I was studying for Finals, and was campaigning for a University wide student political position, and...boy...

...DID I GET YELLED AT!!!!   

He was FURIOUS...he told me to just drop the piano if it meant so little to me, and stop wasting his time...and kicked me out of the lesson.  I walked across the hall, and locked myself into a practice room and just CRIED for half an hour.     But he was also very encouraging.  I had almost mastered a Brahms Rhapsody, and had gotten through an exciting and fast portion of the work, and then slowed and used the pedal and softened the touch of my fingers on the keys to get into the quiet introspective section.  He had been sitting with his eyes closed, and I actually thought he may have dozed off...but he kept his eyes closed and whispered..."Thank you, that was lovely"...

I just kept playing, and finished the work, but I felt my shoulders and arms glowing...don't know how else to explain it...

Anyway, one day I had organized a recital across campus at a large dining hall, that was also used as an auditorium.  It was for free, and I just wanted to give Conservatory Students a chance to perform.  I did print flyers advertising the concert, and posted them all over campus.  About an hour before the event, I was in my Concert Black 'little dress'... ...(I could safely spread my legs on stage since I had a large chunk of wood between them...my cello...although the audience did get a good look at my legs on each side of the cello)...and was moving a full size harp to the hall.  The harpist couldn't find the time to move it.  So, there I was, walking in high heels, my cello strapped to my back, in a little black dress, pushing a full size harp on a rolling stand across campus.  I came across my Piano Professor, and he gave me a puzzled look, and asked, "Which one are you going to play?"  I told him, "Both, and the piano. too.  I have three chairs set up, and will move from one to the other during the work."

He just grunted, and moved on.  I looked for him in the audience, but he did not attend.

[Izee]

...Here is the piano Rhapsody...

https://youtu.be/U79VxvJYGdU

[MageNathaniel1]

Lol on the professor's response with you and the 3 instruments. But I can see his passion in how he responded to practicing and how you played. Smiles on motzart and particularly the movie amadeus. Motzart had an understanding of music not seen in any other composer.

[Izee]

...Live TV...and dirty jokes

I am going to date myself a bit, but when I was a very young child there would be local, live TV.  Usually, it was news, and stuff, but there was a show called "Mayor Art'.  He dressed up in a Top Hat and Tails, to look like a formal Mayor.  He would have about 20 very young children sitting behind him, on a raised stage with tiers, so you could see all the kids, and they were his 'City Council'.  He would do stuff, have them vote, and show cartoons so you weren't staring at him and the kids during the hour long show.  Amusing things would happen, since it was live, so if something didn't go as planned, well, the show had to go on.

One thing he always had was "Jokes".  So he would ask the kids if they had any jokes, and when they did, he would hold the large microphone in front of their faces, and they would tell their joke.  They would then get a little prize, like a baseball or board game.  Of course, once in a while, a child would tell a dirty joke, and it couldn't be bleeped or erased since the show was being broadcast.  Of course, the child was too young to understand what he or she was saying, so the screen would go blank, and a cartoon or commercial would be played.  When Art came back live, the child would be gone.   

Once, and I was watching, wishing that I could get on the show, Art put the microphone in front of a child, and the following occurred...

Art..."What is your joke?"
Child..."Why does your underpants have a hole in it?"
Art...(After a long pause, and speaking softly)..."I don't know, why?"
Child..."Because how else could you get your legs through it."

Art started laughing with relief, and kept saying, "That is a good joke".  He gave the child the usual small prize, and then kept adding more prizes, including a bicycle, as he kept repeating, "That is a good joke".

Art was probably wishing that he could track down the child's parents, or older siblings, and beat the crap out of them for putting him through that. Obviously, the child didn't make up the joke. the child looked quiet and confused.

[MageNathaniel1]

Lol cute joke and can only imagine ehat was going through his mind at the start of the joke. Smiles. They did something similar on the howdy doody show asking the kids in the audience of they had a joke or a riddle.

[Izee]

..."I did it MYYYYYYYYYY WAYYYYYYYYYYYY"...  Izee' finishes her last song...and is led to her Limo....where she chugs a bottle of champagne. 

Here is how it is done...

https://youtu.be/JuLMHLLq2ms

Such an amazing artist Elvis was, this piece shows clips of Elvis from the movies he made.  I know that a lot of people make fun of him, but he brought so much to so many people.  Many of his softer songs are true treasures. This song is so powerful, it makes me cry when I play it in my head.  I have some kind of music recorder inside my head, I can sit and play a symphony inside my head.  Maybe I am not human...Izee' the Alien cheesecake eater.  I LIKE cheesecake, but chocolate cake is always my favorite.  During orchestra performances, I wouldn't count measures of rest, I would listen to the music, and KNOW when the cellos were supposed to come in.  Once, I was sitting second chair cello during a performance, and we had a 50 measure rest.  I was just sitting, listening to the music, and the Principal cellist leaned over to me, and whispered..."How many measures have we rested?"  I replied, "Don't know, I'm not counting, but I know when we are supposed to come in."  She GLARED AT ME...and I ignored her, and then raised my bow a couple measures before the rest ended, and then placed the bow on the string a measure before we entered, and looked up and nodded at the conductor as I began to play.  He briefly looked at me, and the Principal and the other cellists followed me.   

A similar thing happened another time.  I have problems following Authority Figures...has to do with my childhood.  I was bullied very badly, and so I have difficulty following other people.  People that I thought were friends turned on me, so I grew up with very few friends, or social activities, except music.  (By the way, I feel that I have made many good friends here, and on other sites.    ) Anyway, I was sitting 3rd chair in an orchestra, so I was seated right behind the Principal.  We were in the middle of a symphony, and had a long rest, and I saw the Principal getting ready to come in 6 measures too early.  I waved my bow at the stands behind me, and held my bow up, even after the Principal and her partner entered.  I listened to the music, and brought my bow down right when we were SUPPOSED to come in, and the others followed me...and WE were in the right place.  The Principal bumbled around, turned, and glared at me, and I scowled back at her.  She then realized that she was in the wrong place, and got back to where we were playing.  The symphony sounded a bit dissonant for a while, with the cellos playing in different parts of the score.     But I was laughing inside..."Think you can make ME come in at the WRONG TIME?  Well, BITCH, you are WRONG!!!"   

...She didn't even thank me at the end...

[MageNathaniel1]

You have an internal sense of timing and know the music well enough not to count a natural talent smiles.

[Izee]

Bizet: L'Arlésienne Suite No. 2

Another of my favorite works for a small orchestra.  Bizet was a real genius, we all know his "Carmen" suite.     In H.S, one of my best Girl Friends was named Connie, but I called her Carmen, which is the Hispanic equivalent of Connie.  (At least I BELIEVE it is...so it MUST be correct).  Anyway, she put up with it, she thought it sounded classier than 'Connie', but other people would ask me why I called her Carmen, when her name was Connie.  I pretended to be bewildered, (I can do that very easily, since I am bewildered most of the time), and insisted that her name was Carmen.

The piece that starts at 5:50 is truly interesting.  The orchestra makes several loud introductions.  When I performed this, I felt that we were angry about something that had happened, and we were YELLING for an explanation.  And the work calms down, and a SAXAPHONE plays a very benign and soothing passage, telling us to just calm down.  The last movement is a BLAST to play.  Bizet just has the orchestra play ALL of the themes at the SAME TIME...different sections play different themes, and I imagined a bunch of young children running loose, with parents trying to corral them.   

Here is the work...

https://youtu.be/OorFiRFVjoM

[Izee]

...Why I had to work REALLY REALLY HARD to get an "A" in playing the cello at the Conservatory, even though I was a Performance Major.   

I can have a big mouth at times, and at times people don't appreciate what I think are good attempts to be humorous.   

At Conservatory, I VERY strongly resembled my Professor of Cello.  People thought that I was his daughter, and we both explained that there was no family relationship.  I would be his Stand Partner at chamber music concerts, and at the reception audience members would tell me that they enjoyed hearing my father and I play.  At times like that, I just smiled and said, "Yes, Dad got me started early on the cello."  But in my Frosh year, the other students kept asking me if we were related, and I would tell them "no".  He also taught music theory, and once I came to his class early to pick up some music that he wanted me to study.  So, I was standing next to him at the front of the classroom, looking at the music and discussing it with him, and a girl said very loudly,

..."Look at them, they do look alike"...

We looked at each other, and I announced...

..."That's 'cause I've been sick, very very sick..."

There was nervous laughter, and then the Professor turned to the class and said...

..."Well, guess who just flunked the cello..."

I PROFUSELY APOLOGIZED...and slunk (Slink, slank, slunk) my hiney out of the classroom as there was more laughter...

I did earn A's...but never tried to pull a joke like that around him, again

Another funny event with the cello professor.  I was having a difficult lesson...I HADN'T practiced enough...and he was getting irate...and I was beginning to sweat.  (I had decided that Student Politics were more interesting than sitting alone for 3-4 hours a day in a closet sized practice room.    )  It was getting to the end of my hour long lesson, and I WAS sweating, and then the door opened and the other three members of my string quartet came in...holding ice cream cones!!!     They handed one to me, and one to the professor, and we all ate ice cream and socialized.  The professor also counseled us on playing string quartets, so after eating the ice cream, we got out the quartet music, and worked on that for an hour with him.   

[MageNathaniel1]

Sounds like you had fun both in class and performing even ehen others did not quite get it lol.

[Izee]

https://youtu.be/cdtSoBv6R-I

A most lovely and moving duet from West Side Story.  Leonard Bernstein did a MAGNIFICENT job in composing this work, IMHO.     I've played this in the 'Pit Orchestra' several times, and had a lot of feelings over it.  Part of it was nerves, when Maria sings, the cello has a very difficult obbligato to perform with her.  It ranges all over the upper register. and in the most exposed and moving area, you have to go, if memory serves me right, from a G natural to a D natural on the A string, so you have to slide your hand up the neck to 10th position for one beat, and then get back into 5th position.     I did try to finger the work on the D string in 10th position, so I could just cross my bow to the A string to play the D.  But, it didn't work, since I needed to be in 1st position on the D string at the start.  (Sounds like the positions my Ex would put me in during a certain sex act... )

And, I was always caught up in what was going on, one the stage, although I couldn't see them.  I mean, the Start Crossed Lovers marry themselves, and vow to stay together, even after death.  "...only death will part us..."  then ..."even death won't part us, now..."   

Music ALWAYS awakens my emotional self.  I was trying to explain a Ralph Vaughn Williams work, Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, to my Ex as we listened.  He was quiet, and then just snorted and walked away, saying, "You hear music differently than I do."  My voice, facial expression, and body language was changing, dramatically, as I listened and explained it to him. 

I envision a great debate, on a monumental decision that the Celtic Gods have to make.  The question, and issues are laid out.  Then there is tumultuous discussion and debate by ALL of them at the same time.  Then, a small group of the leaders meet, and they are concerned, and talk about what everyone is missing.  They return, and the debate begins again...and there is ARGUING.  A decision is then made by the Gods...and the smaller group is concerned...but the decision holds.

Here is the Vaughn Williams.

https://youtu.be/ihx5LCF1yJY

[MageNathaniel1]

Everyonr feels music differently to be sure but those who play or have played habe a much closer connection to it and can more deeply understand the passion involved. Smiles

[Izee]

...A composition by a MADMAN!!!!  Or maybe the Borscht went bad in his tummy...

https://youtu.be/m8Y5x1N_aIg

Our Conductor selected this work a few times, and I really enjoyed it.  It starts out very serene.  I envision a quiet, green hillside, and a boy is watching over the sheep and goats, and he plays a tune on his flute.  A horn answers him, and they play a gentle duet.  Then, he goes into the Village where they are preparing to have a feast.  The villagers drink as they are preparing, and, well...things happen.  There is a wild dance at the end of the work, and it is a BLAST to perform.  The cello part wasn't very difficult, we were mostly doing the beats, but the violins go insane...they are supposed to be expressing gypsies who have partaken a bit too much of the potables.

Also, the Conductor, Celibidache, is interesting to watch.  Do notice that he just doesn't wave the stick...in fact...often he isn't 'conducting' at all.  He is urging the players to perform as they rehearsed, and is using body movements and facial expressions to do so.  At Conservatory, we loved to watch films of him

Speaking of Conductors, it is AMAZING that they live to an old age.  Often, every musician in the Orchestra has harbored thoughts of 'taking care' of the Conductor, it is an interesting relationship.  Although, even as Section Leader, I got along well with the Conductor of the Semiprofessional Orchestra I played in.  He even took me with him, and a couple other people, to Vancouver in his private two engine plane, and we stayed in his little house on the beach.  We caught, dug, and ate fish, crabs, clams, mussels and other nice stuff.  I told my H what we did, he didn't go along, but I left out the fact that we swam and sunbathed naked.      Once I got over my modesty, (two beers helped that    ) it was fun.  I even smiled and waved at the people who drove by in speedboats.  Maybe it was just being in Canada, and being around Canadians.  I hear that they aren't as uptight as we in the USA.

That Conductor wasn't very precise in his conducting, and waved his arms around a lot and almost danced on the podium.  When I first became the leader of the cello section, I was having a HELL of a time bringing my section in the opening of a work.  Watching him closely, I COULDN'T FIGURE OUT WHEN THE DOWNBEAT ENDED!!!  Usually, at the start of a piece, the Conductor will bring the stick down just a few inches, and when he stops, you start.  This guy would bring his hand above his head, and then pull it down to his knees...   I couldn't figure out in that time when we were supposed to start.  I spoke to the Principal Violist, she was also his wife, and she said to just watch the Concert Mistress...(The first chair violinist)...and start when she did.  I did, as did the other Principals, so we all started at the same time.