Re: Grantham...


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Posted by Anthony on March 05, 2003 at 12:45:43:

In Reply to: Grantham... posted by Tim on March 04, 2003 at 17:00:54:

after writing this post it occured to me that the solo mentioned is only an excerpt from an ensemble piece, and not a solo "for tuba and accompanying ensemble". My post below refers to the latter.. in the case of the former, I agree with the preceeding posts.

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I'm not familliar with this piece so I can't comment specifically, but I disagree with what's been stated so far. I'm as much of a musical purist as anyone else when it comes to ensemble music- (ie "don't do it unless it's written, or the director asks for it)... but when you're performing a solo, it's an entirely different rule book. The music doesn't stop with what the composer put on the paper, and there's more to playing musically than "putting the crescendos, decrescendos, and tempo waivers in the right place".

A very fine tubist whom most of us are familliar with has a habit of puting his solo part on the recital program when he's premiering a new piece(and he's premiered many a new pieces!). I think that part of what makes him such a great musician is his ability to play what's not on the page. This includes notes that are not on the page. This is all done very tastefully, and stays true to the music. I look at a piece of music as something that is only 50% complete... the composer wrote the first 50%, and it's up to me(the performer) to complete it. This is what defines us as musicians.. those who do this poorly get reputations as poor musicians, while those who do this masterfully are listened to over and over by those of us who buy their recordings, go to their concerts, and attend their masterclasses.

my $.02

Anthony


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