36: Rehearsal (1)

Just back from the first orchestral rehearsal. Richard Gill scheduled all morning for Lightfall and another run through after lunch.

The first run through is always a mess . With knee-jerk certainty I know that there is no hope for me as a composer and consider my exit options. But I have learnt to be patient and wait for the second run and miraculously it begins to sound quite good and I can begin to show my face.

Richard has nailed the tempos and all the preparation that Robert has done over the last few weeks is paying off. The orchestra has been very responsive to the concerto and had found its shape by the afternoon run through.

A quick meeting with Richard at lunchtime cleared up a couple of minor points. I added a G to the Em9 brass chord at b88-9 in part two; who knows what I was thinking when I wrote that bit.

The acoustic testing in the concert hall has already improved the overall sound although the woodwind are being mysteriously swallowed up. The acoustician has a plan so we will see how it sounds tomorrow morning.

I asked the harpist, Louise Johnson, (Louise is also the solo harpist on my score for Mao’s Last Dancer) if her passages were ok and she pointed out that b309-324 in part two tended to get chocked by the repetition of the string plucks (notes were being dampened as quickly as they were plucked). Pretty obvious really and a silly mistake on my part, so I will create a new part for her by putting every first group of four notes down an octave in the left hand and every second group as written in the right hand, and so on. Better do it now so I can email it to her.