Well, I did say I was moving up a level in orchestra didn’t I? Yes well – it’s a whole new land. The way our orchestra programme works means you’re in two different ensembles, one of which I was in before and I’m playing on the first desk. The other one is the new one for me. Where I am now in the back of the cello section, and we’re playing the first movement of Haydn Symphony no.44. Suddenly there’s all this technique I haven’t learned.
Helpfully, our conductor/tutors arrange different levels of parts, and in the harder ensemble (I say ensemble, it’s a string orchestra of 50 people) there’s an easier part for the Haydn. But our conductor later gave me a copy of the actual part to learn because he thinks I can do it. Which is a nice vote of confidence.
Tonight as I started practising I went directly to the harder part of the Haydn and started trying to sort it out. Ugh. I had some fingerings written in from our sectional, and I managed to make a small dent in the first third of a page. In the sense that I understand what I need to make my fingers and bow do, rather than having it down pat. Only two and a half more pages to go… I know I know, we’ll be working on this for two months so it’s hardly surprising I couldn’t manage to get it nailed down in the first session I sat down with it. And considering I sight read the easier part (which is basically the bass part from what I can see) in ensemble without any issues this should be a good challenge.
But one term of being able to play everything without trouble has made me complacent and I started panicking. And we all know what happens when we panic. All chaos broke loose in my muscles, and hands and arms and shoulders started cramping up everywhere.
This should be a good term of orchestra, though I miss the little ensemble I played with at the end of the day, with just beginners and a few more experienced people. Christopher is still in that ensemble and gets to be the more experienced player now.
