Whilst I feel this concert was an overall success, I experienced difficulty when both our concert co-ordinator and one of the concert assistants failed to show up. This meant I had to take on the responsibilities of the 3^rd year, whilst also being down two people. Although I was excited by the prospect of learning more about the co-ordinator role in preparation for next year, I was also anxious to be leading the team and running the organisation for a type of concert I hadn’t previously managed. To help manage my worries, I kept an open dialogue with the concert assistant (Hayley) about the difficulties we might face being a smaller team and delegated tasks to spread the workload evenly. For instance, when starting tech rehearsals, it became apparent that some performers needed a page turner. Hayley was interested in taking on this role, and in doing so meant I could stay in the green room and ensure everything ran smoothly behind-the-scenes.

Overall, I reflect on the recital positively, as the challenges faced led me to a more fulfilling experience, where I developed my organisational, delegation and leadership skills, consequently leaving me feeling more equipped to officially take on the concert co-ordinator roles in my final year.

Dominic Saunders and Walter Fabeck are both classical musicians who met while working at the National Theatre.  They are now a renowned duo, known for their passion for American music and composers, exploring the varying stylistic features that differ from those of more typical classical composers.

There were two standout pieces for me in this recital, due to how Saunders and Fabeck handled the composer’s respective style, exploiting the musical characteristics of each piece to achieve a captivating performance. Firstly, I felt the performance of ‘Balinese Ceremonial Music’, by Colin Mcphee was highly moving, perfectly depicting the grandeur expected of ceremonial music, whilst also tending to the traditional Balinese musical elements of each movement. For instance, the 2^nd movement started with a haunting melody line in the upper range of one piano that creating a sombre and lonely atmosphere. Then, the second piano suddenly joins in, creating an explosion of sound that appears on the surface free and uplifting. Yet beneath the rolling arpeggios, there were clashing bass notes that suggest unease and danger ahead. Saunders and Fabeck capture this musical journey very well, with every subtle detail (such as the dynamic changes and the ritardando at the end) equally balanced between the two parts, with a true sense of unity from the two players. This made for a highly effective performance of this piece, and their use of the two pianos felt more captivating than other recordings I had heard online.

The other highlight was the performance of ‘Finishing the Hat’, by Steve Reich/Stephen Sondheim. This piece was originally by Sondheim, for the musical ‘Sunday in the Park with George’, and was reworked in 2010 by Steve Reich for two pianos. The original song uses a ‘hat’ as a metaphor for ‘art’ and has an open conversation to the audience about the difficulties of being an artist and creator. This piece had a clear, soaring melody line that floated above the accompaniment, much like the voice would in the original music. This clarity in the melody allowed for a deeper accompaniment underneath, that felt heavy and strong. The lower range of the piano was used and created a sense of slow yet steady movement – possibly metaphoric for the difficulties of struggling artists to survive in the modern world. Both Saunders and Fabeck approached this piece excellently, executing the piece’s technical challenges flawlessly, whilst also drawing the audience in with the emotive melody and dark accompaniment. What was particularly impressive about this piece was the crisp ending, that was achieved without any visible preparation, only eye-contact for the last bar. This demonstrates the pair’s clear musical instinct and trust with each other, having the ability to end a piece without someone obviously leading or a giving a gesture that would bring the audience out of the musical world created.

Whilst this was done impeccably at the closure of this piece, there were moments in the rest of the performance where I wished for more communication between the two performers. Although it was a clearly well-rehearsed recital, that didn’t need Saunders and Fabeck to actively guide each other, there were moments where I hoped for the performers to connect, allowing for the emotion of the music to bounce off each other, and radiate throughout the studio. Despite this, there was never a moment where the performance felt out-of-sync, which is testament to the duo’s natural musical instinct.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this recital, with Saunders and Fabeck both giving incredibly strong performances individually, that became heightened together. Furthermore, this concert introduced me to new composers and arrangements, that I found exciting and emotive through Saunder and Fabeck’s thoughtful approach to the pieces.

However, one piece and group of composers that caught my attention was ‘Pure Imagination’, by Newley, Bricusse and Hannon, arranged by Ant Law. Ralev’s performance paid homage to the original song, written for the film ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’. This song explores themes of childhood wonder and the beauty of our individual imagination, through playful, soaring melody lines. Ralev successfully achieved this sense of curiosity and amazement, creating a delicate melodic line that floated throughout the song. The atmosphere created during this piece reminded me of the lo-fi music style, a genre characterised by embracing imperfections, using a slower tempo (usually around 60-80bpm), and a reduced level of production, all of which combines to create a raw and mellow soundscape. Whilst there were no noticeable mistakes in Ralev's performance, his stripped-back set of up of solo classical guitar, coupled with the rubato-driven tempo emulated a lo-fi genre of performance, offering a new interpretation of the piece, that felt like a distant daydream of the imagination. I thoroughly enjoyed this performance, with Ralev’s take on ‘Pure Imagination’ feeling like a tranquil complement to the original song.

When initially looking through the programme, I was also intrigued by the listing of Bach’s ‘Partita for Violin No.2 – Ciaccona’. This is a self-transcription, that has been highly acclaimed for both Ralev’s writing and performance (notably winning the Bach Prize at the 2020 Koblenz International Guitar Competition). I was interested in how Ralev would navigate the challenges of the piece, such as the melancholic opening chords that are quintessential to this music. Whilst I was impressed by Ralev’s virtuosic ability in this piece, particularly in the semiquaver passages, which were played with conviction and a clear sense of movement, I struggled slightly to be captured by the emotion of this piece. I felt the opening chords didn’t quite emulate the deep intensity that can be heard in the violin part through the brash open strings. However, I must be aware of my personal bias in this and recognise that Ralev still gave a flawless, individual performance of this piece. One cannot be completely neutral in reviewing, and it’s possible that my personal preference for the violin, as my instrument of study, overrides my viewpoint for this transcription, as it differs to the original score that I am accustomed to.

In conclusion, Ralev performed excellently in this recital, with his technical aptitude for the guitar shining through in each piece. I enjoyed the wide variety of composers and styles on offer in this concert, and felt Ralev was able to adapt to each genre well, whilst still adding a personal touch that personalised each piece. I look forward to following Ralev’s musical journey further and will seek to listen to more of his work going forward.

This concert was held at a different location to the December performance, this time at Holy Trinity Church, Guildford. Being in a church carried additional challenges to our performance, particularly due to the greatly different acoustics to our rehearsal space in Studio 1. Whilst being able to perform in such rich acoustics was a fantastic opportunity, it made the technical obstacles in our music (in particular, the ‘Don Giovanni Overture’), even more prevalent. In this vast majority of this piece, the strings have moving quavers, that create a sense of danger and anguish ahead – perhaps foreshadowing the death of Don Giovanni at the conclusion of the opera. As we rehearse in dry acoustics our quaver passages naturally sounded quite crisp and sharp. However, when moving to Holy Trinity, the acoustics caused the soundscape to become blurry and less defined. Consequently, it was essential that we played ‘off the string’, a technique where we use the lower-to-middle section of our bows, and bounce off the strings slightly, to create a short sound. As leader of my section, I had to ensure that I communicated this detail and confidently implement it myself. This is something I feel I have improved at over the last 2 years, with my confidence in leading and talking to my section improving as I gain more experience in this role and get to know my section better. I was pleased with how the overture sounded in the church, and feel we were able to produce a clear energy and sense of threat with our moving passages, helping to emulate the dark atmosphere of this opera.

We also performed Rimsky-Korsakov’s renowned ‘Scheherazade’, a piece based on a collection of folktales entitled ‘One Thousand and One Nights’, depicting a young woman, Scheherazade, who is able to save herself from execution each night by telling intricate stories to the Sultan, that carry on for 1001 nights. Rimsky-Korsakov cleverly uses a solo violin to portray Scheherazade, with cascading triplet rhythms that feel metaphorical to her ability to create winding stories with her imagination, with a cunning intelligence that keeps her alive.

The biggest challenge for me in this piece was the harmonic changes, especially when the second violins have more exposed passages. For instance, in the 1^st movement, there is a section from letter L (as pictured below), where the woodwinds take over with passing interplay, and the second violins reduce to 6 instruments, with a clashing harmonic passage that creates a sense of unease beneath the surface. Whilst on paper this section isn’t difficult, I found I had trouble getting the intonation perfectly aligned, especially as the harmonies clash and resolve within the bars. So, I focused on listening to the instruments around me and adjusting my pitch accordingly. This is something I would like to work more on, as I know intonation is my biggest challenge, and being in orchestra has taught me the importance of listening and matching the sounds both in pitch and quality, to produce a better sounding piece of music. My practice allowed me to feel more confident in this exposed passage, and I was pleased with how the section sounded in this piece.

Overall, I fully enjoyed leading 2^nd violins again this year, and feel I am constantly improving in both my own musicianship skills, but also holistically with my leadership, communication, and teamwork skills. I look forward to next year in the orchestra, where I hope to continue to work and improve my playing, whilst learning new and exciting pieces as an ensemble.