Today was a very exciting day as along with three of my peers, we workshopped, rehearsed and recorded my composition. It was a long day and a very tiring one.
We started our session with a rehearsal. We worked through each section and I was able to explain specific things about the piece as well as hear from them as performers what they thought about the piece. I do have to admit that the middle section was a little tricky to get together but we made it work and it was a fun challenge!
Andrew helped to soundcheck each instrument during the rehearsal stage. In such a small space we found that the flute was really overpowering and as a result we had to carefully position it so that the strings were not drowned out.
During this rehearsal process I did have to make a few changes to the score. These included:
Addition of breath marks for the flute player.
A swap of the rhythmic part at bar 28 from the violin to the flute. It was a very tricky rhythm and it seemed to work better on the flute. Maybe this was because it was getting lost amongst the other string part at bar 40. This change was a little disappointing but to make the piece work, it was a necessary decision.
This was the original with flute playing the twop quaver rhythm and violin 2 on the bottom line with the syncopated part.
This is the new version seen in draft F with the parts swapped.
Take a look at the most recent draft (Draft F) here
The recording and final score is coming soon so stay tuned!
Here is a group photo of us in the studio:
Thanks Andrew, Megan and Arne for helping out!