Gatton Music Zone 2009

Last Saturday, I got back from going to the Gatton Music Residential Course for my third time. Once again, I greatly enjoyed myself and was surprised at how much a group of musicians can achieve in just a few days. I was, naturally as I play the cello, in the Symphony Orchestra, and the week brought a refreshing break from the endless work and revision that I have found myself in over the past month in the run-up to my GCSEs.

Once again, there were thirteen cellos in the orchestra. Now I'm not superstitious, but for the second year running the cellists suffered a minor bout of problems. The cellist next to me was tuning her cello when her a-string snapped. Fortunately, I had a spare one which I gave her, and she paid me back very promptly. And then there was the girl who I warned about propping her cello up against THAT chair, who got angry with ME when it fell over and needed at least ten minutes attention to get it back working again!!! :O

The previous two years that I had been to Gatton, the food had been awesome right the way through. However, this time, the first meals we had were horrible (no offense). There was pizza with a base like cardboard, a the toppings looked and tasted like food scraps just piled on top of it. I was glad to find that the food would improve over the week, with some good pasta, dumplings, and English breakfasts.

We seemed to have less rehearsal time than usual this year, which was a shame in some ways, but we still spent 21 and a half hours in rehearsals (in the school chapel with appalling accoustics) and sectionals (in a boiling hot classroom). Somewhat surprisingly, I found myself in the principal cello seat, and it was very useful almost to have the conductor's baton waving under my nose at times. In sectionals we spent a lot of time (maybe too much) sorting out bowing, which was important, especially seeing as in the concert we would be very squashed together and so coordinated bowing in desks would be essential.

For obvious reasons, I chose not to spent my free time doing jazz or wind chamber music. I also chose not to do the string chamber music, as I normally play in a small string orchestra anyway, and they probably didn't want a bottom-heavy chamber group. Instead, I played numerous games of pool or table tennis, watched 'The Inside Man', and even had an exhausting game of 3-a-side touch rugby!! :D

I have always been a morning person, and I was very glad I was, as I did not have to suffer the agony of being wrenched from slumber by the house waking bell. Unlike the annoying clanger of other years and other houses, people were reluctantly awoken by the sharp sounds of trumpets or a TUBA! On Thursday morning, we even got a rendition of the theme tune of The Empire from STAR WARS. Being already awake, I was able to enjoy these musical murderers with amusement and appreciation.

Once again, there was a distinct lack of violas in the Symphony Orchestra. (Two more than last year, but that still only made two altogether). I was impressed by the violinists who were gutsy enough to learn to play the viola in a week, so that the viola section were always well represented in our pieces. As violinists and violists were constantly changing seats for each different piece, we had the amusing situation during the concert of coming onto the stage with one leader, and leaving with another!!

In the final concert at the H. G. Wells Centre in Woking on Saturday afternoon, we playing the following pieces:-

1. Overture from 'The Marriage of Figaro' by Mozart. - This was very intense for the cellists, with lots of difficult runs thrown in here and there. However, I thought this came of very well, and I can't wait for the CD to see just how effective the contrasting dynamics were. My dad in the audience said that this got better as it went on, and the musicians warmed up.
2. An English Folk Songs Suite by Vaughan Williams. - These three movements were very different, with solos dotted all over the place. We played superbly, and I personally was relieved that I counted my cello solo correctly. I also had to memorise parts of this so that page turns wouldn't upset the flow of the music. My favourite movement was the third one, a very light-hearted one with some very fast arco-pizz changes and vice versa.
3. The Carousel Waltz by Richard Rogers, arranged by Custer. - Once I had all the tempo changes sorted out in my head, and when I remember to go to the coda, this was relatively simple to play. It had a strange beginning that was most un-waltz-like, but it soon got going, and it was enjoyable to play, and hopefully to listen to as well.
4. The Allegretto from 'Palladio' by Karl Jenkins.- I had played this all-string piece twice before, but this time, when playing in a much bigger orchestra, there was so much more to think about and the somewhat-monotonous cello part became almost exciting.
5. Hoe-Down from 'Rodeo' by Aaron Copland. - This was an explosive piece, with an awesome trombone solo and some horrible rhythms. However, it kinda got a bit ragged at the end, and I made a howler in the final bar. (I don't think the audience noticed much but I know the conductor and the musicians around me did. I'd like to apologise profusely for my stupidity!)

The acoustics at the H. G. Wells Centre were really very good, and I was surprised at first to hear how clear the rehearsals beforehand there sounded. It made a great contrast to the appalling acoustics of the chapel for the Symphony Orchestra's rehearsals and the Friday evening informal concert.

In the Friday evening concert, the string section as a whole performed an arrangement of Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'All I Ask of You' from 'The Phantom of the Opera'. Whilst I am sure it sounded good, I felt it went on too long and was too slushy for the situation. (This was also the opinion of the non-string-players that I was sharing a room with). There was a lot of noise that evening, as brass and percussion players took turns or combined to make ear-splitting dins made worse by the shape of the chapel. There was however, an impressive, if loud, rendition of Brooklyn, that seemed to leave the air vibrating for a while afterwards. Also, various smaller groups performed items, such as a pair of flautists, a string chamber group and a solo trumpeter.

I would like to offer my deepest thanks for everyone at Gatton, whether tutors, house staff or participants themselves, for a most enjoyable and profitable week. A number of pictures of the final concert can be viewed on my Facebook profile. I was once again staggered by the amount that groups of dedicated young musicians managed to acheive in just a few days.