spamguy

Our next rerun is the 1936 Olympics of spamguy-brand blogging. Er, without the Hitler. This was the third post I ever made, dated February 12, 2003:

Took time off from my hectic homework schedule and went to see a performance of Mahler’s 2nd Symphony today. Simply oustanding; rarely can I say music has emotionally moved me. I was wary of listening to Mahler; I had only heard the 1st, a mediocre work of symphonic chaos disguised behind a double brass section, beforehand. I got quite a shock.
There are five movements to the 2nd, one of which (the fourth movement) is short enough to be called a prelude to the fifth. The first few were OK, but not outstanding. The fifth, though, was unique. Mahler himself called for a small brass section to play backstage, giving the feeling of an oncoming cavalry or such. The brass-happy orchestra gave way to the ominous drums of an oncoming march. As the music grew louder (at fffff, I believe), the first climax occured. A gigantic (for UT students) chorus stepped out and filled every available space, including the storage areas next to the organ. Even a little organist scooted herself into view from behind a hidden area. This action, IMO, all came a little too early, for they sat there for 10 minutes looking stupid. Had they organised (or should I say, ised? Ugh) quickly in preparation for singing in the next minute, I would have been moved to tears. But I wasn’t.

Still, all I can say is…wow. CD recordings don’t do it justice. Go and see it sometime on stage.

Now for a little rant to balance out the evening. I don’t deny the importance of the percussion section in any band or large orchestral work. Mahler calls for tam-tams and triangles and double timpani and gongs and general whacking of things. Despite all this evidence, I say now and will say forever: those who perform in percussion sections are freeloaders who like to hit things. There is no skill in hitting a triangle, nor a gong. One might make the counterargument that it takes a fine precision of mallet choice and such. Bull. Half the time the composer tells you what kind of mallet to use; the other half can take you ten minutes to learn. If they’re going to get the same credit for the hard work the string and brass and woodwind sections are exerting, they should help cater the post-concert receptions or something to compromise for their lack of function.

But I will make an exception with timpani. The timpani has actual pitch, and requires decent precision with the foot petal and skin to sound good. Plus it looks neato. That and the possibility of the xylophone are the only percussions I have respect for. Unless you care to call the piano a percussion instrument?

Tags: music, reruns

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