Orchestra Level Stuff!

After I got my latest financial aid refund, I put most of it aside, but decided to get something for MYSELF (like always!) You can't live your life miserable cuz you have no money ALL THE TIME! I'm in a band, actually two of em (one is in the summer, one is the rest of the year). Although we have some challenging music, some times, the selection is pretty easy. I subscribe to 3 symphony orchestras, brought to you buy the kind folks at the federal government who refunded money to me back in Oct! And Have been wanting to learn some songs at the Orchestral level which is higher than High School/College band level. I wanted something that could challenge me.

One day I came across the book above online, but for piccolo. It had excerpts from famous symphonies, other works, and some ballets. I bought it and I loved it! It exposed me to so many new songs I'd never hear in the bands I play in (since it's not a symphony orchestra, but a concert band).

The music even makes me go 'Holy Shit!' sometimes when I look at it. Like below...

I think even if you CAN'T read music, you'd know that that's hard stuff. The more lines on the groups of notes, the faster they are. Those are 32nd notes. 4 of them equal half a beat.

Yeah.... lol

There are alot of ballets like the one below. I really started to love the ballets, and the problem is, the music is HARD to find. You can't just go and order a flute part to Petruchka by Stravinsky online. You can order the whole score, but not just one part. So this book gives you small sections (common for auditions, but I'm not auditioning for anything). Its a way to get 30 songs in a $45 book.

There are songs by all the famous composers, but I have to say, I'm not a fan of the Viennese/German composers (ie Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Brahms etc..). Yeah, yeah I know they're really great and they were really young and wrote 43-9023957043 million symphonies in their lifetime, but I'm not into their style. I really like the Russian composers (mostly Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky) and the French composers (Debussy, Saint Saens, Faure and Hue) much better! The russians take the top spot. Just like in figure skating (well, pairs and ice dancing).

This one ^ Chant du Rossignol is cool, but I wish there was more of it. Theres a second part on the next page that's a cadenza. But I can't find much of the song on Youtube. The reason is cuz its a BALLET! It has lots of acts and its really hard to find where in the ballet the solo excerpts are. Somtimes it takes me hours to find them. then I favorite them and make a mental note where they are in the piece.

My fave ballet is still the flute solo from Daphne et Chloe. That ballet is really hard!!!!! Sometimes its in 7 sharps! Not really used to that many sharps. I think I can play in 4#s (#=sharp) comfortably which is the key of E. And can play in 5#s (key of B) ok but i forget about the A#s sometimes. But 7?! Yeah. I can play the famous solo. But the whole ballet has some cool parts. I have the full score I found online for free somewhere. I just really wish I could play these things with a group, like a symphony orchestra, or the orchestra of the ballet of .....wherever! That'll never happen. So youtube is the new best thing. I'm glad theres a youtube. I dont knwo what I did without it all those years. Best site ever!!!

I want tosee if i can find more books that have excerpts or full parts to BALLETS....somewhere. I have to start asking music professionals if they have any idea. But I need to slow down. I'm poor. Dont wanna blow thru the savings, but I will do things for myself now n' then just because I want to enjoy life to some extent. Things have been so shitty and I'm far from happy. Sometimes if I get a little joy in my life, it helps.

Oh, and I got a few solos for this spring concert w/ Greater Shore! I'm on the oboe part and I'm soooo glad I finally get solos again. I never thought I would in this band cuz I sit so far back. Its seating policy is senority based. I'm pretty new so I'm towars the back. I may play the oboe part from now on just SO I can get solos. I'll never get em as a flute player unless the director LETS me do it, but... I think he just gives it to the first or second chair person.

So thats that for now. Gonna go move to my comfy bed in a few. Been a long week! And a bad storm is a-comin' to the Northeast.............again. =/ No jogging this weekend I guess.

And once again, the paragraphs are run the HELL together. I've been trying to fix them but it doesn't ever seem to take. So annoying! I think I said this last time too. I give up w/ this shit.