some work

How about I write about some of the work that I'm doing, for a change.

I've said I am working on the oboe concerti.  I have received pdf files of four concerti (Graun, Heinichen, Reichenauer, and Ristori) that have been input from the MSS (manuscripts).  And just a few days ago, the Professor gave me (finally!) copies of the MSS from which the pdfs were produced, so I can check for errors and make suggestions where I feel there are discrepancies or "typos" in the originals.  The pdfs I have are copies from when they were input on Finale, a music program that we're actually not using.  We're using Sibelius now, and I hope to get the experts in such things to transfer the oboe concerti (not to mention the bassoon concerti) to Sibelius so I can directly edit them if need be.

So I'm sitting at the piano, playing through the pieces slowly and repeatedly, and seeing what I think.  In the case of one of the Reichenauer concerti, for example, I don't think it's as good a piece as the other one by him that is included in the collection of MSS.  So here, I plan to suggest that the better one (F major) replace the less good one (B-flat major) in the set of four concerti to be published.  I am inputting the F major into Sibelius, and have done two of the three movements so far.  I'm getting better and faster at using the program, and it's not that hard.  The fine points of things like formatting and producing individual instrumental parts are harder to learn.  The program is phenomenally complete -- you can do anything with it.  Want to write a duet for whistler and quintfagott?  It will set up the score and make sure you keep within the limitations of both "instruments," then play the piece back with appropriate synthesized sound.

The Professor is showing up at school more and more often as his broken ankle is improving.  That has slowed him down a lot and delayed much of my collaboration with him.  I'm trying to do helpful work without much direction and guidance.  He promises to sit down with me soon as things get back to normal, so we can discuss details.  One thing I need to be doing, with a March 1 deadline, is to write an article for the Journal of the International Double Reed Society on the subject of Dresden double reed concerti of the late baroque, and the new publications we're working on.  Did I mention that the "publication" is intended to be online only?  As I understand, the music will be available to everyone at no cost on line.  I guess one would need to print it as needed for practice and performance.

Another question I have brought up once, and need to follow up on, is the idea of producing piano reductions of the orchestra parts.  All soloists need to be able to run through the music with piano, and expect a piano reduction to be available.  When one buys the music to a concerto, it always comes with a solo part and a piano part.  As far as I know, this has not yet been a part of the project, and I will argue for it.  Once more, Sibelius to the rescue.  It is apparently possible to produce a reduction of orchestra music using the program, though I haven't yet learned how.  And fortunately, the orchestral scores are for the most part quite simple -- two violin parts, viola, and continuo.  Only one concerto that I have seen has any orchestral winds at all.

Schloss Albrechtsberg

The biggest news in the non-musical side of my life here is my acquisition of a bicycle.  For 100 EUR, I got me a used mountain bike, and I'm loving it.  I ride everywhere, in all kinds of weather (though it has not been overly snowy since I got the bike).  Haven't ridden public transit since.  Rode up to the Albrechtsberg Castle to see a chamber concert the other night -- octets by Schubert and others played by members of the Dresden Philharmonic.  Here's the hall where they played, and a close-up of the unusual bass the guy used.  If you look carefully at the stage, you can see tall music stands and no chairs.  All but the cellist played standing up.  (Get an American group to do that!)

Till next time.

what do you expect when you arrive in mid-December?

My building at night.  Top left two pairs of windows are mine -- bedroom on left, living room on right.


.....Things take time, especially if you've got major holidays right after you arrive.  German comic strip:  angel congratulates God on the birth of his new son, and God says, "Couldn't she have waited to give birth until after the holidays?"

I'm in the apartment and it's pretty nice, with some problems here and there.  One was just resolved yesterday:  I finally got them to sell me some tokens for the washer, and now I can do laundry (including comforters and mattress pads that were in the furnished apartment).   More pictures to come, but here's the side of the building with mural.  I put an red arrow on right where you'd have to drill through to hit my bed.

Internet connections, too, take their time.  Before they can install my wired connection (why it takes 2 weeks to flip a switch, I don't know), they gave me a wireless USB stick to connect with.  That's what I'm using now.  It's pretty slow, and it also doesn't seem to like my email.  (Receives, but I can't send.)  I do have an alternate that I can use for the time being.  I hope with the more permanent connection, email will be up to speed.

Sibelius.  That's the name of the musical score writing and editing program that is being used here for the project.  It's probably the predominant such program anywhere.  It's in its sixth edition, so guess what music plays when you open it?  Got it installed through the university here around December 21, and when my computer had a minor crash a couple days later, Sibelius decided it wanted the code number re-entered.  Unfortunately, that was available only in the music building, which was closed -- for the holidays.  Finally got it again on January 5, and am just now working on figuring out how to use it.  It's unbelievably thorough and complex (can even score accurately for Quintfagott), and is said to be quite easy to use.  Once you master it.  I'm getting there, if belatedly.

It's still pretty icy here, though we might be getting a short spell of above-freezing weather.  Here's what can happen to a bicycle:
(Icicle bicycle?)

Had a nice chat with a friendly grad student who helped me with Sibelius, and who knows the scene here pretty well.  Good to get another angle on things.  Also spent a little time with an assistant professor who is teaching a Wagner course -- Parsifal, now.  I sat in on their class, and guess what?  Most of the students hadn't done the reading!

Now maybe I'll actually sit down with the oboe concerti and dig in.