{"id":324,"date":"2007-05-14T22:45:04","date_gmt":"2007-05-15T06:45:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/05\/14\/orchestral-hierarchy\/"},"modified":"2013-02-07T18:10:39","modified_gmt":"2013-02-08T02:10:39","slug":"orchestral-hierarchy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/05\/14\/orchestral-hierarchy\/","title":{"rendered":"orchestral hierarchy"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve was struck today, as we were rehearsing Richard Strauss’ mighty tone poem Ein Heldenleben<\/em><\/a> (A Hero’s Life), at the different breeds of players that there are in the modern symphony orchestra. I was listening to our guest concertmaster for the week, Elisa Barston, as she played the extended, fiendishly difficult violin solo which describes the “Hero’s Helpmate” (actually a musical portrait of Strauss’ own wife). She is quite simply an astonishingly good violinist. She has a great, rich sound, spot-on intonation, great musical ideas, and fire to burn (sorry, couldn’t resist that one). Concertmasters are right at the top of the orchestral talent hierarchy (or at least they should<\/em> be). I’m amazed at people who are able to play at such a high level with consistency.\u00c2\u00a0 Extensive training from a young age, disciplined practicing and a degree of luck all play a part in their success.<\/p>\n

Whether the rest of us want to admit it or not, there is a hierarchy of talent within the symphony orchestra.\u00c2\u00a0 There are the prize thoroughbreds who have always been at the top of their respective classes and have won many major competitions on their way up.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re sort of the senior management class of the orchestral corporation.\u00c2\u00a0 Then you have various titled players and wind players who are more like middle management.\u00c2\u00a0 They have less responsibility than the principals, are paid less, and don’t often get to play solos.\u00c2\u00a0 The grunt workers or assembly line personnel are the section string players (a guy I met at an audition suggested that being a section player was akin to being in a 1930’s typing pool).\u00c2\u00a0 They get none of the glory, play the most for the least money, and generally make up for this by making fun of senior and middle management types behind their backs (and they think we don’t notice…).<\/p>\n

I’ve heard that the Israel Philharmonic used to be called “the orchestra of concertmasters”.\u00c2\u00a0 I can’t imagine a more horrible image!\u00c2\u00a0 Obviously you want the highest level of player that you can attract for any position, from top to bottom, but the temperament of a violin section all comprised of concertmaster-like players – it would be bedlam!\u00c2\u00a0 Just as in life and the workplace, heterogeneity makes for a livelier, more interesting and ultimately, more cohesive environment.\u00c2\u00a0 You want everyone to bring their own dish to the orchestral potluck.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s up to the music director to manage the menu into a cohesive whole.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve was struck today, as we were rehearsing Richard Strauss’ mighty tone poem Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life), at the different breeds of players that there are in the modern symphony orchestra.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[55,62,3656,3659],"class_list":["post-324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-orchestra-world","tag-orchestra","tag-symphony","tag-the-orchestra-world","tag-violin"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-5e","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":34,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2006\/04\/03\/busy\/","url_meta":{"origin":324,"position":0},"title":"busy!","author":"Charles Noble","date":"April 3, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"It's been a busy 10 days - and here's the list of music that's passed over my transom to prove it: Prokofiev - Romeo & Juliet, Suites 1 and 2 Berlioz - Queen Mab Scherzo from Romeo & Juliet Bernstein - Symphonic Dances from West Side Story Strauss - Don\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13712,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2015\/05\/08\/2014-2105-a-retrospective-part-two\/","url_meta":{"origin":324,"position":1},"title":"2014-2105: a retrospective, part two","author":"Charles Noble","date":"May 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"And now, for the big list - the stuff I played with the Oregon Symphony this past season*. Lots of variety, and some holes in repertoire that I really couldn't believe when I looked at the list - only one work by Brahms, for example? Hm... Barber - Adagio for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/noble-oso-pic-e1408736178252.jpg?fit=451%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6188,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2011\/04\/16\/great-concerts-ahead\/","url_meta":{"origin":324,"position":2},"title":"great concerts ahead","author":"Charles Noble","date":"April 16, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 In just two hours the Oregon Symphony will play the first of three subscription concerts in Portland that may be a high point of our season thus far. I think Carlos arrived at the hall on Thursday with a burning desire to show that he's still a relevant and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/james-ehnes-4507-5x7.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":310,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/05\/05\/orchestral-sandwich-construction\/","url_meta":{"origin":324,"position":3},"title":"orchestral sandwich construction","author":"Charles Noble","date":"May 5, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"The Chicago Symphony bassist Michael Hovnanian writes a delightful blog, and here is one bit of terminology that I've not heard used before. He refers to the classic orchestral programming scheme known as the \"shit sandwich\". I'll let him explain in this excerpt from his blog: The program of Strauss,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"875316close-up-of-sandwich-posters.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/875316close-up-of-sandwich-posters.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13134,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2014\/01\/01\/2013-playlist\/","url_meta":{"origin":324,"position":4},"title":"2013 playlist","author":"Charles Noble","date":"January 1, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"This is as exhaustive as I can make it, but I've certainly missed some things by accident, and omitted others on purpose. It's been that kind of year. Here's to more great music in 2014! * = first time performed by me Chamber Music Bart\u00f3k Quartet No. 1* Britten Quartet\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "chamber music"","block_context":{"text":"chamber music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/chamber-music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1825,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/02\/01\/what-a-night\/","url_meta":{"origin":324,"position":5},"title":"what a night","author":"Charles Noble","date":"February 1, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I have to say that I've got a new high point in my career with the OSO so far.\u00c2\u00a0 Last night's subscription concert was at such a high level of polish and sophistication that I almost want to shout from the rooftops that the Oregon Symphony is, without a doubt,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}