And So It Continues (A Blatantly Bassoon Centered Post)

So, here I am sitting at a coffee shop on Pearl Street. It seems that I have a few minutes of time on my hands. Just time enough to rip off another unedited, unchecked fountain of thoughts from my increasingly tired brain.

Time? What the hell is this "time" concept?

Between toiling endlessly for my Pedagogy class by researching unending etudes, methods and solos, writing papers for my Pedagogy class, practicing teaching presentations - and failing miserably at giving them - for my Pedagogy class, it seems the only thing I can think of about time is that I don't have any.

Also, I've been practicing bassoon. And maybe doing some freelance programming if I need something to keep me up at night any longer. It is said that sleep is overrated, after all. I'm fairly certain that this was said by a corporate executive trying to meet a deadline. I'd like to kick the cretin who said that.

I now have two concerts under my belt - one with the Wind Symphony, and one with the Symphony Orchestra. Both were great concerts - they're both great groups. The orchestra played some sweeping works, like the Strauss "Rosenkavaleir Waltz Sequences", the John Adams "Chairman Dances", and the dramatic Sibelius "Symphony No. 1". The problem with this is that I only got to sit and watch the Adams and the Sibelius, as my services were only required on the Strauss. Too many good bassoonists at CU, it seems. Oh well. I'm definitely taking a liking to Adams' music, too.

I competed in the concerto competition yesterday. Hadn't done that for ten years. All in all, I felt very good about my performance - like I even had a chance to advance to the next round. As it turns out, I didn't. I never advanced in a competition at ASU either, no matter what I played. Bozza Concertino? "Nice try." Weber Andante and Hungarian Rondo? "What a stupid piece." (Yes, I was actually told that by one of the judges.) Jolivet Concerto? My personal Mt. Everest? "Tone a little too wide down low. Next." ARGH!

So, why not try something a little different this time? My professor suggested the Kozeluh Bassoon Concerto. My first reaction was, "You've got to be kidding me. I'm supposed to play a silly little bit of classical fluff?" I've never been a huge fan of classical era concertos. To that end, I'm going to say something downright sacrilegious in the bassooning world: I don't really like the Mozart Bassoon Concerto.

Still with me?

Anyway, I reluctantly agreed to do the Kozeluh. For one thing I decided to compete roughly three and a half weeks before the competition. There simply wasn't enough time to learn anything harder.

Another reason concerns my strengths and weaknesses as a bassoonist. I have always been sort of known as a technique specialist. In other words, I can pretty much play just about anything technical and fast that you put in front of me. Therefore, the pieces I've always worked on have catered to that. My weakness, however, is that I never really learned to "sing" on the bassoon. I have a harder time making an interesting musical phrase out of a two bar section of half notes than I do whipping off the Ravel Piano Concerto excerpt. While technique is great, it is only a piece of this whole music thing, and I really needed to concentrate on that.

The Kozeluh is not a difficult piece, at all, but it contains a lot of very singing, lyrical sections. This was a great opportunity for me to really focus on singing through my bassoon. I took to practicing it, and taking every suggestion I could get. After a few weeks of it, I was actually starting to sound pretty decent on it. I was even starting to come to the opinion that it was sort of kind of maybe a nice piece.

The competition came. I had a great reed using a newer concept I have been adopting lately for my horn. The hall was great for the sound. I sang. I resonated. The piddly little amounts of passage work came off without a hitch. People told me how I played so beautifully, and so musically. Score! I started to actually hope that I had a chance.

In the end, I didn't advance. Of course. Two other bassoonists did advance, though. Ironically, one of them played the Weber Andante and Hungarian Rondo. I guess the opinion that it's too stupid a piece is subjective. Really, the two bassoonists that advanced are excellent players, and both pieces were more difficult than the Kozeluh. Still, one of these times it'd be really cool to advance. Just once...

I guess I have to see it for what it is. This was a learning experience, and I learned a lot. I already have a better idea of musical playing than I did even a month ago. That's a GOOD thing! The bassoon professor at CU is very good at teaching. Very good.

On another note, it is so cool to be back in the ol' bassoon playing saddle. Crazy how you don't really appreciate something until you spend some time away from it. The two years or so I spent away from bassoon playing were seriously the darkest years of my adult life. I'm really looking forward to one of these days being paid to play the thing - even if I have to teach it, too!

Whoops, I guess our time is up. Until next month, when I have another few minutes.