> So, anyone else out there with more stories? Here's good one, and though I was only a spectator, I was--as 1st horn--waiting to bring my section into battle, making me a most interested, as well as "involved," spectator. As you read this, give thanks that not everyone around you has perfect pitch while simultaneously offering double thanks that at least SOME do.
There is a compendium of orchestra/choir pieces that were originally--and separately--written to honor fallen cancer victims. It's called, "Sing For The Cure," and it's often used as a fund-raiser concert for the Susan G Komen (pardon if my spelling of her name is wrong) Foundation. I've performed it twice, and it's likely that many of you have done likewise in your own region. Well, there is a somewhat-scary part where a trio of ladies must enter into a cascading downward pattern, preceded only by the last notes of the cellos (in a foreign key), and then a few seconds of silence. The soprano has to come in on (I'm going to guess here) a top-staff F# after last having heard only a low Bb from the cello section, and that note having been preceded by several seconds of silence. After the cascading trio entrance, the piano enters in the new key that was established (we hope) by the trio. As you may have guessed, in rehearsals the soprano nailed it EVERY TIME, and the two lower voices that followed her entrance based their pitch, of course, relative to hers. Then came the concert. I sat in the section, ready to follow the piano in after trio. The cellos died away, then silence, then the soprano entered... about a major 2nd low! The other two ladies, of course, entered in this "new" key established by our, to date, unsuspecting soprano. My wife (2nd horn) turned slowly toward me as a chill spread across the entire orchestra. Everything was okay for the moment, but within the next 6-bars or so the piano was going to come in and, when he did, it was going to a sobering moment of payback for the horrible aural train wreck that was unfolding--in achingly slow-motion--right before our collective ears. It was only my devotion to duty and my horn colleagues that I remained in my seat! Then the pianist's hands raised in preparation of the inevitable... But then something magic happened: The piano entered in IN THE SAME WRONG KEY AS THE SOPRANO STARTED, waited for their note to die, and then deftly modulated--extemporaneously--into the proper key so we horns could enter, shaken but not stirred. What a night! In case you should think I'm embellishing, I'm willing to name names. The brilliant pianist's name is E. Lane Moore, and he is a high-school chorus director near here. In addition to being one the finest musicians I've ever worked with (and there have been some), he also gets my personal lifetime achievement award in the category of, "Best Extemporaneous Victory Pulled Kicking And Screaming From The Jaws Of Certain Defeat And Abject Failure." Now if I can only find a large-enough trophy for the inscription! jrc in SC _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
