{"id":1258,"date":"2019-05-14T11:33:58","date_gmt":"2019-05-14T05:33:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kettledrummer.com\/?p=1258"},"modified":"2021-11-19T11:12:04","modified_gmt":"2021-11-19T05:12:04","slug":"the-emi-recordings-1987-1997part-seven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.kettledrummer.com\/?p=1258","title":{"rendered":"The EMI Recordings- 1987-1997|Part Seven"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The year 1992 \u2013 Part One<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another Banner Year for Recording<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The year\n1992 was a very active year when it came to recording. We made four recordings\nfor EMI that year. I say four because although one of them was initially\nreleased on the Virgin label, it was EMI that provided the recording personnel\nand owned the Virgin label. Two of the recordings were to be devoted to the\nmusic of Antonin Dvorak. The first was to be a recording of the Seventh and Eighth\nsymphonies, two of my personal favorites of the music of Dvorak. We had\nrecorded the Ninth (\u201cFrom the New World\u201d) back in 1988 and the 5th<\/sup>symphony\nin F major the following year. Whether or not this was to be a continuation of\na complete cycle was a matter for some conjecture at the time, but in the end,\nthese turned out to be the last Dvorak symphonies we were to record. It was a\npity, as I felt Mariss and the orchestra was on a roll so to speak, but the\ntimes were against us. With the development of digital technology and the\nre-mastering of legacy recordings of the great conductors of earlier eras, it\nbecame more difficult to make a case economically for a complete cycle. The\nsecond Dvorak recording was to be of the Cello Concerto with Truls M\u00f8rk as the soloist. This was to be\ncoupled with the \u201cRococo Variations\u201d of Peter Tchaikovsky. As there is no\ntimpani part for this work, it would not require my participation. I was\nhowever excited to be recording the symphonies and the Cello Concerto as each\nof them has an excellent timpani part.
\nThe first of the Dvorak recordings were scheduled for January 1992. These were\nthe Seventh and Eight Symphonies. The Dvorak Cello Concerto was to be recorded\nin May of 1992. The recording team for both sets of sessions was Producer John\nFraser, with Mark Vigars as Balance Engineer. Also scheduled for May 1992 was a\nrecording of the music of Jean Sibelius. This was his Second Symphony\naccompanied by \u201cThe Swan of Tuonela\u201d, \u201cValse Triste\u201d and a rarely played short\npiece for strings and timpani, \u201cAndante Festivo\u201d.  Our produce for these sessions was to be John\nFraser, but Michael Sheedy would be balance engineer. There was to be one more\nrecording in 1992, and that was scheduled for November. The music of Stravinsky\nwas to be featured, with two of his greatest orchestral ballets to be recorded.\nThese were \u201cLe Sacre du Printemps\u201d and \u201cPetrouchka\u201d \u2013 the latter in the 1947\nversion. (NB: To give each composer their due, and to keep the blog posts from\ngetting too long, I am going to devote this one to Dvorak, and write about the\nSibelius and Stravinsky recordings in a subsequent post.)<\/em><\/strong>  So, as I noted in the heading, 1992 was to be another\nbanner year for the orchestra with regard to recordings, and for me as a\ntimpanist personally as all of the recordings featured the timpani in a\nprominent way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dvorak – January<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I\nmentioned above, we were set to record the Seventh and Eighth symphonies in\nJanuary. Both of these symphonies are among my personal favorites, with the\nSeventh having a slight edge in my affections over the Eighth. Needless to say,\nI was very excited to being a part of these sessions.
\nFor these recording sessions (as in all of our previous recordings), we were on\nstage at the Oslo Konserthus. I used the Hinger timpani which were equipped with\nKalfo calfskin heads. The winter season seemed to me to be the \u201csweet spot\u201d in\nthe season for calfskin, as the heads responded well and there were no\naccidents. For mallets, I used a mix \u2013 mostly general purpose and medium hard\nTeahan  bamboo mallets with a 5\/8 inch\nshafts. For the scherzo I used my Feldman blue and red (medium-hard and hard)\nmallets. Those were good mallets \u2013 half-inch \nthick shafts \u2013 I wish sometimes I still had them.
\nSymphony No. 7<\/strong>
\nThe Seventh Symphony was first on the agenda. It is in D minor, which, along\nwith D major, lies in the \u201csweet\u201d range of the timpani. The first movement\nutilizes three drums \u2013 F, A, and d, with a change to B flat on the 28 inch\nthree bars after letter F (returning to A again at H.) The recording of the first\nmovement went very well, except for a musical decision that I advertently made\non the sixth, seventh and eighth bars after G. On the sixth beat of each\nmeasure, Dvorak has written a  sixteenth\nnote triplet \u2013 which gives more of a thrust to the downbeat of the following\nmeasure. The horns have three sixteenths (no triplet) on that beat, and I\nplayed that beat without the triplet \u2013 preferring to be together with the\nhorns. It was clean enough, and Mariss accepted it, but two years later, when\nwe took it on tour, he pointed out that section and asked for the sixteenth\nnote triplet as it gave a slightly more aggressive thrust to the following\ndownbeat. He was right, and I was wrong. I should have let Dvorak have his way\nin the first place. It is a  case of one\u2019s\near (that should read memory) getting the better one of one\u2019s judgment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a\nlesson that none of us is infallible, although in retrospect I was lucky as it\ndid not disturb the musical flow! I was forever after careful to stick to the\nscore.
\nThat first movement is fun to play, and Dvorak is a great one for throwing some\n\u201ctricks\u201d at one \u2013 the scherzo is a good case in point. More on that later. The\nfirst movement has a richness of texture that was perfect for the mallets that\nI used. They were weighty and articulate enough to satisfy the requirements of\nthe score (and conductor), the recording engineers and my own taste, something\nthat does not occur too frequently. It\u2019s like having a conjunction of the\nplanets!
\nThe second movement is gorgeous, and I have to admit that I wallowed in it a\nbit \u2013 loved those low Fs and Cs \u2013it was a lot of fun.
\nNow, to the Scherzo. Dvorak must have enjoyed writing his third movements \u2013\nthose of the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth symphonies are chock full of\nrhythmic energy. Six has a furiant; Seven has a scherzo, Eight has an allegretto\ngrazioso, and Nine has a scherzo. One must always be one\u2019s guard with these as\nare full of what I call \u201cfireworks\u201d \u2013 cross rhythms and articulations\u2026.all\nsorts of fun places in which one can get into trouble if one is not paying\nattention.
\nThe scherzo for the seventh symphony has, like most Dvorak scherzi, a dance\nlike feeling, albeit in the minor key. Despite the dance-like feeling, which\npersists throughout the movement, the minor key gives it an alternating sense\nof sadness and resolution. It is not at all a happy scherzo. Medium-hard\nmallets are called for, as the articulations need to be executed perfectly.
\nThe scherzo sets the stage for the resolute finale, which to my mind is one of\nthe composer\u2019s finest. The mood throughout is one of foreboding and the energy\nin this movement is tremendous. Medium hard mallets should be used throughout,\nwhich is what I did. Also, as with all Dvorak, rhythm, rhythm!! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Symphony No. 8 in G major

<\/strong>While the Seventh and Eighth symphonies are rhythmically vital, they are worlds apart when it comes to mood. While the Seventh is brooding and almost fierce in places, the Eighth is genial and upbeat. I would call this his happiest symphony. The outer movements are rhythmically propulsive, while the second movement, the Adagio, is lyrical, while the third movement, the Allegretto grazioso is waltz-like in character. All four movements are fun to play.
The first movement, the Allegro con brio can be played with general to medium hard mallets, although for recordings, I would advise going with the medium hard mallets for most of it. There are a lot of articulations that need to come out, particularly the sixteenth-note triplets at letter M. This is what I did in the recordings. I used my Feldman medium-hard mallets pretty much throughout. With this movement, it is articulation and sensitivity. The symphony as a whole (speaking from the viewpoint of a timpanist) is very well written. The only awkward moment (if I can even call it that) in the piece comes in the first movement at letter K, where the composer indicates 4 eighth notes on d, repeated in the two subsequent bars. Here I changed the note to C as it indicated in the edition that we used for the recording. Note: It is not indicated in the timpani part, but in the score. Interesting. <\/em>The pedal D roll sixteen bars before Rehearsal L is no problem as there is an immediate diminuendo after the first bar and is marked piano for most of it until two before L, when there is a written crescendo two bars before L. All in all, a fun movement to play. Just remember to watch the articulation and play with energy!
The second movement requires the utmost sensitivity. I played this movement on the two larger Hingers as the G and c were the \u201csweet spots\u201d on those respective drums.  I used a pair of Teahan-Hinger knockoffs  for the articulations and a pair of Duff 7s for the soft rolls and triplets at the beginning. Hearing the recording again after twenty-seven years convinces me that the choice was a good one. This is perhaps my favorite movement.
The third movement, marked allegretto grazioso, is another movement that requires one to be on the alert for good articulation. This was a difficult movement to get down on tape, particularly the section from Rehearsal D through G. In this case, our conductor felt that there was a little too much reverb from the 25 inch timpani (the d), so he had me play it semi-coperto \u2013 I had a muffler part way on the head to take out some of the reverb. It worked to a degree, but it took out a little too much, in my opinion. However, he was happy.
The finale is a great romp \u2013 very much full of energy and brio. I took a page out of the Szell\/Duff book and added a third drum \u2013 the C on the 28 inch for the passages between Rehearsal C and D and R and S as it made (and makes) a lot of musical sense to play it that way.
Overall, the recording of both these symphonies went well and were a great learning experience for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is a link to the first movement of Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70.<\/p>\n\n\n\n