Saint-Saens and Other Crazy French Things





Poor Monsieur Saint-Saens. He looks so worn out. Too many years of people mispronouncing his name and denying his Sherlock DVD requests. I feel you, buddy. I feel you.

Solo and Ensemble is this Saturday, so my stress level has been higher than usual this week (which, for anyone that doesn't know me, is at elevated levels on a good day). I've been preparing three pieces for this: a solo, a mixed woodwind duet, and--yes, it's as weird as it sounds--a body percussion trio.

The solo I'm taking is Camille Saint-Saens Sonata for Clarinet (listen to this guy play it brilliantly). This is without question the longest solo I have ever taken to contest, and I actually enjoy the length. It allows me to use all ranges of my clarinet and play with different styles. The middle has a few showy, rapid passages that are a lot of fun when I play them right. The rest of the piece has a slower, lilting feel to it. The main goal of the piece is to play it with feeling and not so much adhering to strict tempos, which is a lot harder that just playing everything perfectly in time.


The duet that I'll be performing with one of my friends who plays the flute is a whole different story. "Il Pleure Dans Mon Coeur" (or, "Soft tears fall within my heart while rain drops on the roof..." This person should probably get their heart checked out.) is a Claude Debussy piece. While Debussy was a brilliant and beautiful composer, he was nuts. He was an Impressionist composer, so this particular piece doesn't have a clear melody. The music is sort of just all over the place. This, as you can imagine, makes it a million times harder to stay together. The effect, though different and difficult to achieve, is beautiful. The piece was originally written for voice, so it was hard to find an instrumental recording, but I managed to unearth a flute and cello version. Their arrangement is exactly the same as ours, except the cello is playing my part.


My stress levels will have to be tempered by solving lots of trigonometric identities (because I have to) and watching lots of King's Singers videos on You Tube (because that's how I always handle stress.) I was going to treat myself the day after contest by binge-watching the first season of Sherlock, but since our library system is so erratic, that won't be happening. What does this mean for me then? Probably re-watching the entire first series of The Choir, followed by more King's Singers videos.