April 8, 2011
Dance of the Furies Assessment
You were emailed our recording of Dance of the Furies. To comment on this performance, click on the comment button below. Your critique must include one positive comment and one constructive comment. Do not make general statements like "Overall, I thought the performance was pretty good." While it is nice to hear, it doesn't help the overall improvement of the piece. (Besides, do we only want to be pretty good?) Also, do not single any particular person out. You can discuss a section and issues within a particular section. Be sure to read through other people's comments and reply if you wish. DUE: MONDAY, APRIL 11
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28 comments:
Definitely there are some places where we need to improve on intonation wise and "note-wise." Especially for the first violins on the first page with octaves with B-flats. It was nice how everyone in the orchestra listens to others to find melody. The violins seem to rush throughout the whole song and not know when to come together at one (looking at the conductor), although the last entrance after the fermata was achieved nicely. As long as we figure a way to work on the tempo and toning the voice(s) coming from our instruments, the orchestra can perform this song extraordinarily!
In the whole recording/performance, dynamics and tempo are a big issue. Just by being more careful about the dynamics, the piece can become more intense. Everyone is rushing A LOT and also faking the notes throughout the entire piece like Sean said, so that has to be practiced with a metronome! But somehow, the tempo is slower by the end than the beginning. Intonation wise, I think fourth finger is a better idea then open strings, especially the open E during the first couple of measures when the music is still building up. When the seconds has the melody and the firsts has the long notes, the melody has to comeout more. The page turn has to be smoothend some how...
Agreeing with Sean, the enterance after the fermata was achieved nicely. Also, the final chords were together, so that was nice to hear.
there are definitely some places where we need to improve on especially in regards to dynamics! from measures 1-11 the orchestra doesn't build up from p to ff. instead we go from p to mf. also during some parts especially after measure 23 up to about measure 30 the second violins are rushing and it doesn't sound like they are playing all the notes. at measure 69 the second violin solo needs to be louder and in tune! and the first violins need to be quieter so people can hear the seconds. measure 103 to measure 115 needs to be worked on a lot it is out of tune and rushed.
while there is a lot we need to work on there were parts where the dynamics were practically perfect and everyone was on tempo and listening to each other those parts sounded the best and if we can fix some of the problems above then we can sound awesome!
From measures 115 to 122, the second violins came out quite clearly, so that was nice, although the firsts had more than a few intonation issues in that same section. Whenever there are eighth note staccato notes, the first violins usually have the highest pitches in the whole orchestra, and if we sound off intonation-wise, it stands out, like the yelps of a distressed animal. Not really what we're going for. In those first-violin-staccato-eighth-notes sections, we should be at a pretty soft piano anyway. In general, if we listen to the lower strings (viola/cello/bass), it would help with our (the violins') chronic rushing problem. We have the potential, and I agree with everyone that wrote something above, that we can make this a good one.
One thing we could work on is at the beginning of the piece and throughout the piece where that same theme comes up we should crescendo much more as well as having cleaner bow strokes. There are times where one section will have a bunch of rapid sixteenth notes and they will be slower than the rest of the orchestra. Perfecting those would really help us. There are a fair amount of confident players but increasing this number will help us tremendously. A bigger, cleaner finnish would also be very good. Our tempo from beginning to end slows down a lot and thats a big problem. After the fermata we came out strong which is important, agreeing with ryo here.
The first violins should be sharper and clearer in the first 20 measures. By the end, the first violins sort of fade out. It's obvious that the first half of the song is better (possibly because there was a playing test on it??!). Page turns are too apparent; we need to focus and work on those. We're getting better at staying with the tempo, but we still need to work with our metronomes. The dynamics in general and also the ending were actually pretty good.
Overall the parts we know sound really good like from 11-23; those parts all the notes are clean and crisp. Tying in with what everyone else was saying about dynamic and tempo, in section like 1-11 and 41-53 people are trying to do the dynamics, but instead of just getting louder they speed up as well in an attempt to produce that louder sound. Another interesting thing I noted is there seems to be a lot of hesitation and uncertainness with measures 143 and 96 with the awkward going from open e to 4th finger e probably become is it so awkward, so that's something that can be practiced.
I'd have to agree with Lindsay. The 1st half of the song is definitely better, however we tend to rush there. Then as we hit the middle/later parts of the song, the notes become sloppier and we all slow down. Measures 170-172 (area with the fermata) were really good. Everyone looked up at the conductor, which really added to the dramatic effect of the song. At 164, the 2nd violins need to be crisper with their 16th notes. Also, at 85, as a group we need to work on our dynamics (it needs to get up to ff.) 103-114 also needs a lot of work. You can tell that the majority of the group doesn't know their notes and it's a mushy mess.
We the seconds may have to work on the dynamics for when we have our solos. Because the first's seem to overpower us in class. Some time we dont know some of the parts, so we try to fake it, and it sounds bad. We the Violins do seem to rush alot. we deffinetly have to fi that with maybe a metronome. other than that i think we sound great!
There was a nice crescendo from measures 1-11. The intonation of the first and second violins was pretty good from measures 11-23 but we rushed. The intonation can be improved in measures 23 and 26. We sounded very unified and strong measure 34. The intonation in measures 41-52 was good and we were together for the most part, but some of the higher notes on the E string were out of tune. In measures 53-68 the first and second violins were a little out of sync with each other. The second violins in measures 69-75 were in tune, but we have to play a little louder. The first violins maintained a steady beat from 85-103. However, from measures 103-114, I think all sections need to work on intonation and keeping the rhythm. Not everyone started on time in 143, it sounded a bit hesitant. The second violins maintained the background melody from measures 161-172 very well. The first violins need some help with intonation measures 172-182. In measures 186-192 we rushed a little, but every section played in tune and it sounded great. We are very close to nailing this piece! In general, I think everyone should work on their intonation and maintaining the rhythm throughout the song.
The first bit of the song is very good, but the firsts tend to not play completely together. As a whole the orchestra needs to work on rushing the many sixteenth notes in the piece. There are some especially awkward bits in the middle where the firsts rush and then slow dramatically, making it sound like a bit of a mess. I agree with Ryo- the page turns really scatter the orchestra, and only a few people play through the turns. I also agree with Jessica- the firsts tend to completely overpower the seconds- which may have been due to the fact that we were closer to the computer. While there are a couple rough spots to work on, we have definitely made a huge improvement, and can really perform this piece well!
I think that in general, the lower strings (violas, cellos, and bass) were difficult to hear throughout the song. The dynamics can also have more depth and we need to not always play at mezzo forte. I agree with Emma and Lindsey that the beginning half of the piece is much tighter and more precise than the second half. Overall, the greatest strength is that the orchestra as a whole stayed together (although we rushed together). We need to work on intonation precision as well as dynamic range.
I felt that the piece sounded good until measure 23. At measure 23 the entire orchestra got gooey and sloppy sounding. It got better at 41 but at 53 we slowed down and sounded mucky. At 143 the first violins did not sound good. Also, they missed the crescendo before the fortissimo at 145. We start off strong with the beginning sounded good with the dynamics.
Intonation throughout the entire piece should be improved. We also need to focus on the dynamics to make the piece sound more dramatic. An example would be in the first 11 measures. We REALLY need to stress the dynamics from piano to fortissimo. The second violins solo should be louder and crisper. We're failing at sounding like the horns we're supposed to be substituting (including myself) :]
The whole orchestra rushes throughout the piece, so we should watch Ms. Minnis and listen to others around us. The sixteenth notes at the end were my favourite part of the piece because we were actually playing together. It was wonderful.
Lots of Love,
Adrienne
As a group we need to work on emphasizing our dynamics because in some parts it seemed like half the group ignored the dynamic markings. You also can definitely tell when the page turns are, at least for the first violins, but I’m not sure how we can fix that. The beginning was great, we were together and in tune. Certain parts however, such as when the first violins play measures 23 and 26, are out of tune and should be practiced.
I thought that the beginning was one of the only strong things about the piece. We are together and have some dynamics (although they could improve). I thought that it was a mess at 143- especially for the 1st violins- everyone needs to just learn the notes and play out- because it sounds sloppy. We all need to watch the conductor more and listen to the other parts. There is one part where the 1st and 2nd violins are playing the same thing- and are not completely together.
At the beginning, measures 1 through 11 could use a little work with the crescendo. At the violin 2 solo in measures 69 and 115, they could be a bit louder, and the rest of the orchestra could be a bit quieter. At measure 85, the violin 1 were going slightly faster than the lower strings with the sixteenth notes, this also occurred at measure 143. At measure 97, the cellos could do a better job at the even measures--98, 100, 102. At measure 172, the entrance after the fermata was good. From 186 to the end of the piece, it was very nice, and the final chord sounded good as well. Overall, there are a few parts where we rush and where we could sound more together, but it was very good.
Firstly, dynamics throughout the piece were off. At many points, it seems like the dynamic changes were completely ignored, and by fixing them the piece could sound much better. Also, for the entirety of the piece, a focus needs to be placed on keeping the notes sharp and precise more characteristic of a baroque piece. This however can only be achieved once the intonation proper tempo is present, which it is not entirely at many spots.
Firstly, at the beginning of the piece with the descending scales, the second violins and first slowed down and occasionally missed notes. During the repeat of the opening theme that required 3rd position, the firsts were sliding the notes, which was evident in the sound. During the parts where the seconds have the half notes, and the firsts have the melody, there is a lot of faking and many many wrong notes. This is the same, although to a lesser extent with the seconds during their melody.
To make this piece sound as good as we can make it sound, there needs to be a large emphasis on dynamics, and the firsts and seconds need to practice their melodies with a metronome in order to keep the speed consistent.
Dynamics are a must for this piece, and we really have to work on them. I agree with Molly and Nick that we can't hear the crescendos. I feel like the orchestra loses its energy as the song goes on. Yes, it's long, but I can certainly hear the 1st Violins by the computer going strong. At each stand, there should be a chosen page-turner (it's supposed to be the person furthest from the audience, I think) so assigning that role could make the page-turning more fluid. Also, practicing so that we know the music better would also help at the page turns. I think that the fermata was held well because we watched the conductor, so keep that up!
This is a great piece, and I know we can do it with time, practice, and effort.
:)
I agree with the majority in that as a group we need to make dynamics more definitive and remain at a constant tempo. Through improving these two issues the piece would sound more polished and certainly impressive. However, I think we have improved as a group and will continue to improve prior to the performance. I would agree with most in that the parts towards the beginning are executed well relative to those towards the middle and end.
In the beginning we did do the crescendo but we did do the crescendo at measure 44. the high notes at measure 23 sounding screechy and off. No dynamic difference between measure 35-36. we sounded off beat at measure 30. The high notes between 47-53 did not sound good.Measures 11-23 sounded together and all the notes sounded correct. The second violins rhythm in measures 53-67 were not together. It sounded chaotic.
We are definitely pushing and pulling the tempo throughout the piece. I noticed around measure 52 to 70 the violins are out of sync. For those that are not very comfortable with the notes, they are not keeping up with the tempo. And those that do know the notes are going too fast. On a positive note, the chords in the last 3 measure sounded in tune and there was no struggle to achieve the retardando.
Overall I think the song is beginning to come together!
I thought that the performance sounds a lot better than it a couple of weeks ago but still isn't that great. Smaller sections need to work on being louder in sections where they have the lead part and the violins have to play softer in some sections. The fast notes in some areas still sound sloppy and that can only be fixed by practicing at home or lessons. The finish was good which is great since that is the part of the performance that people remember the most so that is also a positive. Besides that sometimes it just sounds like we are on the edge of falling apart when we hit a fast part of the piece so we hae to work on sounding together.
-Bobby J
everything there is to say has already been said. Dynamics = needs work. Same for our tempo. If we start to speed up we can end up going faster than we were supposed to and the few people who are not Ryo end up missing more and more notes. Also page-turning, some people need to do that a little bit faster and, in my experience, without making a visual distraction. I don't know about everyone else but I suspect that i am not the only one who practically waves the thing around. It's like the changing of the guard, but for pages.
Throughout the piece we have problems with contrasting the piano parts and the fortisimo parts, like at measures 32 through 33,and measures 143 to 146. The violin's cadence seemed to be off at 157, and I couldn't really hear the second violins' part at 161 through 169, almost like a lot of second violins weren't playing. However, I felt the or orchestra did a good job making the fast parts crisp, like 103-114.
I think as a whole, the piece has improved so much, but we still need to work on our dynamics. Dynamics are lacking and page turns should be improved upon as well. But the beginning of the piece sounds really good, and everyone clearly worked together.
143 through 160 was just ugly, really. It just felt like the 1st Violins hadn't practiced to the point at which they could actually do this segment. The other tricky segments also had a bit of this, but this part stood out the most.
Apart from these bits, however, I feel we did decently. We still need to be able to keep that tempo steady, and dynamics still need to be emphasized, but the foundations are there. Shame it's a little too late for just those to be there.
Intonation needs work throughout, and one thing that really stood out to me was that each part never really sounded like one compact sound, like it should. You could easily pick out individuals throughout. And I know the page turn is difficult, but that's no excuse to make a pretty significant sound of it... try to execute it quickly and quietly. Measures 103-119 were a big problem in terms of togetherness, as many individuals were going at different tempos.
-Doug
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