The Wesleyan Orchestra opened its doors to the public on Saturday as members were joined by musicians of the greater Wesleyan community in an open rehearsal of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 4. It was conducted by Angel Gil-Ordóñez, Adjunct Associate Professor of Music and Director of Private Lessons, Chamber Music, and Ensembles. The rehearsal in the Crowell Concert Hall was an opportunity to see how orchestras work behind the scenes.
“We’ve allowed you to come to see our secrets,” Gil-Ordóñez said.
The audience was also invited to stop the rehearsal at any time and ask questions, but most opted to listen in quiet appreciation.
“It was interesting to experience a rehearsal in a context generally reserved for concerts,” said April Trovillion ’10. “This may have made the audience more timid, because even though it was a rehearsal, the setting felt like a concert.”
The open rehearsal has become a tradition over the years and some people have attended multiple events.
“I love them,” said orchestra violinist Tara Smith ’07. “I sit with a parent and it’s really fun because they’re really excited about playing and they’re really excited about getting everything [all the music] done in here and they’re all so good. It actually makes me a little intimidated sometimes.”
Before playing, Gil-Ordóñez introduced the visiting players to the audience. They included former orchestra members, family of orchestra members, and professional musicians.
The orchestra worked on the first three of the symphony’s four movements. They will perform the entire work on Nov 11 in the Crowell Concert Hall at 8 p.m.
During the rehearsal, Gil-Ordóñez covered fundamentals such as tuning to a reference pitch, and also stopped and made adjustments while the orchestra was playing. These adjustments were mainly to dynamics which were sounding different because of the new size of the group.
“What happened today is that we have two more French horns,” said Gil-Ordóñez. “You know, with six French horns you can destroy a building if you want,”
Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 was written between 1899 and 1901 and calls for a relatively small orchestra; it does not have parts written specifically for tuba or trombones, though the Wesleyan Orchestra has the latter. In the second movement there is a scordatura, a contrasting tuning of a solo string instrument against the rest of the orchestra, in this case a violin.
“[Scordatura] creates a very strange sounding device,” said Gil-Ordóñez. “This is a violin soloist we are accompanying and that creates this character of sound, kind of a sinister vibe, which is the character of this movement,”
The conductor’s personality kept the mood lively. One time he stopped the orchestra, rapped on a player’s stand with his baton and accused the player of not watching him conduct. Then he turned to the audience and explained in a grisly voice how terrible he was.
It was this mixture of Gil-Ordóñez’s charm and the orchestra’s fine music that made the open rehearsal a memorable experience for all who attended.
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