More Pauline Oliveros - Four Meditations For Orchestra

We've been rehearsing these for a few weeks now, so we've now done the Four Meditations all the way through. I still like them a lot, but they do present some challenges. Here's a copy of the last two movements that we hadn't done yet when I wrote about it last:


 






I would say these are the hardest two movements purely because they request a more reactionary response from the participant, it's always easier when you have more time to think. Although I find I do surprise myself more when I'm prompted to do things on the spot.

The third movement is great fun, and produces some fabulous sounds! I think I struggled with this one at first purely because I have very bad reaction speed and it requires participants to react quickly. However because I am forced to react quickly I do find my choice of sound is more natural, although I am limited on the violin as to the short sounds I can make which will be heard in the melee (without damaging my violin!). The results are brilliant though, as Oliveros suggests, ripples of sound are created throughout the group, although in our case the ripples are perhaps more cacophonous than Oliveros had intended... Once the long tones join in, particularly when these are allowed to glissando, there is a natural building of tension moving to the last movement. On reflection, I think building in some quieter ripples (the score does say pp - ff) might have an altogether different effect, especially when combined with the longer tones. Also, I think we tended to move through the variations very quickly, and I would have liked to listen to each one a bit longer before moving onto the next.

The last movement I find the hardest, I think because it has a more improvisatory approach than the others. The idea is to think of a tone, and then devise 'approaches' and 'departures' from that tone. When it works well the effect is great; momentary improvisations with recurring motifs that remain constant throughout the performance. However the temptation is to just use the instructions as an improvisation, which I don't think is the intention. Of course the movement is improvisatory, they all are, but the focus is always on the core sound that the participant chooses at the start of the performance, and I'm not convinced that all participants were focussed on their core sound. That said, perhaps I was being too strict with myself with regards to the improvisation and perhaps I should have explored the possibilities around my sound more. The thing that I found most difficult was the challenge of both interacting with my core sound and with the other members of the group at the same time; I think there is a balance between the two which I have not quite found yet.

Our performance is on the 6th December at Wharf Chambers in Leeds, so I have plenty of time to practice. James, our group leader has done an event page here. I'm looking forward to it!