So yesterday was Prometheum XII.

And.

That's it.

It felt like a dream, but I knew it was real when today I picked up my clarinet and suffered immense lip pain upon mouth contact.

Overall, I think we did well. I won't say there were any screw ups, but I felt that what we were making was music. I am really proud of all/most of my clarinet juniors for all the effort and commitment they've been putting into band, and their cooperation with me. Same goes to my batchmates, especially in terms of logistics and design (the ticket/booklet looks great! am hoping that the T-shirt will turn out the same... oh wait, that's my job).

Now, I've finally got the time for that concert rundown.

After the killer rehearsal and the nice spaghetti (was it Auntie Azah?) and chicken, we set up and fell in. Following that, I gave my juniors their inspirational postcards and we all lined up to get ready to get back on stage. My heart was thudding quite loudly...


-- start first half --

WIND HARMONY MARCH

We may have practiced this song for over four months, but I still don't like it. Silvercrest > this one anytime. Furthermore, it depletes my mouth stamina such that I end up not being able to play later. Which sucks.

ST. FLORIAN CHORAL

This is my most hated song of the concert. Not that it doesn't sound nice, but I only have four bars rest in the whole song, AND the tempo is so slow that for the rest of the time I continue trying not to exhaust myself. This song and Wind Harmony are probably in cahoots to kill me or something.

SYMPHONIC FESTIVAL

Now we come into more friendly grounds. I still think we played too loud for the fast bits, but that wasn't the main problem. If Andy should ever happen to read this, I owe him an apology; because at the duet part, I squeaked TWICE in succession at the very start, and because he just came in and I already was playing (from the solo before), everyone thought HE squeaked. I was practically cringing in my seat as the zaoxias spoilt the beginning of the slow part.

DANCE CELEBRATION

I thought this one was quite well done. We did slow down a little as we progressed into figure E, but it wasn't too bad.

THE MERRY WIDOW SELECTIONS

Fairly good, especially at the waltz. The second of my three solos appear here; and this was the only one that I didn't squeak. I tried to play as loud as I could (because I always feel that I'm very soft) but later people told me I was too loud -_-. I know now what it means to have your hands shake uncontrollably.

-- end first half --


Next came the intermission, where we had a "meet the seniors" session. I saw most of our band seniors (J1s and J2s) and even some alumni from like, 5 years back. Most of the clarinet J1s and J2s were there, and they gave me a rose XD. Awww so sweet!

Now I think my seniors are all people who give honest comments instead of flattery or anything like that, so I was quite encouraged by them. Dao Bo didn't say anything. David said "not bad". Yi Jie was talking about my reed and other practice tips (typical YJ! =P). Paul said my tone was quite nice. Bernard gave me the rose and I forgot what he said. I didn't see Ling Zhang though. In any case, thanks for coming down!

Saw some other familiar faces in the crowd as well!

Next was the Perc Ensemble and "low-budget" Jazz Ensemble, both which I thought were very good. My friend said he especially liked the Jazz one.


-- start second half --

COMEDIAN'S GALLOP

Also Benjamin's concerto. I just realized that there's a typo in the programme booklet - it says Comedian's Gallop. Gallop =\= Galop! Okay, it is Gallop and not Galop sorry -_-. There was a mix-up with the flowers, but Ben Ni got flowers from someone in the crowd XD. Playing wise, this song was so-so.

BLACK RIVER OVERTURE

One of the nicer songs on our repertoire, with a longer solo for me and a emo part at bar 70. Didn't really screw up my solo here, except for one zaoxiaed counter melody note played with the flutes playing melody. This one was well done.

A DAY AT THE CIRCUS

The most audience entertaining song! Thanks to Ms Jac Chua as our ring mistress, our Sec 1 clowns (no we did not force them) Chiraag and Dee Pak, and our Sec 1 cannonball (sorry I don't know your name)! This song is less difficult than Le Carnaval Des Animaux but more entertaining. Directly quoted, "the audience is dumb", so the songs we play have to be more interesting than hard.

THE BANDWAGON

I really should have practiced this more. My running notes were just too soft and not confident enough, especially when the key changes - you have to configure your brain into another pattern. And no emcees, this is not our signature piece.

ERES TU

The encore piece, some people who where high were blasting, but others (like me) who had already run out of steam were starting to die. Luckily I was playing 3rd clarinet. The piece needs a bit more spirit.

-- end second half --


In the chaotic pack up and moving of instruments, I wouldn't be surprised if a few hundred items got lost. There was one reported missing coat, but luckily it was found. I anticipate a few more such reports *sigh*. The bus ride home was full of chatter about the concert, and everyone was high. The total ticket sales were at 83.7%, which is even higher than we initially expected. The spoiler came when Mr G and Mrs Tan wouldn't let us perform the band cheer/taupok, saying that it was to (1) minimize the risk of broken appendages for the Open House performance and (2) that it was too late at night already.

I contemplated not going to school today because of both my aching stomach and my largely reduced attention span, but the stomach problem was cured in the morning after sleep, and I felt wide awake in school today. Besides, there was still the Maths TA, the History Communist Cell Package (wow PD!), and the Book Club discussion.

We don't even get a break, do we?

All in all, a wonderful night. I personally feel that it was a success, though there are opposing viewpoints - which I shall share when I feel like it.

Labels: band