We had our first rehearsal tonight. It went . . . all right. Better than I should expect given that I'm not yet very good at budgeting time for these shindigs. We made it through the ballet in spite of missing instruments. (We had one horn tonight, no bassoons, little low brass, and only timpani from a rather involved percussion section.) We even hit most of the symphony. Granted that in a nearly three hour rehearsal we hit only four fifths of the music from a two hour show. But we'll get there.
There were some sour notes. There were some missed cues. People (including but not limited to me) sometimes got lost in the woods. But we made it out. And we will make it Saturday. I could tell it was a piece I wrote. It looked and sounded like an orchestra. Which is scary good wonderful.
The hall is cozy. It's bright. Everyone there was kind and inviting. We will all fit. Somehow, with the help of good friends, I got a piano, four timpani, nearly thirty music stands, a bass drum, and an easy chair for the guest of honor to the hall. (She has a hard time sitting for two hours in her wheel chair. The easy chair should be better.) More instruments are yet to come, but it will happen. I believe that now. It's a very good feeling. Hopefully there will even be a recording that's not too horrible.
Thank you all for your kind words and support.
Comments from the original OKCupid post:
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 1: I'm so glad that all your hard work and dedication to the project (and your sister) are bearing good fruit at last.
The Composer: It's pretty sweet, actually. I'm still nervous and there's a lot of work to be done yet, as things are still pretty rough. But there's nothing quite like hearing real people play things that you've only imagined before. (Admittedly, I use some aids to imagination in the form of a piano and a computer, but you still have to imagine to guess what it's going to sound like in real human performance. And I spend a lot of time imagining.)
Witchzenka: This is wonderful news! I hate to add to your burden of planning or anything, but *cough* any chance you'll be able to record this?
TC: Oh, fear not. I've been planning to all along. That was always a part of the grand plan. A small but respectable digital stereo recorder has been borrowed for the purpose. I'm going to try and make some video, even. (We'll see how well that goes. It's a bit more dicey.)
I WILL see to it that you get a recording of this. Cross my heart. (I wouldn't have it any other way, to be quite frank. After all, there are baby dragons and grown witches counting on me. And maybe even one quiet Soul.)
WZ: <3 Thank you. :) You are such an awesome person.
TC: Eh, maybe. But I'm a mediocre conductor who needs to practice his cues. We'll see how it goes. :-)