[Music] St Andrews Symphony Orchestra concert

After last weekend's manic musical mayhem, last night was the culmination of all of that work. My last ever University of St Andrews Symphony Orchestra concert was a great success, and one of the best orchestra concerts that I've been part of whilst at this university.

The program for the concert was Debussy's Claire de Lune, Copland's Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson, and Mahler's 4th Symphony. I was playing 2nd bassoon in the Mahler, and 1st for the other two pieces. It was a decent program, with a nice mix of styles. I'm a big fan of Mahler's work, but the 4th symphony wasn't one that I'd played or heard before. It's really good, but I think I still prefer the 1st and 2nd symphonies. As for the other pieces, Claire de Lune is a classic, and the Copland piece was a breath of fresh air. The twelve poems feel very different across the set, and the way that the meld around the poetry is wonderfully done.

The concert went incredibly well, and all of the work that we put in over the weekend really paid off. I didn't notice many mistakes at all, particularly compared to some of the other concerts I've been part of here, and the orchestra really pulled together to make it a fantastic evening. 

But that brings my musical experience here to a close (well, part from that New Music Ensemble concert next weekend). It's been a fun ride, but I've never felt as involved as I did at Warwick. Part of that is definitely my own fault, as I focused more on lifesaving and never made much of an effort with the music society. But part of it has also been that I've never felt the motivation to get as involved here. The orchestra go to the bar after rehearsals, as they did at Warwick, but I've never been along (dinner always seemed like a better idea!), and none of the people running things made me want to get involved. There was definitely a disconnect there, and I felt the undergraduate-postgraduate difference much more keenly at orchestra than I ever did with lifesaving (quartet was a different matter of course). There was also the fact that they were incredibly serious about it all, and constantly pushing the need to rehearse, to practice, to make an effort. That had almost the opposite effect on me to that which they intended, and really turned me off.

But overall it's been a fun time, and I'm still really enjoying my music making. It's odd when I don't do any playing, but unlike a few years ago, I can imagine a world where I don't do any playing. It's sad, but it doesn't seem so outlandish an idea as it once did.