browsing past a few amateur/student brass quintets on youtube...
Posted: Sun May 02, 2021 7:18 am
It occurred to me that there is a tendency - in small brass ensembles, when playing fast pieces or fast movements - to hurry through the last measure.
This is not necessary, is anticlimactic, and just a bit disturbing.
I’ve also noticed that the last note in fast movements or pieces tends to get “whacked“ - as if a stinger at the end of some American march. I’m thinking that this isn’t always necessary, and that sometimes the last two or three notes in a fast movement can diminish a bit, as sounds best with - just as an example – Tchaikovsky‘s “Waltz of the Flowers“ (as flowers typically aren’t imagined as “whacking“ anything).
European musicians refer to that as a “feminine“ ending.
I'm not lecturing anyone...
→ Rather, I'm going to realize these as brass chamber ensembles’ tendencies, and - maybe - try to monitor these tendency in performances with which I'm involved.
This is not necessary, is anticlimactic, and just a bit disturbing.
I’ve also noticed that the last note in fast movements or pieces tends to get “whacked“ - as if a stinger at the end of some American march. I’m thinking that this isn’t always necessary, and that sometimes the last two or three notes in a fast movement can diminish a bit, as sounds best with - just as an example – Tchaikovsky‘s “Waltz of the Flowers“ (as flowers typically aren’t imagined as “whacking“ anything).
European musicians refer to that as a “feminine“ ending.
I'm not lecturing anyone...
→ Rather, I'm going to realize these as brass chamber ensembles’ tendencies, and - maybe - try to monitor these tendency in performances with which I'm involved.
