Yesterday (Saturday) I took some of my beginning and intermediate orchestra kids to watch an open rehearsal of the Freiburg Music College’s orchestra. The orchestra was rehearsing Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite. The director would periodically turn around and talk to the audience about the orchestra. He explained how big orchestras stay together: there is a triangle between conductor, timpanist, and principal bass player. If the bass and timpani players follow the conductor well, the whole orchestra will stay together.
The director also told the story of the Firebird (Feuervogel in German). Several of my kids are already German speakers, so they were able to understand what he was saying. One of my students grew up in Russia, and she heard the story of the Firebird as a child! Now she has heard the story in Russian and German.
My students enjoyed watching the “huge” orchestra (of course, any orchestra is big compared to 7!). Some of them asked interesting questions, like “Why is the guy in the white T-shirt moving his head like that?”
It was a worthwhile experience, especially since the open rehearsal was free to attend! The kids were able to hear a famous piece of music and observe how a big orchestra learns the music. Hopefully they will all come back inspired to play beautiful music in their own small orchestras!
