Haralds Bārzdiņš talks about the differences in the training of young musicians of wind and symphony orchestras / Article

“Holiday chest”

Bright events permeate the history of the School Youth Song and Dance Festival. How old is it? When did teachers in parishes and parish schools realize that teaching to read, write and count alone is not enough for a child’s development?

On the winds of change, the winds of awakening, personalities and the cycle of expansion “Holiday chest” tells professionals in their field, erudite eyewitnesses and experienced participants.

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“It’s no secret that I’m a fan of the brass band –

my goal, which is now to some extent already implemented in our country, is that the wind orchestra also reaches the tradition of making symphonic music.

Namely, in the recent past, wind orchestras, at least in Latvia, especially in the territory of the former Soviet Union, meant more brave street music than the people laugh – “Stum, kaktā, stum, kaktā” … Symphonic music, of course, sets a much higher bar, ” emphasizes Haralds Bārzdiņš. “This is probably what is very visible at the Song Festival – if we tested the professional performance of each singer individually, the quality would sometimes be quite questionable, but at the festival there is a miracle that when singing or playing together, the sound evens out. One may even subconsciously adjust to everyone else, and this goes with a great energy uplift. I also feel this especially at school. We have a big brass band, about a hundred people. The clarinet, for example, has at least thirty.

Of course, someone in a more difficult place just moves their fingers and “goes” to the performance of another musician … On the other hand, in a symphony orchestra you have to be fully ready to play music – especially a wind instrument, if you are a soloist.

Every nuance will be heard, ”emphasizes the conductor.

He also notes: “In order to enter the symphony orchestra, a certain professionalism, fellowship, artistic discipline, a sense of responsibility must be achieved. As is often said in sports, especially in the context of the recent Olympics – that the psychological emotional load is so great that suddenly a person no longer achieves what he could show before. Here I am reminded of one very bright event: we had a responsible concert in the Great Hall of the University of Latvia, where I had the honor to play Jānis Ivanovs’ Fourth Symphony “Atlantis” – a very complex piece with the choir. A separate solo number for us was Emils Darzins’ “Melancholic Waltz”. Suddenly I felt that the concertmaster of my orchestra, the first violin, who had already exhibited in “Atlantis”, could no longer tolerate it – because we tried to play as subtly as it is typical for this composition by Dārziņš – internally muted, but loud.

I felt the violinist’s hands start to tremble. He couldn’t play! I literally instructed the violin group regulator to lead the orchestra.

Here is the essence of the symphony orchestra – that it teaches people to mobilize. Here all the materials are much, much finer than in a brass band. Of course, we try to play the wind orchestra in a similar way – if we look at the performance of wind orchestras especially in the Song Festival finals selection programs – I don’t even remember an orchestra that could just play sheet music without content – everyone tries to reveal the inner content. “

Haralds Bārzdiņš does not hide: “I am very happy that we decided in the early 2000s: we have already reached such a level of development that we can take responsibility that the students will play instrumental accompaniment at the School Youth Song Festival – we created the Song Festival Symphony Orchestra!

It was a new step, and now the celebration is unthinkable without this orchestra. ”

Bārzdiņš also emphasizes that the wind orchestra is much more mobile: “If you land on an uninhabited island, it will forget and do everything!

In turn, the symphony orchestra has this specificity – first of all, the string instruments. Atmospheric humidity is also detrimental to woodwinds. The second thing – violets, if we play outdoors, need additional sound. Undoubtedly, the symphony orchestra is more academic. In order to be able to understand all the nuances of the richness and splendor of a symphony orchestra, one must learn to hear good timbre, intonation, drama. ”

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