OT: Copyist in the news

[motet]

A musical copyist makes sure a show hits all the right notes

https://www.washingtonpost.com/express/ ... ght-notes/

I tried to find out with Google if she uses Finale or Sibelius, but couldn't. If you're here Emily, speak up!

[N Grossingink]

Thanks for this. Emily's a real pro. Look at all of the shows she's been involved with:
https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staf ... man-106345

I'm guessing she uses both Sibelius and Finale - whatever the orchestrator uses for the score. Philip Rothman probably knows her. Maybe he'll see this and comment further.

Kind of makes me feel a little insignificant sitting around engraving junior high band and orchestra music.

N.

[motet]

The article seemed to suggest that composers of musicals don't usually do their own orchestrating--true? I know a lot of West Side Story was orchestrated by somone other than Bernstein, but I thought that was because he was too busy.

[N Grossingink]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C01aS6jnN08

[motet]

Great! Thanks for that.

[zuill]

In reading the article about Emily, it took me back to all the projects I did for Fred Katz. He did everything in pencil. As he got older, it got less and less legible. However, by then, I knew pretty much how he worked, and I usually had to do some editing based on my hunches from past projects. I would take my first draft to him and when I would ask about the spots I had questions about, he would say that I got things exactly right. He said it was scary that I could read his mind.

For his last project, the conductor originally chosen had a schedule conflict, so Fred asked my to conduct. He said I knew the score so well that I was really the only option. Sad that that was the last concert of his music before he passed. I learned quite a bit about composing, music, and philosophy by working with him. I titled myself the "midwife" of his creations, as I was basically there to help deliver them to the world.

Sorry to diverge slightly from the topic, but I was inspired by reading the article as to the place of the copyist. it is primarily a technical duty, but there are some creative aspects, and composers do rely on the copyist to make sure the intent is put into a form that enhances the performance.

Zuill

[John Ruggero]

Hershy Kay and Jonathan Tunick were two other arrangers who worked with Bernstein. When we copied "Mass", they did the numbers that were in Broadway style; Bernstein did the rest.

Arnstein explained to me that Broadway arranging is a specialized field, and that even a Bernstein preferred to leave it to those with this experience. So I think that it was more than a matter of a lack of time on his part, although that certainly played a part. Bernstein was still sliding pages of orchestration under the door of his room at the Watergate Hotel for Arnstein to copy in the wee hours a day or two before the first rehearsal of Mass.

[MikeHalloran]

Hershy Kay and Jonathan Tunick were two other arrangers who worked with Bernstein. When we copied "Mass", they did the numbers that were in Broadway style; Bernstein did the rest.

Arnstein explained to me that Broadway arranging is a specialized field, and that even a Bernstein preferred to leave it to those with this experience. So I think that it was more than a matter of a lack of time on his part, although that certainly played a part. Bernstein was still sliding pages of orchestration under the door of his room at the Watergate Hotel for Arnstein to copy in the wee hours a day or two before the first rehearsal of Mass.

Some of the requirements for Broadway and Off Broadway etc. have nothing to do with the composer's needs. The pit orchestra must conform to the size and union requirements of the venue which dictates the number of players one is allowed/must have—there are minimums and maximums. An experienced arranger needs to know these.

Sid Ramin alludes to this when he mentioned how having a bassoon only book forced them to consolidate the other WW parts into four books instead of five.

Sometimes, I go to road show versions out here in California. I dislike the small size of the pit and the modern practice of condensing the orchestra to as few players as possible, nearly all on keyboard—especially as the tickets are not cheap.

Only in community theater do they try to recreate the original orchestra anymore, sad to say. Unless, of course, you see the show in its original incarnation or a revival in New York.

[motet]

I saw Wicked in San Francisco and it was electrified and about 120dB. I'm not sure it was an orchestra. More like a rock band.

[N Grossingink]

I saw Wicked in San Francisco and it was electrified and about 120dB. I'm not sure it was an orchestra. More like a rock band.

I saw it in Chicago and got the same impressions. Couldn't have been more than 10-12 musicians. Very enjoyable, nonetheless.

N.

[MikeHalloran]

I saw Wicked in San Francisco and it was electrified and about 120dB. I'm not sure it was an orchestra. More like a rock band.

It played more than one run so I'm not sure if I saw the same production at the Curran but 10-12 in the pit is what I'm remembering, too. We did enjoy it.

It's most bothersome to me when I see a stripped down pit for a show that I've played or conducted. Always worse when I know the original orchestration.

[motet]

I'm sure it was the post-Broadway touring production I saw, not the pre-Broadway tryout.

I looked on Wikipedia and there are woodwinds, but all I remember is loud, loud, loud.

[HaraldS]

I was a substitute player in the german production of Wicked when it switched from Stuttgart to Oberhausen. If I remember correctly, we had 4 keys, 3 brass, 3 WW, bass, guitar, drums, percussion. I heard there were two or three strings in Stuttgart which we assumed were lost on the Autobahn when the production changed towns.
Pit orchestras get smaller, that's definitely valid for a lot of productions.