Music, double reeds and Zach Effron

Sunday April 26th 2009:

Since we were quite fatigued from the journey, we woke up leisurely. I decided that this was a good opportunity to run, the sun was shining and the day was new and fresh. I was careful to notice where I was going, so as to not get lost and have to gesture with someone for directions (since my German vocabulary consists of musical terms and counting to three.) on my route, I found a beautiful small park with trees, a creek and a small waterfall. I ran past a field to see a group of people doing tai chi, it was a very peaceful scene and “a moment of zen” as Kevin so fondly calls such things. After my run and shower, we ate breakfast at the hostel and decided to explore the city.

Our first stop was the instrument museum, which contained beautiful old pianos, violins, woodwind instruments and other lovely relics for all kinds of music lovers. However, the most exciting part of this visit wasn’t the exhibition, but the convention we happen to walk into. After we bought our tickets, I heard the sound of an oboe playing. Stephanie and I decided to investigate, (Stephanie is a flute major but plays oboe). We walked about ten feet and found a table with someone making reeds and displaying reed cases. Since I was interested in bringing back a European reed, I asked her if was selling the reeds she was making. Steph and I each bought a reed, and excitedly skipped into the museum. We didn’t get very far however, and s soon as we walked about another ten feet, we immediately noticed many tables set up displaying bassoons and oboes, a double reed players dream. We walked to the Loree table, a French brand but very popular in America, to look at their oboes. The lady operating the table was very nice and let us try the oboes! (Good thing we bought reeds.) She had royal models, which are more expensive and heavier, but have a thicker bore and a beautiful sound. My favorite was the gold plated royal with an amethyst stone on the bell, a bit excessive but had a beautiful tone.

Although, the oboes were beautiful, it was difficult to completely grasp their feel and sounds, due to the difference in reeds. After playing on the reed I had just purchased, I found it to be much harder to control, it didn’t vibrate as freely as I am used to nor have as great of response. European’s only scrape the top half of their reeds, and have less of a rigid shape to their tips. Their tips are much thicker in general, and the bottom half is wrapped in Teflon tape either because this type of scraping makes the reeds leak air through their sides, or to isolate the vibrations to the scraped tip. Like most oboe players, I always make my own reeds, in order to have better control of the feel and the sound. It was a surreal experience to sound as if I were again a fifth grade oboe player, with the tone quality of a duck-foghorn hybrid. However I soon got a better handle on it, and thoroughly enjoyed the oboes.

While steph and I were playing the oboes, we met another student from Berlin who was also trying the lourees. He told us that there would be a double reed concert in about 15 minutes, and they would end with Handel’s “ Royal fireworks” transcribed for double reeds. The concert was very fun and different. First there was a modern piece for heclaphone (a less common instrument in the oboe family) and organ, then a polka tune for bass oboe and organ. The finale was by far the best. There were a group of bassoons on the right balcony, a group of oboists on the left, and another mix of oboes, oboe d’amores, English horns, bassoons and a solo piccolo oboe on the floor in front of us. I have never seen so many double reed players in one place, and was thoroughly impressed by their intonation. The entire piece was incredibly regal, but the finale topped it off, as a guy playing bagpipes joined in the double reed symphony, marching down the stairs. Our friend Robert (the other oboe student) was playing on the left balcony and invited steph and I to try his oboe, made by a local oboe and bassoon maker in Berlin. As we were trying his oboe, (which was dark and “German” sounding) he gave us directions to the shop of Ludwig Franck, and told us that he had the best English horns. We thanked him and giddily walked out of the museum.

As we crossed the street, still talking about his unique visit, we heard some distant excited screams coming from Potsdamer platz-the modern downtown of Berlin. We decided to investigate, and as soon as we entered the courtyard under the big metallic dome, we were met with crowds of screaming teenage girls. We noticed that these crowds of teens were crowded around a red carpet with a giant poster of Zach Effron hanging over the movie theater. Zach Effron, the heart-throbbing star of “High School Musical” was premiering his new movie “Seventeen Again.” My group of friends and I were slightly puzzled and very amused by this pop culture phenomena taking place right before our eyes. We laughed and took pictures of the crowd screaming and waving posters, trying to get Zach to come to that side of the rink and sign autographs. We scratched our heads as girls cried and dramatically pretended to faint from the seemingly utter beauty of this movie star. As we walked away from this strange scene we laughed about how we were more excited about the museum and the double reed concert than about Zach Effron and his movie premier.

We then grabbed lunch and got some coffee at Balzac, which was lovely and refreshing. We walked around the city a little more, than headed back in the direction of our hostel. Almost directly across the street from where we were staying, I found a vegetarian café and decided to investigate. After some dietary inquiry, the owner shoed me the dishes that I could eat, and I was able to get a plate of two hot dishes and rice, topped off with some refreshing salad. It was only 4 euro, and a lovely healthy and filling delicious blend of exotic spices and vegetables. This café became a regular dinner spot for my friends and me during our stay in Berlin.

That night, we went back to the same concert hall, and saw the Suisse Romande Orchestra. They started the program with a contemporary Swiss piece, then played and ended with Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique. The Berlioz is quite famous and was fun to listen to. The English horn solo in the 3^rd movement, the crazy high E flat clarinet solo in the fifth movement, and the excitement of reliving my memories of playing that piece were highlights of the concert. Berlioz was a French composer of the romantic era, and was probably the first composer to compose a programmatic symphony (a symphony that tells a story.) This work depicts a story of a man who falls in love with a girl named Henrietta. Out of desperation he takes opium and is plunged into a dream world. He first dreams peacefully, depicted by the oboe/English horn pastoral duet, and the fourth movement titled “March to the Scaffold” throws him into a nightmare. He dreams that he is sentenced to death and he is lead to the scaffold. The fifth movement he walks into a witches Sabbath. During this movement, Berlioz utilizes the high E flat clarinet as the head witch, woodwind trills and an orchestral fugue as the witches round dance. The violins also play for a bit with the wooden side of their bow, giving the piece a creepy, bug-like feeling. Slightly fatigued, we headed back to our hostel after the concert. After skypeing Kevin, I fell sound asleep.