JAVS Fall 2006

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Example 3: Moza1·t- Symphony #35, I st mvt.

Example 1: Mozart - Symphony #35, 4th mvt.

- Stephen Wyrczynski has been t1 member ofthe Philadelphia 01·chestm for 15 seasons. He is on the faculty at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado where he teaches both private Les sons and an Audition Seminar for Viola Orchestral Excerpts. He has also taught viola orchestral reper toire at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia and at Mannes College in New York.

sure you finish the A in a steady bear befo re you rush off ro the eighth note passage. Often rhe most difficult moments in music are the rimes when we are doing the least. l t is ar these junc tures thar our concentrat ion must remain at the highest intensity. ounting our loud whil e you prac tice these passages forces your brain ro mul titask on an active level. It is your internal tempo gauge being brought ro the fore. It has advantages over metronome use since you can access it at any time. The more you compl etely engage your personal resources during your playing, the more suc cess you can expect to have in stressfu l situations. Counting while playing is a skill that can see you through to your practice and audi tion goals.

in the first movement theme, the fo ll owing rest is nor given full value. T he real problem measure finally appears at eight bars before rehearsal letter B ( ee example 3). After negotiating all of the trills and octaves for practically the entire exposition, we are confront ed with almost a four bea r rest. This rest always seems inter minab le. Take you r rime here, count four steady beats, and secure your bow fo r the next passage. In the fourth movement the problem is similar. The opening eight bars arc precarious as is rhc retu rn of rhc theme [fifteen bars after rehearsa l letter D] (See example 4). Measu res five through eight are the simplest yet the most treacherous. Here the pitch stays the same and so must the pulse. When per fo rmed in auditions, rhe rests berween and after the A notes often become compressed. Make

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