Second (Horn) To None

When I was living in Vienna, I had many opportunities to see the Vienna Philharmonic play live, right there in the Musikverein- one of the most acoustically perfect halls ever built.  I took every chance I had to hear them, even when I was unfamiliar with the repertoire.  One of the concerts included a piece I had never heard before and it happens to be the piece that we are playing this week.  The first- and only time I heard Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances was live with the Vienna Philharmonic.  We've got some big shoes to fill this week. The interior of the one and only Musikverein, oh the memories <3 "Symphonic Dances," originally titled "Fantastic Dances," was Rachmaninoff's final composition and I think it's fair to look at it as his swan song.  If you've heard any of his other symphonic music you would know him to be conservatively Romantic.  His symphonies and piano concertos gush with flowing melodies and sweeping lines blende...

When I was in college and just starting to break into the professional music world, I was excited to play anything and everything.  My first Brahms symphony at Indiana University, my first opera with a professional orchestra (which happened to be Siegfried- nothing like a good 5 hour trial by fire!), my first pops concert with the Houston Symphony (Pink Martini), and everything in between.  However, as musicians become more tenured and we've played Tchaikovsky's 4th 57 times or we're thrown an old piece by someone famous that's rarely performed (there's usually a reason it's never programmed- looking at you Wellington's Victory!), we start to get less excited.  However, I believe every musician has a few (or more than a few!!) favorite pieces that can always spark some joy and imagination no matter how many times they've played it.  This week, we're playing a symphony that I will never, ever, EVER get tired of playing.  I promise. This piece send...