Another Marketing Update

I’m almost finished with the literary agent research for the next batch of queries.  I need to review the query letter and see how to update it.  The synopsis of Perceval is fine.  A couple agents insist on e-mail queries so I need to work on that.  I prefer snail mail, actually, because the work involved shows that I’m serious about the query and the agent.  As I am very serious about finding the right agent and publication.  Target date for mailing: Friday, November 30. 

In December, I’ll research editors and publishers.

What is He Thinking? — Part 1

What is a conductor doing on the podium?  Conductors don’t just bow and smile and stand on the podium waving their arms around for the entertainment of the audience, sort of an audio visual addition to the sound of the music.  What is a conductor thinking?  Every conductor I’ve asked told me the same thing: “I’m thinking about the music.”  But what does that mean?  And how?

I needed to answer these questions in order to write the first chapter of Perceval in which Evan Quinn conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra at the Musikverein in Vienna.  I wanted to show what Evan was thinking, feeling, who Evan was as a person, and the role of music in his life.  But how if all he’s thinking about is the music when he’s conducting on the podium?  Writing about cuing instruments and shading dynamics, controlling tempo and so on does not reveal character and after a paragraph would probably bore any reader, even a musician.

My first thought was to start at the beginning.  At some point in his life, usually at a young age but not always, hearing music or attending a concert or performing in an orchestra or band or choir jolts a boy (or girl) into the realization that he wants to study music, be a musician and conductor.  His music education would include the study and performance of a musical instrument (or two or more), the study of music theory, composition, and history most often at a music school or conservatory.  Conducting studies would include work on the language of conducting, i.e. communicating through gestures and learning what gestures to use for what; how to play a conductor’s instrument, i.e. the orchestra or band; performance practice throughout music history; learning orchestral music, i.e. score study and beginning to build repertoire; the psychology of conducting which includes presentation (grooming, dress, etc.) and leading 80-100 other musicians who each have their own ideas of how a piece should be played; and conducting practice with a student orchestra.  (Administration and the fine arts of marketing and fundraising are apparently learned on the job when/if a conductor lands a music directorship.  Building a conducting career has no standard procedure.)

My second thought was to observe conductors in addition to talking, when possible, with them.  Over the course of a year or so, I attended rehearsals and concerts, watching each conductor closely.  Gradually, an image came to mind of the conductor as a prism for the sound and concert experience, the energy flowing from the orchestra through him to the audience, and from the audience to the orchestra.  His job on the podium is to think of the music, which requires disciplined concentration, but he’s a human being, and I could imagine him also responding to the other human beings around him, the music and the emotion, although as background rather than foreground.  For writing Evan in Perceval’s first chapter, I started to think of the conductor having five working experiences on the podium during a concert, two technical and three relational:

1.  The technical relationship of the music: knowing the music score, guiding the ensemble playing, cuing entrances, controlling dynamics, etc.  “Hearing with the eyes, seeing with the ears.”  This is what every conductor told me he thought about on the podium, i.e. being focused on the music performance.  Using his knowledge of conducting and the music to lead the musicians in performance.

2.  The technical relationship of the physicality of conducting:  movement and physical gestures to communicate to the musicians, standing on the podium, awareness (or not) of the physical demands of conducting.  The conductor thinks about this in service to the musical performance.  Like an athlete who practices his moves over and over until he can do them in his sleep, a conductor knows the repertoire of conducting gestures so well that they come to him naturally without too much thought.  Rehearsals, not concerts, are where everything is worked out — what a conductor will signal in certain places for the musicians, if necessary.  Professional orchestra musicians know the conductor’s physical language and movements.

To be concluded next week…..

Inside the Classics

Research finds me even when I’m trying to enjoy an evening out.  This past Wednesday evening, I attended a Minnesota Orchestra concert at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis entitled “Inside the Classics: The Firebird.”  I love Stravinsky’s music to “The Firebird” ballet, so I was really looking forward to this concert.  And what a delight!  During the first half, hosted by Sam Bergman, a violist in the orchestra, and Sarah Hatsuko Hicks, Assistant Conductor of the orchestra and conductor that evening, I learned about ballet music circa 1910 and how Stravinsky’s music for three ballets, “The Firebird,” “Petrushka,” and “The Rite of Spring,” broke all the rules and shoved music (and audiences) forward into the 20th century. (Who is the composer who will do that for music and audiences in the 21st century?)  I learned about the four different scores Stravinsky composed of “The Firebird,” and the most popular, the orchestral suite composed in 1919, and the copyright woes Stravinsky experienced until he moved to the U.S.  (Authors can relate to the last.)  Two dancers from the James Sewell Ballet, Penelope Freeh and Justin Leaf, performed in costume an excerpt from the ballet accompanied by the orchestra, and Ms. Hicks played musical examples of themes from Stravinsky’s three ballets on the piano.  The commentary from Mr. Bergman and Ms. Hicks had a friendly tone and was laced with good humor.  During the summary of the ballet’s plot, orchestra musicians used props to illustrate characters and their behavior — their ”acting” participation must have taken a certain amount of persuasion on Mr. Bergman’s part but was great fun and added a nice human dimension to the music.  Usually everyone is so very serious and intense on stage.  This concert series is more casual and designed to blend education and entertainment.  

 After intermission, Mr. Bergman introduced the second half and talked about a blog at the Minnesota Orchestra’s website that he and Ms. Hicks are writing for the Inside the Classics series (link on my blogroll).  They write about the experience of starting a new concert series; their experiences as orchestra musician and conductor, respectively; and answer questions about the series or general music questions.   The concert’s second half was a full performance by the orchestra of the 1919 “The Firebird” orchestral suite.  Although not that much happens in the ballet, much happens in the music, and the Minnesota Orchestra gave an especially fine performance of it.  Their ensemble playing has improved so much over the last four years that now it’s breathtaking and powerful in its precision.  The concert ended with a brief question and answer session with Ms. Hicks and Mr. Bergman for anyone who wished to stay.

The next day, I made my way in cyberspace to the Inside the Classics blog and found a goldmine.  I have wished for something like this that I can use as background reference for my Perceval novels — what is the life of an orchestra musician really like?  What is the life of a conductor really like?  I have been researching these questions for several years now but I am always open to hearing more.  Each conductor or musician brings his or her own unique style to their lives and how they lead them.  I have tried to make my conductor/musician Evan Quinn unique in his life and experience, also, and as authentic as I can make him.  

In truth, when I first began researching conductors and conducting, I prayed to meet a conductor who’d be so interested in my novel he’d be willing and offer to be a friend/buddy, someone I could call with questions or meet with occasionally to talk.  None of my fellow music students in college went into conducting.  I have been fortunate to interview conductors and orchestra musicians over the years who were generous with their time and experiences, interested and willing to help, and I have been grateful for the material they provided.  But I never found a ”conductor buddy.”  Now, I don’t really need one for research but it would certainly be wonderful (and probably a miracle) to have a “conductor/buddy” to read the novels, give feedback.  Alas, I suspect that conductors spend more time reading music scores and preparing for rehearsals/concerts than reading novels…. 

I recommend the Inside the Classics blog to anyone interested in classical music.         

Essay Submission

This morning I submitted the essay I’d written for The Atlantic Monthly’s essay contest on “The American Idea.”  I suspect mine is one of hundreds of essays submitted.  Now, let the waiting begin….