Josef Gingold

Advice to Aspiring Young Symphony Musicians

Some sixty years ago, the basic training for the orchestra violinist consisted of playing in small ensembles. Those were the days when hotels would engage anything from a piano trio to a “six-piece” ensemble consisting of piano, cello, three violins, and double bass playing arrangements of overtures, operatic fantasies, waltzes, and occasionally a slow movement from a symphonic work.

There was also the silent moving picture. Every theater employed from two to eight musicians. When the large, so-called palace theaters were built, the orchestras, with a full complement, would employ from thirty-five to fifty musicians. These were the exception to the rule since only the large cities, such as New York, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, or Los Angeles, offered such grandiose musical fare. I cite these two examples because as a training school for future symphony players, theater ensembles, in their day, were the best possible education. It taught the players to be alert, improved their sightreading, and in the case of the smaller ensembles, made them listen constantly to their own playing.

I should also mention stage productions of musicals, for they served a good purpose, in a way. Playing the same show night after night gave the musician the important experience of never taking his eyes off the baton, since no two performances were ever alike, but other than that they added little to his future as a symphony player.

Then along came radio, which for years employed thousands of musicians, since all programs were broadcast live. This opened a new field, for with the advent of talking pictures, thousands of musicians employed in the moving picture theaters were thrown out of work. The musicians employed by a large network in New York, for example, had to be the best all-around players one could find anywhere. The radio orchestra was by no means a training school, because the networks sought and employed experienced craftsmen. One had to be a “jack of all trades” when it came to handling the required repertoire.

In my own case, for example, as a member of the NBC staff from 1937 to 1943, on a typical musical Sunday I might be on the air at 8:00 A.M. playing music by Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, or Tchaikovsky in a piano trio. After the broadcast, I would dash into another studio to rehearse with the Primrose String Quartet, until air time from 10:30 to 11:00. Then to a jazz orchestra, which broadcast from 12:30 until 1:00. At 5:00 P.M., the climax of the week, a concert with Arturo Toscanini! Or should I say the fulfillment of a lifetime.

In New York and Chicago, there existed and still exist two excellent training orchestras for future professional symphony artists: the National Orchestral Society of New York, conducted for years by Chalmers Clifton, and then by Leon Barzin; and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, under Eric De Lemarter, which functioned to provide musicians for major orchestras. These bodies read music and performed several concerts annually, giving young players a basic foundation of orchestral playing. Some of the larger conservatories had orchestras in which students gained experience. In its early years (1925-30), Curtis Institute had an orchestra that might stand comparison with the major ensembles. Its conductors were Artur Rodzinski, and after his resignation, none other than Fritz Reiner! Juilliard also boasted a fine ensemble, under Albert Stoessel, and some of its graduates occupied leading positions in the orchestra field. Unlike the situation at present, college and university orchestras were not on a comparable level with the conservatory products. (Since then some notable universities have music departments that rival the better-known conservatories, and their recent graduates have found places in the major orchestras of the world, including even first-chair positions.) Curtis and Juilliard both set high standards, and when their graduates began infiltrating the leading symphony positions and ranks, the orchestra sound plus the technical brilliance reached new heights of orchestral performance.

Auditions in those days consisted mainly of a prepared solo piece, a movement of a concerto, for example; and for the rest of the tryout, the emphasis was on sightreading. It was in this category that many promising players failed the exam, which was given by the conductor with the assistance of the section leader (with whom the conductor consulted at times).

Within the past fifteen years or so, a new system of auditioning has been instituted and is followed by all orchestras. American musicians realized that a talented instrumentalist, who possessed great technical, tonal, and musical qualities, could, if given the time to prepare his individual orchestral parts, become an asset to their respective organizations. Conductors became interested primarily in first-class instrumentalists, and a new set of standards and demands came into being, which were unheard of in years gone by. For example, for an opening in the first violin section of a major orchestra, the following repertoire might be asked of a candidate:

Solo works: Bach—Adagio and Fugue, or two contrasting movements of a partita; Mozart—Concerto No. 5 (Joachim cadenza) or a standard concerto by Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, or Brahms.

Orchestral excerpts: Beethoven—Symphonies Nos. 3, 7, 9; Beethoven—Leonore Overture No. 3; Brahms—Symphonies Nos. 2, 4; Strauss— Don Juan; Mozart—Symphony No. 39; Bruckner—Symphony No. 7.

By the time of this writing, 1978, a great change had taken place in the number of string players who apply for positions in symphony orchestras. In the 1950s there was a dearth of string players, and conductors were combing the field to find suitable performers to fill vacancies. In the last twenty-five years, we seem to have overproduced both in quantity and, yes, in quality, the number of aspiring young people seeking careers in orchestras. As a result, when two or three openings occur, sixty or more players apply. Two years ago, one of our major orchestras announced a vacancy in the second violin section, seventh stand—the requirements being the first movement of the Brahms Violin Concerto, the Bach Chaconne, and the Mozart Concerto No. 5 from the solo literature, and ten difficult orchestral excerpts. Thirty-five violinists auditioned for this one opening, and the person chosen, a splendid fiddler whom I happened to know, was overjoyed at having been selected. Sixty years ago he might have pursued a solo career.

For the audition, the player prepares himself or is aided by a teacher, if he still is in his student years, and constantly wonders, “What are they looking for in my playing?” Well, most of the committees listening to the applicants are musicians of the orchestra chosen by their colleagues, and they are looking for excellent instrumental playing. They usually judge that by the solo repertoire. I would say they are looking for fine tone quality, good intonation, good rhythm, well-articulated technical passages, and intelligent musicianship. The individual must rate himself on these qualities. Better still, before the audition, use a tape recorder and listen to yourself carefully. Criticize, play again, find out where the weak spots are. Then, play for your colleagues and your teacher. Do not make the mistake of leaving your practice room and going directly to the audition without this preparation. The musical excerpts in Exx. 1-8 might be of some help to those who hope to audition for symphony jobs.

Ex. 1. Beethoven, Symphony No. 3, Allegro con brio.

Ex. 2. Beethoven, Symphony No. 3, Marcia funebre, Adagio assai.

Ex. 3. Beethoven, Symphony No. 3, last movement, Allegro molto.

Ex. 4. Beethoven, Symphony No. 3, last movement.

Ex. 5. Beethoven, Symphony No. 9, third movement, Adagio molto e cantabile.

Ex. 6. Beethoven, Leonore Overture, No.3

Ex. 7. Mozart, Symphony No. 39, second movement, Andante con moto.

Ex. 8. Strauss, Don Juan.

Once you have been accepted into a major orchestra, you will have to accommodate your personal playing to the musical surroundings. To begin with, be well prepared with the music at hand before each rehearsal; practice your own part with the same care for details as for a solo recital. Never take your eyes off the conductor, and cooperate at all times with your section leader. Listen carefully, not only to yourself but also to your stand partner and to the entire ensemble. Never force your tone even in ff passages.

The vibrato is one of the strongest assets in your instrumental makeup. Use it! It will add to the sound of the entire orchestra and give you much joy when you know that you are producing a beautiful tone. Use a lot of bow when the score calls for energetic playing. Watching the concertmaster at such times is most helpful.

Enharmonic translation is a valuable skill for an orchestral player. Our early education, good as it may be, has certain drawbacks. One of them is that it fails to train students to recognize symbols such as a succession of flats or double flats and immediately translate them for their instrumental comfort. The words to, two, and too are all pronounced alike even though they have different meanings; so it is with certain notes or intervals. The passage in Ex. 9 may look forbidding at first glance, but it is a C major scale!

Ex. 9.

The symphonies of Bruckner are perhaps the best examples of the need to cultivate the art of enharmonic translation. Space does not permit more than the few bars from his Seventh Symphony shown in Ex. 10. Similar problems arise from time to time, but with daily rehearsals, concerts, experience, and continued study, it becomes second nature to resolve these difficulties.

Ex. 10. Bruckner, Symphony No. 7, second movement, Adagio.

Having played in three major orchestras for a total of twenty-five years, I feel rewarded by the great conductors, soloists, and colleagues with whom I have had the good fortune to be associated. Playing under Toscanini and Szell was as valuable an education as studying with the finest violin teachers.

Playing the great works of the symphonic literature is an exhilarating experience and a most beautiful outlet for one’s musical talent. When playing the “Eroica” or the Ninth Symphony, each performance will seem like the first one to you, so great is the creativity of Beethoven, the Shakespeare of music. With each playing, you will find new beauties and new problems to conquer; and these compositions are just a small part of the enormous repertoire—classic, Romantic, impressionistic, and contemporary—awaiting you.

Approach your work with love and enthusiasm.