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The Importance of Musical Directions: How to Shine at Solo & Ensemble Competitions
by Stacey McColley
Date Posted: October 21, 2024
As a frequent adjudicator for what we in Florida call State Solo and Ensemble, I get the opportunity to hear the best high school students from throughout Florida as they perform their prepared solos for me. I am then tasked with commenting on their performance, offering some coaching, and ultimately assigning a rating to it. For a student to receive the highest rating, they need to demonstrate age-appropriate mastery of all aspects of playing the clarinet and their chosen literature. As I speak to them about their performance, hopefully offering a few things for them to think about, there are some topics that pop up pretty consistently.
The Number One Thing Students at Solo & Ensemble Can Improve
One area that I consistently encounter that I feel needs more attention from young performers is the topic of reading, translating, understanding and following the words, directions, and instructions indicated by the composer as written in the music.
Musical directions make an enormous difference in how we as performers approach and play a piece. These are the words that the composer uses to tell us exactly how they would like a piece played, and we ignore this direct communication from the creative source of the music at our peril. Any information that is available that will help us craft our best performance should be used as we prepare a piece.
What Do The Words on the Page Mean?
One of the things I always do after listening to a student performance is find a musical direction in the piece and ask them what it means. I, of course, usually ask one of the less obvious words. If it says “quickly,” I assume it’s understood. If it says “plus retenu” I assume most folks will have to look it up when they first encounter it. I am often surprised when the answer is “I don’t know.”
Truly, to bring the composer’s music to life the way they intended we are compelled to honor every bit of information given to us, including paying attention to the words on the page. These words can completely change how we perform a piece. Honoring the composer’s intentions is so much more than just playing the correct notes!
Piece Example: Rhapsody for Clarinet by Willson Osborne
For example, let’s look at one piece in particular, the Rhapsody for Clarinet by Willson Osborne.
This piece relies heavily on understanding the composer's words. Osborne has included many detailed instructions throughout this piece and uses words that I have only encountered in his piece. I have heard it played often at auditions and at events like Solo and Ensemble, and it is an excellent example of how looking up these words and exploring how they guide the performer is a crucial step. Once I sit with a student and a cell phone so they can look the words up, and they start applying them to their interpretation, the light bulb turns on and music begins to happen!
The first musical direction given in the Rhapsody is the word Rhapsodically. Or is it? The title itself can also be a helpful direction for us. Rhapsody is defined as “a free instrumental composition in one extended movement, typically one that is emotional or exuberant in character.” Wow! That gives us a wonderful insight into how to approach performing this piece.
The term Rhapsodically means “Rapturous” and “extravagantly emotional.” How does one infuse a piece with extravagant emotion? Osborne gives musical directions that tell the performer how to accomplish some of this feeling. Incalzando (pressing or chasing), molto rubato (playing with much expressive or rhythmic freedom), con esitazione (with hesitation) and more. These are detailed instructions a performer must look up and understand to achieve the rapturous quality of this piece. That is our goal as a performer, because that is the composer’s goal.
The same attention to the composer’s own words needs to be applied to pieces written by Stravinsky, Brahms, Takemitsu and beyond. Compositions of all styles and eras have directions left to us by their composers that we are beholden to honor.
"Compositions of all styles and eras have directions left to us by their composers that we are beholden to honor." - Stacey McColley
Notes on Learning a New Piece
When learning a new piece, your first concern is obviously to learn the notes and rhythms. But too many young players stop there.
The rest of the information the composer has put on the page is also vitally important to the realization of the music. Attention to tempo markings, articulation, dynamics, and the musical directions provided by the composer are all part of learning a piece. Treat them with the importance they deserve, and your performances will reach a whole new and exciting level.
Solo and Ensemble, college auditions, and seating auditions will all be more impressive, more fun to play, and fully demonstrate your musical maturity if you pay attention to this layer of our “Musical Birthday Cake.”
Remember, a finished cake is the tastiest! Learn more about my “Musical Birthday Cake” concept.
About Stacey McColley
Stacey McColley is the adjunct professor of clarinet at Florida Southern College and other colleges throughout Central Florida. She is also an artist/faculty member at the Inter Harmony International Summer Music Festival in Italy. Stacey is a Buffet Crampon Performing Artist and is an author for Vandoren educational publications. Stacey is currently the Principal Clarinet with the Florida Philharmonic, Principal Clarinet with Opera Naples,the Gulfshore Opera, the Opera for Earth Orchestra, is a member of the clarinet section of the Southwest Florida Symphony, plays bass clarinet with the Sarasota Opera orchestra, and is the Solo Clarinet and Artistic Director of the Reflections Chamber Ensemble, an ensemble dedicated to the performance of contemporary chamber music. Stacey served as Principal Clarinet for many years with the Opera Tampa Orchestra under Maestro Anton Coppola. In recent years Stacey has performed chamber music concerts throughout the United States, including appearances in Carnegie Hall, New York City; San Francisco; Minneapolis; Arcidosso, Italy; Acqui Terme, Italy; Madrid, Spain; Texas, and throughout Florida. She has also appeared as a guest soloist with orchestras and wind ensembles throughout Florida. Stacey received her Master’s Degree in Clarinet Performance from the University of California, her BA from the University of South Florida, with additional studies at the University of Southern California. Her main teachers were Mitchell Lurie, Michele Zukovsky, Kalmen Bloch and William Powell. Stacey’s students have been accepted into prestigious schools throughout the country. Her oldest son plays trombone in Pershing’s Own, the U.S. Army Band based in Washington DC. Her younger son is the harp instructor at the Blake School for the Arts and the University of Tampa.