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Opus One: A Reader's Guide

Ryan Sylander

Act IV: Chapters 28 through 35

WARNING: This guide contains big spoilers all over the place, so I strongly recommend reading Opus One before reading this document. I know it's not a murder mystery, so you won't perish if you read this first, but there's not much point in doing so.

If you are here looking for a piece of music, translation to a chapter title, song texts, or character lists, please look at part five, which is a spoiler-free appendix containing these elements organized by chapter, and has none of the random thoughts I've thrown in below.

Disclaimer One: This document contains links to videos of performances of the music described in Opus One. These performances are by real people, while the story is about fictional characters. No similarity of these real performers with characters in the story is implied in anyway, except that they are playing the same piece of music. The point of these links is to allow you to hear some of the music; it is not to suggest that the performers in the video were the basis for a character or a scene, nor should the videos be used as a representation of the characters' attributes. The videos are freely available on the web, and my links to them are a one-way connection. Please respect this fact.

Disclaimer Two: Regarding making recommendations about musical recordings and artists, I want to state that I have no financial interest in any of the recommended items. This document is not a commercial.

For those of you with slow internet, you might consider removing the '&fmt=18' (without the quotes) at the end of the YouTube links. This flag requests a better version of the video with higher audio quality, but may take longer to load on slower connections.

Act IV: Chapters 28 through 35

Chapter 28: Interlude

-An interlude is a piece of music joining two larger sections.

-The trio awakens, and soon they return to the responsibilities of life at the conservatory. Richard edits Irina's album, while Sandra signs up for conducting class. Emily confides in Sandra and Richard about her mother's violin. Arlene lines up an audition at Wexford. Sandra's first conducting experience is a nightmare. The grueling work of preparing for the recital begins to take a toll on their free time and energy, which is not helped when Dobra asked Sandra to be a theory major. Richard finally suggests a jaunt to New York during spring break so they can relax. Planning the recital program gives the trio new life.

I'm a big espresso drinker, particularly when I stay up too late writing fiction instead of sleeping...

This chapter was meant to be long and perhaps tedious. Preparing for a concert can be that way. Despite the fun and exhilaration that playing music can bring, there is hard, hard work involved in the lead up. This is probably a gross generalization, but there are perhaps three periods of work leading up to a performance. First is when the piece is being learned, and discovery of the new material lends excitement. Last is when the piece is completely internalized, and the work lies in developing the expression of the music. It is the middle part which can be grueling. This is when the details of every aspect of the music need to be fully considered and refined. Technique needs to be practiced so that it becomes invisible.

Richard's editing work is fairly realistic, since I've had a chance to observe some recording and post-production. Unless it's a live recording (and even then, one can edit between performances, if there was more than one show) most CDs are edited from multiple takes. While some might complain about using technology to improve a performance, in the end, all the editing systems in the world can't add expression to a recording. I can't, for example, record myself on a piano, and then mess around in the studio to make it sound like I know what I'm doing! I want to hear the best that a performer or group has to offer, so I don't mind if there are some splices here and there. Then again, I don't mind the occasional mistake, if the performance is good.

Sandra's first conducting class experience is a little extreme, to be sure. But this is fiction, so why not? Gary is definitely a bit of a caricature, but his trial by fire (or die by fire) approach is not uncommon. And reportedly it can be pretty freaky to be up there for the first time.

Despite being the subject of frequent jokes (What's the difference between an opera conductor and a baby? A baby sucks its fingers.) and sometimes insults from orchestra players, conductors do have an important role in an orchestra.

Their particular movements on the podium may or may not always be necessary or productive, but certain things are required of them. These include such basic things as cuing important parts, establishing tempo, and balancing the relative levels of different sections of the orchestra. This is more and more true the larger the orchestra is, since lines of sight become diminished. Shaping the phrasing is also a part of it, although the players usually know how they will play their parts before the concert.

In a way, much of the work is done in rehearsal. There, the conductor will impose his vision of the music and get the players to play it. The best of them can really draw it out of a good orchestra, and the result is magic.

Conducting styles vary highly. Here are two versions of the second movement of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 10:

Clearly Dudamel is a bit more active on the podium. Are his movements necessary to get the orchestra to play how he wants them to play, or is it partly a show for the audience?

It really comes down to the performance of the music, in the end. I've never found conductor styles to be correlated with how much I like the performance, so it doesn't matter too much to me, as long as it sounds good! If I'm at a concert and the conductor is distracting, I'll close my eyes. (Not possible for the musicians, though!) Which do you like? More on conducting later...

We hear more about Emily's planned recital piece, the Sonata for Horn in F and Piano by Paul Hindemith. At time of writing, no performances exist on YouTube. Even most of the CDs containing this piece that are for sale on Amazon don't have samples, but the one below does. A thirty second excerpt is pretty useless, but it can give you a flavor of the music, at least.

If you have access to iTunes, there are some versions on there, also with samples.

Sandra has to write an two-part Invention for counterpoint class.

That's Invention number one. From the 'Related Videos' window you can listen to the others (fifteen in all).

Trivia: Two of the operas that William mentions that are playing at the Met (the ones they don't end up seeing) were actually the ones performed on those dates in 1996. The real-life Friday offering was actually Salome (by R. Strauss), not Elektra (also by Strauss). I didn't think Salome would go over that well: onstage blasphemy, suicide, incest, a striptease, murder, and necrophilia aren't exactly the most romantic themes. (Actually, it sounds like an SOL story, come to think of it. Wonder if they used story codes back in Ancient Greece?) Then again, Elektra isn't much better, but at least the adultery and murders are offstage.

Reston is a fictional pianist, so that concert was made up, and the NYC ballet companies aren't usually in season in mid-March, so that was fabricated too...

Videos for what they did end up seeing are in the section on chapter 30.

Chapter 29: Rondo

-A rondo is a compositional form which involves repeated returns to the theme.

-The trio plan to move in together next year. Arlene comes to audition.

The chapter title refers to the parallels between Arlene and Allison. Of course, things are different, six months later.

Ah, but who is the mystery girl with the orange case?

Chapter 30: Recitative and Aria

-A recitative is a section of an opera where the singer delivers the text in a somewhat loose fashion, and is often followed by an aria, which is a sung melody. The recitative can be spoken or sung, but generally avoids regular phrasing and rhythm (leaving that to the aria). Best to look at the example below, to understand!

-Sandra starts to get along with conducting. The trio enjoy a few nights in New York, but the weekend ends with a bad phone call.

A recitative is a bit of a challenge to conduct. The orchestral interjections have to come just right to keep the scene moving. The singers can also take liberties with the timing. I didn't have a particular recitative in mind for this scene, but here is one taken from W. A. Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte.

Elektra is probably Strauss's most avant-garde opera, musically. It's an acquired taste for most. The dark story doesn't make it any more accessible, either.

There are a couple of videos of a production at the Met from 1994, so it's very close to what they could have seen in 1996. H. Behrens in the lead role = Awesome.

Though not much happier, at least Romeo and Juliet is a love story.

I've seen a bunch of versions, mostly with Prokofiev's music. Neumeier's choreographic version is not online, being quite difficult to find even on tape or DVD. Among the best, and well represented on YouTube is the y2k version at La Scala with A. Ferri and A. Corella, using Sir K. MacMillan's choreography. Simply amazing dancing.

(The music at the beginning of this last video is what Sandra later plays in the practice room right before her breakdown, in chapter 31)

Ferri is also on an earlier version of the ballet from 1984, with Wayne Eagling as Romeo (excerpts are also on YouTube if you search 'eagling ferri romeo'). There's something to take from both, but I still come back to the 2000 version. She just got better with age.

William's picture collection is inspired by that of my ballet dancer friend. William's muse (hanging over the server) is Suzanne Farrell, a brilliant dancer who was closely associated with G. Balanchine. She was the source of Suzanne's name, Sandra's own muse in chapter 32.

More useless trivia: The Rigoletto performance that both Richard and Sandra attended before they knew each other was also really offered on that date at the Met.

Chapter 31: Lacrimosa

-The lacrimosa is part of the text for the Requiem. Text and translation available at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacrimosa_(Requiem)

-Billy's injuries lead to a night trip to Ohio. Back at Wexford, Emily and Richard find out that Dr. Dobra is under investigation. Sandra returns and has a run in with a board member and her son. Feeling overwhelmed and defeated, Sandra is forced to cancel the recital.

I wanted to get a little bit of conservatory politics in the story, but not so much that it would become a big production. A couple of readers said legal action against Wilcox was in order, but I decided Sandra would probably not go that route, especially since everything blew over fairly quickly. Still, there's money involved behind the scenes, which is true of most other things in life, I suppose.

Chapter 32: Schwer betont

-This is a section of Verklaerte Nacht, meaning 'heavily accented' in German.

-Sandra conducts the Schoenberg piece in class and causes a scene. While Richard and Emily wait for her, she meets Suzanne and comes back to life. The trio reconnects and order is restored when Emily reveals their secret.

If there was any doubt that the characters took over the original story from me, this chapter pretty much clears that up. Sandra really objected to being a secondary character, and eventually became the central character, in a way. Hayley who?

Verklaerte Nacht (or Verklärte Nacht or Transfigured Night) is a piece by Arnold Schoenberg (or Schönberg) that exists in two forms. The original (from 1899) is for a string sextet (two violins, two violas, and two cellos), and later versions (1917 and 1943) were made for full string orchestra (including basses). The piece is based on a poem by R. Dehmel from 1896, which is about a woman who is pregnant with a stranger's child, and her confession about it to her new lover. He wishes for her to keep the child. Hmm, sounds vaguely familiar... ? There are a number of little connections like that in the story between the characters, through the music.

The other German indications in the scene are Sehr breit (very broad) and Sehr ruhig (very peaceful).

There are four complete versions of the piece on YT at time of writing. Only one is a version for orchestra, but it appears to be a camcorder recording and has mediocre sound quality. The best in terms of performance and sound quality, for me, is a sextet version. Of course, Sandra was conducting an orchestra, so it doesn't quite match. I'll offer both and you can explore.

First, the version of the piece played by an orchestra. I'll mark the important moments of the story at time points of the video.

Mark conducts up until 2:33, where Sandra feebly attempts to take over. She then jumps forward to the Schwer betont section (next video).

The Schwer betont section begins at 3:00, and ends at 5:10. She stops here for the first time, and Gary urges her on into the Sehr breit section, starting at 5:10. His favorite part starts at 6:30, and Suzanne's solo is at 6:57.

The climax builds up from 1:08, and Sandra stops for a second time at 2:42 (and Gary comes to the podium and makes sure she's okay). Then 2:42 to the end is the last part of the piece.

Here is a nice version played by string sextet, with the words of the poem scrolling on screen (for better or for worse... ):

Schwer betont at 2:02. Sehr breit at 4:09. Suzanne's solo at 6:00.

Climax starts from beginning of this video, and Sandra's second stop is at 1:17.

Other versions:

In this excerpt, the music starts at Sehr breit. Suzanne's solo is at 2:09. The climax is from around 6:55 onwards, and Sandra's second stop is at 8:15. This video stops about five minutes before the end of the piece, about where the violin teacher taps Gary.

I have to mention a really strange coincidence between the story and a set of videos of this piece. I hadn't been using YouTube at all while writing Opus One, sticking to CDs and my own DVDs of the pieces I was using in the story. I had pretty much finished writing the story by the time I started poking around for videos for this guide. Much to my surprise, I found a video of a chamber group playing this piece in Europe, led by a dark-haired young woman ... named Susanna! That was a bit of a shock. For a while, I considered changing Suzanne's name, but I had picked it very specifically to parallel William's own muse, Suzanne Farrell. So things stayed unchanged, but it's still really a weird coincidence. Unfortunately there's a little ensemble problem during 'Gary's favorite part, ' so I would still recommend one of the above versions for listening; nonetheless, there's lots of good playing in this one too:

The conducting scene went through a few rewrites, including one from Sandra's perspective and one from Richard's. The one from Sandra's perspective sucked. It's hard to write about intense performance from inside of a character. The one from Richard's view didn't make sense with the plot, in the end, since I didn't want him there. Finally, I tried it from Gary's perspective, and I got what I was looking for.

Back in Suzanne's apartment, she and Sandra play part of the Strauss song that Sandra originally cut out from the recital program. Samples for that piece are in the next section.

Chapter 33: 104' 33"

- I thought of calling this chapter 'Recital, ' but then I realized that anyone who saw that title after reading chapter 31 would know that everything turned out all right. So I needed something more enigmatic. 'Program'... ? One of the recital pieces' movement titles... ? Then I wrote the last bit of chapter 32 and decided to label it by its length. To make it a little less random, I played off of John Cage's piece 4'33", which you can listen to just by closing your eyes right now for 4'33". Or watch this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HypmW4Yd7SY&fmt=18

WTF? More here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4%E2%80%B233%E2%80%B3

-The trio play their recital.

As with the conducting scene, describing the recital from the point of view of the trio would have been difficult. I don't know if there are enough words to describe the process of creating music from within. So I chose the listeners' perspective again.

The recital opens with three songs by Hugo Wolf. The first, Auf Ein Altes Bild, means 'In an Old Picture' or 'In an Old Painting.' Unlike the other songs in the story, I picked this one for the musical feel rather than the text. I just love the atmosphere of this song.

Sandra's second song is Verborgenheit, meaning 'Seclusion.' Selection on YouTube is also limited.

Her third song is Das verlassene Maegdlein, meaning 'The Abandoned Maiden.'

The song played with Suzanne is Morgen! by Richard Strauss (also composer of Elektra. By the way, if the Elektra samples put you off with the disturbing music, this beautiful song is quite the opposite, so give it a listen). As opposed to the Wolf songs, which were written for voice and piano, Morgen! was written for voice and orchestra.

I had originally planned to use a different Strauss song for the piece with Suzanne, entitled Beim Schlafengehen. It also has a prominent violin solo, and it is exceptionally beautiful. In the end, the text of Morgen! was much more applicable. Beim Schlafengehen comes from the set Vier Letzte Lieder (Four Last Songs, 1948), Strauss's last compositions before his death. Even though they don't appear in the story, if you enjoyed Morgen!, you probably would like these songs as well. Here are exquisite versions by Jessye Norman:

This last song is one of my favorite pieces of music. Stunning...

As mentioned earlier, the Hindemith sonata is not represented on YT. Links to very short sound samples on Amazon were provided in the section on chapter 28.

Richard's Etudes represent six of the twenty four. Here are versions by M. Pollini, in the order Richard played them:

Other versions of these Etudes worth comparing:

The Britten Serenade was outlined in the section on Chapter 17. I repeat those links here for convenience:

Chapter 34: Nocturne

-A nocturne is an expressive piece that evokes the night.

-At the post recital party, the trio enjoy the company of their family and friends. Emily receives a gift from her father.

Yes, the Bob and Betty are the same ones from earlier. I have to wrap up all loose ends, right? ;-)

J. S. Bach wrote some of the most incredible music for solo violin. In this chapter and the next, I use two of these works to revive Emily's violin.

Here, Suzanne starts with the first Violin Sonata in G minor.

The other three movements:

Off screen, Irina plays the Largo from Chopin's Piano Sonata in B minor for William. Here are two versions:

Chapter 35: Finale — Langsam. Ruhevoll. Empfunden.

-This is the indication for the last movement of Mahler's Third Symphony. The German translates to 'Slow. Peaceful. Deeply felt.'

-The trio wake up and slowly return to earth. Sandra finds out that Dobra is back, while Richard has fun with Arlene and William. Emily contemplates her mother's violin, as both Sandra and Suzanne play on it. Suzanne hosts a dinner party, during which she agrees to play Emily's violin at the concerto, and then is given the instrument on loan. Emily flies to Baltimore to watch her dad conduct. A forgotten tape recording turns out to have something different on it. The trio leave Wexford for the summer, but reunite for a trip to Italy.

During dinner, Suzanne plays from J. S. Bach's Second Partita for solo violin. She warms up with the Gigue, which is the fourth movement.

This Partita concludes with the14 minute Chaconne. Some consider this to be the greatest piece of music ever written. Certainly it's among the most difficult for violin. N. Milstein is one of the great interpreters of this piece. Here is a live version of him playing it:

In the story, the section of arpeggios which overwhelms Suzanne starts at about 4:35 in this first video. She stops around 5:50. Still, I encourage you not to stop, and listen to the whole piece.

Suzanne goes on to play the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto as the soloist for the final Wexford orchestra concert. I really like this performance from 1980 by S. Marcovici. Dark, rich tone, and a really musical interpretation:

Another brilliant interpretation, by D. Oistrakh:

The orchestra concert concludes with Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5. Lots of versions are on YT. The fourth movement is quite wild, and it is where Jer gets the bass section really into it.

Here's a complete version of the symphony, by M. Tilson-Thomas, also different from the two above:

Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 3 is a massive work, lasting over an hour and a half. It requires some serious orchestral and vocal forces.

The final movement of this symphony was originally subtitled 'What Love Tells Me' (although Mahler later struck that from the manuscript). The movement runs about twenty-five minutes, longer than some complete symphonies by other composers. It's a work of beauty. Seen live, it's hard not to be overwhelmed.

There's a superb version by C. Abbado, of which the last three movements are online. (I recommend listening through these videos if you have forty minutes: skipping to the last video to hear the ending will have less effect):

The scene in the story starts with the fifth movement:

Clark sees Emily just before starting the finale.

I was of two minds about letting the full Dobra story out. Despite having it outlined and detailed, I decided to keep it under wraps, in the end. It could be a little story of its own someday, or I might come back to it in a sequel. So we end up with just a little peek into the administrative side of things.

As mentioned earlier, attending the Metropolitan Opera's simulcast of Tristan und Isolde during my hiatus from the story really inspired me to get to writing again. I came home that afternoon (matinee and time zones meant I was out of the theater well before dinner) and reread the story. Then I wrote Sandra's final night scene where she talks of love, inspired by the ending of Tristan, in which the heroine Isolde sings the sublime Liebestod.

And so, the trio is off to Italy for some fun. I hope you enjoyed both Opus One and the music presented in this guide. YouTube worked out better than I had hoped, and I encourage you to use the search bar to dig deeper into the music you found interesting. There is such endless variety of interpretation and feeling by the different performers. As I wrote this guide, I found myself spending hours and hours listening to music I thought I knew pretty well.

Thanks for reading.

Cheers,

Ryan Sylander

This version was edited by pcb, and last updated on October 7, 2008.

If you have feedback on this guide, please take a moment to send your thoughts. Also, please report dead links if you find them. Anonymous submissions are accepted.

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