Why does one musician choose the violin and not, say, the oboe? And why is it the other way around for another? How do you take care of timpani, and what is it like to travel around the world with clarinets?
«I made it clear to my parents that I did not want to play a wind instrument. Because I didn’t want to put anything in my mouth – too unhygienic!» Violinist Geoffroy Schied laughs. After attending a concert at which various instruments were introduced, the six-year-old decided on the violin and has stuck with it ever since. Emma Schied, on the other hand, who is married to Geoffroy and, like him, belongs to the founding members of the MCO, found her instrument «by accident»: «First I played piano and recorder, and I didn’t intend to switch to another instrument. When I was nine years old, the orchestra at my school was missing an oboe player. So that’s the instrument I started to learn.» Jaan Bossier reports a similar story: «My parents sent me to a music school. I was allowed to choose a rental instrument to learn from the ones that were offered, and I said flute. It just so happened that all of the flutes were already taken, so I got a clarinet.» These «accidental» choices have shown themselves to be exact matches for Jaan and Emma. A different story is the one told by timpanist Martin Piechotta: since he can remember, he has always felt a kind of magical attraction to percussion instruments, but the path to his instrument was not a straight one. Martin’s parents wanted him to learn the piano, so he did. It wasn’t until he was in a pre-professional training program and was allowed to choose a second instrument that he had the opportunity to try out percussion. An opportunity that he did not pass up!
These musically interested children have long since become brilliant orchestral musicians. Music and instruments accompany them through their days and through the world. When a musician speaks of his instrument, it can sound as if he is speaking of a good friend. «She’s like a delicate old lady,» Geoffroy Schied says of his 380-year-old Italian violin, «you have to take good care of her and treat her with respect. If I’m not in good form, she doesn’t forgive me very easily. She has her own temperament and she does not agree with all of my ideas.» Martin’s baroque timpani from 1820 also have their own personality. «There are days when they just don’t want to sound good. You don’t know why, there is no rational explanation. When they are in the right mood, then they sound wonderful, fantastic. I like their character very much.» While Geoffroy and Martin’s instruments are much older than their owners, it is quite different for Emma and her oboe. «Unfortunately, an oboe has a limited lifespan. Every six or seven years I have to look for a new instrument.» Each instrument must be cared for by its owner – some require a lot of attention, others less. Oboe and timpani are especially time-consuming. Martin replaces the heads of his timpani himself, and this takes two or three days. He also makes his own felt mallets. Emma spends a lot of time working on reeds for her oboe. Each reed must be built to match the instrument and its player. That’s why oboists don’t buy ready-made reeds, but instead just the raw materials. Then they sit for hours at home, shaving, scraping, measuring and testing. «Oboe teachers begin teaching reed-making quite early. I started doing it at the age of thirteen. I do like doing it, in general – though sometimes I’d much rather go for a walk in the sun than work on my reeds again!» For a clarinet player it’s easier; he can buy his reeds, which are made of bamboo, in a music shop. On the other hand, clarinet players often have a lot to carry – the instrument exists in various keys and sizes, and Jaan plays all of them. For most MCO projects, he needs his A and B-flat clarinets, but he often also has his bass clarinet along. «Last year, for one long project with several different programs, I needed the whole clarinet museum: E-flat, A, B-flat, bass, basset horn and contrabass clarinet. The contrabass clarinet was transported by the truck company. I carried all of the others myself!»
The truck company: we’ve come to an important subject in the life of the MCO. Many large instruments, such as double basses, percussion, or harp, cannot be brought by the musicians themselves to the projects. They are transported on a truck – a complicated task that is coordinated by the MCO project managers and carried out by two drivers who know the MCO’s instruments well. Special transport cases protect the fragile instruments during transport. And this is where the Friends of the MCO get involved: thanks to their generous financial support, the orchestra was able to purchase three urgently needed transport cases for double basses, and another case was built especially for the MCO’s percussion instruments.
