[Trombone-l] Conch shell on Reveultas

[Philip Brink]

A minor point... it's Revueltas! Think revolt, then change the "o" to "ue,"
which they do in Spanish with accented syllables, and Hey presto! There you
are! Other than that, David's point has serious value...

Phil [hispanophile] Brink

On 9/10/07, David Goldfarb <davidagoldfarb at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> You could also roll with it and use it to your advantage.
>
> The shell has some novelty value, and if one plays it in the concert hall,
> a
> few wisecracks are to be expected.  So next time Mr. Adler is over for
> dinner, tell him about the history of the shells in various folk cultures,
> the kinds of shells that are traditionally blown, the innovative uses that
> Steve Turre has found for the shells, and such.  Maybe he'll be interested
> enough to write about it.
>
> I think the best example of this strategy is the Polish tourist bureau's
> "Polish Plumber" ad campaign in response to a French anti-immigrant
> politician who made a remark about plumbers coming from Poland and taking
> French jobs.  The Polish government designed ads and billboards with a
> buff
> looking Polish guy carrying a pipe wrench, demonstrating that the Poles
> were
> modern European types with a sense of humor and irony, and tourism to
> Poland
> from France was significantly up that year.
>
> David Goldfarb
>
>
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Raymond Horton" <rayhorton at insightbb.com>
> > To: "List Trombone" <TROMBONE-L at server5.samford.edu>
> > Sent: Monday, September 10, 2007 8:27 AM
> > Subject: Re: [Trombone-l] Conch shell on Reveultas
> >
> >
> > OK, remember about three weeks ago when I was asking for advice on the
> > conch shell part on Revueltas "La Noche de los Mayas?" I got some very
> > helpful advice from the list - particularly Jeff Albert and Jackie
> > Harris-Stone. I practiced the shell, and was ready for my four-bar
> > cadenza, (wailed a couple of high E's - you guys would have been proud
> > of this bass trombonist) and the whole thing went absolutely superbly.
> > So this is what I get to read in the paper, in the midst of a favorable
> > review (you can see the whole review at:
> >
> > <
> >
> http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070909/SCENE05/709090582/1011/SCENE
> > >
> >
> >
> > "You don't often see a large man in white tie and tails blowing into a
> > conch shell (do you think his mother beams, 'My son, the conch
> > player!?')."
> >
> > This reviewer is a really snide person whom I have known for years -
> > he's been in my house. He really thinks he is hot stuff, I guess because
> > he is the nephew of a famous composer with the same last name. Years
> > ago, when the paper would print the reviewers "credentials" at the top
> > of their reviews, his would read "Mr Adler took a music appreciation
> > course at Eastman School of Music."
> >
> >
> > I wrote a letter to the paper, but I don't know if I should send it.
> > Does this just make me sound defensive and pathetic? Here it is:
> >
> > -------------
> >
> > To the Editor of the _/Courier-Journal_/:
> >
> > Right in the midst of reading Andrew Adler's positive review of a
> > glorious night by the Louisville Orchestra ("Fanfara is a full and
> > fabulous night of fun" September 8 SCENE) I was surprised to read a
> > rather odd, humorous reference to myself: "You don't often see a large
> > man in white tie and tails blowing into a conch shell (do you think his
> > mother beams, 'My son, the conch player!?')." I don't know why the
> > comment bothered me (perhaps because my mother passed away this last
> > March, but yes, she was proud of me). The comment would be bad enough if
> > I were, indeed, a lonely conch player, waiting by the phone for my next
> > gig, but Andrew knows me – I have been Bass Trombonist of the Louisville
> > Orchestra for a third of a century, have played in a solo capacity with
> > the orchestra on bass trombone and euphonium (according to my scrapbook,
> > he called my euphonium playing a "modest astonishment," whatever that
> > means), have had compositions performed by the LO and other groups in
> > town (two that Andrew reviewed – he liked one, sort of passed on the
> > other). No, not a lonely conch player, I was just handed the shell three
> > weeks ago (it often falls to the bass trombonist, since the Revueltas
> > work we were performing has no part for our instrument) and asked to
> > learn to play it. I researched the instrument, listened to other players
> > and recordings, practiced it, and did as much with the part and my
> > improvised four-bar cadenza as I possibly could. Afterwards, musicians,
> > conductor, and members of the audience complimented me for it, a
> > composer offered to write for me and the instrument (I had to tell him I
> > had already packed it up to send it back), and, oh yes, I read the
> > ridicule of myself and my mom in the paper. I suppose some try to make
> > the most of their opportunities, some don't.
> >
> > Raymond Horton
> > Bass Trombonist
> > Louisville Orchestra
> >
> >
> >
> >
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>
> --
> David A. Goldfarb
> http://www.echonyc.com/~goldfarb
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