| Ensemble Incroyable |
| The tuba as the timeless figurehead of my dreams - but how much longer will my daughter continue her carefree screeching? |
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Is there anyone who doesn't have dreams? I myself have lots. For example, I
am convinced that I'm capable of creating music to seduce the masses. I
effortlessly hum the main themes, silently relishing the echoes as they
would reverberate in large sound studios or wooden churches. Most of all
it's the throbbing rhythms that give me goose bumps. I have also figured out
the strength required for some of my compositions: two children's voices,
shrill yet in key; two tubas one of which should polish off its score in key
and with discipline while the other should produce a raw and clumsy, yet
loud and basic sound; and finally, two drummers, one of which should keep up
a tight staccato while the other plays around with bongos and the like,
interlacing complex structures of an altogether different discipline. This
set-up could where appropriate be augmented by two bassoons and two cellos,
the latter playing in the medium-to-high region, and a high-pitched flute
with a voluminous lower region, which moreover should be played with maximum
rasp.
Today I stumbled upon the finishing touch. My six-year-old daughter likes being tickled. The mere suggestion of a tickling attack has been known to elicit a series of blood-curdling shrieks from her. When another young lady in her age bracket joins her, the sound volume they produce easily quadruples. Tickle them twice in a row and the mere suggestion of a third attack will suffice. I once threatened such a duo with a tickling attack three times in a row, a bit like a conductor, and I knew that the compelling acoustic rhythm this provoked simply had to form part of my unfinished symphony. And in case you don't quite follow, what I mean is the screeching cries that little girls produce when they are having fun together, and which - toned down in the form of rhythmic blocks - absolutely defies belief. Under normal circumstances you and I will speak soothing words in such a situation. However, this time I decided not to. Rather, I encouraged the ladies to give it their all. Troopers, both of them! Ask me where all of this is coming from and I'll probably give you the answer that any child will give you: "Oh, you know". Although I would like to claim having worked it all out by myself, that would be a fairly relative statement. When I was still at school I used to play in jazz bands quite a lot, followed by a 30-year period of occasional bouts of keen listening to a broad variety of music. Something must have stuck, but try communicating that in a choice few words … and so I was clever enough not to ask my daughter what on earth had put it into her head when she decided to subject those in her immediate circle to a general knowledge test by asking them whether they knew what an Oboe Safetiest was … (What she meant to say was Homo Sapiens) |