Bolero!

 I play French horn in a community orchestra in Waukegan, Illinois. We had a concert yesterday. There were several pieces on the program, including Bolero, by Maurice Ravel. It's quite popular, so you may be familiar with it. Basically Ravel wrote a theme and repeated it many times, passing it from instrument to instrument in the orchestra. Meanwhile, the snare drum player is repeating a pattern over and over through the piece. 

Most  orchestral works have four horn parts, though some have only two, and others have varying numbers up to 12 or more. In the Waukegan Symphony, the horn section rotates parts so players switch around. For Bolero, I got the first part. One reiteration of the theme is a solo for the first horn. It's quite high and very exposed. 

An aside, the horn has a very large range: from lowest possible note to highest is close to  four octaves. Most horn players cannot play all those notes. Generally horn players are stronger at either the low range or the high range, but not both. Though there are exceptions, of course. I am, at heart, a low horn player, though I frequently play the high parts in my community groups. 

I practiced diligently to be able to play that solo. At that last rehearsal the conductor unexpectedly asked me to play by myself to demonstrate how he wanted it phrased. I had paid attention to what he wanted and he noticed. Nevertheless, I was quite nervous about the concert. 

I prepared carefully on the day of the concert. I reminded myself that the conductor clearly liked the way I played it. I focused. It went really well! I got a solo bow, along with the other musicians who also had their turn at the theme.

I felt very relaxed after the concert. My husband and I went out to dinner, which incuded a glass of wine.

Next weekend: band concert. Much less pressure, though.

If you'd like to see/hear a video of Bolero, here is Daniel Barenboim conducting the BBC Proms orchestra. Barenboim is a former music director of the Chicago Symphony. We saw him many times with the Chicago Symphony, including conducting Bolero. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_pSJOkmYBA