Rehearsal on a Sunday

It is either a need to self-torture or a need to find an outlet for expression that has given me the motivation to go to rehearsal on a Sunday.

I left home at about 11 a.m. for lunch. When I finished eating lunch, it was close to noon hour, and I set off for rehearsals. This time, I decided to take another route to the rehearsal venue. I decided not to take the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT). I took the bus instead.

I could only be most thankful that it is not located in some isolated jungle on a remote offshore island. It is only located at a less accessible part of the university. I say it is less accessible because the bus-stop for public buses is about 15 minutes walk away. The university does provide internal shuttle bus services to the rehearsal venue, but the frequency on Sundays is a pathetic once every 30 minutes. Yet, the consoling thing about taking the internal shuttle bus service is that I only have to walk about 2 minutes to the internal shuttle bus interchange. The internal shuttle bus would then drive me to the bus-stops for public buses.

The current rehearsal venue is certainly less accessible than the orchestra's regular rehearsal venue, which is still undergoing renovation. I have a feeling that the renovation would take longer than it is supposed to be.

Anyway, it takes about 1 hour to reach the university. Then I waited for the internal shuttle bus. Taking the internal shuttle bus seemed to be a better choice. I have no wish to walk 15 minutes to the rehearsal venue from the nearby bus-stop for public buses. Not when I am just recovering.


The student residence. The rehearsal venue is at the basement. 


Rehearsal starts with Mendelssohn's Fingals Cave. Fingals Cave often gives my left hand cramps, simply because the fingers on my left hand have yet to reach the degree of agility require. It might be easier to play the same notes on a violin, and even a cello. But on a double bass, it would mean bigger leaps and bigger stretches. Anyway, I shall practise. Despite it being technically challenging, I like playing Fingals Cave. I like the experience of trying to achieve something that still would need time to be fully achieved.

Next, we played the second movement from the Tcahikovsky's Fifth Symphony. The horn soloist was not around. A pity. Subsequently, we played the third and the fourth movement. To be exact, part of the fourth movement.

Playing the third movement seems to require quite diligent counting and listening. It took a while for me to get it really right, yet when I did, it was satisfying. The fourth movement is exciting in that there are several challenging passages for the double bass section.

I have had quite a good time having an outlet to express through the rehearsal. So the answer to my very first statement on this post has been found.