LIFE AS A PICCOLO PLAYER | CONVENTION
VALE LESLIE BARKLAMB | PICCOLO CONCERTOS

LIFE AS A PICCOLO PLAYER

The piccolo is the little brother to the flute, and this relationship is often reflected in the way in which the player is treated by their colleagues. As everyone knows, it is an extremely difficult instrument to play at all, let alone play in tune. It is used most frequently in the very high register, in exposed passages and often in unison with instruments from contrabassoon to the piccolo clarinet. As a consequence, your section colleagues make sure that you are seated at the very end of the line, and the 2nd violins near you wear earplugs! Not very encouraging, is it!

You are actively discouraged from warming up the instrument in the orchestral room prior to rehearsals and performances (you daren't play a note if you want to live long), and the 2nd violins seated near you cringe as you proceed to a top A. It's a lonely job at times. You feel that you are a voice crying in the wilderness (others would describe it differently), but you have your revenge, and your colleagues are forced to take notice of you, whether they like it or not!

In spite of playing an antisocial instrument, of being ostracised by the whole orchestra, you do have a lot of fun in a strange sort of way. For example, when it comes to Tchaikovsky, Shostakovitch, Mahler, Stravinsky or Kodaly, the piccolo soars above the 100 piece orchestra and fills the auditorium with a triumphant sound that can be heard by all. And when you do get it right in a famous solo, there is a nod of approval from your colleagues. Even the conductor will occasionally smile and publicly acknowledge your efforts. All is forgiven for past shriekings, at least for the time being.

After 25 years in the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra as Principal Piccolo, I have formed a few ideas as to what makes a successful piccolo player.

It often happens in non-professional circles that the person who plays the piccolo in the orchestra is the one who is courageous enough to have the instrument in their bag! But, in the selection of the piccolo player, it should not be the one who fails to get a job as first, second or third flute, in fact the opposite should be the case. Just as much care should be taken with the selection of the piccolo as with the first flute because of the level of expertise and special attributes which are needed.

A crucial decision for successful piccolo playing is to choose a good piccolo, and this is more critical than the selection of a flute. When I started doubling on piccolo in my student days in the 1960s we had very few makes to choose from. Mine was a student model Selmer Gold Seal - which was out of tune (not that I knew much about those things then) and had poor seating of pads. But the situation has changed so dramatically during the past couple of decades that we now have student model piccolos which are far superior to anything I had, and they're not too expensive. There are also really cheap piccolos around, but don't buy them - it's false economy, and you won't enjoy your music-making.

Well, what do you need to survive as a piccolo player in the MSO? Firstly, you must have two good piccolos (as a specialist you must have more than one). Secondly, an extremely good sense of pitch, not only to play the instrument 'in tune', but to be able to adjust the pitch minutely in order to coincide with other instruments (and here we are dealing with minute fractions of a semitone). In this regard, if you are a good flute player, then you are halfway there to playing the piccolo reasonably well, although I have my suspicions that piccolo players are born, not made!

I should also mention that all members of the MSO flute section have to play piccolo sometime during the year - in one piece we had four piccolos! And so, those who wish to get casual work in a professional orchestra need to have some skill on the piccolo and a knowledge of its repertoire, as in the orchestra a lot of doubling is required. So many auditions are compromised by applicants not taking the piccolo seriously in this regard.

But there are other challenges to piccolo playing. The little instrument has its own 'scale' and its own vagaries of pitch over the whole range. Also, you must be prepared to adjust and fit in with other instruments. It is no use declaring that 'I am correct' - it's all about adjusting and playing together with the same intonation irrespective of personal preferences.

The other necessary ingredient is nerves of steel. In the 4th Symphony of Tchaikovsky, for example, you are sitting on stage, absolutely still, while the first couple of movements are being played. Nearly 40 minutes goes by. Suddenly, the quiet pizzicato strings herald the scherzo and your solo looms up before you. Your heartbeat starts to race, your head is pounding, your hands are clammy and you're ready to race off stage and call it quits. The little instrument sits there on the stand mutely and you start to wonder why you ever accepted the position in the first place!

There's no opportunity to warm up just before the solo, and you haven't played a note since the interval. The screaming solo arrives (one of the most difficult in the repertoire), and in a few seconds it's over. The heart slows down to a gallop, and you wonder whether you were a candidate for a coronary! Well, the Finale arrives, and you join in with the melodies and fast passages of the tutti sections and pretend that nothing has happened to your physical and mental well-being. But you also know that you have to go through the same exercise tomorrow night, which means it wasn't a bad dream after all, it really happened!

Well, it all sounds a bit frightening, but really, we do have a lot of fun. Most of the music is very satisfying to play, and I also spend about a third of the time doubling on flute, which gives me variety. What's more, in the MSO we have a flute section with a strong team spirit and this makes the job even more enjoyable. The mutual support and encouragement you receive from your section colleagues helps you survive another day and to try even harder the next time.

And so, if you are thinking about playing the piccolo, do so. You'll have a lot of challenges, but you will also have a lot of fun.

Frederick A. Shade
Principal Piccolo,
Melb. Symph. Orchestra

Ref: The Flautist (Vic Flute Guild - Australia)
March 2000 Vol 31 No. 1 (Reprint)