Twenty years of youth
(Commemorative book of the 20th anniversary of the National Youth Orchestra of Spain. Madrid, January 2004)1. Background
The publication on 28 October 1983 in the "Official State Bulletin" of the Order dated 17 October 1983 creating the National Youth Orchestra of Spain (Joven Orquesta Nacional de España, JONDE) was the starting-point of a new approach to musical training in Spain which had been going through a profound crisis. Though all the sectors involved had widely expressed their concern, neither they nor the administration seemed able to find a solution.
The lack of interest on the part of the authorities in musical education, both amateur and professional, lasted for decades and was made especially clear when, during the 1980s, Spanish orchestral life was boosted by the widespread construction of concert halls and the subsequent creation of orchestras to guarantee quality activities within them. This made it necessary to import foreign instrumentalists en masse to make up for the scandalous inefficiency of the Spanish teaching system for training properly-qualified professionals (1).
Since the problems resulting from the lack of solutions provided by the Ministry of Education and Science were thus being suffered directly by the Ministry of Culture, which was responsible for most of the musical life in Spain before the creation of the Autonomous Communities, it is no surprise that a solution was sought within the competencies of the latter that would remedy the many defects while not interfering in the educational competencies of the former. The National Youth Orchestra of Spain (JONDE) was something of a diplomatic warning on the part of the cultural authorities, indicating the direction to be taken by the education authorities. It was several years later, well into the 1990s, that the Ministry of Education and Science decided to restructure musical teaching according to musical criteria, as in the rest of the world. A great boost was given to music in general education, the role of music schools was clarified and the conservatoires were left to carry out professional teaching.
For all these reasons, the creation of the National Youth Orchestra of Spain aroused great interest in both cultural and educational sectors. This interest was fully satisfied by the public presentation a few months later of the orchestra's first work. If there was one thing that was clear during those dark years it was that those first members of the orchestra were at last throwing some light on music in Spain, thanks to an experience involving professionalisation on a scale hitherto unknown in Spanish music.
During the first two years, the JONDE was run by the former General Department for Music and Theatre at the initiative of its director, José Manuel Garrido Guzmán, and belonged legally and from the point of view of the administration to the Autonomous Organisation for the National Youth Orchestra of Spain and Choir with which it shared its base once the National Auditorium was opened in October 1988. Its objectives were the following:
a) To promote the artistic vocation of professional musicians;
b) to encourage young Spaniards who showed an inclination towards the cultivation of music; and
c) to promote the creation of similar orchestras throughout Spain, and encourage existing ones through training.
In the end, the link with the National Youth Orchestra of Spain turned out to be more theoretical than practical and, on 30 April 1985, when the National Institute for Performing Arts and Music (INAEM) was created, the orchestra became one of its independent production units. This allowed the JONDE to develop into rather more than the source of musicians for the National Youth Orchestra of Spain because it was able to focus on training qualified professionals. In the long term, this benefited both the National Orchestra and other Spanish and foreign orchestras.
Fortunately for it and for us, from the start the JONDE enjoyed the full support of the various administrative bodies. Not only does it have sufficient funds to be able to carry out high-quality activities and planning in the medium and long term a most unusual situation for a youth orchestra in both Spain and elsewhere, but the Cultural authorities have always been aware of the many benefits of the project and have given it full support, facilitating its teaching and artistic activities. Moreover, the budget covers a management team which is not only sufficient in number for the orchestra's activities, but shows tremendous commitment, probably because of the contagious enthusiasm of the young musicians.
Thanks to all these financial and human resources, the JONDE has been able to work in practically all the Autonomous Communities and its concerts have taken it to the main Spanish concert halls and many of the most important in other countries such as the Théatre des Champs Elysées in Paris, the Philharmonic in St Petersburg, Carnegie Hall in New York, the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Schauspielhaus am Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin and the Great Hall of the Berliner Philharmonie.
II. First stage
There have been at least two stages during the short but busy history of the JONDE. They can be distinguished by two different ways of seeing the orchestra. The first period goes from creation of the orchestra until the end of 1995, that is, the whole period during which its first promoter, Edmon Colomer, was in charge of both artistic and musical aspects.
During these twelve years, the foundations for the orchestra were laid. They were:
- Rigorous selection of candidates
- Periodic courses
- Concert tours at the end of each course
- Recordings
The first selection of members cannot have been easy because the endemic disease that affected the whole of Spanish orchestral life was clear not only in the professional world but also amongst the generation that at the time was studying music at higher levels. The orchestra started out with about fifty mernbers, with professionals being taken on occasionally for specific instruments as required. Twenty years later and partly as a consequence of the rationalisation of music teaching in the conservatoires, this problem has been resolved and, in fact, the numbers of applicants for thed latest auditions went well beyond expectations (1).
The system of courses ("encuentros") has proved to be ideal for training young orchestras so is obviously the most widely used method. In the case of the JONDE, courses are held regularly during the holiday periods which is when the young people are free. Christmas, Easter and summer are the usual times for the courses which usually last 2-3 weeks. Each courses involves the following:
- Approximately one week of sectional rehearsals of the repertoire (which is sent out in advance to orchestra members). There is usually one teacher for each instrument, and the team includes some of the best Spanish and foreign specialists.
- A second period of under one week during which the conductor takes rehearsals of the repertoire with the whole group.
- A third period which usually involves a concert tour, usually with three or four concerts, but courses may conclude with just one concert or with as many as five, depending on circumstances. There is usually an annual foreign tour as the orchestra's funding covers this possibility.
What is most interesting about this first period in the orchestra's history is the fact that the artistic and musical director was a single person. His dynamism and thoroughness were fundamental in consolidating the orchestra, and he bore practically sole responsibility for the many courses and concerts held during this period. Under his leadership, the members of the JONDE were able to work with top international teachers and with soloists such as Mstislav Rostropovich, Agustin León Ara, Rafael Orozco, Christian Zacharias, John Williams, Deszö Ranki, Teresa Berganza, Maria Bayo or Simon Estes.
The admission and membership criteria were very different for the orchestra's first members. Initially they were able to remain in the orchestra for up to five years without having to take further auditions. Today, auditions are held annually. Many recordings were made for Spanish National Radio and Television. Other recordings included a magnificent version on vinyl disc of "The Rite of Spring" by Igor Stravinsky, as well as 4 CDs with works by Manuel de Falla and Roberto Gerhard. The orchestra also participated in the entertaining film by Fernando Colorno, Alegre ma non troppo.
During this first period, the JONDE made every attempt to become consolidated as a high-level centre for orchestral training. Much work was put into an educational project that led to the creation of a base for the orchestra in a building rehabilitated by the National Institute for Performing Arts and Music (INAEM) in Palafox street in Cuenca, for which an agreement was signed covering administration and maintenance between the Ministry of Education and Science, the government of Castilla-La Mancha, the City Council and the council of the province of Cuenca. After its costly rehabilitation, the building was used on many occasions for the orchestra's courses, but the lack of a stable residential building and a long-standing conflict regarding educational competencies with the Ministry of Education and Science (which only merged with the Ministry of Culture in 1996, and anyway the JONDE was the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Culture, not Education) meant that the initial teaching project had to be abandoned, followed by use of the venue. Today, a new agreement allows the building to be used for a range of different artistic and teaching activities by the government of Castilla-La Mancha and by the Cuenca city and provincial councils. The JONDE is entitled to hold one course there every year.
Since the orchestra's main purpose is that of teaching, it bases most of its work on the traditional orchestral repertoire. However, it also aims to promote contemporary compositions, and regularly includes such work in its courses. During the first period, it commissioned works from a number of contemporary Spanish composers and held three editions of an international composition competition. In 1990 and 1991, the first prize of 1,000,000 pesetas was awarded to the Valencian Cesar Cano for his symphonic work Prácticas de Pasión, and to the Colombian Blas de Atehortúa for his choral and orchestral work, Cristóforo Colombo. (In 1992 no prize was awarded).
III. Second stage
The second stage began at the end of 1995, when Edmon Colomer gave up the artistic and musical direction of the orchestra. The new artistic director was Llorenç Caballero, who had been a member of the JONDE as a flautist from 1986 to 1989 so knew how it worked and what its educational and artistic aims were. The position of musical director was taken by a different conductor at each course. While the previous formula had offered continuity from one course to the next, the new formula introduced great variety. Obviously, each system has its advantages and disadvantages, but it was up to the artistic management to ensure that the activities and repertoires were coherent so that the variety in guest conductors would allow the orchestra to obtain wide experience of the varied panorama of orchestral conducting that they would later meet in their professional careers.
Since Llorenç Caballero took up his position and until today, the different members of the JONDE have been able to work under no less than 62 different conductors, including such outstanding names as Carlo Maria Giulini, Víctor Pablo Pérez, Gunther Schuller, Antoni Ros Marbá, Salvador Mas, Salvador Brotons, Peter Maag, Paul Goodwin, Lutz Köhler, Gianandrea Noseda, Ernerst Martínez Izquierdo, Gustavo Medina, Josep Pons, Alberto Zedda, Patrick Davin, Arturo Tamayo and Gloria Isabel Ramos.
During this second period, a new practice was adopted, namely the rehearsals for the positioning whereby, at the beginning of each working meeting, each player is assigned to the place he or she is to hold within the section for the different works of the repertoire, depending on their technical and musical standards and on the thoroughness of their previous study of the works.
Two essential figures for the JONDE have also been consolidated in recent years. Firstly, the position of assistant conductor is assigned after public auditions for young people under the age of 30. All of those who have held this one-year position, working with the orchestra in both sectional and tutti rehearsals, under the supervision of the different guest conductors, have received invaluable, practical experience at a crucial time in their training, and many of them have found it has opened professional doors for them. The other figure that is renewed every year is that of resident composer. This too is reserved for a young person under the age of 30 who attends the orchestral working meetings, carries out score analysis sessions and discussions with the orchestral members and has the obligation, during his or her tenure, to write two works -one orchestral and one for a chamber group- which are then performed by the Orchestra. A list of the assistant conductors and resident composers, together with their biographies, is given in the "Directorio JONDE" within this book.
During the years that Llorenç Caballero was artistic director, the JONDE produced a number of CD recordings of which the most relevant were those under Carlo Maria Giulini. These represented a very important event in Spanish music in general and in the JONDE in particular. They include the Brahms Symphony No 1 and Schubert's Symphony No.4. Although not available commercially, they are proof of the high quality that can be attained with hard work, dedication and enthusiasm.
In February 2001, Llorenç Caballero was replaced by the author of this article, who at the time was working as Technical Advisor for the LOGSE reform of music teaching within the Council for Music and Performing Arts, part of the General Department for Artistic Teaching in the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport. The change of activity (from an office job dealing with theory and legislation to practical work in the field) was more a change in form than in substance. Over these three years, the lines adopted by Llorenç Caballero have been followed with regard to the policy for guest conductors, teaching staff, repertoire, etc, with a few adaptations to keep in line with new teaching approaches
There have, however, been two substantial changes. Firstly, the trend towards younger members has been tumed to keep within the 18-23 age range. This range is considered more appropriate in the new situation of music teaching as it is the age of high-level studies and is therefore, obviously the most appropriate age for obtaining orchestral experience. The doors are not closed, however, to exceptionally gifted younger musicians, especially in the case of instruments for which there is less demand and for which there may be fewer candidates.
Secondly, links have been established with other institutions which, like the JONDE, exist for the purpose of bringing young people in contact with music. One such link was initiated Jeunesses Musicales Spain in September 2002, when a preparatory working meeting was held for the concert commemorating their 50th anniversary, during which the JONDE had the honour of giving the premiere of the concerto for two pianos and orchestra, Juventus, composed for the occasion by Antón Garcia Abril. The same policy is being adopted with the Institute for Youth (INJUVE) of the Ministry of Social Affairs, with which an agreement for collaboration has been reached whereby a group of JONDE members participate as resident musicians during the Composition Course held annually in Mollina (Málaga). They premiere the works selected during the course, and the winner of the course is appointed resident composer to the orchestra for the following year.
In addition to the above mentioned works conducted by Carlo Maria Giulini, recent years, other CDs of orchestral and chamber music by Spanish and Latin American composers were recorded. The most important of these was conducted by José Antonio Pascual Puy, assistant conductor for the JONDE during 2001, and was devoted exclusively to works by the Alicante composer, Rafael Rodriguez Albert, on the occasion of his centenary. This allowed the recovery of some of his works which had practically been forgotten.
IV. Artistic and teaching objectives
a) General criteria
As with any similar orchestra, the JONDE must provide pre-professional experience in view of the age of its members and their musical levels. It must therefore deal with three different, but complementary, aspects of their instrumental training:
- Technical and musical aspects. It must improve not only the technical standards of instrumentalists but also their overall musical level. It is therefore very important that work should not focus exclusively on practical preparation of a specific repertoire during each course, but that analytical, historical and critical analysis of works should be provided by qualified teachers, composers and musicologists. (In the case of contemporary works by living composers, such contacts can be highly educational as they stimulate interest in modern creations among young musicians.).
- Chamber music. Although it may seem that the objective of a young orchestra is to cultivate the orchestral repertoire, a large dose of chamber music is necessary for young musicians to develop an awareness of each individual's role within an ensemble.
- Professional aspects. Young musicians should be placed in contact with the sort of professional situation they might face in their future careers. So, if members remain in the orchestra for two to three years, activities should be planned so that during this period they can participate in conventional symphonic concerts (in ensembles of different sizes from full orchestra to classical orchestra, including chamber music groups and bands), in pit orchestras (for opera and ballet), children's concerts, studio recordings, the recording of sound tracks for cinema and television, etc.
With these as the starting-point, the other organisational and programming aspects follow. It is necessary to select the musical director and teaching staff for each course with care, depending on specific aspects of each course, and the repertoire selected must not only be suitable for the technical capability of the players, but must also be useful from the educational point of view and balanced from the point of view of style.
b) Orchestral and chamber repertoire
The decision on the repertoire for each course depends on the circumstances of the concert tour to be given at the end of the course. If the orchestra is to participate in a festival or other similar musical event, then the repertoire will be determined in collaboration with the organisers to suit them rather than to meet the orchestra's training needs. To give a useful example, since 2002 the JONDE has been the resident orchestra during the Week of Religious Music in Cuenca. This largely determines the repertoire for the course prior to this Festival, although the fact that the works must be religious is by no means negative from the training point of view. There can be no doubt that works such as The Ascension by Olivier Messiaen, the Stabat Mater by Rossini and the Eighth Symphony by Bruckner adapt perfectly to the JONDE's educational philosophy, which focuses not so much on the actual repertoire as on the way in which to approach it and work on it. When there are no such conditioning factors, then the artistic director, in agreement with the guest conductor invited on each occasion, will draw up the repertoire. The following are the criteria for programming an "ideal" course:
- One work from the traditional orchestral repertoire.
- One concerto with a soloist.
- One orchestral work from the basic 20th century repertoire.
- One contemporary work, preferably by a living Spanish composer who is able to attend the course and participate actively in rehearsals and preparation.
Work can be done on chamber music in parallel to the orchestral activities. Members of the orchestra can either be allocated to different chamber groups during the different courses, or specific chamber music courses can be held allowing much more thorough work. As stated above, it is in chamber music rather than orchestral work that players can best develop the capacity of listening to others.
The chamber music repertoire for the JONDE goes from the classic ensembles (duets, trios, quartets, etc.) to the more contemporary use of widely varying ensembles, percussion groups, etc. In many cases the scope or difficulty of the works makes it necessary to work with a conductor, in which case this role falls to the assistant conductor. At the end of each orchestral or chamber music course, one or several concerts are given. These may be either internal or public, and often form part of concert series or festivals.
Special mention should be made of the contemporary repertoire in which every attempt is made to include works by living Spanish composers -either young or well-established who are able to attend the working sessions and participate actively in rehearsals of their works. The JONDE has collaborated closely with the Centre for the Dissemination of Contemporary Music (CDMC) in the creation of the Contemporary Music Academy which, under the direction of Arturo Tamayo, has given a series of very interesting and successful concerts during 2003.
c) Other activities
In addition to preparation of the orchestral and chamber music set for each course, a number of additional educational activities are included (such as analyses, lectures or working meetings and debates with composers), as well as others that are more directly related to the instruments, such as violin making or instrument maintenance, or to relaxation techniques (yoga, Alexander technique, shiatsu, etc.). Finally, other very important activities are programmed sporadically such as basic orchestral conducting technique, the medicine of music or the prevention of stage fright.
d) Ethical considerations
Obviously, all these activities form just a part of what could be called the technical skills that an orchestra like the JONDE hopes to help develop in its young musicians. But there is another aspect of special concern to those responsible for such groups that may have a direct effect on their future professions, namely, the relationships established amongst the musicians themselves and between them and their audiences and the different sectors of society. I refer here to what we might call the "ethical" aspects, without which training cannot be considered complete. They apply to both the performer and to the person as a member of a social environment, and are inseparable from professional activity.
Young orchestras, as a high-density training unit, constitute an ideal framework for developing all the positive attitudes that should inspire ensemble playing, from comradeship and cooperation to humility, respect and receptivity. These are basic principles of social behaviour and are therefore ideal vehicles for attaining the high degree of responsibility that is required of any member of an orchestra or chamber group. A young orchestral player must learn to understand and accept the decisions taken by those responsible for musical and administrative aspects with humility and professionalism. Arrogance and vanity are both useless and negative.
By way of example, every JONDE working meeting begins with the rehearsals for the positioning, as explained above, in which the artistic director and the instrumental teachers assess members knowledge of the repertoire to be played. (This is sent to them for study several weeks in advance.) As a result of these rehearsals, the different parts are allotted and string players are assigned to their desk positions within the orchestra. The decisions taken by the examiners are final. This test is the most difficult part of the course for many of the orchestral members, and the fact that sometimes the decision is difficult to accept comprises a first step towards acquiring a self-critical spirit and the necessary respect for decisions taken by one's musical and artistic superiors.
All of this is largely possible thanks to the spirit amongst course participants. During a period of 2-3 weeks, the members of the orchestra and the technical and artistic staff, including the guest conductor and the teachers, all work together from the early morning until the more relaxed activities in the evening. In order for everyone to get on amicably, it is necessary for each person to understand his or her role in both the orchestra and the group. This is the only way in which such a period of intense artistic and social collaboration can function smoothly.
V. Relations with the social and professional environment
a) Grants
As stated above, the work of the JONDE aroused great interest amongst many cultural and professional sectors which were quick to channel efforts to support it. The early presence of the JONDE in musical festivals within Spain first and internationally later was proof of this, as was the economic support from private institutions for activities or for the purchase of equipment, or in the form of grants so that members of the orchestra could undertake further study. Over the last twenty years, support has been received from companies such as Unión de Explosivos Riotinto, Hazen, Coca Cola España, and from institutions such as the joint Hispano-American Committee and the Coca Cola España Foundation, whose generous contributions made it possible to organise an important tour of the United States, make several recordings and purchase instruments and working materials. Today, the Caja Madrid Foundation devotes a large sum to study grants for a maximum period of two years which are available to all instrumentalists who have been members of the orchestra for at least two years. As a result, many members of the JONDE have been able to carry out both post-graduate studies and high-level studies of their instrument in important foreign institutions.
b) Exchanges and links with other orchestras
Development of the European Union and the proliferation of youth orchestras in the different EU countries soon made it necessary to bring them all together within an association in order to promote joint activities and reach shared objectives. In 1993, the European Federation of National Youth Orchestras (EFNYO) was set up, with the JONDE as a founder member. The representatives meet at ordinary and extraordinary working meetings at least twice a year.
These contacts between young European orchestras have led to a programme of exchanges allowing young instrumentalists from other European orchestras to participate regularly in the JONDE courses and for the members of the JONDE to collaborate with other groups when requested. The EFNYO has had a budget to cover the cost of travel for such exchanges.
Along the same lines but within Spain and since there are now youth orchestras in most of the Autonomous Communities, a Spanish Association of Youth Orchestras (AEJO) is currently being set up. This is logical from the point of view of the JONDE in that many of its members also belong to the Youth Orchestra in their home Communities.
c) Relations with the profession
The National Youth Orchestra of Spain also belongs to the Spanish Association of Symphony Orchestras (AEOS) which brings together all the Spanish professional orchestras, both public and private. The presence of the JONDE in the association makes it the ideal link between high-level training and the professional world. In fact, it is not infrequent for Spanish orchestras to turn to the JONDE for information on its members or former members on occasions when they need to expand their groups, either temporarily or permanently. As might be expected, this possibility of finding employment through the JONDE is of great interest to the orchestra's members and this is one of the reasons why the working meetings focus not only on technical and musical aspects but also on the attitude and responsibility of musicians, these being considered of special importance.
For all the above reasons, clearly the relations between an orchestra such as the JONDE and its social environment should aim to promote professionalism and should therefore be, above all, cultural. This means that not only should a high level of training be provided, but society should receive artistic activity in return for its support in the form of concerts, participation in festivals, recordings and collaboration with the audio-visual media and musical institutions.
In my opinion, it is wrong for such orchestras to be solely a centre of training. This objective should be met by the higher musical schools which exist for this purpose. The sectional work involved in preparing a symphony, for example, can be included in the intermediate or high-level studies of a conservatoire, but in the JONDE a symphony has to be worked on as a whole because in the end it has to be performed as a whole, in line with the orchestra's public, artistic and cultural calling.
Conclusions
From my current position, I am not sure that I am the appropriate person to say that the JONDE marked a changing tide in the history of music in Spain. However, my experience as a teacher first and then as a technical advisor to the General Department for Artistic Education within the Ministry of Education when it was working on the reform of music education allows me to make this statement on the National Youth Orchestra of Spain on celebration of its first twenty years. I believe I can offer a well-founded and objective point of view because of my personal experience on a number of different fronts.
As a teacher who has worked in a number of different Spanish conservatoires, I can assure readers that the two or three years that young musicians usually spend in the orchestra after passing the entry auditions allow them to receive rich training opportunities that fall completely outside the scope of the professional or higher conservatoires. Neither the breadth of the repertoire on which the orchestra works nor the possibility of playing under conductors or studying with teachers from some of the world's best orchestras can be offered on a day-to-day basis by such teaching institutions which obviously, apart from their many limitations, have other tasks to carry out.
Having been advisor to the ministerial team in charge of the reform of musical education in Spain, there can be nothing more satisfying for me than to reap the fruits first hand. It is clear in the orchestral auditions that the technical and musical standards of the youngest generations are getting higher and higher. These are students who have been educated completely with the modern syllabus, and their standards are considerably higher than those of their predecessors and in some cases than those of students from the rest of Europe. This is not just triumphalism. In the latest auditions for the European Union Youth Orchestra, Spain provided the second largest number of candidates (97, after the United Kingdom with 127 and above Holland with 75). Of them, 14 were selected, making Spain the country with the fourth largest number of representatives after the UK with 25. Germany with 19 and Holland with 17. And 41. no less, were chosen as reserves.
In summary, the JONDE not only offers pre- professional experience for all its members but it is a privileged observatory for measuring the musical pulse of our country for our new generations. My diagnosis is that its good health is enviable, no surprise considering it is only twenty years old. This good health is the secret of a life which all of us who form part of it as active members, as administrators or as simple spectators of its activities hope will be long and fruitful for the good of Spanish music and for the good of Spanish society.
NOTES
(1) All of these aspects, as well as those relating to the profess of reform of music teaching, are covered in greater detail in the article entitled Orchestral experience and the music syllabus by Elisa Roche, also included in this book (see page 260).
José Luis Turina
Artistic director
Madrid, October 2003