I wanted to offer you a little beauty at the start of the year. I thought of this violin piece, full of warmth and nostalgia. Then I noticed her: this third person, discreetly installed near the pianist.
She is there, no one knows her name, she follows the music with attention, even with emotion, but without stealing the show, because her role is limited to one thing: turning the pages.
We have just turned a year, while remaining stubbornly on the same page: COVID-19 is standing still.
In music, the page turned badly, it is a potential disaster.
Since the XIXe century, the great soloists play from memory (another source of danger), but in an orchestra or in a small ensemble, you have the scores in front of you.
When the music is moving at full speed, the operation is repeated often. In the violin sections of an orchestra, in general, two musicians share a lectern, and one of them is assigned to turn the pages. Whoever continues to play must make sure to maintain an impeccable flow during the operation. When COVID-19 requires everyone to play with their lectern, the scores are adjusted so that the page turns do not all happen at the same time: additional DIY for music librarians.
When playing a keyboard, both hands are occupied full time. In rehearsal, we drop a few notes to turn the page, but in concert, assistance is essential. I once took a group to hear a concert given by two pianists. My big surprise was the number of questions my group had to ask about… page turners.
All had felt a slight tension between the pianists, who were full of paws with a transcription for two pianos of the Rite of Spring, and the young page turners who wanted to do well.
Filmmaker Denis Dercourt shot the film The page turner, a clever psychological thriller of this tension, always a little present, by pushing it very far.
Some musicians, like the pianist played by Catherine Frot in this film, have their appointed turner. If we have seen some awkwardly hide an extramarital relationship under this title (I will not give any name), in Dercourt’s film, it is rather a question of revenge.
In general, it is a small job that is not very well paid, quite demanding, but without drama. During a concert, the turner sits to the left of the pianist, and must make sure never to hide the music by going to grab the corner of the page, at the far right of the notebook.
How does he know when to turn? First, you have to know how to read music to shoot; read well, and read quickly. Then there is the musician’s nod, more or less subtle depending on the circumstances. But above all, discretion and precision are essential in the gesture of the turner, who must be forgotten, without falling into the moon.
Obviously, there are failures, some of which are captured live.
But the funniest page-turning story, I got it from Isolde Lagacé, director of the Bourgie room, who tells it while miming the scene.
In the 1980s, during the Orford Festival, we sometimes saw large frantic moths getting lost on stage. A page turner – legend says she was dressed in yellow and wore loud jewelry – initially expressed grimaces and gestures to ward off one of these critters. Then, while the musicians were playing without being distracted, she had had the absurd idea of grabbing a large volume of sonatas placed on the corner of the piano, getting up and waiting for the intruder to land on the back of the piano. pianist. The crowd held their breath, thinking in unison, “She’s not going to do THAT!” ”
Yes, a good momentum, and bang! The pianist, imperturbable, acknowledged the blow, continuing to play without dropping one.
Little by little, the screen of the iPad replaces the sheet music, and the pages follow one another thanks to a pedal. But for pianists, sometimes that’s one pedal too many. And for many musicians, as for certain readers of novels, nothing beats the paper, and the text discovered two pages at a time, by turning the previous one.
Happy New Year everyone, hoping to turn the pandemic page as soon as possible.