Xabier Casal, our dear professor, always told us about a course in a village in the middle of Germany where you could play table football with the Cuarteto Casals and, at the same time, learn about chamber music like nowhere else. This village is called Weikersheim, and there we have spent 10 intense days as participants of the 69th edition of the Jeunesses Musicales Deutschland International Chamber Music Campus. It has been an unforgettable experience in which we have met unique people and artists, and in this article we will tell you the details of this new Lítore chapter!
It seems to have become a tradition: a good meeting always begins with an odyssey to get to the destination. On the 4th of September we started our journeys from Tomiño, Molins de Rei, Helsinki and Zürich. After a few hours of flight we arrived in Germany: Sira and Jaime in Frankfurt, and Miquel and Hugo in Stuttgart. Now we only had to take a few train connections to our final destination: Weikersheim. This fairytale town, with less than 8000 inhabitants and located in the region of Baden-Wüttemberg in Germany, hosted among its historic streets and buildings the 69th edition of this course organised by Jeunesses Musicales Deutschland. On this occasion, we shared the experience with 19 groups, among them our colleagues from the saxophone quartet Osimun Quartet, the saxophone trio A-Delta, the brass quintet KamBrass, 3 trios of piano, violin and cello and 13 string quartets.
During all these days, we stayed in the residence of Jeunesses Musicales Deutschland. For a few days we also shared the facilities with other groups of musicians, although we had our own rooms for two or three people. The meals were plentiful and you could repeat as many times as you wanted, and although some days the quality was better than others, the service and variety was generally very good - even the cups and plates had the Jeunesses Musicales logo on them! We felt very comfortable living there during these days, and also surprised that in the village there are such good facilities exclusively for hosting music residences.
Every day we had 3 hours reserved for rehearsals. Best of all, we did it in the incredible Weikersheim castle, which has a part of the castle set up for musical activities with numerous rooms, grand pianos and concert halls. From the accommodation to the castle it was only a 5-minute walk. There were no excuses: it was an ideal environment to rehearse and learn! And so we did.
Every day in the morning or early afternoon, each group had a 1 hour and 30 minute lesson with one of the professors of the course. In this edition, we were able to learn from Arnau, Abel, Vera and Cristina of the Cuarteto Casals, the pianist Angelika Merkle, Gregor Sigl of the Artemis Quartet and Heime Müller, artistic director of the course. On the first day, after arriving from our long journey, all the groups had to play for 10 minutes. This small internal concert allowed the teachers to choose the ensembles they wanted to work with, as each one taught the same group for 3 days in a row. In our case, we had the pleasure of working with Arnau Tomàs, cello of the Cuarteto Casals, Cristina Cordero, viola of the Cuarteto Casals and the German pianist Angelika Merkle. Thank you very much for sharing your experience and giving us very interesting ideas from the point of view of the string instruments!
After a long time, we finally had the opportunity to sit down and work on the repertoire calmly and spend 24 hours together. We delved into Alexander Glazunov's Saxophone Quartet Op. 109, Joseph Haydn's String Quartet Op. 20 no. 5 and Fantasy Etudes by William Albright. The rehearsals were intense but very productive, and we were able to achieve a level of detail work that has served us well for future projects. We also learned a lot by listening to our fellow musicians, groups of the highest level, and by attending some of their lessons.
In this idyllic setting and in one of the most beautiful halls of the castle, the Rittersaal, on 7 September we attended a concert by the Cuarteto Casals, who showed why they are one of the best string quartets in the world. A few days later we had additional activities, such as a talk by the manager Sonia Simmenauer and yoga sessions with the oboist Mirjam Budday.
One of the best things about the course was the organisation. Every day there was plenty of time to learn, rehearse and rest. In the evenings, we met in the castle cellar for a drink and to play table football and billiards. There we could make as much noise as we wanted, the prices were very cheap and we could extend the evening indefinitely. Without a doubt, this space was essential to get to know all the colleagues and to relax after working hours. On some days there was even a table football tournament and karaoke - thanks to Alisia and Franka for the excellent planning!
This incredible experience came to an end with 3 days of concerts in which all the participating groups performed a 15-minute programme in 3 different venues. We travelled to the city of Würzburg on 13 September and played in the beautiful Toscana-Saal in the Residenz Würzburg palace. Our repertoire was Pypes, the second of William Albright's Fantasy Etudes, the fourth variation A la Chopin from the second movement of Alexander Glazunov's Saxophone Quartet Op. 109, and the third movement Finale from the same piece. We received very good reviews, both from fellow students and teachers, especially about our performance of Albright's piece.
After playing, Sira rushed to the bus stop on her way to Zürich, and the rest of the quartet stayed until Sunday to take advantage of the last day of the course and the final party. On Sunday 15th, we took our flight back to our routine, tired, already thinking about the next adventure.
We can't forget to thank Oriol, Maria, Joan, Xavier and Guillem (KamBrass Quintet) and Álvaro, Miguel and María (A-Delta Trio), for their closeness and affection. It has been a great pleasure to get to know you more deeply and to see that you are not only great musicians, but also great people. See you soon!
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