Rehearsal
Preparatory practising for a performance.
What it means
The rehearsal is the joint studying of a work in preparation for a performance. Unlike practising, which the individual pursues alone, the rehearsal serves ensemble playing: tempo, entries, dynamics, tonal balance, and interpretation are fixed together.
In the music business, different kinds are distinguished. Sectional rehearsals take place in individual groups, for instance only with the strings or only with the sopranos. Full rehearsals bring together all those involved. The dress rehearsal is the last complete run-through before the performance, usually under performance conditions. In opera, stage and orchestra rehearsals are added.
The rehearsal is to be distinguished from sight-reading, in which one plays without preparation, and from the performance itself, whose result the rehearsal prepares.
Musical use
The rehearsal is as old as making music together, but its significance has changed. In the eighteenth century, rehearsals were often short, and many performances came about with little preparation. With the grown demands of the orchestral repertoire in the nineteenth century and with the claim to precision, the number and length of rehearsals increased. Today rehearsal work is an essential part of the musician's profession.
A distinction is made between individual rehearsals, sectional rehearsals for individual instrument groups, tutti rehearsals with the whole ensemble, the main rehearsal, and the dress rehearsal, which usually takes place under performance conditions. In opera, staging rehearsals, piano rehearsals, and the seating rehearsal are added, at which singers and orchestra make music together for the first time without acting. Good rehearsals are planned: the director knows which passages need time and begins with the most difficult, while concentration is high. The rehearsal serves not only correction but also a shared understanding of the work.
Performance practice
Come prepared: the rehearsal serves ensemble playing, not learning your own part. Bring a pencil and enter agreements immediately into the music. Listen to the other parts, especially at points where you enter or accompany. And use pauses to remember what was discussed at the previous point — in the next rehearsal it will be assumed as known.