In a week and a half, Josiah will perform in a concert with the other Suzuki students in this area; and I am delighted to have the honor of accompanying the group--delighted not only because my son and I will be playing in the same concert, but also because accompanying is really my first love musically. If life had gone in a different direction for me and if I had not married and had children and if I had pursued higher education, I would have gotten a master's degree in accompanying--or tried to, anyway--or at least, wanted to. :)
The thing about accompanying now, however, is this: my fingers are rusty! Many years have passed since I was at the peak of my musical career, spending hours every day in a practice room, getting to know intimately every phrase in a Bach partita and every accidental in a Chopin etude. Fortunately, most of the pieces in the upcoming concert are easy and pose no problem for me. However, there are a few that are challenging, and they leave me wishing that my fingers would do a better job of obeying what my mind tells them to do!
The good thing about all of this--one of the good things, I should say--is that it's forcing me to spend time playing the piano again. Without a performance looming over my head, I don't make the time to sit down and practice...and then eventually, I wake up and think, "It's been forever since I've played the piano. I really miss it!" During the next week and a half, I surely won't have that problem; I have a feeling nearly all of my free time will be spent perched on my piano bench. Joy!
Most of the pieces in the concert are very familiar to me, but there are a few newcomers in the bunch. "Gavotte" by Rameau is one of them; and to make sure I was playing it correctly (with appropriate tempo, dynamics, and other expression), I found it on YouTube and listened to it. (By the way, how did we ever get along without YouTube?! It's incredible to think that we have SO MUCH knowledge at our fingertips. Mind-boggling, really.) I sort of fell in love with this piece, especially the first phrase (which begins around the :22 mark in this video).
Ah, music, how I love thee!
If anyone needs me from now until next Sunday, you just might find me at my piano. ;-)
yay for getting to accompany the students! You will do great and we need a video of Josiah playing w/ you!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lindsay! If I forget to post a video, remind me, OK? :)
ReplyDeleteOn another note...I want to jot this down so I don't forget it. Last night, Tobin cried out in his sleep which woke me up, of course. As I went to check on him, this piece was soaring through my head. It definitely made that wake-up call much more peaceful and joyful than middle-of-the-night interruptions usually are! :)
i second the video request!
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