IrishOboe

The Schedule

8:30-10 Yoga (when I can)

10-11:30 Harp class (every other week)

12-1 Ensemble Gesprechstunde (lecture on the music for ensembles)

1:15-2 Voice lesson

3:30-4:15 Harp lesson

4:15-5:45 Instrumental workshop (playing by ear with Ken)

8:45-9:45 Advanced Renaissance dance

This is a rough day for me, though all the classes are interesting.  It’s hard for me to be out from 8am to 10pm.  Instrumental workshop used to be from 2-3:30 so I scheduled my harp lesson for 3:30 but it was changed so now I have a whole without enough time to go home and the day is longer.  Often we practice Ken’s stuff right after class (so we don’t forget what we just memorized) so I don’t go home before dance either.  The good news is, when I get through Wednesday it’s downhill from there.

This week in harp class the historical harp maker Eric Kleinmann came to show some of his harps and give a talk on his research and harp building.  It was fascinating.  Gothic harp bodies are carved out of one piece of wood and fitted with a back, which is why they are so expensive to make (and therefore about the price of my modern oboe!).  They have a wonderful sound, though.  It was fascinating to see all the pictures of harps in museums and his work measuring them.  With x-rays and tiny cameras that go inside cracks quite a bit of information on the construction of the harp can be ascertained.  If I had infinite time and money I’d take a summer to go to one of the workshops on instrument building . . .

Each ensemble has a few pieces and each piece has interesting questions and problems associated with it.  We go through the pieces deciding on ficta (which notes should be raised or lowered to fit counterpoint rules – the markings are surprisingly difficult to determine sometimes) and learning about the composer or history around the piece and other relevant stuff.

Ken’s class is really great, which makes me loath to give it up even though it now takes place at a bad time.  We spend the first half of the class playing exercises that he teaches us by ear (use being two lute players and myself).  So far the exercises revolve around one pattern that is repeated going up the scale then becomes turned on its head for the way back down.  It is quite a feat for the mind and gymnastics for the fingers.  For example, he might start with a simple ornament DCD and take it up the scale (in triplet feel so all notes are equal): DCD, EDE, FEF etc.  Because this is a lower neighbor ornament and is basically a simple scale the pattern down is DCD, CBC, BAB, etc.  Extra credit question: What mode are we in?

The next pattern might be D, F, E, G, F, D slowly, as in 6/4.  Taking that up the scale the pattern on E would be E, G, F, A, G, E, etc.  Sing it, and you’ll noticed it’s a pattern of thirds: 3^rd up, 2^nd down, 3^rd up, 2^nd down, 3^rd down.  The pattern of major and minor intervals changes according to the mode.  On D: m3up, m2down, m3up, M2down, m3down.  On E: m3up, M2down, M3up, M2down, m3down.

Because this is a ‘big beat’ pattern it gets turned around at the top so the way down would be 3^rd down, 2^nd up, 3^rd down, 2^nd up, 3^rd up: D, B, C, A, B, D; C, A, B, G, A, C etc.

Now combine the two exercises so that each ‘big beat’ of the second pattern gets the ornament of the first pattern.  I’ll leave that to a smart reader to figure out.  What would this pattern look like?  Bonus points for getting the way down correct.

The rest of the class he teaches us repertoire from the middle ages, again all by ear.  He plays a 5 or 6 note clip and we imitated it, then he plays the next clip and we imitated it and so on until we have a phrase and we play the whole thing.  Trying to remember what the first clips were is difficult for someone like me with an excellent short term memory.  I can imitate easily but then when the next group comes I’ve forgotten the last bit.  I’m getting better, though.  We learned a complete estampie (the pillar form for medieval instrumental music) in three weeks.  An estampie has the from Ab1b2, Cb1b2, Db1b2 etc.  The large letters are called “puncti” (one punctus) and the b1 ending is called the “ouvert” or open ending and the b2 is called the “clos” or closed ending.  I think we learned estampie number 4 and it has 6 puncti.  That’s two puncti a week.  Luckily they weren’t so long.

That was probably ‘way too much information for most of you, but interesting to a select group, I’m sure.  Of course I find it fascinating.  That’s why I’m ‘wasting‘ my life studying medieval music.

I could drop Renaissance dance, too, but I love it.  I can’t wipe the smile off of my face, and if I have a good partner, it’s all I can do keep from laughing the whole time.  You might think it is simple and stately (though some of the dances, like the galliard, take muscle and endurance), but it is really full of wonderful playfulness and is incredibly flirtatious.  In the dances where the steps are fixed, there is much freedom for delivery and that’s where you get to be creative with flirting with your partner.  Of course, this is all done with subtle gestures, looks, the angle of the body, and the use of space around you.  I saw it done so wonderful at the Tanzabend last winter and they were so playful I couldn’t help but laugh with merriment as I watched.  Renaissance dance will be a delightful course to teach at my music school. ;)

Then I drop, exhausted, but happy, into my bed if I survive the bike ride home.  A car totally cut me off the other day but I was able to break in time.  The Swiss around me expressed disgusted at the car, so I know that this time it wasn’t my fault.  I seem to make enough mistakes when it doesn’t matter I can by no means be self-righteous about it, only reminded once again that my life is in the Lord's hands every moment.