It was too bad I couldn’t share the Renaissance dance concert with anyone, but I was blessed with the attendance of a number of special people at the concert on Thursday (Feb. 28th), which was more important because I played in it. Aside from playing Baroque oboe at the aforementioned Tanzabend last March because they were desperate, this was my first performance at the Schola. I should have realized it would be well attended and treated with importance because it was part of the symposium, but luckily I didn’t put things together until that day. The idea was to give a concert of improvised music, since after all that was the theme of the symposium. I was not good enough to be one of the improvisers, but I played the tenor line and improvised rhythms on it because the harp sound does not sustain long enough. Keeping the bray pins in contact with the strings and remembering the unwritten meter changes was challenge enough for me. It went fairly well and I enjoyed it. I recorded it so one day it might be in a form to share, for that was the intent.
The Bloms gave me flowers, which was really touching. It’s nice to have people around who understand that part of musician culture. It was also nice to have people who understand practical needs. The concert ended as the school was closing (the concert was in Leonhards Kirche – a nearby church) and despite running over to the school with the harp hoping to put it away in the harp room everything was locked up so I was stuck with a huge harp case. The Stuecklins offered to take me and the harp home in their car, which was greatly appreciated. Steph came too and spent the night, which was great fun of course.
So I see it’s been two weeks since I tried to catch up from the pervious two weeks. Luckily most of what’s been happening is school and personal and nothing wonderfully adventurous that needs lots of time to report. It’s amazing how much motivation to write came from knowing my Mom is dying to know what’s going on in my life. The frequent contact on Skype relieves that part of my guilty conscience and writing looses its priority. Well, stop giving excuses and start writing, eh?
So on to random things I sort of remember from the past month.
Feb. 22nd we had a sing at church with the Bloms for the first time in a while. It was lovely, and I even brought my fiddle to play along. I think it was my first public exhibition of my fiddle skills and it wasn’t bad. I’ve often thought of instruments like animals. Have you seen an animal show where they get a new animal used to the crowds by simply bringing it out so it can see and hear and experience stage life without having to perform? Once they get used to that then they gradually increase the duties until the animal can be trusted to perform his tricks in front of the crowds. So, the fiddle did a nice job for its first appearance. ;)
Saturday (Feb. 23rd) Steph, M (my new roommate) and I took a rather spontaneous trip to Flueh for some hiking and castle viewing. Hopefully I’ll upload pictures since they’re better than words.
In general classes have been up and down. I have the same general problem of not feeling that I’m making enough daily progress (though I’ve been lucky to have kept up the daily practice and doing homework as its assigned) but I still have encouraging moments where I look back and see how far I’ve come though I didn’t see myself making the steps to get there. I have neglected my personal life terribly and let my inbox grow out of hand. Apologies to loved ones – I’m making a start with the blog and hope to answer all the caring emails soon.
But back to things I’m actually getting better at, I’ve been worried about upcoming ensemble performances because we have a lot of music to prepare in a little amount of time. It took me so long to learn the first piece we did because it was with a new instrument (gothic harp) and we had to transpose it. Now we have 8 or 10 pieces to work up on two weeks and most of those have to be transposed a different way as well. We had rehearsal the other day and I was thrilled that I was able to hit 80% of the notes sight-reading and transposing on the spot. If I don’t stick with medieval music at least I’ll be a better musician for it.
Fiddle is coming along as well and in fiddle class where we sight read in original notation I’m able to read more than follow and when we put the parts together I can hold my own on a part. I still find notation in any form one of the more exciting parts about studying medieval music.
Of course some of you are probably blaming my silence on Stephan’s return, and you’d be right to an extent. The day he got back (March 6th) we took a hike in Aesch and I made Lasagna. After that we’ve both been too busy with stuff to have time to relax and hang out, but fortunately enough of our activities overlap that we had some time together before his leaving again, this time for a relaxing time in Morocco with a bunch of church folks. If I didn’t have this April 1st concert coming up I’d be tempted to skip the week of school for it, but if I did then we’d only have the day of the concert to rehearse together and we’re not that good yet. ;)
March 3rd I went to see Swan Lake with Veronika because the town of Binningen was giving out tickets to residents because of some donation they gave to Basel city for the arts. I enjoyed the evening out very much, but I found it totally strange to watch dancing that was heavily influenced by modern dance (as opposed to classical ballet) while listening to Tchaikovsky. It’s a bit like watching a football game with your headphones tuned to relaxing nature sounds: the one removes you from the other. I also found the costumes rather distracting rather than aesthetically pleasing and the choreography not well lined to the expression of the music. The music would climax and one dance would be dancing while 20 others watched along rather than making a grand group display. But what do I know about dance? I enjoyed the music (they oboist was great and the orchestra good in general and I very much appreciated the live music) and I enjoyed the dance and the evening in general.
March 8th Josh and Diana put together a Seder for the youth of the church. I was asked to play piano for some hymns, so I got to come along. It was a beautiful service and it made me very homesick for liturgy. I don’t understand why people don’t like it, though of course I respect their different opinions. Maybe reading words from others can get automatic, but surely if I am in an uninspired mood isn’t it easier to try to focus on the wise words others have written than to try to come up with spiritual thoughts on my own? However it is, I miss it, and I hope to get my act together so I can find a liturgical Easter Vigil service.
Monday (March 10th) Steph invited Stephan and me for dinner. We had enchiladas with salsa and sour cream and I had ice in my water. Oh, the things that speak of home when you are away. I still don’t get why the Euopeans find it necessary to make fun of Americans for liking ice in their drinks, but it is something we appreciate that they don’t seem to understand. Why is it that if Americans appreciate something the Europeans don’t we’re excessive but if Europeans appreciate something Americans don’t then we’re uncultured?
Last Wednesday (March 12th) was Baptiste’s (fiddle) diploma concert. He played brilliantly and because I’d hyped it up a number of friends on my concert list came along as well. I got to have drinks with Stephan and his mom beforehand, which was nice. It’s so interesting for me to hear from people what they see in concerts and what they enjoy or not. It seems different for everyone and I don’t think we musicians have a right to say what an audience should or should not appreciate. At the bottom of it we are entertainers: people pay to enjoy the evening, not to take medicine. I’m thinking of doing another recital a bit like my Junior recital at Eastman, but as concerned as I am with connecting to the audience I often plan in terms of what I would like as an audience member and haven’t really bothered to learn what other people think. For example, I usually pick out a dress at the last minute and don’t give it much thought other than whether I can physically play in it or not. Now I know a number of artists for whom that visual element of a concert is so important a poorly dressed performer is a serious distraction. Some of me resents this (I don’t go whining about people who play music for fun and aren’t that good, why do people have to be so critical of my clothes?) but the more logical side of me is starting to realize there’s a dimension to the world that I’ve been totally unaware of and could stand to learn about. So, you tell me. What makes a concert enjoyable? What causes discomfort or boredom? What makes you wish for more, and what makes you wish it were over?
The next day I went to a recital of late Renaissance music from Spain, which I found to be totally enjoyable. It was full of dance-like, syncopated Spanish rhythms, the performers were clearly enjoying themselves and they played well. Of course it helped that it was mostly harps music and it was quite modal, and I’m a sucker for modality. It’s a bit like the lectures who might be boring but I enjoy them for their beautiful accent. The modality washes over me and I could listen for ever in a sort of funk no matter what is actually being said in the music.
Last night I went to a friend’s birthday party. She’s one of the dear gals who speaks more German with me now than when I first came, which is hard to do because as I’ve said before people tend to stick with speaking the language you first spoke to them in. Stephan came along and I found it less intimidating to speak German in front of him when I had my friends with whom I normally speak German to along with. I’m proud to say they all reported progress, though I honest don’t know how I’ve progressed since again, I don’t feel like I get any better each day. I suppose learning a few words each day from context and hearing correct German continues to influence me despite the spotty studying. Steph spent the night last night with the plan to study together again this morning but then we slept until 11!!! So if this post doesn’t make much sense I can blame it on disturbed sleep patterns . . .
It’s also been an exhausting week or so for a number of reasons. I’m happy to report that I am feeling my chipper self again other than the fact that I’m groggy from having slept at an odd time. It helps that there’s a beautiful rose sitting on my table designed to keep me company during the time I won’t get to hear anything from its giver. Wasn’t that sweet?
Hugs and kisses, Janet
We had friends over for dinner last night, and since they are good friends who know us well they brought their own beer. :) Some is left over and so I'm happy to report that we have a bottle of Harp beer in the house. :)
We're having a seder for Maundy Thursday, and our choir cantata on Good Friday. Two services on Easter, the first being the Great Vigil! And two services tomorrow, for which I need to go cut off a couple of palm branches. The palms in our backyard could use a little thinning anyway. It's not every church that requests BYOP on Palm Sunday. :)
Why is it that if Americans appreciate something the Europeans don’t we’re excessive but if Europeans appreciate something Americans don’t then we’re uncultured? Perhaps because despite our reputation (often deserved) as pompous Americans, we're really quite insecure, especially when it comes to matters cultural. And because our view of Europe still bears traces of our early child/parent relationship. Europe is the home of culture. That doesn't mean they're always right, of course, especially when it comes to water. Cool, delicious water flows freely from the city fountains in Switzerland, yet in most Swiss restaurants one must pay lots of money for bland, tepid water from a bottle. But don't get me started on that.
Hmmm, what makes a concert enjoyable for me? You'll laugh when I say it really helps to know the performers, but it's true, and I'm not just talking about family members. Musically, there's no doubt that the Chicago Symphony is more enjoyable than the Orlando Philharmonic, but the fact that we know so many of the OPO players definitely increases the enjoyment factor.
What the performers are wearing? I would say no factor at all, unless they were naked, which would be distracting.
I much prefer a smaller setting, where I can see the players well, to a large concert hall. Related to that, I think the biggest contributing factor to my appreciation of a concert is whether or not the players seem to be enjoying themselves, and how much they involve the audience in that enjoyment. If the players look bored, what can they expect from the audience?
There were, of course, other factors that made your junior year recital an emotional experience for me, so I'm not the best judge, but the interaction amongst the performers made it electrifying.
Oh, one other factor. Maybe it shouldn't be this way, but I find that if I already am familiar with what is being played, or at least know something about it (e.g. the intro you gave to Rands' Memo 8), I tend to get much more pleasure out of a concert. I know there's such a thing as knowing too much -- and therefore finding some performances painful -- but I'm rarely there....
