Timing

As musicians, we think about timing - so - often. 

How much time does it take to prepare _____________ for a concert? There are all sorts of factors with this, including difficulty, style, how much else is going on “in life” at that time, does it have to be memorized or staged ... 

Then within a project, we must obsess over timing in every aspect. How long does it take to move-tune a harpsichord, for a violinist to make a string crossing, for a continuo group to “figure out” the feel of a piece, for a pianist to time a huge leap across the keyboard? How does a singer time a shift through the passaggio, to a high note, or time the initial plosiveness of a double consonant? 

For a performance, how much time do we take between songs or movements? How much is too much, or not enough, for the audience?

A small shift in a metronome marking (or speed) of something can make an enormous difference for the performers and audience. 

Sometimes, we prepare so much for these minuscule shifts, over analyzing them, even.

And just like that, when something is perfectly timed, by surprise, it is remarkable. 

As if God Himself has orchestrated it. 

“He has made everything beautiful in its time.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11, ESV). 

Impromptu

No one writes better 

neapolitan chords 

than Franz Schubert, 

and these days, 

between the delicious 

fantasy

in f minor 

for four hands 

on one piano,

or thinking

on lieder 

of

Goethe

and 

Mayrhofer 

(to take place in later summer),

I would rather have 

an

impromptu

meeting

with no one else. 

 

(June 16, 2015)

 

 

The day-of ...

I remember saying to someone that nerves might kill me if I perpetually had to perform, task after task, starting at 8 or 9 PM. (One of the many reasons that I would never be able to cut it as a jazz musician). 

My recital today is at 5PM and I'm already in performance-mode, meaning -- 

hyper-focused, and not in the mood to run random errands this morning (I rarely am, and I'm not a big fan of running errands for three hours on the weekend). I want to perform beautifully with my colleagues and then not have the pressure of performance hanging over my head anymore for this project.

It is times like this where I try to borrow from experts who negotiate this a lot. I found this terrific link:

http://www.bulletproofmusician.com/how-to-make-performance-anxiety-an-asset-instead-of-a-liability/

And I think today I'm going to tend to my need for silence as much as possible. I'm going to go for a walk and then warm up, do my hair, and get to school hours early. (One of *many* advantages of performing where you work - you get a fabulous, private, "green room" one flight above the hall). 

I am grateful for my colleagues (seven of them!) who will be joining me on stage, and hopefully some more in the audience. 

I will let you know how it goes! 

PHOTO: A very fitting photo for half of today's program: Brahms Opus 120 no 1 and the Schumann Spanish Songbook (for vocal quartet and one pianist), Opus 74. The other works on the program are Brittish, French and American. I took this photo today while in the Erzgebirger region hiking near Dresden, summer of 2012.