What is Music? →
String theory, eleven dimension physicis, harmonic progression, and maths. That’s what.

Due to scheduling conflicts this was my first lesson in two weeks. At my last lesson David suggested it was time to buy Schröder 170 Foundational Studies as I am but on étude away from completing the Lee 40 Easy Études book.

I prompty bought the new book and started in on my own. For the past two weeks I’ve been playing the first 9 pieces using my metronome. Starting at 60 bpm and gradually working my way up to 120 bpm. Today at my lesson David was pleased with my initiative and he liked the idea of using these pieces as metronome practice too.

Schröder
My assignment is to play in rotaion the first 9 études using the metronome and drones. Since these are relatively simple pieces I have enough focus left over after rhythm and notes to work on intonation and tempo.

Lee
Continue working on #40. I need to even out the double stops so both notes are heard equally. For the triple and quadruple stops I need to be smoother blending across the strings. For the Eb I need to really stretch my forefinger back to get proper intonation. I tend to curl my 1st finger which gets me two-thirds the way there. At my lesson two weeks ago when he assigned me this piece, David said completing the book was an accomplishment and a milestone, worthy of a pizza out or something. I am looking forward to that reward.

Suzuki
I continue to work on La Cinquantaine. The harmonic A is relatively easy to play given that the harmonic area on the string is rather broad. However, getting back to 4th position (or wherever) after the harmonic is tricky. The 3rd position shifts are difficult for me too. 4th position is easy due to the curve of the neck, but 3rd position is out in no-man’s-land. David pointed out that 1st position is also without a physical reference. I countered that I’ve had two years to learn that position. His response was that “3rd position is the new 1st position.”

I’m also working on Allegro Moderato, which is the final piece in volume 3 of the Suzuki method. I’ve been careful to use the metronome quite a bit right from the start, which has helped to avoid some of the rhythmic pitfalls.

For both pieces he wants me to focus only on the first page which, when combined with my other pieces in progress, is more than enough to keep me busy.

Countess of Stainlein Violoncello Sold for $6M Plus →
Best line is the last, which says the cellist who will play the Countess, “… eats, sleeps and breathes cello.”

This past Sunday we capped our weekend in Kansas City by attending a piano masterclass given by Stansilav Ioudenitch. I have been to several piano masterclasses with Sibylle and I always learn something even though I am not a pianist. Yesterday’s class was no exception. Here are my notes.

• Play slower – let the audience hear all the notes. Be aware of the accompaniment
• Use shoulder weight to increase volume
• Extend phrases across bar / measure
• Rebound off notes – feel the weight moving through the note
• Playing with more expression doesn’t mean more attack - it means more lyrical
• Don’t rush through passages, even if they are at a fast(er) tempo
• Resolve technical problems through expression
• Be aware of conversation between solo and accompaniment, whether it is just a piano or an orchestra
• Orchestra accompaniment is like the Titanic – big and powerful – and unable to react to the soloist. Piano accompaniment can and will react to solo
• Performer’s thoughts/emotion will come through in the music. Change your emotion to color the music differently
• Interplay between solo and orchestra or second piano is key
• When developing phrasing think about how a singer would perform the melody
• Technical passages should be played virtuosically yes, but also musically
• Be relaxed – flexible – no extra weight or tension in body
• Make short notes longer to increase expression
• Body motion – elegant body motion – will make elegant music
• Play with no extra motion, don’t waste energy

Nokia ringtone during classical music concert →

On the subject of ringtone and alarms in concert…

Last night we were privileged to be able to attend Yo-Yo Ma’s concert with the Kansas City Symphony. He played Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B minor and it was sublime. I am fortunate enough to have seen Yo-Yo Ma perform once before; last night’s performance was Sibylle’s first chance to see him live.

What struck me from the moment he walked on stage was his sheer joy at doing this. He was having fun and he wanted everyone else there – the other players, the audience – to have fun as well. Our seats were fantastically close (6 rows from the stage) but over at the right side of the concert hall. This meant that the conductor was between us and Mr. Ma during the concerto performance. While it was a bit disappointing to have my view of his playing impeded I was able to hear every note as the Helzberg Hall at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts is a superb venue.

There was a sustained round of applause and a couple of rounds of returning to the stage. Every time Mr. Ma returned to the stage he greeted different orchestra members and directed his own applause toward them. As this is the inaugural season for the center there were several donor’s, the architects, and the hall’s namesake in attendance. Mr. Ma also directed his applause to them. The third time he returned to the stage he was by himself, and a moment later the conductor stepped out on stage with the cello and bow. Yo-Yo Ma took them and proceeded to center stage.

He spoke briefly about the creating beauty using beautiful instruments and in a beautiful hall. He called the place where we were a “cultural cathedral on the hill”. He then said he wanted to dedicate the Sarabande from the D major Bach Cello Suite to this cultural cathedral on the hill. With an absolutely hushed hall he played the most achingly beautiful rendition of that movement I have ever heard. There were tears running down my cheeks by the time he was finished.

The concert was everything I had hoped for and better than I imagined. His musical gift transcends mere technical skill or ability. It transports him and his audience into the music, and for a few brief moments all that matters, all that exists, all that is, is beauty.

Recently I linked to a story about an interruption of a performance of Mahler’s 9th Symphony. Apparently an iPhone “Marimba” ring tone was heard repeatedly duing the final moments of the final movement. The ring tone was persistent enough that the conductor stopped the performance and confronted the issue.

At the time of the original story I, along with most other people I guess, thought evil thoughts about the idiot who didn’t silence his phone before the performance and, even worse, didn’t stop it from sounding during the performance. As it turns out the unlucky patron had been isseud a new iPhone by his employer, replacing a BlackBerry, and was unaware that an alarm had been set, and that it would sound even if the mute swtich was engaged on the phone.

The ensuing online discussion has be fascinating to follow. Should the mute silence all sounds the phone makes or only the ringer? Does the mute perform exactly as intended? Should there be a set of settings that allows you to configure the mute function? Or perhaps, should the phone use its location awareness to know where it is okay to sound alarms and where not?

Sibylle and I are always careful to remind each other to “mute” our phones when we attend performances, however in light of the Mahler interruption I am now planning on turning my phone completely off during performances.

Growing up I was exposed to classical music and live music performances. Both of my parents enjoyed opera and classical music. I was taken to orchestra performances and ballet and plays and concerts. When I was perhaps 8 or 10 my father took me to see Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax perform. I can still remember the thrill that music gave me.

Earlier this evening there was a re-tweet of a Yo-Yo Ma tweet that landed in my stream. Opening his profile I clicked on the link to his site. Once there I explored a bit finally landing on the “events” page where I discovered that he is performing three shows in Kansas City this coming weekend. Just two hours away in a brand-new state-of-the-art performance center. On Yo-Yo Ma’s site there were no links to ticket sales for those three performances, but there were links for other performances, From this I decided that the KC shows were sold out.

Later when telling Sibylle about the missed opportunity we looked up the performance location and just for grins I clicked on the “puchase tickets” link. Imagine my surprise and then glee to discover tickets were available.

Exactly two tickets. The very last two tickets. After I completed the purchase I refreshed the page and the purchase link was gone, and a new message appeared saying that the performance was sold out.

I have always loved the sound of cello music, and I am extremely happy to be a cellist now. To be able to go hear Yo-Yo Ma perform with my new appreciation for what being a musician means will be simply wonderful.

My String Fling experience this year was a very good one. The first two years I participated in this event I found sight reading new music, playing in tempo, hearing myself over all the other instruments, and watching the conductor, all simultaneously, to be overwhelming. Last year was especially frustrating for me. Determined to have a better experience this year I asked David if I could get a copy of the music ahead of time. He loaned me the three pieces my orchestra was slated to perform and I spent several practice session learning them.

At the first rehearsal Saturday morning our conductor announced that she was only going to use one of the three pieces selected for us, and was substituting two pieces she had brought. The two substitutes were less complicated in some ways and I was very pleased to be able to keep up. I still have difficulty hearing my intonation over the other instruments. I still need my ear to tell me if my intonation is correct; relying on muscle memory seems fraught with peril.

Over the course of three rehearsal sessions my confidence in my ability to play the right notes, more or less in the right time, grew. I was even able to look up at the conductor and not lose my place in the score. It was a very satisfying experience.

Now that I’ve had a good orchestra playing experience I am even more determined to play in a group. One wonders if a cellist with a mere two years of playing experience can found a quartet.

Selling a 300-Year-Old Cello →
I’ll never own a 300-year-old instrument, but as valuable as my cello is to me I can well imagine how difficult letting go must be for these masterpiece instruments.