As I listen to others play the piano, as I eat, or walk down the sidewalk -- all I think of is the passage of music I struggled with yesterday, a passage I have been playing at least for 25 years. I consider it from many angles, rolling it over in my mind. To be completely cognizant and conscious of every detail in a complicated scripted piece that's played by memory is to be safe. Is it after all a misguided act? To reprise these … [Read more...]
Archives for January 2010
Tract
Taupe. Dull ocher. Light gray. These are the exterior colors available in a new housing development I passed in the outer suburbs of Des Moines. The houses are attached and identically sized. There are slight, symmetrically-occurring variations in the facades. Some people covet these abodes. No chance the neighbors will decide to paint purple -- not allowed! No chance that someone will display a prized lawn gargoyle, or replace the standard-issue … [Read more...]
Drunk
Many of the scions of American piano playing had trouble with alcohol. At school, I remember hidden bottles and little bars inside the official closets. Piano playing is a solitary occupation, and often makes for a solitary life. As much as writers of fiction, pianists have been plagued by (susceptible to? predisposed to?) alcoholism. In some way, intoxication may be a goal of music making -- but chemicals can be a dangerous consort. … [Read more...]