Drained!

Aging!!  Yikes...who wants to think about that?
I felt it Friday evening... I remember when I could play an hour concert, with few minutes of break, running on adrenalin and being hyper as a deer afterwards.  It takes focus!  Now it takes focus, rest, and a great pair of glasses!
After the first four choral pieces of everything from gospel/praise to Romantic (Fauré), I cranked up the pipe organ, shaking a few people out of their seats with the first chord (fff) especially the choir which sits right in front of the organ pipes. Sorry for the scare...
About 1/3 into the Bach Prelude and Fugue I thought to myself, "What are you doing?" but not for long.  The focus came back and everyone was happy with the results.  I got a lot of compliments, hugs and recounts of emotions from the enormous wall of sound you can get from the Bach/pipe organ combination.
I must admit that it wasn't too long, and therefore it suits my abilities and most people's listening pleasures.  If you want to hear it (again) you can certainly find it on youtube:  J. S. Bach's Little Prelude and Fugue in G major.
As I sat down afterwards to hear the brass, I was still a-buzz, but when I stepped up to the piano for the final 3 choral pieces...  I was drained.  I was aware of it through the first half of the first piece, but then I turned into a focus machine.
I wonder if that has any carry-over into the knitting world?  Say, focus on details, stitch patterns...?

Nine fingers

I feel a little guilty that my blog is "Yarn" heavy, and "Ivories" doesn't get equal time, but that's life around here.  As I think about it, I've had ivories in my life since 1954, and yarn... hard to pinpoint, but it came a little later (still, it was in the late '50's).
Now I have news about "Ivories" since 5 weeks ago I started using nine fingers instead of ten.  It's been a long standing habit I've created for myself, of using and depending on ten fingers but I've amazed myself at making nine work.

Yesterday I played 4 hymns (and 15 verses), a prelude (Battle Hymn Tribute, pictured above), an offertory (Elegy), and a short postlude (short variations on hymn tunes).  This was all on organ where notes need to be connected one to the other by slipping from one note to the next, holding them down until the next is played, and since my left pinky is out of commission, the pedals cover nicely the lower notes.  It works!!  I particularly liked the Battle Hymn Tribute by Behnke because it starts and ends with Amazing Grace.  People like it because they have to like one of the two tunes, and if they like quiet music or loud, it has both.
Yesterday was also my debut playing piano (haven't played since early May and never with nine fingers).  I originally said-- NO WAY!  Then I tried the piece for women's ensemble, and it wasn't half bad.  A minimum of octaves (pictured below) and the last verse was "a capella", my favorite!!  I cheated skirted around most octaves to begin with, but by the third service (and third performance) I got braver and found I was reaching more notes.


I've come to grips with how old my hands look... so I'm leaving this untouched photo in.  Not all hand shots are this flattering... :)
One amusing glitch yesterday:  As I was turning a page with my left hand (and covering music with my other appendages) I made a loud cracking noise as my plastic splint hit the music desk.  It startled me, but I guess I was playing loudly and no one else noticed!

Where I At?

Here I am!
After a #@$%^&*%$# trip back a week ago, I'm rested (mostly: it's strange how 100ºF temps exhaust the body), and I have no concerts or guests planned for the next month.  
Fact:  Within hours of my arrival home, we had guests for the 4th weekend, to play concerts and workshop.  My fingers still work, but barely.  Patriotic songs always include 'forte' and 'octaves', which can be exhausting for my well rested (one month off) fingers.  Particularly my knobby little finger got a little tired and sore by Sunday.
Knitting?  Of course...  temps don't bother me with my tiny projects. Give me a chair and a fan!
I have nine projects started, each begging for my time, and I'd love to give them my all...(see Ravelry link to the upper right) but instead I flit from one to the next thinking that each one should be the 1st priority.

• A little Sage cardigan that I would wear with a summer dress.
• My double knitted scarf with that cool pattern, promised for Fall
• Cotton pullover, toddler size, that would be perfect anytime in Norway
• Socks, just for the heck of it!  Portable is the key word.

Those are the projects that are out and about.  I'm fighting my urge to start something, or knit a row or two on the other 5 "in progress" projects.  Sorry, garden... too hot for you!

Guests, beware!  This is what is required for a stay at "Casa Hesse":

Tickling the Ivories

Special music last Sunday:
Early service, I accompanied a euphonium player.  His sound is wonderful, and he chooses music that people love.  He played I love you, Lord in an arrangement that, as he put it, "You'll be able to play it blind folded, and I'll keep one eye open."  We ran it just before the service, and added a repeat for length.
At the later service, the Chancel Choir sang a three verse setting of Hyfrdol. The first and third verses were for unison choir, and the second verse was in 4-part harmony.  The third verse accompaniment was... surprising.  Lots of harmonies that were edgy (i.e. kept me on my toes, er, finger tips).  Both of these pieces were for piano.
On organ, the hymns were standard, except for the closing which was Let There Be Peace on Earth which I don't remember playing before.  Didn't know it was in the hymnal...


This week I'm looking forward to having some maintenance done on the pipe organ.  The presets haven't been working since last... summer.  (Maybe it was late Spring.)  The tuner and technician is coming on Thursday, and the replacement magnets arrived last Saturday from the builder in Quebec. Fingers crossed that problems will be solved!

More Ivories than Yarn

Spent an overnight in a secluded B&B with 7 other women who enjoy music.

We were together from 5 PM to 12:30 PM the next day.  Two meals and a GOOD night's sleep left about 4 hours of uninterrupted rehearsal time.  Uninterrupted, did I say? Interrupted by bouts of rolling on the floor.

Phones ringing to announce the progress of a birth.  Very spotty cell service, and discussions of childhood speech impediments and the best "howling" we could do.
I arrived first to set up the keyboard to find the hubs forgot to put in the stand.  Telephone books!  What will happen to the future generations when those become obsolete?

A Host and Gifts

A WHOLE HOST of Middle school kids singing solos, a church choir singing carols by a bonfire, a group brunch singing carols, and a duet, plus two church services with four pieces for violin, and a partridge in a pear tree.  That was my musical weekend.  Luckily, it was tempered by knitting:

 Two gifts completed:  Gray, Karaoke Soysilk;  Motherlode, Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted.
And lucky me, I have some smiling faces (7 in all) to look at.

Happy December!

My window...

A week ago, I looked up from my knitting/computer and I saw-- SKY.  Yes, a nighttime of cold and wind had removed the leaves that normally shade the backyard.  I was again looking into the field behind the house. (A great view btw considering the options:  no view (an interior cabin), the neighbor's house, or a brick wall.)
Today, as I read my morning mail, movement caught my eye. I wish I had a webcam, but alas, those horses ran right by without pausing for a picture, and now they are cavorting (as horses do) down by the river.  I expect them to reappear, but unless they do in the next 15 minutes, you'll just have to use your imagination.
I know nothing of horses (the fodder for another blog-post) but I'll paint a picture for you:  A white one, a tan one, some brown and white, a dark one.  They didn't stay in view for long...
However, today it's Starling-Invasion-Day.  Clouds of blackbirds, the whoosh of wings, the chatter, all this I would like to capture but alas... here's the glimpse.

November 19, 2010

It goes on for days/weeks.  Looking around the valley, they will be in sight.  It's pretty spectacular.  That huge cottonwood to the left holds "quite a few"!
The woodpeckers are back.  They are most noisy noticeable in Spring and Fall. And the leaves... where I started: I can see through the trees because of this:

Back to knitting!
Back to holiday music rehearsals...

Ivories, That too!

Keeping in shape.
My hub is very envious.  He works his tail off keeping his lip(s) from becoming mush. I go away and don't see a keyboard for 5 weeks.  I rehearse/practice/play two days later.  There's something about using your fingers, (maybe it's the computer keyboard - however, iPods don't help) and everyday knitting that makes it not that difficult.
So much for philosophizing on dexterity, but what about playing the pedals on the organ?  That's memory too.  And I really feel that that talent is subjective to... so many things.  One minute it's working, and the next I tell my heel from my toe.  When pedaling goes awry for someone else, I'm the last to smirk.  I don't even roll my eyes... It's a phenomenon that scares the B-G-B's out of me every time I play.
Unlike knitting, which I can throw in the corner, or stomp on, rip it out, and/or ignore, pedal notes played in a highly resonant chamber are out there never to be retrieved.
Such is life.  And we organists become calloused by it. Oddly enough, the public will withstand a great deal before dealing with it... When it goes well, "how sweet it is!"

Karmøy, Norway, M and his trumpet (August 2009)

Back to the Future!

I'm back and running with my fingers lagging behind.  Nails are clipped, and will stay that way for awhile.  Choir rehearsals, church services, and my flutist is champing at the bit to get some playing time in.  

Life has a way of interfering with our practice time.  And if it doesn't get done, well, nobody's happy!

ME brought her music to practice last night and the first thing she pulls out is a Poulenc Sonata; it's easy, she says, very slow.  It's the second movement.

Hmmm.  Not THIS Sunday. How about 3 weeks. (I'm going to be camping for one of those weeks.)

YIKES!  It will be fine in 3 weeks.

Fingers

These fingers hardly fit on this keyboard, and are absolutely useless for piano/organ.
Time to trim!

They don't look like much in this picture, but to me, they feel like one inch claws...

Doesn't bother my knitting...

And a few weeks later:

Selecting Music

The Ivories were complimented yesterday!  Sometimes things just work!!


I heard from many that the music was wonderful, asking for the name of tunes, and it really was something that people wanted to hear.  It makes me feel good. I always feel that part of my job is to make an experience that will bring people back a second time.  There has to be something that will hook a person into returning for another hour, and maybe even bringing someone else with them.


ME is my flutist that pulls off the best sounds... everyone loves flute music.  Sax, clarinet, trumpet, etc. someone can be offended, but flute?  Never.  It wasn't until Friday that I decided that since I hadn't heard from ME, but she was expected to play on Sunday, I better search through my library and find a few things to "suggest".  Rather than finding things that will go with sermons, I find things that will create a mood of uplifting, contemplation, prayer, melodies known and unknown.  (Often I make up titles to fit the mood I want to create. Who's to know? And the title starts the process of an image before the music begins and gives listening guidance.)




I chose music that was rather repetitious but soothing.  Rolf Lovland and his music called Smooth Stones: Secret Garden is written for violin and piano.  Last Fall, I had a violinist try it out and it was amazing--people were very excited about the feel.  It's similar to Celine and Andrea.  (Without all the shouting...)






Neo-classical is the term:  ME does it well, and there's nothing like live music to fit the moment. Not only inspirationally but in length. By this, I mean, knowing when to stop is very important, and when to have enough to fill the moment, too.  Somehow, it came out just right with our phrasing.  There's a certain amount of luck and experience that goes into that happening.

Ivories and Ebonies

I play on more ebonies than ivories... That's what we organists do!  If you aren't an organist, you may want to skip the next paragraph, because it's going to be BOORRRing.


I am employed by the local Methodist church to accompany and perform on their organ and piano.  The piano is a mediocre Baldwin, but the organ is a wonderful Casavant built in 1984.  The Casavant builder is in Sainte Hiacynthe, Quebec, and I think they did a wonderful job of putting together a great sound.  Full organ is perfect for a church FULL of singers on Easter morning or Christmas Eve.  Otherwise, I get complaints about it being too loud (and without using Full Organ).  I know that I've interrupted some conversations, and caused some hearing aids to malfunction! What FUN!  


What is it like to be relied upon to lead and keep the service going?  I try not to think about it.  From June through September I was without leadership, relying on lay people to sing hymns, which was interesting every Sunday!  Now I have a fine leader who really leads... I have to watch! (Imagine that!)


December is probably the most stressful time of year: 
1.  Everyone wants to sing carols.  Well known carols that they only get to sing once or twice a year.  With organ, and everyone else singing away, and candles... You know the ones EVERYONE knows.  Unfortunately, there are a few minor places in these carols that written differently than many people "know" them, but you know, the organ is louder so it doesn't matter.  What DOES matter is the pipe organ when it's cranked up (and not necessarily loud) is an unforgiving beast.  How many times have I stopped playing but came a little too close to the keyboard below, where I've ever so slightly touched a key to hear a gigantic sound announced for all? Or a slip in the head when I've forgotten to push cancel and my foot has touched a pedal issuing forth a nasty blatt! It doesn't happen often but it certainly is memorable! (Last Sunday was one of those.)


2.  Organists usually don't play these popular carols more than once or twice a year.  So an untimely blatt is nothing compared to stumbling on a chord in a carol!  Dang... I hate that when it happens.


3.  Cantatas!  Yes, every church has the "special program" where who is the star of the show?  The director and choir, of course!  And who could bring the mood down to a grinding halt?  The accompanist, of course!  I try not to think about how much is riding on it.  In the past few years, I've been playing with other musicians who take on much of that burden, and can cover up a multitude of uncertain notes in my part.  But this year, it's just me!  


How do I do it?  How does one prepare?  I'll be writing about that in a few weeks, but I have to warn you... I'm not a pretty picture the day of the performance.