[Journal] Brahms g minor piano quartet performance readiness

A crazy thing: the violinist in my group (who lives in the Portland area) offered me a harpsichord when I met her 5-6 years ago. I didn't have room for one then. Now we have a finished basement and we were talking during break today and I ended up asking if she still has a harpsichord looking for a new home. Turns out that she has two harpsichords and a hurdy gurdy that she picked up at estate sales! I asked her how big the harpsichords are and she said both are 9 feet long!! Really long but narrow. I was just talking to my husband about it because part of me is a little tempted (apparently one of them is a very nice one) but I thought it was going to be 5 feet long or something like that. I don't think I actually have space to put a 9 foot instrument unless we got rid of the dining table and made the dining room a harpsichord room instead

I care about having airy spaces and nice aesthetics so I don't think a 9 foot harpsichord is in my future! I'll go to her house at some point and play some Bach though.

Rubens I've only played one briefly in an antique shop! I can't really play by ear but somehow some Bach came out of my fingers! I can't imagine that they're both really 9 feet but I'll go check them out. I only play Romantic pieces these days (plus the occasional Beethoven) but I think I could enjoy Bach if I had a harpsichord. Maybe if it's a really pretty one I could justify fitting it somewhere??

This was on the board today (I whited out the piano coach's name)

Rubens hah, no! An actual cat, but I haven't seen it

Rubens well, when the time comes and you can convince your wife, apparently there are kits you can buy where you assemble it yourself! One of the estate sale ones the violinist got was in an attic, unassembled. I'll have to ask who did the work, because from what I saw online it takes 300 hours to do it. Maybe she did it herself!! I saw one in an antique shop for about $1K.

Practice this morning working on tips from the coach! I'm about to have to rehearsal. Thankfully this piano is easy to play. Oh no, my hands started sweating for the first time on this trip and now my hands and feet are going to be swampy for the rest of the day. I really hope we can play a really exciting Molto Presto at the end! The cellist said I like to play fast. I just like to play at performance speed...

Rubens thank you, but that kind of stuff causes excessive dryness for me! A little sweat is ok, I just always have a dishcloth with me

Workshop: Day 3

Just one rehearsal session today instead of two (usually two 75 minute sessions split by a coffee break), because we're on a bus headed to another country for a concert given by the coaches! (It's only an hour away )

I kept being off at the end of the fourth movement and couldn't figure out why even though I played it slowly by myself looking at the score (I memorized that section because I had to). The coach followed it and turns out the pattern changed and I missed a few notes!

And then when I was doing slow practice on a section where I kept being off from everyone I realized that the pattern also changed and I added a rest at a page turn! Haha it would have evened out in the end but they were several pages apart

I'm doing a lot of metronome practice these days!

Harpsichord update: she has two 9 foot ones (one built from a kit by someone else, and one built by a music professor; that's the nice one). And she also has a fretted clavichord kit, still unassembled! She said she feels like she is the temporary caretaker for these instruments

Looking up what a fretted clavichord is now.

twocats Looking up what a fretted clavichord is now.

Not a fan of the sound. Guess building that kit is not in my future! I don't think I want to ruin the aesthetic of the finished basement by adding a massive harpsichord but if I can get a nice one for cheap I'm still thinking about it... I would want to at least give her what she spent on it. She spent a few hundred dollars on the nicer one and also had it evaluated by a professional at one point.

In other news I'm up early because we're in the morning session for the next few days and it just started to rain Because of road construction we have to take a long detour through a park and I hope I don't get all muddy!

Workshop: Day 4

Today we rehearsed the 2nd and 4th movements, and then I practiced quite a lot on both the performance hall piano and the old Bösendorfer. The performance hall is not big, like the name would suggest, and the piano looks like maybe a 5'8' August Förster. It could be a little bigger than that but it's definitely not a large piano. It has no bass and it's slightly difficult to play. It has been very humid and the school gets very hot so we have windows open all the time to help cool the place down. Possibly that's contributing to the sluggishness? Anyway, not easy to play and I'm pounding on the bass but barely anyone comes out, at least from where I'm sitting. The Bösendorfer is a slightly bigger piano and the bass is huge! It's very satisfying. And it's extremely easy to play.

Anyway, I practiced so much and I think it's all coming together, at least for those that movements. Our coach is having us go crazy fast at the end and I'm sure I can do it, hopefully with mostly the right notes at the performance! I really never thought I would be able to play the 4th movement well but I think it's going to be pretty good!

Tomorrow we're back to the 1st and 3rd movements. The first movement has so many bits that are challenging in other ways, including the super hard part where I've just been falling apart. The third movement has other challenges where I think if I had more time to memorize those sections, it would be ok, but I ran out of time.

I may take a break from practicing for the performance tomorrow, because I put in so much work today. I'm going to do some "free play" with a violinist and we'll play the Beethoven Spring Sonata. And the two women in my group are going to read through the first movement of the Arensky Trio No.1. I have been obsessed with this piece ever since I heard it last year and the melody section is surprisingly readable.

Is this not one of the most gorgeous things you've ever heard?? Played by the Beaux Arts Trio: