Comments

Karen,

You are correct — the clarity isn't out there, but when it's there it does GO out there — ENJOY!!!

Just breathe, have fluid motion and KNOW where the point of contact, et al are.

Piece of cake_
Drew

Good luck with your rehearsal. The Copland is not easy. The clarity is out there somewhere, and you will recognize it when you hear it. And, it won't be the same each time. Greetings,
didn`t TS Elliot write a poem about this.

Maclarity, Maclarity, there's no on like Maclarity,
He's broken every human law, he breaks the law of gravity.
His powers of levitation would make a fakir stare,
And when you reach the scene of crime--Maclarity's not there!
You may seek him in the basement, you may look up in the air--
But I tell you once and once again, Maclarity's not there!

Cheers,
Buri

"Find the clarity"
This is like something I say to my students all the time: "find the tone," by which I usually mean, play a musical fragment of a few notes, or even just one note over and over again to "find" just the right tone quality. In analytical terms that would mean: find just the right combination of bow speed, bow pressure, point of contact, vibrato speed and width, etc. etc. However I often prefer not to be so analytical and encourage my students just to listen to the tone and keep playing and adjusting instinctively until they find something really fine. Ah, Maclarity, the mystery cat, the hidden paw--LOL! My dear departed cat would have hated listening to me practice this music. Way too high for her. But, rehearsal went quite well last night. I'm excited about the concert at the end of the month! This is the first concert I've played with this orchestra and I'm beginning to get a feel for how it all comes together.