May 2009
May 19, 2009 15:35
So, without much fanfare or ado, I decided to buy the Carlo Lamberti violin that I originally picked out from Shar. I had been following Smiley's search and had wondered if maybe I could do something like it. But the circumstances just weren't right for me now. Not enough time, not enough money.
And yet every time I picked up the Lamberti violin, my "speed date," I found something else I liked about it. I had already noticed how light and friendly to hold it was. My quartet partner messed around with the Tchaik violin concerto on it, and she sounded great. I mentioned in a previous blog that even I sounded surprisingly good playing the opening of the Bruch concerto on it, that I hadn't played in 20 years.
But what really sealed the deal was the other night, when I found the clarity again. I've been in an ongoing search for "the clarity" or "the center" of pitches (as my teacher calls it), especially on the E-string. I was playing a high D. The electronic tuner said it was sharp, and so I adjusted it, and something kind of "clicked" into place aurally. I heard it *before* I saw the tuner go green. That was what a D was supposed to sound like. This violin does that.
It also had, which my teacher heard first, a very satisfying evenness of sound across all 4 strings. I brought another instrument to my lesson that I thought had a lovely, bright, ringing E-string. And it did. But as I played the bariolage section from the Bach Preludio from Partita in E, she said it really popped out, much more than the other strings, especially the A. After she pointed it out, I heard it too. Whereas the Lamberti was quite rich and warm up and down the range and all 4 strings had that quality. We agreed that that passage was a good choice for trying out and comparing instruments. Afterwards she said "well, I admit I was a little skeptical when you said you'd gotten it from Shar and it was only $1500, but then I heard you play it."
I have to get it a new chin rest. I got an Ohrenform for my current violin when I started playing it again. The Ohrenform is a funny shape. It looks like an ear, which I assume is where the name comes from (Ohr=ear in German). And I really liked it: it is center-mounted, and it allows you to put your chin more centered or more off to the side, or to move it around a little bit, which I apparently like to do. I find it very comfortable. So does my daughter. So she is getting my ebony Ohrenform and I'm getting a new rosewood Ohrenform to go on the new violin.
And, I decided to keep my bow, for now. I liked the bows I tried, they were nice and light. But my bow does everything I want it to, and while it feels a little bit heavier, I think that weight helps it draw out a really rich sound, even viola-like if that's what I want, when I want. Some day I will probably get a better bow too, but I feel like this is a win-win situation. I only spend $1500 and both my daughter and I have better violins than we had previously. But I don't think this is the end of the road. Some day I still want to do a search like Smiley's, and try out violins from individual modern makers. I'm happy, but I'm "still looking."
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May 11, 2009 15:03
I have a 4-measure solo in this year's POPS! concert. The piece is called "Disney Magic," and the section is from the song "A Dream is a Wish the Heart Makes." The piece overall is actually kind of nice, and fun to play, at least if you like that sort of music (which I do). And, it's an honor and a privilege to play a solo, however small.
However.
The two times I have played it in rehearsal so far, I have blown it. The first time was sight-reading, so I cut myself a little slack. The second time was not technically sight-reading, since I'd seen it once before (the week before), but it might as well have been. It might have even been worse the second time around. A Dream is a Wish the Heart Makes? How about a Nightmare?
So, I got out that old can of Practice! (TM) and sprayed some on my violin. Then I played the passage at my lesson today.
I think it's time for a new can. Or something. In a way, it's the same old story: F-major, my least favorite key. Not hearing the pitch of high F's on the E-string. Going sharp. Screeching. I wanted to talk at least a little about tone (nice new E-string--does it sound better?) and bowing (should I start up-bow? won't that help me with the crescendo in the fourth measure?) and vibrato (it's less tense now--really). But, as my teacher pointed out, if the intonation isn't under better control, I won't be able to implement those other things as successfully.
Practicing slowly is always a good idea, but my problem with that has been, historically, that I can't tell if it's helping. So, in the absence of feedback that made any sense to me, I would usually get discouraged and give up because it just didn't seem to matter. But my teacher has had me practice in front of her for a few minutes; she did this today. I played the 4 measures slowly and she told me when it was in tune and when it was out of tune. I did this for many more repeats than I can usually stomach when left to my own devices. But surprisingly, I didn't get that frustrated. She said, "you're making the right adjustments. You may not really be conscious all the time of what you're doing, but when you play it slowly you are doing the right thing. You may just have to trust it for a while, that the slow practicing is helping."
It was very insightful of her to have pointed out the unconscious nature of the improvements. I started to think about the title of the song itself. This is where I'm hoping to be able to turn the nightmare back into a dream, and to do that, I have to trust my unconscious mind to do the right thing.
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May 9, 2009 05:11
The rec room is full of violins. It's a small room, and what is not covered with toys, is covered with stringed instrument cases. I'm almost afraid to go in there . . .
Well, not really. I have a little corner where I can still open a case and practice.
Thursday was kind of a whirlwind of violin-related activity. After getting music from Phyllis, I had lunch and then I finally went to Johnson to look at more violins to compare with the Lamberti I have on loan. I tried a Jay Haide because I'd heard good things about them, and a Rudolf Doetsch because I have a Doetsch viola that I love. It was, in fact, the same saleswoman who sold me my viola.
This turned out to be more complicated than I expected. The first Doetsch was not surprising. It looked and sounded a lot like my viola's little sister, mellow and smooth. And then I surprised myself by deciding that that just wasn't what I wanted in a violin right now. It's too close to what I already have. My current violin is too mellow, muted even. It doesn't speak enough. I want something that projects, with confidence and authority.
And the Jay Haide seemed to have that. I had also happened to read a nice piece in Strings magazine about the makers of Jay Haide instruments, which made me want to try one. But yikes, that instrument was ugly. It had worn varnish on the top side where the player's hand would go when shifting into higher positions. It also had worn varnish on another surface and fake "dings" on the front and back. It was too red in some places and too yellow in others. There's currently an ongoing discussion thread about Jay Haide violins and how people feel about the antiquing and the sound of those instruments. I've expressed some of my other thoughts there. But I think what it comes down to is that it felt pretentious for me to play that violin. I'm not some virtuoso wannabe who spends a lot of time in 7th position and above. I don't mean that real virtuosos who play up there competently are pretentious. But I run from 7th position whenever I possibly can. I didn't come by that varnish-wear pattern honestly. I didn't earn it.
The saleswoman told me that Doetsch has a new style of instrument with different varnish and she got me another one of those. This one was more like the Haide in sound (and appearance) but nicer-looking. I started playing the Bach Preludio from Partita in E, just to see how the bariolage bowing felt, and ended up playing long stretches of it because I loved the way it sounded. That's the instrument I took home.
While I was there I also bought my daughter a chin cozy. My daughter has her own set of challenging set-up issues, which are ongoing. Her teacher is recommending that she get a real shoulder rest like a Kun. She had been using something that covered the chin rest and held a small sponge underneath. But when she gets to a passage that she finds fast and/or difficult, she develops a death grip on the neck of the instrument. Sometimes her left hand gets tired and sore from that. And she tried my violin, with my Kun, and it seemed to help. But she's also very sensitive to the hardware and button on the bottom of the instrument: it jabs her in the neck and "it really hurts." My teacher has a chin cozy. It covers the chin rest and all the hardware and the button. She says that the chin cozy "changed her life." So we are now trying the Kun/chin cozy combination for my daughter.
And not only does she say it's comfortable, but she sounds really good on my violin. I may have outgrown that instrument and be looking for something with more projection at this stage, but for her, it's still a big step up from her 3/4 size. I told her "no more finger tapes" on my violin and she willingly left them behind. And her intonation is about the same. She doesn't need them any more. Her private teacher, who had been saying that she was "probably" ready for a full size (she is a freakishly tall 9-year-old), agreed that she was "definitely" ready.
So the time is really coming for me to make a decision. I have 5 violins in my rec room, two of which I own but are too small, and two of which I do not own. And one shoulder rest between them all.
The Doetsch violin lost some of its luster when I got it home. It isn't as pretty visually as the Lamberti, and it's heavier. One quality of the Lamberti that I had not appreciated until I took it home was how light it is. It is really like playing "on air." The Doetsch doesn't have that. But it has a more brilliant E string. So then I tried changing the E-string on the Lamberti. My daughter's teacher gave me a Larsen E-string to try, and Shar sent me an Infeld Red E-string. I tried them both on the Lamberti and the Larsen wasn't any better. But I think the Infeld Red was.
I have this 4-measure solo in "Disney Magic" that I have been blowing in rehearsal. It is at the end of "A Nightmare (oops, a "Dream") is a Wish the Heart Makes." Now I've played it on 3 different instruments. I think it sounds the best on the Lamberti with the Infeld Red E. But it's hard to tell--so many different instruments, so many different E-strings. And that's not even considering bows . . .
My husband promised me we could go back to Johnson this weekend for Mother's Day. I have a few thoughts for a Mother's Day present.
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May 8, 2009 04:16
. . . I want to be like Phyllis Spence.
The Arlington Philharmonic Orchestra, where I have been playing for the past year and half, celebrates its 75th Anniversary this year. Phyllis has been a violinist in this orchestra for 74 of those years. The only reason she hasn't been there for all 75 years is that when she was 17, the bylaws of the orchestra didn't allow high school students to be members. She joined when she was 18, in 1935, and has played with the group ever since, serving as concertmaster for many years. These days, she sits in the 1st violin section, sort of in the middle, on her own stand, with large- print music that someone (it has been me) copies for her. Her granddaughter, who is my age or a little younger, also plays violin in the orchestra.
Last week during the first rehearsal for the last concert of the year, Phyllis approached me and asked if I wanted any music. She said she had a lot that she wasn't going to play anymore. She had already promised her quartet music to the principal cellist, but she still had sonatas, short solo pieces, things she had played in church. "Give me a call," she said. "I'll be home."
Such has been the busy reality of my life that I just wasn't able to find the time. Not for that, not for driving to Johnson to try some more violins to compare with the Lamberti that I still haven't bought. (My "tendonitis" or whatever it was is feeling better, but the little practice vacation I gave myself wasn't good for me mentally. Back to re-establishing the 21-day habit). But yesterday was my work-at-home day. I had a doctor's appt. in the a.m. and decided that, after that, I would visit Phyllis.
We spent about 45 minutes, which is all I had, going through a big drawer in one of her end tables. Starting with the B's, I now have a box that covers Bach to Mozart to Weber, mostly sonatas, but other interesting stuff as well: Winter from the 4 Seasons (which was in my wedding), Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite, "Religious Meditations, A Collection of Eighteen Solos of Moderate Difficulty Adapted for Sacred and Concert Performances for Violin and Piano (or Organ)." And my favorite title: "Hexapoda, Five Studies in Jitteroptera" for Violin and Piano by Robert Russell Bennett.
And, a well-worn and marked copy of the Cesar Franck Sonata for Violin and Piano, Copyright 1915, by G. Schirmer, Inc. It's marked with a little name-and-address sticker, the way I mark my music too. It has her maiden name. "I played that for my high school recital," said Phyllis. "Are you sure you don't want to keep that one, just for sentimental reasons?" I ask. "I thought about it," she said, "but I have to have another eye operation soon. I'm not going to be playing it again." Like much of my music, it's a Schirmer edition. Unlike much of my music, it cost $1.50. Schirmer editions looked different back then: they weren't so yellow. In fact, the designs of different sheet music companies (Schirmer, Peters, Carl Fischer) were all more alike back then: a grayish background with green flowery, classical detail arranged in a square design on the front cover. In the collection there is a Faure Sonata from the "Boston Music Company" that looks, font-wise, a lot more like modern Schirmers. Whatever happened to the Boston Music Company? Inquiring minds want to know.
Here in this little box I have more violin music than I had previously owned. Although I have served as concertmaster of the orchestra, and am doing so now, I can't fill Phyllis' shoes. But I feel honored to be the custodian of this bit of history.
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