The Joy of Trying a New Piece

August 15, 2018, 12:26 PM · Today, I tried out Eugène Ysaÿe's Poème Elégiaque on my violin. The piece required that I tune down my G string to an F. This became a constant battle between my perfect pitch and my fingers, which wanted to move to the actual pitches of the notes printed, so I got the opposite experience of a Clarinet in B-Flat in terms of it being a transposing instrument. Still, the whole piece was a lot of fun to play, and had some fun virtuosic-sounding moments - like octave scales in thirty-second notes or various other high notes - that weren't too difficult and was a lot of fun. This is a piece I'm considering working on when I return to Augustana for the start of term! I am very excited for playing in the orchestra, where one of the pieces we are playing is Gershwin's Symphonic Suite from Porgy and Bess! I will also be very busy with my senior recital, playing my 2016 Saxophone Sonata on piano, playing on violin my "A Japanese Wood-Carving" which I finished writing in June and conducting "Muse of Fire," a piece based on Henry V I blogged about in January, as well. I will post again about my term later on, but just wanted to share my fun violin-playing today as I turn 22 years old. Crazy!