May 12, 2005 at 1:34 AM

I have been stupidly getting to bed ridiculously late and need to take better care of my health, at least until Saturday. Tomorrow I plan to get up early to go downtown to Chunyee Lu at the Guadagnini Violin Shop. I need a bow rehaired and also would just like to get my instrument checked out as it's been a while and the weather is absolutely schizophrenic. I do my best to move my bridge back because I know that really affects the sound, but I'm always afraid it'll pop right out of the socket or something.

I played just the first movement of Mendelssohn in studio class and it was fine, although I wasn't quite settled and flubbed the octaves on the first page--just takes some more practice and the right mindset. I feel pretty good about Saturday in general, and need to spend some time right now writing my thesis for my Brahms 4 paper. It will probably have something to do with the mixed critical reception, and why exactly it took a while for the work to be recognized as a true orchestral masterpiece, tying into the division between programmatic and absolute music, etc.

I also agreed to fill in at the last minute for a friend's student chamber group (their violinist is injured) and learn the first movement of the Schubert B-flat Trio to perform in a week! It is absolutely beautiful, but one of the most demanding pieces in the trio repertoire. With all that's going on, I sometimes feel I don't have a moment to waste, and yet I still waste hours online.

I have neglected German a lot this quarter, which I feel slightly bad about, but music has to take precedence. (Although admittedly, surfing the net and reading The Onion does not.) I would like to continue taking German at Case next year, but I'm not sure when I'll really have the opportunity to go abroad--not for a few years, most likely--and so it's a bit hard to stay motivated to go to class four times a week (which is a lot in college--that's more than half the week!).

Essentially my job until Saturday is simply to maintain my concerto (not to mention my positive feelings about the performance, which are just as vital; I should probably do some visualization), learn the notes to the Schubert first movement, and start cracking again on the last movement of Beethoven, which poses the most technical difficulties for me. Continuing to breathe is also a good idea. Off to invent a thesis and then practice!

May 12, 2005 at 1:34 AM

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