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Mendy Smith

'T'elemann Viola Concerto

March 30, 2012 at 2:17 AM

It was the very first concerto I ever learned to play. I vaguely remember playing it for an audition (though I did not realize it at the time) for the Sewanee Summer Music Festival back in, ummmm... the last century.

When my teacher suggested it as my next piece to study, my first thought was "really? A child's concerto?" My second thought was "maybe this time around I can really do it justice".

After nodding my agreement, she pulled out her old faded, well used copy and began playing. I hummed along for a few measures and before I knew it, I was playing along with her, barely glancing at the page. How is it possible that after (garble garble) years I still have that piece memorized? This should be easy, right?

Then a third thought occurred to me... simple does not mean easy...


From Karen Allendoerfer
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 11:02 AM
That was the first viola concerto I played too. As concertos go, I really like it. And it is so catchy and hummable. Enjoy it!
From Tom Holzman
Posted on March 30, 2012 at 7:56 PM
It's a great concerto for violists. There is no reason not to revisit pieces you played much earlier because you will bring a lot more too them now. Have fun with it!

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