June 9, 2005 at 8:05 PM

Last night we played quartets again. We've got a new cellist, of course, and she's just wonderful -- has a lovely tone and great facility, and is a real asset to the group.

It's hard, though, having her take the place that was so recently vacated. I'm not saying that we shouldn't play! We absolutely need to play, for all of us. But it's the little things that are strange -- Connie had this little endpin-stop that's quite ingenious -- it's a little wooden thing that's shaped like a flat cello and has a little hole for the spike, and it loops around the legs of the chair. It's pretty unique, and very much associated with her.

Of course the new cellist should use it. No sense in putting it out of sight! Use it, and remember Connie.

We had an absolutely wonderful time playing last night, Beethoven op. 59 no. 1, really working on the first movement. I think I could play that piece forever and not get tired of it! By the end of the evening it was sounding pretty satisfying, and there's so much left to it. We were very much playing as a group, too, with the right give-and-take.

Friends of Connie's are putting together a concert in her memory. So we play, and we think of her.

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