Legende

February 12, 2007 at 4:08 AM

Ben Clapton's blog caught my eye when he wrote about having to prepare two audition pieces in contrasting styles. I am going to have to do that in the fall too, if I audition for the LSO. They also want two pieces in contrasting styles.

I'm pretty sure about the Courante from the Bach cello suite No. 1, but not so sure about the 2nd one. I've tried a few other things from Solos for Young Violists, and somehow or another they're not suitable. Stamitz is too difficult, the 1st and 3rd movements of Telemann just don't grab me hard enough, as much as I like the piece as a whole. So I'm still looking for something that contrasts with the Bach cello suite No. 1.

I have an interesting piece from Strad magazine 1999, called "Legende" by Louis Vierne. It's meditative, a little mournful, modern. I can't find a recording of it, not even on YouTube. I asked my church choir director to play through the piano part for me this morning, and she did. The piano part sounded a bit different from what I expected just from looking at it. I trust her judgement, she is good at choosing interesting and appropriate music for the choir to sing. She said she'd be happy for me to perform it next month along with the Bach.

The notes aren't too technically challenging; it has some treble clef and 4th and 5th position, but since violin was my first instrument, I still think treble clef is a relief not a burden . . . However, this piece really hits my own personal challenges right in the center. It needs round phrasing, vibrato, very legato bowings.

So I'm rediscovering how difficult it is to play without accenting bow changes. I just tend to accent naturally, maybe it's to keep the beat, I don't know.

And then I had a full vibrato meltdown, or maybe the opposite of a meltdown, a freeze-up. I tried rolling up a towel and sticking it under my left arm, but that didn't help, it may have made it worse. The tension then spread to my neck and shoulders and so I decided to stop practicing before I was in serious pain again. It's so hit or miss, some nights I'm fine, others I just freeze up and can't shake it or get out of it. I hate how it's not predictable or controllable. You're supposed to practice whether you "feel like it" or not. I'm feeling kind of discouraged.

The last time I felt this way was when I wrote about it two blogs ago. Since then, I've had more than a week without tension and pain. Of course, for most of that time I was working on the Bach and doing a style that's much more comfortable for me than this one. But then I do something new or challenging, and this happens again.

From Pauline Lerner
Posted on February 13, 2007 at 3:03 PM

Karen, since this happens when you play something new or challenging, it's probably stress related. You're probably tensing your muscles without being aware of it. I see this all the time in my students. They tell me doesn't happen when they play at home. My advice is to relax. Try to be aware of the tension in your body. Take frequent stretch breaks. If you do some sort of meditation or relaxation technique, do it just before you play and as a break whenever you feel the tension starting. Try to be aware of how your body feels when you're playing and then let go.

From Karen Allendoerfer
Posted on February 13, 2007 at 9:59 PM

Thanks Pauline--

Oh, I'm aware of it. I'm tensing my chin and clamping down on the instrument, trying to free my left hand to attempt "continuous vibrato." Not that I can actually do continuous vibrato . . .

But anyway, in order to hold my instrument up without using my left hand/arm for support, I have to exert a lot of effort with my chin and shoulder. And if I do that long enough I start to have pain. And it's worse with a viola than a violin because a viola is bigger and heavier.

Maybe I need a new, or somehow different, shoulder rest. I know this is discussed a lot in this forum, but I don't understand how people can play without one. They must have very short necks or something. Different anatomy. The few times I've tried that I either have to support the instrument completely with my left hand and then can't do vibrato at all (or shift), or my shoulder and neck and head hurt like the dickens after <5 minutes.

From Mendy Smith
Posted on February 14, 2007 at 5:06 AM

Karen - it really sounds like you need to go to your local shop and see about getting a shoulder rest/chin rest set-up for your long neck. They can help you with this process. Between now and then, try taking a sponge or two to place between your shoulder and shoulder rest or chin rest to bring the height up a bit and see if that helps. Once you determine the right angles & heights with this temporary contraption, the luthier/shop can help you get a set-up that mimics it. Remember on the viola that it is much more comfortable when it is at about a 45 degree angle (vs. parallel to the floor). The neck is much thicker on a viola than a violin, so you will need this angle to reach around to the C and G strings.

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Legende

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