Diagonal driving
As I set off on my long journey past recent showers of pink snowflakes on Tuesday morning, I remembered not so long ago I used to love long drives before the time of speed cameras and managed motorways when there were fewer reckless drivers and there wasn't the volume of traffic there is now. Once I got past Lancaster the other day, I started to relax into the freedom of being behind the wheel. I occasionally switched the radio on and I found a flow of music and things that interested and inspired me on my way up North. Suddenly I had a stream of thoughts that felt important and in trying to organise them I had to design a mnemonic to keep hold of them. Don't worry - this part of my brain switches off when traffic gets heavier! My default station is Radio 3, and highlights included a fabulous version of I Could Have Danced All Night for cello and piano featuring Yo Yo Ma. I love show music and it's a sheer delight when played at this level. Then there was a teaser for a future broadcast about syncopation - I'm looking forward to hearing how that will be explained. There was a piece by Debussy which I thought could work really well for the combination of instruments I'm part of for an imminent chamber music project. It's reassuring to realise the music never stops for long in my brain.
As I took to the wheel again yesterday morning, I debated whether or not to do my "homework" - am I in the mood? I'm not sure I feel like working while I'm driving etc etc. After weighing things up for all of 20 seconds, on went one of the best versions of Symphonie Fantastique in my opinion - Sir Colin Davis at the helm of the LSO. He had an amazing vision and was enlightened and totally got under the skin of any Berlioz works that he interpreted. I found myself visualising sitting in the performance tomorrow during the first movement and feeling strong and confident - great practice! Then, the importance of the right kind of harp sound in the second movement - open and easy, loud but not harsh. The third movement is the evocative bucolic pastoral, aka the harpists' come down! Listening to the fourth, I could see Berlioz marching with resigned dignity to his doom. In the last movement I couldn't stop laughing at the trippy hilarity of the E-flat clarinet. Needless to say, the CD got more than one airing during my drive!
With all I had to do yesterday, I didn't manage to fit in the hour of practice I had planned for myself, but I feel alright about it as I got a lot of work done in the car. As a musician, I'm lucky that my office is wherever I go!