MMrecital - the Program Booklet

My recital is tomorrow night, so no long-winded blog post for this week, but I thought I'd post the recital booklet I just completed yesterday. (Having a program ready more than 48 hours ahead of the concert must be some kind of record for me.) It continues the whimsical Simpson-y theme I stumbled into for my poster (which just kind of grew out of years of using Simpsonized me as my avatar), which meant: 1) I could be as informal as I like, 2) use catchy titles for each piece, an idea I'd already been thinking about, 3) and use the much-derided Comic Sans font in what I think is its most appropriate context.

It's designed to be printed in a booklet format, so you can better see how the facing pages are supposed to work (sort of) here.

Because I plan to talk to the audience as well, it freed me up not to write too much about each piece. You'll notice I didn't even list the movement titles for the Dvorak, which is maybe a mistake, but since each of the six movements has multiple tempo changes, I think it just invites confusion. I'd rather listeners just go with the "Dumky" flow. On the other hand, I provide a very detailed outline of the twenty-five Brahms variations, partly because I think an audience member can easily follow those, if they so choose. (I'll assure those in attendance that there's no obligation to follow along. I hate for a recital to feel like class.)

Otherwise, although I was rushed as usual, I think this booklet accomplishes most of what I want it to do: set an informal, friendly tone (even though, to be honest, the music is mostly pretty serious), and provide some basic ways to think about what each piece expresses. The central tension for me is that, though the music is often serious in tone, I don't want the recital experience to feel solemn or ritualistic - the seriousness, I hope, is in the depth of the musical expression (though the Brahms and Dvorak pieces each have many humorous, lighthearted passages as well), not in the idea that this music is important. (You see, it's important, of course, but not important.)

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