Joyful Morning with Bach (and Schumann...and Yo-Yo Ma)

Last night, the violinist in a chamber music trio I coach was a no-show at rehearsal. The cellist, pianist, and I gamely worked on their assigned music for most of the time with me sometimes singing the violin part (eek!) or playing it up high on the piano. But there was a point when I thought it might be fun to try something different. I asked each student what solo music they were working on. The cellist (about 12 or 13, I think) said she was learning the [very famous] Prelude from Bach's first cello suite. This reminded me that last year, in a very similar situation, I'd mentioned to a very young Bach-playing cellist that Robert Schumann had written piano accompaniments for all the Bach suites. So, on the spur of the moment then, I pulled up the music from IMSLP and we played a little of it together, but she was only ready to play about 10-12 bars.

Chant noir

Here is an unusual musical creation from a few weeks ago (with video added today):

Happy Birthday from The Alcotts

My official 20th year of blogging began on February 24th, although I failed to post on the 19th Anniversary this year. (I promise I won't forget next year when it's the 20th!) It's been a very busy winter, but a few days off means I'm finally back with new stuff to share.