New Music

One of my Christmas presents this year was a Music Minus One Flute packet of Woodwind Quintets (volume 1). They are taken from recordings made in 1970 by the Camerata Woodwind Quintet of Western Illinois University and have had the flute part deleted, so you can play with the recording. This had been on my Amazon.com wish list for a couple of years, so I was excited when I opened the package from Rachel and saw what it was.

Sunday night I finally opened the book and took a look at the music. For a middling amateur, the printed sheet music looked a little intimidating. But then I remembered that a few years ago I sight read through two Mozart Divertimenti with a professional oboist and a child prodigy violinist. If I could do that, then I should be able to play these. On the other hand, I hadn't picked up my flute in weeks (probably more like months). Playing/practicing often takes a back seat when I don't have a gig or someone(s) to just jam with. So this evening I pulled out my flute and played for about 20 minutes. One of the pieces I worked on was the first movement of J.S. Bach's Partita in a minor for solo flute (BWV 1013).

This video from YouTube shows someone playing the Allemande on a baroque flute.



After finding the video of the Bach piece, I went looking on YouTube of videos of some of the pieces in the Music Minus One packet. I found this video of some high school students playing the first movement of the Haydn Divertimento in b flat major. (Don't cringe, it's actually in tune and better than the other video of the same piece that I found!)



Then I put the CD in to hear the quintet--minus the flute--play. Suddenly, the printed music doesn't seem so intimidating, and tomorrow I'll try sight reading the Haydn, and maybe even some of the other pieces.

I forget what a joy it is to make music, even just playing for myself. It changes the vibrations in the apartment, much like frequent prayer affects a space. It lightens my spirits. I need to remember to do this on a regular basis, because it also helps me cope with stress. And given the way things are at work...

Peace,
Jeff