In the dark

I became rather amused when looking at my stat counter today. Yesterday someone had Googled "Penderecki Cadenza" and got my blog. This is strange because I've hardly written anything about it. And I actually don't want to know anything about it at this moment.

In the past when getting a new piece, most of the time I would proceed to research it thoroughly. I would look at the score, look up the history of the piece, listen to recordings of all the famous violists playing the piece. And I would become thoroughly intimidated. Especially when listening to the recordings. I would think that it would be very difficult to learn this piece. And even now there are some pieces for me that still have this stigma attached to them. The Walton concerto and the Hindemith solo sonatas are examples.

So I have been living in a cave and have never heard a Penderecki piece. And all I know about the Cadenza is that it was written in 1984 and was related to the Viola Concerto. That's it. And yes it's hard. Not a problem. I will just use the choice practice techniques that have served me well over the last five years. Singing. Three note overlap. Metronome Games. Divide and Conquer.

Just remembering the pieces I learned first without knowing too much about them. In a way these pieces are more solid and belong more firmly in my repertoire. Pieces like the Britten Lachrymae and the Barnes Lamentations of Jeremiah. Those pieces I learned very quickly and didn't have access the resources or the recordings. I remember the excitement of learning these works. Like reading a great novel that you knew nothing about it.

Maybe the Penderecki Cadenza will be that for me again.