Projecting outwards…..
I had a wonderful violin lesson on Monday with Kato Havas where everything I’d learned seemed to come together. The ‘giving’ left hand she speaks of, with the performer thinking in terms of three intervals with the fingers ‘gliding’ into the notes, one finger preparing for the next in perpetuity; and the right arm with [...]
Playing it by Ear…..
Playing in a string quartet can be one of the most satisfying ways of making music. All four parts have the opportunity to be ‘heard’ (as opposed to an orchestral string section where this rarely happens), yet there is a constant blending and give and take. The other three parts assume a role more important [...]
Coming Out of the Silence
I have recently been learning the Beethoven violin concerto from memory for a performance last Saturday with a local orchestra, and the whole process has been full of insights and rewards at every step. Like few other works of this kind for the violin, the Beethoven is a true journey which organically develops from the opening, magical [...]
