Hi there,
This will be my last post before I go to Amsterdam for the competition and I'm afraid I won't be adding anything until return. I am not one of these people who can do things like that 'on the go'...even if I had the technology - I document my activities after doing them, as a way of drawing a line under things or creating a little piece of history. Anyone who is unfortunate enough to 'follow' me on twitter must be sorely disappointed as the only time I'd be on twitter would be in the most bored, exhausted moment of my day or week and I'd probably write 'bored' or 'exhausted' - yes, that mundane! Having said that, do people read stuff on twitter anyway? Now I'm tainting my own blog with my tired out rambling nonsense!
The only reason I haven't pressed and held the back arrow on that bit is that in this little part of history, one week before a major competition, both this time and every time before, I feel like I'm losing my marbles. I couldn't be more immersed in the programme of music that I'm preparing. In fact, I'm now worrying about the days after the competition is over, how strange it is going to feel practising and performing other music again. I shall feel as if I'm deserting my closest friends, which is what these pieces have been to me for the past six to twelve months!
So, I'm thinking about packing bags....in the picture below is my percussion bag, currently housing a little collection of items I need:
1. list of music that I am playing (complete with advice on any particular tuning needed for each piece)
2. spare batteries for tuning machine
3. tool for tightening (tuning) my beloved bongos!
4. marker pens for marking the strings for the 'rocket' effect in Dance of the Night Insects :)
5. TIPPEX - I am yet to find anything this is not useful for....marking strings, covering dodgy old pedal markings in music, rewriting bits, naming music stands etc etc. lets hope it doesn't spill all over the bag or I shall have the world's first percussion ZEBRA bag!
6. spare music stand...not sure about this one. Does anyone else have an assortment of music stands, each with their own quirks?
7. Germolene new skin....used only today underneath a fingernail to prevent a sore patch. Super glue also fab but produces the most horrendous tone!
8. Duster (mainly for removing flecks of dried, manky, flaky Germolene from all over the harp!)
9. Spare felt for use with percussion instruments, padding bag etc
10. Needle and thread for sewing any stray bells back on to the ankle bells!
Below is what I have on my left hand percussion table:
Bongos and sticks, wood blocks and stick (I tried several sticks on every instrument before finding the perfect marriage!), block of wood for scraping up the strings/hitting them, finger cymbal for scraping strings in Dance of the Bull, choicy triangle beater (again, I tried loads and always keep many spares to hand).
Just visible in this picture is the percussion pocket invention of mine, suggested by my percussionist friend Emma Williams, tuned percussion expert and fellow teacher at Oakham School. Nice suggestion, Emma!!
Below shows the extra shelf I sellotaped on to the table - it catches any sticks that may go astray in the heat of the moment whilst performing - once I overshot the table when replacing a stick and I learnt a valuable lesson from that misdemeanour!
Below: another view of my noisy pals and yet another view showing more stuff :)
When I perform The Crown of Ariadne, I feel as though I am Ariadne awakening, then with my ankle bells on I am dancing round the labyrinth, leaning the way out by memorising it in a dance form. I transform into the minotaur for the Dance of the Bull and I'm rustling around with the night insects.....all of this got me thinking about one of my favourite childhood superheros, so I thought I'd share it. SHE-RA!!!! Maybe I've always wanted to be a transforming warrior princess with my own horse that can become a unicorn. This is the stuff that dreams are made of....just how I feel about The Crown of Ariadne.
Sorry about this next one being on its side...this is my right hand table, complete with Copthill School Chime Bars (they shall magically transform into beautiful antique cymbals called 'crotales' thanks to my Fairy Godmother, aka percussion LEGEND Owen Gunnel, one half of my favourite percussion team....O Duo!)
Below: latest adaptation to the ankle bells for a bit more tone and volume:
So, I have done my preview performances at Stamford High School, Wells Cathedral School and Oakham School. I have learnt valuable lessons from each performance, got increasingly devoted to all of the pieces and have received wonderful feedback and even some BRILLIANT tips from audience members!
I am learning so, so much all the time and once again I'm addicted to the harp, addicted to music, addicted to learning and loving every second of it.
I have had some wonderful moments of revelation about all the pieces I'm playing, and through studying the music and the composers I have discovered a WONDERFUL dissertation on Hindemith's Harp Sonata by
Barbara Poeschl-Edrich (I highly recommend buying and downloading this vast, thorough and utterly illuminating study of this exceptional harp composition - there's a link to it on Barbara's website: http://www.bpeharps.com/academic_work.html)
I have also discovered the poetry of Israeli poet Rivka Miriam - I would also recommend her poetry book 'These Mountains' - I just love reading them. They have helped me to find a different way into Yinam Leef's 'Reminiscences of Tranquillity'.
I have gone on so many trips down Memory Lane and fallen in love all over again with other Israeli harp music (Natra's Sonatina, Jan Freidlin's 'Strophes of Sappho' and so many others) and remembered some of the first contemporary works that captivated me and inspired me to play and compose new music: Lex van Delden's 'Notturno', Britten's 'Suite', Kelly-Marie Murphy's 'Illumination', chamber music by Boulez, Sally Beamish, Mark-Anthony Turnage and Sofia Gubaidulina, plus harp concertos by Ginastera and something I saw Deborah Henson-Conant and Mercedes Gomez do in the Prague World Harp Congress many years ago. Oh, and all of Shostakovich's music, becoming a member of the DSCH Shostakovich Society in the days when the internet was brand new! (I used it to find out about the society but all the magazines were sent in the post from Russia....EXCITING!!!!!) and listening to amazing music by Penderecki (Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima), Mahler symphonies and Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms.
All of these things are whirring round in my mind, mingled with fear and excitement about what is coming up for me in the next fortnight. THANK YOU for reading, for your interest and support. I look forward to reporting back after the competition and most of all I look forward to continuing my studies of contemporary harp music and continuing to learn, be inspired and to inspire others I hope!
Ellie
(Eleanor Turner)
