Today's Coffee: Irish Breakfast Tea

I'm doing it. 

I'm here and I'm following a dream I've had since I was 13 and saw Andrew Manze play. 

What on earth am I talking about?

Baroque Violin

I am currently at Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute. This is big for me. Sometimes I would worry that I wasn't getting to do enough music and I would feel 'stuck'. Don't get me wrong - I love staying home with W and teaching, but without getting to play great music, it was easy to get discouraged. So, go back a year ago - I started taking lessons. This was a fairly hefty step for our family as it would be an added expense (lessons, a bow, eventually a violin and now a summer festival) and we weren't quite sure how we would handle it financially - but we were always provided for. 

So, anyways, I'm here. I'm immersed in it. I haven't heard a 440 A in 5 days and 415 is starting to sound really normal! I thought, since this is a fairly niche musical community that I would talk briefly about my day and what I get to do. 

I start off by practicing or visiting the library just checking out different editions of music. Then I head to violin technique class where we go over basic technique (holding, shifting, bowing) as it's all quite different from modern violin. Then we have an hour and a half masterclass where our two main teachers (Marilyn McDonald and Marc Destrube) listen to us perform and critique our playing. After lunch there is a lecture, or faculty recital - but today started our series of Biber's Mystery Sonatas. Now, I should explain, these bad boys are tough. There's a reason they aren't performed a whole lot - well, a few reasons, but one is that they are tricky. Another is that out of the 16, only 2 are tuned to the traditional G-D-A-E tuning. The rest - could be anything. Well, the violin students are learning and performing them. All 16. On the first day they wanted us to pick one to play. Lots of students came prepared... I came more or less with an understanding of the music, but not really anything under my fingers. So, I randomly picked 12. Didn't know what it was called or how it was tuned, or if it was one of the crazy hard ones. Once I grabbed the music from the library, I was scared to see that all 4 strings were re-tuned and that the bottom string (G) had to be tuned up a 4th! I had to borrow an instrument since I obviously wouldn't be able to re-tune my violin every hour or so. Well, I broke the G as soon as I tried tuning it up, so the next day I asked for a D instead to tune down. While Biber would have wanted me to tune the G up to have that added tension (it will sound different than a D tuned down), we all agreed that it would be safer with the D. 

Broken G

Anyways, 

So today was the first recital of half of the sonatas. Really great players and the music is phenomenal. After the recital we all have our ensembles. I am playing 2 different pieces. One by Monteverdi (scored for harpsichord, gamba, 2 violins, and 2 sopranos) and one by Delalande (scored for harpsichord, gamba, 2 violins, 1 bass and 2 sopranos). It's so amazing working with all the different coaches and the instrumentalists and singers. After ensemble we head over to Baroque Dance class. We've learned all the major dance styles (from the German influence) Gavotte, Bouree, Sarabande, Loure, Courante, and we'll take a look at Chaconne and Passacaglia tomorrow. What a crazy workout! It's so interesting to know the steps behind the dances - it's meant to help us be better performers of the dance styles. Then we grab dinner and then head back for orchestra. We've been reading through all sorts of music (Muffat, Lully, Purcell, Corelli, Handel, etc.). 

Needless to say, I have enjoyed every minute. It's been a great experience so far. Saturday we will all perform our ensembles and next Thursday I will be performing (with Thomas on harpsichord with me!) the Sonata 12. The violin is tuned in a C Major chord. (Is that how a ukulele is tuned?) Check it out:

Thomas will be joining me up here on Sunday while W gets to spend quality time with the grandparents. I miss my little man so much - but I know he's having a great time with the Russells. 

In other news: the baby is kicking. So, I have little #2 to keep me company while my boys are all several states away. Also, the house is continually moving forward, so prayers appreciated for that! I've got to go to bed - we go for about 12 hours straight and this momma is tired!

In Christ,

Julie