When we packed up all our stuff for the big to Australia, most of our pretty large collection of sheet music went on the boat in a container. That means, at best... we won't see it until about late February or something like that. Given that it isn't likely that we will have found a house by then, all the stuff will go into storage. I'm not sure how keen the storage people are going to be for us to come and go picking out bits and pieces that we will need... I'm sure that people probably do it all the time, all the furniture can stay until we find a place, but we will need music and bikes and clothes... all the sorts of things that you need for just regular everyday living.

I wasn't really expecting to really need much in the way of music in these first few months. Most of my work is with ensembles and orchestras where the programme is already set. I just need to turn up and play... however, I did pack a couple of little solo violin pieces that I have on hand just to keep my fingers in shape. Telemann Fantasias, Bach Suites and Sonatas and this cool but dastardly difficult Pisdendel sonata that I've been banging into shape on and off over the last few years.

Unfortunately (or fortunately), I have got an interview for a Violin tutoring role at the local youth orchestra... and as part of the interview this week, they have asked me to play something for them! This is completely normal, I guess that you will need to make sure that the people that you hire to do something should actually be able to do it... although, in the "real" job market, I think that requirement to actually be able to do the thing that you are SUPPOSED to know how to do is a little bit flexible. Anyway... in music, you actually need to be able to do it!

Interestingly enough, I've worked mostly as a performer for most of my life... and so, I know mostly performers, ensembles and orchestras... and I have very little to do with the education and youth music side of things. It turns out that the overlap is not so great... so, with all the teaching jobs... I need to prove my bona fides and skill with every single interview, whilst with the performing jobs... they just accept me from via via or reputation or previous experience! It is a weird feeling to have the two types of acceptance side by side!

I've been hunting around for various things that I could play at the interview... of course, my wife said it shouldn't be a really big deal or anything. But I have this streak in me that likes to do a good job and make a good impression with the performance, regardless of how "important" it should be. After poking around on the internet for possible sheet music that I could play (given that all my copies are on the boat... )... I actually ended up settling on a movement of the Pisendel solo violin sonata.

It is a touch risky, as I've not performed it properly in public before... but it is a pretty unknown piece to non-Baroque specialists (even to Baroque specialists), and so that lack of commonness is something that gives me a good deal of leeway to pursue my particular interpretation. The trouble with commonly heard pieces is that many people have in their own mind the "right" way of playing it (especially when you are playing for non-performers), and that makes for a not-fun way of performing. Playing a piece of music isn't about producing the "right" or "perfect" version... it is just playing your version at that moment in time... which could well be very different to the one that you play ten minutes later!

I prefer to use the manuscript (the scrawly one...) as opposed to the modern print... I don't know what it is, but there is just something softer and more intimate about the written part. I know that there are many modern Classical musicians that would much prefer the clarity of the modern reprint... but in our Early Music specialisation, we tend to try to use the original copies as a matter of habit. After all, many of the modern reprints include well-intentioned "corrections" and "improvements" from the editors... which are often quite unwelcome!

So, I did a trial performance for my wife yesterday. She said it is pretty damn weird for a Baroque piece... and it is (it isn't the stereotypical Baroque piece that people normally would think of), and she thought that it might just be too confusing for a panel of non-performers. Anyway, I did give it some thought... and figured that I'm okay with that. I think I would prefer to play a piece that I'm comfortable playing instead of trying to walk a tightrope of what a panel might prefer to hear.

In the end, they aren't really (hopefully) judging my performance... but just checking to see if I can sort of play the violin.... and I think I can sort of do that!

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