“ I’m sorry I can’t stay the whole time,” an audience member told me shortly before the beginning of the opening lecture. ”I have another appointment tonight, so please, don’t feel offended if I leave after 45 minutes.” 1 1/2 hours later, when the lecture was finished and we were standing together in the hall, talking, he was still there. On Sunday morning, he came back, all the way from Montclair, to listen to the first four Preludes and Fugues.
Two hours before the first mini-recital, I got a call from a friend, who said me she wouldn’t be able to come to the recital, she had some writing to do, and there was a deadline. After I had finished playing, I was surprised to see her in the audience. “ I decided that the music might be more important for me than the time I would gain, and ultimately, the music might inspire the writing.”
Stories like that make playing for a small audience in an intimate setting so rewarding. I’m sure they happen wherever people come together to listen to music, but in larger venues, the performer hardly ever learns about them.
Of course, I’ve had similar experiences as an audience member myself. One of the most profound was a series of recitals by pianist Sean Duggan, that presented Bach’s entire keyboard work. He played 15 concerts over a period of several weeks in a small church in Midtown Manhattan in spring 2000, in honor of the 250th anniversary of Bach’s death. After the last event, I found myself involved in a conversation about Bach’s music and what it could do for you with several other people from the audience who I didn’t know. We were a little clueless what to do with our Wednesday-, Friday-, and Sunday evenings, now that the event was over.
When I heard Duggan play, I wondered whether I could learn and eventually perform the entire first book of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier. The task accompanied the process of my relocation from Germany to the United States. The music connected the two countries and gave me something to hold on to while my life was up in the air. Curiously enough, I completed the project around the same time as my Green Card was approved.
Book 2 accompanied another major change: my relocation from New Hampshire to New Jersey, and the transition from teaching at community music school to working as an independent teacher.
I started out with one afternoon of teaching in Maplewood, while I still lived in New Hampshire. For an entire school year, I commuted between Concord and New York every week. On the bus listened to Bach’s music. Over time, I started to associate certain pieces with certain places that we passed on the trip. When Youtube put me before the task of combining pictures with my sound recordings (it is impossible to upload sound only) I was reminded of that.
At first, I considered images of the score, but that would be meaningless for people who don’t read music. So I used photos from my personal collection that seemed to resonate with the music in one way or other. I’ve tried to connect the music and life, in tune with the purpose of the project: to encourage people to listen to the music and look for resonance with their lives, experiences and feelings. Of course, my choices are personal and may not appeal to everybody. Disagreement can inspire, and I encourage you to look for your own images, feelings, thoughts, poetry, that the music evokes.
If you would like to be there for the mini recitals, but can’t make it, I invite you to listen to the pieces by yourself, and join us in spirit.
List of my Youtube Recordings
|
No
|
Piece
|
BWV
|
Performance
|
link
|
|
1a
|
Prelude in C-major
|
870
|
2/3/13
|
|
|
1b
|
Fugue in C-major
|
870
|
2/3/13
|
|
|
2a
|
Prelude in C-minor
|
871
|
2/3/13
|
|
|
2b
|
Fugue in C-minor
|
871
|
2/3/13
|
|
|
3a
|
Prelude in C#-major
|
872
|
2/3/13
|
|
|
3b
|
Fugue in C#-major
|
872
|
2/3/13
|
|
|
4a
|
Prelude in C#-minor
|
873
|
2/3/13
|
|
|
4b
|
Fugue in C#-minor
|
873
|
2/3/13
|
|
|
5a
|
Prelude in D-major
|
874
|
2/17/13
|
|
|
5b
|
Fugue in D-major
|
874
|
2/17/13
|
|
|
6a
|
Prelude in D-minor
|
875
|
2/17/13
|
|
|
6b
|
Fugue in D-minor
|
875
|
2/17/13
|
|
|
7a
|
Prelude in E-flat-major
|
876
|
2/17/13
|
|
|
7b
|
Fugue in E-flat major
|
876
|
2/17/13
|
|
|
8a
|
Prelude in D#-minor
|
877
|
2/17/13
|
|
|
8b
|
Fugue in D#-minor
|
877
|
2/17/13
|
|
|
9a
|
Prelude in E-major
|
878
|
3/3/13
|
|
|
9b
|
Fugue in E-major
|
878
|
3/3/13
|
|
|
10a
|
Prelude in E-minor
|
879
|
3/3/13
|
|
|
10b
|
Fugue in E-minor
|
879
|
3/3/13
|
|
|
11a
|
Prelude in F-major
|
880
|
3/3/13
|
|
|
11b
|
Fugue in F- major
|
880
|
3/3/13
|
|
|
12a
|
Prelude in F-minor
|
881
|
3/3/13
|
|
|
12b
|
Fugue in F-minor
|
881
|
3/3/13
|
|
|
13a
|
Prelude in F#-major
|
882
|
3/17/13
|
|
|
13b
|
Fugue in F#-major
|
882
|
3/17/13
|
|
|
14a
|
Prelude in F#-minor
|
883
|
3/17/13
|
|
|
14b
|
Fugue in F#-minor
|
883
|
3/17/13
|
|
|
15a
|
Prelude in G-major
|
884
|
3/17/13
|
|
|
15b
|
Fugue in G-major
|
884
|
3/17/13
|
|
|
16a
|
Prelude in G-minor
|
885
|
3/17/13
|
|
|
16b
|
Fugue in G-minor
|
885
|
3/17/13
|
|
|
17a
|
Prelude in A-flat major
|
886
|
3/31/13
|
|
|
17b
|
Fugue in A-flat-major
|
886
|
3/31/13
|
|
|
18a
|
Prelude in G#-minor
|
887
|
3/31/13
|
|
|
18b
|
Fugue in G#-minor
|
887
|
3/31/13
|
|
|
19a
|
Prelude in A-major
|
888
|
3/31/13
|
|
|
19b
|
Fugue in A-major
|
888
|
3/31/13
|
|
|
20a
|
Prelude in A-minor
|
889
|
3/31/13
|
|
|
20b
|
Fugue in A-minor
|
889
|
3/31/13
|
|
|
21a
|
Prelude in B-flat-major
|
890
|
4/14/13
|
|
|
21b
|
Fugue in B-flat-major
|
890
|
4/14/13
|
|
|
22a
|
Prelude in B-flat-minor
|
891
|
4/14/13
|
|
|
22b
|
Fugue in B-flat-minor
|
891
|
4/14/13
|
|
|
23a
|
Prelude in B-major
|
892
|
4/14/13
|
|
|
23b
|
Fugue in B-major
|
892
|
4/14/13
|
|
|
24a
|
Prelude in B-minor
|
893
|
4/14/13
|
|
|
24b
|
Fugue in B-minor
|
893
|
4/14/13
|
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