Fresh music

I think playing that piece versus listening to it on a CD is like eating homemade beef stew versus canned stuff.  It's better when you make the music yourself.  That's not because the playing is better, but because the sound is better!  The sound of ringing notes can't get any better than what comes out of your own violin. 

Pre-made meals might be good when they're fresh, but when they have to sit out for hours, or they have preservatives added, they lose something.  Music preserved on a CD loses something, too.  I try to make it fresh. 

My violin itself has been really in-tune lately, which helps.  Not just "uh, maybe it's in-tune now," but, "oh yeah, those are loud harmonics; it's just right."  

I've been playing the Préludio from the E-major partita for fun. I've been playing it, off and on, since seventh grade, and I knew it well enough make a tape of it in twelfth grade, so I know the notes pretty well.  It's familiar, and I always enjoy practicing it. It's also hard enough that there's always more to practice! 

I've also been playing the Méditation from the opera Thais, by Massenet, a piece I first heard as music for pliés in ballet class.  It's so pretty. 


  I'm not saying that my playing is as good as what's on the CD.