Recital Video, 5/31/2021

My teacher, Lauren Zwonik, has a studio with students ranging from children to retired adults like moi. I take lessons from her via Zoom, since she’s teaching (currently) from Baltimore. A move to Las Vegas and doctoral studies in flute are in her near future. But Zoom will still be a thing.

Owing to the pandemic, she’s been teaching “virtually” for more than a year now. So, she decided that a YouTube virtual recital was just the thing.

Below is my effort at the first page of Haydn’s Violin Sonata #1, transcribed for clarinet and piano. The red dot marks an unavoidable edit. You just have to love the expression on my face at the very end. Oh, and the shaky left hand? Not nerves. That’s benign essential tremor.

EDIT, 8/29/23: The video has been removed and replaced with an MP3 of only the audio. That’s bad enough, without seeing the facial contortions. Tempo was very slow and I attempted only parts of the movement. File size is about 7.5 MB.

Some observations:

  • The accompaniment has been digitized from a MIDI file downloaded from the Clarinet Archive. However, my efforts to keep up with it have been unsatisfactory. I either get fumble-itis of the fingers or I have to pause for breath. In any event, playing in sync has not yet been possible.
  • Lauren suggested that I just play what I could without backup. I put my metronome on “flash only” to try to maintain a steady pace, but COPD has its own way of doing things. The tempo is unavoidably kinda ragged. Guess I need to stop using the exerciser as a coat rack (like Bro Doug says) and put in the miles. Otherwise, Carnegie Hall is gonna have to wait.
  • This is page 1 of 3 with a couple of repeats (one more than I planned). Page 3 is nearly playable for me, but at a very slow tempo. Long sequences of sixteenth-note triplets: just what I need. <gasp, gasp!>
  • My tone quality is variable. Some of the notes in the Chalumeau (lower) register sound nice and round, whereas those just above the dreaded break sound muffled and fuzzy. My high C’s were nicely in tune, so — baby steps.

My grade: perhaps C to C+.