… and as usual things are not entirely what I would call organised. I was unable to do two things over the last week or so, the first being the talk at the Powerhouse Museum that I mentioned in my last post, the reason being that they had too many things planned as part of the programme and they decided my five minutes of spiel wasn’t required, which was not a problem for me since I had a couple of other things to do at the time connected, with getting all of the music ready for Midnight Mass this year – given the mass plus 30 minutes of communal carol singing beforehand that is actually quite a deal of music to prepare.
The second was that I was unable to fit in a visit to the Stuart & Sons factory both to do some more recordings of a couple of pieces I’ve been playing and also to celebrate, if that is the correct word to use under the circumstances, the fifth anniversary of the delivery of the piano, which occurred on December 12th, 2005.
It seems such a short time, looking back on it, but I still feel that I have learnt a great deal more in musical terms than I would have done if I hadn’t got it, or else had acquired what I might call a ‘standard’ piano (in the design sense), no matter what quality.
I’m going to have to try to schedule a time sometime in the new year, allowing for the fact that the factory closes down over the Christmas / New Year period to give the staff a much needed break from the exactitudes of constructing pianos of the quality that Stuart & Sons is renowned for.
In the meantime, my oboe is away being serviced, the cor anglais is sounding good and of course the piano is still responding to my clumsiness in as forgiving a way as it can.
Happy Christmas and a prosperous and musical New Year to all.