A bit spent after a fun but compact group class and a couple of sessions with students, but I had this beginning facetious turn furious section in the first movement of Ysaÿe’s Solo Sonata no. 2 rampaging in my mind throughout the entire day. Truly an “Obsession”.
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Most of the times, the character of a particular passage has to be fully enacted by the body - body language. For instance, fragility is enacted by the smaller joints, and aggression perhaps by the body as a whole. The tough part of it all is to never equate musical tension with physical tension... the joints still remain free. Resistance and power comes from how a player uses the space around her while respecting the natural suspension system of the arm (also essentially a system of springs) and her body’s alliance with gravity... Marveling at how much kinesiology and anatomy teaches us players.
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