Recently, Jeff Prillaman and I were talking about what we think about when performing. I thought it might interesting to explore that a little bit here.
There are at least two main streams of thought that go into my preparation for a performance.
First there is performance practice. By this I mean I make some effort to dialog with the composer's ideas, the score, history, and performance traditions for the music at hand.
The second stream involves attempts to bring my faith to bear on the performance of the music. I look for ways that eternal truths might be played out in the music I'm playing.
This morning I rehearsed at Grace Covenant Presbyterian here in Richmond where I am scheduled to play a concert Wednesday night. As I was trying out the piano, I was reminded that another important part of the thinking that goes into my playing is adapting to the specific instrument and the acoustics of the room where I am to play. Many times, my conception of how a piece should sound changes drastically when I search for what will work in the actual setting of a given performance.
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