As I was waiting for alarm clock to sound this morning, a new motto coalesced in my mind:
active but not stressed.
Sorry it's not in Latin
Active but not stressed is a middle way between obsessing about relaxng and generating physical tension as a misguided means of musical expression.
It's a little pardoxical - worrying about being relaxed enough is its own sort of stress, and tightening up physically beguiles us by making it seem like we're spontaneously going with the flow of the music!
"Active but not stressed" also seems like a good goal for one's life beyond practicing.
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Piano lessons from dance instructor -
Every dance requires the presence of an animal - the cow:
ie. Change Of Weight from one foot to the other
Very Dorothy Taubman-esque, eh?
Also, the lead provides the frame so the follower has freedom to do flowing, expressive, improvisatory things.
Isn't that the relation of the hands in most piano textures? And isn't that rubato?
"The left hand is the conductor; the right hand is the singer," etc.
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Reading through Donald Waxman Etudes. One is subtitled "Lambent Trajectories."
This suggests a theme or organizing principle for a performance: piano recital as vocabulary lesson
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