It's a beautiful, quiet morning at Southeastern - roses blooming, birds singing . . . At 8:00 A.M. there were four students in the coffee shop, and me, each of us quietly studying. Well, I was drinking coffee. They were studying.
Yesterday afternoon was a new and fun experience for me. Kathy and I performed as part of the Central Florida Bach Festival. The Festival is about forty years old and maintains a great choral tradition presenting works of Bach and others. Yesterday's offerings were a Buxtehude mass and Bach's Cantatas 78 and 131. I also played harpsichord for a trio sonata with my SEU colleagues Ron and Annabelle Gardiner.
The special take-aways from the event were as follows.
1. Bach needs movement. A physically loosened-up performance seems to be in the right spirit, as far as I'm concerned. It's a spirit of joy.
2. Bach is incredibly rich. I have an idea of Bach's music based on the pieces I play and teach. I'm afraid these amount to a generalization of Baroque style. But there is so much more personality and variety to the actual music.
3. Bach is delightful. I loved watching the audience during the cantatas - heads bobbing to the beat, smiles, and eyes closed in serene contemplation (not sleep)!
