Music in spite of Corona


What's a musician to do in times such as these?

We aren't allowed to meet as a choir and sing. Even if we could, half the elderly choir members would not attend the rehearsals because they are at-risk. To be honest, nor do I relish the idea of sitting in a room with 60 others for two hours. And yet the cinemas are back in operation in Germany. Concert halls are opening their doors again, spacing out the listeners, rationing the tickets and making the live concert sensation no longer quite as sensational. You can no longer sense the excitement from those around you. You might as well sit at home and listen to a CD.


But I have been getting together with small groups of musicians, playing the violin and singing. And I've been practicing, of course, and making occasional videos of my progress over the past six months. However, the highlight for me was playing the violin in Mahler's woods near his composing hut in Maiernegg, Austria, on the Wörthersee. During my two weeks there, I would often begin my day by driving over and walking through the woods with my instrument, music stand and tablet till I found the perfect spot to play. Six days, seven different spots. 


One can hardly imagine how thrilling the sight of this sign was to me three years ago on my first trip up there. My wife and I heard a lovely Sunday morning concert outside the museum back then. The concerts have been cancelled this year due to Corona.
The composing hut, where Mahler worked on his 4th through 8th Symphonies from 1901-1907, is a museum now. When I was there in 2017, there was no piano, so I could claim that I learned the violin just so that I could play his music there during our vacation this year!



The first day I walked just past the clearing and heard these trees begging me to play among them. It is on a hill overlooking the beautiful, blue Wörthersee. 
After playing for an hour, I walked up to the hut and was surprised to see a one-of-a-kind piano there. It was the only grand piano built by a local piano tuner and builder from Klagenfurt. I was still so high from playing the violin, though, that I didn't even want to play the piano. 
When Mahler worked here, he had a piano and bookshelves filled with the music of Bach.





The villa which he had built for his family is right below the spot where the hut stands. It is privately owned and called Villa Siegel. 

The second day this path led me to the perfect spot to play the Posthorn Solo from his Third Symphony, the Adagietto from the Fifth, "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen" and "Um Mitternacht."


The following days were ever more beautiful and my playing improved each day I played the pieces. The slow movement from the First Symphony ("Frere Jacques") was also on the program beginning on the third day.





After finding this lovely place and playing for an hour, I walked up to the hut once more. I listened to the tour guide talk about Mahler's life and then walked a bit farther up the path and saw this spot. I just had to play again. It was within earshot of the people visiting the museum, but by the sixth day I had lost all my inhibitions and swayed to the music, totally enjoying it.



Back at home now, I often play these pieces and the memory of playing in his woods returns and I smile. That's about as good as it gets now.

Comments

  1. Susan SingerSeptember 8, 2020 at 1:16 PM

    I love how this post combines so many of your gifts and talents - writing, music, photography. It's a joy to read about your joy!

    ReplyDelete

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