October 5, 2019--Practice Blog

I'm only partway through the day, but thought I would knock this out while I was at the computer. It has been a good day, so far. Woke up and went to the other side of town to practice organ for service tomorrow as well as personal edification. On the way, I heard from a composer who's pieces I am playing on a recital on October 15. We set up a time to meet so he can have a pre-hearing and give me some tips on what he wants from a performance. I also met up with the director of the work for the Sioux City Scottish Rite to go over some music for the ceremonial that will be held tomorrow. Wound up at the local Renaissance Fair for a while. I am always drawn to this event because you can order a smoked turkey leg. My wife and I walked around the fair looking in booths and people watching for about an hour before coming home. As an amateur historian, the historical inaccuracies at Renaissance Fairs in general really bug me, but I do like to watch people role play. This brought us home upon which we watched some American football, I loaded up my Secrets of Organ Playing submission (https://steempeak.com/@jeremyowens9501/secrets-of-organ-playing-contest-week-40-in-dir-ist-freude-by-j-s-bach-bwv-615) and I sat down to write about my day.

On the organ, I spent part of the morning practicing Bach's In Dir ist Freude for the postlude tomorrow morning as well as recording it for the week 40 contest. I also ran through the hymns for tomorrow as well as introductions and reharmonizations for two of them. My prelude is Meditation by Gabriel DuPont, which got a run-through as well. I then ran through Bach's Fugue for BWV 538 three times, trying to not have breakdowns as the piece progressed (not quite successful today). I also worked on the Hindemith 2nd Sonata, first movement, trying to speed up some of the faster sections by stopping on the half-notes.

This afternoon, I will sit down to work on Charles Dibley's 7 Pieces for Solo Piano, particularly Dakota Wind. It is the fast selection of the seven, and it needs some attention before I meet with the composer on Wednesday. I will also look at three sections of Debussy's Children's Corner that have been eluding my memorization of them. Then, my wife and I are going to make hamburgers and watch the newest Spiderman movie!