Rudolf Kehrer had a similar experience in GULAG, he survived by having penciled keys on a wooden plank. RT
> On memorization: The Chinese pianist Liu Chi Kung was imprisoned by the > Maoists for 7 years after the "cultural revolution." During his > imprisonment > he had no access to a piano but, since the guards held him is some regard, > was granted a cell with a window. After his release he, like so many of > China's intelligentsia, departed for Taiwan and after only about a month > played a concert with the symphony there. When asked how he accomplished > such a feat, considering the lack of practice for 7 years, he replied that > he had actually practiced daily. During meditation periods he would pull > his > chair up to the windowsill and close his eyes, imagining the keyboard > before > him. He would then "play" his entire memorized repertoire on the > windowsill, > hearing the notes in the ear of his mind. That constant visualization and > reinforcement of the intellectual and muscle memory allowed him to get > into > performance shape in record time. > > I've always been a good memorizer and a poor sight reader (one probably > affecting the other) and in high school band always had all the parts > memorized in short order. In Texas, if you're in the band, you play at > football games (a pervert in Texas is defined as someone who likes sex > better than football) and one must march with the band at the halftime > show. > I remember many poor fellows marching around reading the little sheet > music > on a lyre before their eyes, sometimes smashing into each other in the > process. > > Being a poor sight reader, I have most things memorized by the time I get > the fingering and positions worked out and the piece up to speed. In > recital, I usually have the music before me as a place to stare so as not > to > be so aware of the audience. I suffer from almost debilitating stage > fright > and it seems to help, a placebo security blanket. > > Best, > Rob Dorsey, luthier > Florence, KY USA > > -----Original Message----- > From: Doctor Oakroot [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Friday, May 05, 2006 9:39 AM > To: Roman Turovsky > Cc: Doctor Oakroot; Lute Net > Subject: [LUTE] Re: Lute straps > > In an orchestra the players are acting as a sequencer and their job is to > reproduce the written music accurately. The musical value comes from the > conductor - who usually has the score in front of him, but, if he's any > good, he doesn't actually need it. That's why experiments with > conductorless > orchestras are generally flops. > > And, no, blues isn't memorized - it's created during the performance... a > whole different art. > > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > ___________________________________________________________ $0 Web Hosting with up to 200MB web space, 1000 MB Transfer 10 Personalized POP and Web E-mail Accounts, and much more. Signup at www.doteasy.com
