Doublereed Archive - Posting 000037.txt from 2005/01

From: "Miriam Williams" <mwquacker@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [DR-L] Re: Why do we do this to ourselves??
Date: Sun, 9 Jan 2005 18:45:54 -0500

On the way home from the last Amahl today, (and usually after other
performances, too), I thanked G_d that I had the health to accomplish the
performance and being able to bring that work to life with my collegues. I
often think about all the many hurdles I've had to overcome to be where I am
today. I hope I can keep doing it for a good long time yet! And when I may
no longer have the physical stamina to play the oboe, there's always the
flute!

Happy New Year to all,
Miriam

----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Bush" <rbushidioglot@-----.net>
To: <doublereed@-----.org>
Sent: Sunday, January 09, 2005 5:37 PM
Subject: Re: [DR-L] Re: Why do we do this to ourselves??

> As we go through life advancing and trying to perfect our musical skills,
> we do so based largely upon our ability to be self critical....to
> analyze, scrutinize, take apart and compare with others, our teachers,
> great artists, etc. It is easy to loose perspective and end up beating
> upon ourselves. There is a balance to be found which always wants more,
> and at the same time, is willing to accept slightly less. We should all
> be satisfied with modest amounts of progress. Some of us have greater
> potential than others. Some of us have great gifts, though they might not
> be specifically in music or on our instruments. The Art of Loving, by
> Erik Fromm is still a good book to read. So is the Prophet by Gibran
> (spelling ?) and the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. The bottom line is to get
> through this life being happy and not having too many heartbreaks.
>
> Cheers to all and a prosporous new year.
>
> Richard Bush
>
> On Jan 9, 2005, at 4:06 PM, Miriam Williams wrote:
>
>> I think Susan's got it right, and I personally agree with that last
>> remark!
>> Plus, the more I can relax and 'not give a hoot' is when I can give a
>> better performance bc I'm thinking more about the music and phrasing,
>> etc, than whether anyone out in the audience thinks I 'should' be
>> playing with (whatever) group.
>>
>> I just had the opportunity to play Amahl and the Night Visitors; 4
>> performances. And they all went fairly well. We had some players that
>> were a bit weaker, and the vocalists were all very very good. A few had
>> even sung professionally.
>>
>> Re: compliments
>> I think the best thing to do is just say "Thank you", which is what I
>> try to do. I also know of players who don't acknowledge compliments from
>> collegues. I don't know why; I tend to think it's bad form. If one
>> doesn't acknowledge the compliment, it's sort of a slap-in-the-face to
>> the person who gave it, isn't it?
>>
>> Miriam
>>
>> ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
>>> The downside, of course, is that if we never risk playing in front of
>>> anyone,
>> our opportunities for musical growth and fulfillment are pretty limited.
>>
>> The older I get, the less I give a hoot about what anybody else thinks.
>> That's progress, I think :-)
>>
>> Susan
>>
>> ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
>> ```````````````````````````````````````````````````
>>
>>
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>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> For personal help: email doublereed-owner@-----.org
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