So it's been a very busy week but very enjoyable. I've tried to take it a little more easily during the weekend. When I did the interview for the Finzi Scholarship I was delighted when one of the panel mildly reprimanded me for having constructed such a full schedule. He (quite rightly) pointed out that packing so much in was dangerous because if one thing didn't happen then there wasn't room to "make up" but he was also quite adamant that I should ENJOY MYSELF. Make time for actually enjoying being in Paris. Now, this is something which I'm trying to learn! At the moment part of the problem is that I'm really fired up about the Gallay works and learning French so I'm inclined to work and work and work...until I drop. So I'm trying to have a more laid back weekend.
Yesterday I finished recording (very very roughly) a couple of rough versions of the Caprices. At the moment there seems to be three variants; A. i) Caprices on their own, ii) each Caprice partnered with a Prelude or iii) some Caprices partnered with a Prelude. B. i) All on one crook (probably Eb), ii) impose an harmonic order or iii) a mixture of crooks dependent on the character of the piece. C. i) perform the Caprices in order of publication or ii) mess around with the order (this one is slightly dictated by the decision made for B. The rough recordings I've made over the past couple of days cover a few of these options. However someone just suggested another harmonic order which I'd like to try... One way or another I've just put the six versions I currently have on my ipod and will have a bit of a listen today and try and narrow my options down. It'd be great to start the next week with a definitive version.
So having done some good work I set out on a bit of a march. The heavens had opened early on Saturday morning so I was glad to see the sun. I ended up wandering down to Bastille then over to Ils Saint-Louis, home of (in my opinion) the best ice-cream in the world (specifically Caramel au Beurre Sal as made by Berthillon - sounds vile but it is heaven)...
Walked back via the windows of Orphée a rather wonderful antique musical instrument shop run by a lovely chap called Richard Charbit. It was also closed (probably good for my bank balance) but I might see about returning there before my stay is up.
One of the things I've been noticing in Paris is the number of aliens in Paris. You see them in other cities too sometimes. By this I mean the little space invaders made out of mosaic tiles that keep popping up. They seem to be invading! I found a map of them but think I'll just keep my eyes open and see if I can find some more!
Yesterday I finished recording (very very roughly) a couple of rough versions of the Caprices. At the moment there seems to be three variants; A. i) Caprices on their own, ii) each Caprice partnered with a Prelude or iii) some Caprices partnered with a Prelude. B. i) All on one crook (probably Eb), ii) impose an harmonic order or iii) a mixture of crooks dependent on the character of the piece. C. i) perform the Caprices in order of publication or ii) mess around with the order (this one is slightly dictated by the decision made for B. The rough recordings I've made over the past couple of days cover a few of these options. However someone just suggested another harmonic order which I'd like to try... One way or another I've just put the six versions I currently have on my ipod and will have a bit of a listen today and try and narrow my options down. It'd be great to start the next week with a definitive version.
So having done some good work I set out on a bit of a march. The heavens had opened early on Saturday morning so I was glad to see the sun. I ended up wandering down to Bastille then over to Ils Saint-Louis, home of (in my opinion) the best ice-cream in the world (specifically Caramel au Beurre Sal as made by Berthillon - sounds vile but it is heaven)...
Berthilon itself was closed but many other places on Ils Saint-Louis sell their ice-cream so I treated myself to one!
One of the things I've been noticing in Paris is the number of aliens in Paris. You see them in other cities too sometimes. By this I mean the little space invaders made out of mosaic tiles that keep popping up. They seem to be invading! I found a map of them but think I'll just keep my eyes open and see if I can find some more!