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You’d think, for all the times I’d shouted “STRONG AND WRONG!!!” at my students with clenched fists in the air and mock rage on my face, that I’d be better at it.

But every time I get ready to upload a new recording to my Demo Recordings page, the script starts again: “Is this really ready to share?  Shouldn’t I listen through again to be sure it’s okay?  Couldn’t I hit that note a little more in-tune?  Shape that phrase a little more precisely?  Bring out that nuance with a little more agility?”

“Someone to Fall Back On,” from Jason Robert Brown’s first solo album, Wearing Someone Else’s Clothes, is one of those songs that just reaches into my chest and makes me feel.  “I am no prince,” he says; “I am no saint.  And if that’s what you believe you need, you’re wrong….”

I have loved singing this song since I first discovered it.  I’ve used it at workshops, in worship, and in concerts.  And I’ve never once sung it perfectly.

There’s that out-of-nowhere high A in the last line of the bridge.  The high G at the end that I want to hold two beats longer than my lungs want me to.  And of course the fact that I can’t actually make it through the whole song without choking back tears.

But every time I’ve sung it, I’ve heard that sound in the audience after the last note fades away: the silence of held breath, of self-recognition, of mute gratitude for the blissful agony of shared pain.  Something in us needs to remember—and to be reminded, often—that to be human is to be flawed, and that therefore to be flawed, in some perplexing but profoundly important way, is to be perfect.

This recording is flawed.  The song doesn’t sound as good here as it does in my mind when I daydream.  But when I listened through just now, before uploading it, I thought of all the people in my life who I’ve been able to “fall back on,” and all the people in my life I hope trust they can fall back on me, and I had the kind of cry that feels really, really good.

Be well, y’all.

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Three Cats
Jake, Stewart, and Toby inquire as to why Sophie (not pictured) seems to have gotten more breakfast than they did.

Have you been waiting anxiously for the other—er, third—shoe to drop?  Rejoice!  The third and final movement of the Mozart 4-hands piano sonata I’ve been serially sharing is here at last!

I’m still mulling over an additional piece to include in the Classical Piano playlist on my Demo Recordings page (a Chopin, a Mozart, and…?), but in the meantime I’m getting antsy to get some solo vocal work up there.

Starting tomorrow I have a week of “vacation-vacation” (meaning that in addition to being free from church responsibilities for an entire 7 days I’ve also cancelled private students and scheduled rehearsals), and I’m looking forward to having several unstructured days of time to play around with recordings.  (Well, mostly I’m looking forward to about three solid days of non-stop napping, but that’s a less interesting blog post.)

But anyhoo.  In the meantime, here’s the “Allegro molto” finale to Mozart’s 4-hands Piano Sonata in D (K. 381).  Enjoy!

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Mozart c. 1780, portrait by Johann Nepomuk della Croce
Mozart c. 1780, portrait by Johann Nepomuk della Croce

On Thursday I shared a new recording of the first movement of Mozart’s D Major Sonata for piano 4-hands, and warned promised that the later movements would be forthcoming.

Can you keep a secret?

The second movement of that sonata is, I think, one of the most gorgeous piano movements ever written, so I couldn’t stop myself—I stayed up late that night (abandoning my poor husband in the process) to get it recorded and ready to post.  But I didn’t want to steal the thunder of the snow-melt Mozart, so I looked ahead to what will (at least according to Thursday’s forecast) be a rainy Monday morning, and scheduled this announcement to provide a bit of a bright spot that day.

If the forecast is wrong and/or you live in a place that isn’t rainy on Monday and/or you don’t listen to this post until after Monday… well, the best-laid plans….

Anyway.  I give you the second movement of the Mozart sonata, now included in the Classical Piano playlist of my Demo Recordings page.  Enjoy, my friends.  The effervescent “Allegro molto” finale will be coming soon!

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The view from the studio, 28 January 2016.
The view from the studio, 28 January 2016.

It’s bright and sunny here in Central Pennsylvania, and Snowmageddon is clearly losing its grip on the terrain.  Something about the sparkle and trickle of melting snow makes Mozart piano music seem “just right” today, so I’m delighted to announce that I’ve uploaded my second demo recording: the first movement of Mozart’s Sonata in D for piano 4-hands.

(In case you’re keeping track: yes, I still have two hands.  In order to record this duet I set a metronome in GarageBand and recorded both “players” of this duet—first the Secondo, then the Primo.  Happily there’s not too much pedal work in the piece, and the tempo is constant throughout, so there was very little technical fiddling to do to get it together.)

I’ve added the track to the “Classical Piano” playlist on my Demo Recordings page, and it also appears below.  The second and third movements of the Sonata will follow within the next few weeks.  Enjoy!

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Court Street Cabaret It’s time!  It’s time!  Everyone’s favorite annual evening of music, merriment, and mmmmwine is back, in a special new January time slot!  Stuart Landon is back in his element, presenting the best of Broadway and beyond, and this year he’s joined by area favorites Alexis Dow Campbell, Kara Miller, and (of course) me at the piano.  (He says he might even make let me sing again this year!)

Purchase your tickets in advance for just 18 bucks each at the Open Stage website.  And if you’re a Facebooker, check out the event page and let us know you’ll be coming!