I was so encouraged when I read the article “Lapse” from New Music Box. It seems that composer Kevin Puts was performing as the soloist for his own premier of his Piano Concerto when he lost his place! Kevin writes,
I don’t know where I am…
Suddenly and inexplicably I am lost. In the orchestra to my left, the piccolo plays a staccato high C, the highest one possible, then a low B-flat spat outsforzando by the contrabassoon, some parallel triads orchestrated with winds and strings pizzicato. I can’t remember how my part fits into that. Marin Alsop stops conducting; the audience is utterly silent. I think I say, “Sorry, I have to start the third movement again.” Marin for sure says, “Really? It was going so well.”
I gather my nerves and start again…
You must read what happens next and how he deals with the resulting flood of thoughts that plague him as he begins the piece yet again. I think that anyone ever having any kind of memory glitch will find this article encouraging and will give us something to share with our students who might be afraid of such things.
And with conviction, I can finally say to my students: “It happens to all of us!”
It sure is comforting to hear that others have this problem! When I was a high school student, I had a recording of my own teacher playing a Mozart sonata on a recital, and I desperately wanted to learn it myself. So, I bought the score, and sat down to listen while reading along. To my shock, I discovered that she had several memory lapses and had improvised her way out of them so convincingly that I had never suspected! Her performance was still valuable enough to convince me to learn the piece, so the memory of that is comforting when I have to perform and am afraid I’ll “ruin” it with a mistake!
Wow, what a great story! That encourages me to help my students learn how to improvise their way out of a mistake. Having that ability is empowering!