Brahms 1 GMGS concert
Very happy indeed to share with you this footage of last night's premiere of my new Brahms 1 transcription at St John the Divine, preceded by the swaggeringly ebullient 'Triumphal March' from Caractacus (Sir Edward Elgar, arr. Edwin Lemare) and the uniquely evocative 'Prélude a l'après-midi d'un faune' (Claude Debussy, arr Cellier), which I think really takes on a new dimension in our 10-second acoustic, which I hope Mr Debussy would like.
The Brahms was the culmination of a whole year's work, 6 months transcribing and 6 months getting it into the hands and feet. I'm extremely glad the concert wasn't cancelled and that we had a very good crowd, who seemed very adept at 'emotional' (rather than physical) hugging, even if it seemed SO un-American! (The warmth of genuinely-empathic, physical contact in the US is one of the biggest differences I noticed, when I moved here from the UK - I hope we don't ever loose that!).
Nevertheless my heart absolutely goes out especially to all my fellow freelance-musician friends - we all have to be very brave, support each other and weather this rather horrible storm. My sense is, with some divine intervention, it too will pass, in due course.
11 мар 2020
