Yesterday was the start of rehearsals with my Vermont orchestra for Debussy's "La Mer". The early rehearsals are running separately by section with violins first in order. We made it through the first and into the the second movement, focusing intensely on small sections of the work. The challenge of this work is to make the written notes sound like the waves and the surge of the sea.
As the conductor talked, I realized that my music and my kayaking may be joined. Right now our practice is mostly about getting the notes and time signatures under our fingers so that we can play to the intention of the work. It is hard to do that well if you are still fussing with note by note details.
But once I get these notes under my hands, my focus will shift. I will be able to use my memory of the sound and feel of the ocean where we kayak on vacation as the framework for the notes I am playing.
I have had a few people suggest that I could use my music to help relax me for rolling a kayak. This is the first time the arrow seems to be pointing in the opposite direction.
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