late night blog writing

It's nearly midnight here, but it's been a while (and could conceivably be a while longer) so I thought I'd try to get something down.  Just got back from Zurich, where I played a concert (with choir), Pergolesi Vespers, ends up being nearly 2 1/2 hours without a break.  Goodness me.  The church (Predigerkirche) was interesting, built 1308-1350, and all white on the inside, with an impressive teal-colored organ.  There is quite a lot of ornamentation along the walls, including these fatty cherub/baby faces with pink-colored lips and bulgy fatty baby eyes.  (I was trying to find a picture just now but I could not.  Sorry about that.)  Tomorrow I'm off somewhere else, I think it's called Frauenfeld, to play Haydn's good old Creation.  Busy, busy.  Plus, classes begin this week.  Now you see why I can't find the time to write some blog, yes?

School!  I know you are wondering.  At first it seemed Very, Very Complicated.  A bunch of pieces of paper on a wall, lists of classes, teachers, things you had to sign up for, things you didn't have to sign up for, things you could sign up for if you wanted to, and no clear way to differentiate between all of these.  Another wall, with a list of all of us (who's on top? I'm so easy to locate.) and one of the classes we'd been assigned.  I got Generalbass, which basically translates to figured bass, which refers to the little numbers you see under the bass line of Baroque music, telling the keyboard player which chords to play.  My class, though, is not so much about that, as far as I can tell.  In fact, it's a 30-minute-per-week private lesson with a very thoughtful, gentle, scattered-seeming man whom I watched sit on a harpsichord (what?!) and who spent a number of minutes with his forehead scrunched up trying to decide what he would teach me.  In the end, he asked me to play some chords (d minor, A major, d minor, C major, F major, C major, d minor, A major, these are the chord progression of La Folia (from Wikipedia: "La Folía [also spelled "Follia"] is one of the oldest remembered European musical themes, or primary material, generally melodic, of a composition, on record"), for which, in the next couple weeks until our next lesson, I am to devise 6 - 8 variations.  I think I can handle that.
I am also to take something called the Kompactkurs ("compact course"), from which I can choose one of three sections (Medieval and Renaissance notation and theory; 15th century - late 18th century; Baroque and Classical notation and theory) this year and one next year, preferably sections 1 and 2 or 2 and 3 although it's not clear which they'll let me into.  Anyway, there are a lot of other classes offered, and let me just say I was Very, Very Confused trying to sort it all out. 
Fortunately, there's a gentleman on the administrative side (who also teaches lute) named Jeremy Llewellyn, he's from Wales, and hey, he speaks English.  In the chat we had, he explained that technically all I *have* to take each semester are lessons, Generalbass, and the Kompactkurs; I will need to get some more credit points, which can be had by attending other classes and also by playing concerts (so, score, for every gig I play, I can submit the program at the end of the semester and get credit points for it!).  But really, it took this man telling me the information before I understood it, because the signage is extremely complicated.  Even people who speak German think so. 
I have found a couple people to be friends with.  Yes, you may all heave a sigh of relief; little Megan will not be sad and friendless this year.  One of them is another American, Lydia.  She's a singer, and I'm told she's very good.  Perhaps she does not yet know how rewarding it can be to work with a bass player, but it is my plan to show her.

Oh, I'm sorry, I just realized I haven't included any pictures yet.  I've been leaving the camera at home, but I did get a few nice pictures before the weather turned rainy and Cold.

So lovely!  I was walking home from school when I noticed this bug on my shirt.  So I took its picture.

Also on my walk home, I passed by my favorite fountain.  Have I already included a picture of it?  Perhaps.  Well, here it is again.  Little Goat!

OK, lots going on here.  I initially wanted to take this picture for the little post bird on the bow of the boat, but then I noticed some loud noises, and a commotion.  Then it became clear that the loud noises were actually people, fake fighting and singing opera, acting out the staging right there at the Schifflände (ship landing).  Wow!  Pretty neat.

I think there's tons I'm leaving out here.  Playing with me in Zurich was another bass player, Sofus, he's from Norway, and does mostly modern orchestra playing.  We had a long discussion today about work, and rehearsal length.  Turns out modern orchestras here adhere to very similar rules and regulations as those in the States: 2 1/2 hr rehearsal time, break no later than 1 1/2 hrs in, etc, etc.  Why are these things lacking from the Historical Instrument orchestra world?  Because we're amateurs?  I know that's not true.  Because we're so thrilled to have the chance to play this old music that we don't mind going for 4 hours?  Again, it seems absurd.  In a country that loves to follow the rules as much as Switzerland, I'm surprised there's not any kind of system in place for ensuring that we have professional workplace conditions.  (Speaking of rule-following, Sofus told me that at some point he put his trash out on the wrong day, or in the wrong place, and the police went through it, found his name on something, and came and talked to him.  He almost got in trouble with the police!  Wow.)  Well, anyway.  I am happy to be playing this music, even if I sometimes complain about the conditions.

Well heck, it's almost 1 in the morning.  I guess I'd better get myself to bed.  Remind me to tell you a funny story about my endpin.