...This piece,
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?view=detail&mid=2ECA5A2D8828DB3299BF2ECA5A2D8828DB3299BF&q=streets of laredo johhny cash&shtp=GetUrl&shid=ea03318e-02cc-4dd9-8af9-f0cddc428a68&form=VDSHOT&shth=OVP.bQE4CECv6keEH8Jv4MWkWAHgFo, gave me one of the most profound musical experiences in my life.
...I was playing with the Stockton Symphony in college, it is a semi-professional orchestra, we all got paid, but not enough to make a living,
, but we played major orchestral works and soloists from around the World would join us for a performance. Once, we were performing a concert with a country singer, Michael Martin Murphy. Our usual Principal Cellist couldn't play the concert, she had a family matter going on, and so I was VERY excited to sit as Principal, and lead the cello section. (I also tried to give advice to the Bass section, but their Principal took me out a side door of the Hall, and told me that HE would lead HIS SECTION...and if he saw me looking back over my shoulder at the Bass section again, I would feel something HARD hit the back of my head when I looked back at my music.
(He could be a real grouch))
...Michael had a quartet that traveled with him...percussion and a wind player and two other guitarists. His group setup in front, we were in an arch around them. I was sitting on the outside, and was actually right beside one of the guitarists, and Michael was about 10' away, in front of his group. We were dressed more casually, Michael didn't want us to be in 'Concert Black', so I wore my long, red gown. I always wore a dress or skirt that was loose, and was floor length...a woman, playing the cello, while wearing a short skirt doesn't look very 'professional'. (Or looks like a 'Professional' in an ancient profession.
)I made that mistake, once, and was blushing when I took my bows, several young men were standing, applauding very heavily and declaring..."THAT is how Brahms SHOULD be performed!" I got summoned to the Dean's office, and was scolded, and was told to dress 'properly' in the future. "We are not teaching 'Burlesque' here", he declared.
...I was really enjoying the concert with Michael, the arrangements of the songs brought out the meanings, our orchestra added a lot of depth. A few times, after finishing a song, Michael would gesture back to us, and say, "See how that work really needs an orchestra to help bring out the meaning?"
...We got to 'Laredo', and he sang it very well. It is subtitled "A Cowboys Lament", and he made it a memorial. He took a slow tempo, and his expressive voice painted a picture of what was happening. I was focused on the work, because only the Principal String players accompanied him...and a few times...it was just ME playing while he sang. I ignored the Conductor, and looked at Michael, and shaped my notes to fit in with the mood of the passage. I wasn't nervous, although the Hall was sold out, I was in that musical 'trance'...the ONLY thing in my mind was the music, and my hands were doing what I willed them to do, although I wasn't thinking of what to do. The first finger of my right hand would apply gentle pressure to bring the note out, and relax to make the note softer. My left hand was finding the right spot on the neck of the cello, and she varied the speed of the vibrato to express the mood of the note. All of the time, my mind was just in the music, and it was hard to breathe and I could only see the music in front of me...the rest of my vision was blurred.
My body was warm, and my mind was somewhere else...at that moment I felt that I WAS THE CELLO...and I was performing with a gifted singer.
...I had to just sit for about a minute at the end of the concert, I was very weak, and my head was unfocused. I then saw a dozen members of the audience walk up to the base of stage, where I was sitting, and they complimented me, and shook my hand, saying..."You were wonderful, when it was just you and Michael, I almost cried, it was so beautiful." I smiled, and thanked them for coming to the concert, and then carefully walked off the stage. At the reception, one of the members of his group came up to me, and patted me on the head, and said, "Michael mentioned that we should kidnap you, and your cello, so you could play in all of our concerts. You would also look good, sitting in the middle of us." I laughed and said, "Tell me where you parked your travel Van, I will be waiting, with my cello and a suitcase."
...Rags has had many similar experiences, I am sure, a 'Musical Experience' while performing is unlike anything else a human can encounter. There you are, physically playing the instrument, your mind is focused on the work, and you can hear what is happening.
The cello is particularly unique, the entire instrument vibrates, and you are holding it between your thighs. It vibrates even when you aren't playing, it reacts to sounds around it. During a rest, "Katherine" and "Pavane" vibrate as other instruments play. And, I am NOT exaggerating, when the percussion section lets loose, they vibrate with those sounds in addition to what they are expressing. I have actually felt "Pavane" JUMP when the cymbals clash, he is very sensitive, and he produces wonderful 'overtones' as I play a note. After a performance of 'Carmina Burana', I told the percussion Section Leader, that I was going to send him the repair bill for my cello. I scolded him, saying, "You guys overdid it, I felt my fingerboard come loose at measure 583 when the damn cymbals crashed."
He just laughed, and bought me a glass of wine.
