puzzle

I've been practicing the organ in Antwerpen about four hours per day and coming home every night almost too exhausted to even make dinner, answer a few urgent emails, collapse into bed, wake up alarmed and do some work, and then collapse again to wake up at 9 am and do it all over again.

Why am I so easily tired out? I've practiced eight hours of organ in a day and not been so affected. Does using my still-emasculated leg really require that much energy? Does the lack of a bike make a major a difference? If I didn't have a ride home every night, I'd probably be passed out in the Mechelen gutter somewhere. Then again, if I had my bike, we might just both be passed out in the Mechelen gutter somewhere.

Monday night: My first Avondmuziek, the equivalent of studio class (informal performances by each student for the other students), but pimped out--on the exquisite classical Metzler organ in De Kathedraal in Antwerpen. The instrument is a joy to play; I just hope I don't fudge up whatever I end up playing. That wouldn't be a good sign for my auditions.

But today the virtuosic and dramatic "Épilogue sur un thème de Frescobaldi pour pédale solo" by Jean Langlais seemed easier than all the rest of my pieces. That must be a good sign, considering that my legs are the weakest link in my performance mechanism. I never imagined last year that the piece would require so much less effort now. One bit of advice from Joris transformed the Bach Fugue in A minor (BWV 542) from notes into music: Don't play it quite so fast--it's dance-like.