Week 24 of year 2008 on the double bass

8 Jun 2008, Sun: The relatively unfocused state of mind in me made me choose to practise studies so as to focus on technical competency. Yet, I still need more refinement in my craft. I ended the practice with a reading of Marcello's Sonata in e minor. Admittedly, it was easier for me to approach a work written during the Baroque period than one that was written during contemporary time.

9 Jun 2008, Mon: I read the first movement of Marcello's Sonata in g minor. I wish for better phrasing.
Afterwhich, I sight-read the first and second movements of Dittersdorf's First Double Bass Concerto. I found that I relate to Dittersdorf's Second Double Bass Concerto better. Perhaps it is because I hear it more often?

11 Jun 2008, Wed: I practised selected passages from Rossini's "The Barber of Seville" Overture. Some time was spent practising the second movement of Dittersdorf's Second Double Bass Concerto and the first movement of Capuzzi's`Concerto in F major.

12 Jun 2008, Thu: I spent the double bass lesson sight-reading the cadenza of the second movement of Dittersdorf's Second Double Bass Concerto written by Ludwig Streicher. My tutor kindly searched for his copy so that I could read it. It is a lovely cadenza even though it proved a more challenging version than that found in the Yorke edition.

Most double bass scores are transposed an octave higher for the ease of reading. However, the cadenza was written without transposition, at concert pitch. This endeavour got me to have to get my mind working hard to figure out what notes were to be played for I was so used to reading from transposed scores. The remaining time was spent playing the rest of the concerto.

14 Jun 2008, Sat: I practised the cadenza of the second movement of Dittersdorf's Second Double Bass Concerto written by Ludwig Streicher. However, I could not quite make out some of the notations, and as such did not practise the entire cadenza. Some time was spent practising selected passages from this movement so as to improve the intonation.

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Would I be ready to sit for a diploma exams in music performance? Actually this isn't the key question that I wish to ask. The question should be: Am I ready to perform a recital that would touch the souls of the listeners?