a bit of happiness

I feel good. A week of yoga (all but one day this week) and three dance workouts. Balanced protein & fat for all my meals, and lots of good vitamins - D, C, methylated B12, Folate (I think that's methylated too), and a good antioxidant. I've been working on that 70-lb mark for awhile, and I think I'll hit that tomorrow morning when I do my weekly weigh-in. That'll bring me to my 1991 weight. Time machine! I just hope I continue to behave like my proper, married, 52-year-old self.

My lady is in her hometown for a wedding shower, and my child is at a sleepover. I'm a bachelor tonight! I can do whatever I want. What shall I do? No se. Je ne sais quois.

But for starters I'll sip on this breve - all the caffeine and twice the fat - and wait for the effect to take hold. Then I'm sure I'll come up with an idea.

I'm in the midst of trying to sight-read The Musical Offering. Simply impossible, even for a gifted score reader. Only the first movement is doable, and it was written to reflect an improvisation that Bach performed for King Frederic the Great, when first presented with The King's Theme. After that, there's the 6-part Ricercar - fuhgetaboutit - and the canons are all written as cryptically as possible. I haven't listened to a recording of this in over a year, and it makes me want to try to solve these puzzles. Two clefs at once, or a single clef, and the piece specifies a 4-part canon. Or one of the multiple clefs is upside-down. Even the Trio Sonata is a challenge. The flute & violin parts overlap, and the keyboard part is written in figured bass, which I don't read well - there's another music reading challenge! The figures are so small that even with a magnifying glass, it's hard to tell what they are.

So I set it aside and sight-read the first movement of a Beethoven Piano Sonata. Just bought the volume last night - book 2 of 2 of the complete Sonatas, edited by Schenker, published by Dover. I'm sure it would be tough to play fast, but it was surprisingly playable, and lay under the hands nicely. It's Opus 31, no 1, in G major. The tonality is all over the place - it's in G major, then F major (rock & roll!) , then E minor - A major - D major, then a flurry of diminished chords, then suddenly the 2nd theme is in B major - a distant key. What a guy. What a buzz!

I've been playing steadily for a couple of years now, and it's the limitations that my life imposes on me that's made me stronger on the instrument. I don't have time to compose, or play congas, or Chapman Stick, or do orchestral arrangements, or study couterpoint. I can't even work on repertoire! But, having chosen sight-reading and improvisation, those parts of my musical life are moving forward. There's something sad about this, but sometimes when you choose to really do something, to be committed, there's a sadness about the things you have to give up to get there. Then - you can use that sadness in your music. Maybe it comes out all by itself, anyway.