Music is my recurring theme - a theme and variations. As I work through La Follia with my friend, a cellist, we find new meanings in the piece as we discuss our situations dealing with very elderly women both born in 1908. Music can tell stories and tell our stories as it touches parts of our emotions.
I think listening to music has layers - the first are the notes on the page and what the composer tried to say, the second the performer and his/her interpretation and the third the listener and what s/he brings to the music.
In playing La Follia I find myself conversing as the melody transfers from one instrument to the other. We cross cultures (music written by an Italian based on a theme from Spain, played on instruments from Quebec and China ) and yet find the universal in music that speaks to anyone. So much to work on - to play all the notes, to make them tell the story of joy, of sorrow, of intensity and to match our styles so that there is continuity. Music is a life long pursuit.
