Thu 2:07 (1103-1310)

Warmed up on the Boismortier a minor 2nd movement, focusing on the Shifting Thing and playing all the shifts and scale patterns at slow, no tempo. Then played through twice at qu =60, stopping the first time to work over trouble spots, Finished by working through all 4 movements under tempo but without the metronome. Focus on keeping the 16th notes relaxed and legato to avoid rushing. Also worked on 4-4 shift patterns in the 4th mvmt. That took 30-35 min.

At our next concert we are playing a contemporary piece by Linda Tutas Haugen called An Uncommon Hero. I didn't do very well at sight reading it at rehearsal, so it's on my first order of practice business this week. First, I wasted 15-20 minutes trying to find a recording of the piece, as it's been performed in public at least twice before. Nada. So I buckled down with my metronome and worked out some of the rhythms, beginning with a recurrent syncopated fanfare motif. I also realized while working through it that a big part of my problem reading was simply that there are 2 cello parts notated on the same staff, with independent bowings marked above and below. This will be good discipline, keeping my eye focused only on the down-going stems and underneath bowings. I finished this block by recording the Vc1 part for the exposition with a metronome, and then practiced the Vc2 part against the recording, a little under tempo. Not quite as good as a complete recording, but helped with the balance issues, playing my rhythms independently while listening to another part. Spent almost 1 hr on these endeavors.