Duet Session 2

Being half and hour late for the duet session instantly set me to "panic mode", more so than usual. It was incredibly busy in central Leeds, no idea why but I'm guessing it's just a Saturday/weekend thing and people like shopping especially with the new developments that seem to be cropping up a lot in the city center.

Rachel, my lovely playing partner, told me that my being late allowed her time to polish her part and with the ever-understanding Deryn, I was put right at ease and calmed down a little.

Today, we tackled Popper no. 2 where I played the melody and Rachel played the bass section. As with most if not all Popper pieces, challenges abound - double stops, crazy dynamics, pizzicato and arco; most of which Rachel had to deal with for her section so I lucked out :)

Thing about double stops - technically, they aren't any more challenging than your usual notes but they induce a sense of panic unless the phrase is so familiar, they suddenly resemble notes again and not a cluster of fear, waiting for you in bar 38.

We had a few run throughs to get up to speed, literally; slowly at first. Then Deryn brought out the trolley of doom. A mobile contraption that allowed her to record us play, forever capturing our souls into the digital world. Last week's recording was foiled by a dead battery but there was no such luck today.

We did a total of about 4 or 5 takes in total, each one better than the previous with Deryn's incessant guidance. By this time, both Rachel and I were fairly familiar with our parts and each others cue. Playing a cello duet with someone you hardly know is an experience unlike anything I've had; you become the supporter and motivator for your partner whilst at the same time, leader and critic of both your and their playing to serve the music.

Intonation and timing was key; I was guilty of speeding up at places when Rachel was doing pizzicato. It took both her and Deryn to be vocal about this before I got the message and slowed down. I was just not aware that I was increasing the tempo at all! There's a part where I had to lead a Ritardando and speed up to the normal tempo. It took a few tries before I was confident enough to turn and signal at Rachel via a convincing "nod" when it was time to do so. This was when I realised how intimate duet settings were - tuning into your partners body signals, facial features and playing style constantly.