By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher, Charleston, S.C. | There’s something special about musical recitals for young students.
From the very young newcomers and their sometimes faltering style……to the more advanced students and their confidence, to the surprise of the day (there’s usually one), the recitals are entertaining, if sometimes anticipated with nervousness…at least on the part of the parents and grandparents.
Being older grandparents, and with our granddaughters living in Charleston, we had thought that perhaps we had already been to our last recital years ago, when a daughter did a college recital. (She was good, if a parent must give a review.)
But finding ourselves on Grandparent Duty last weekend, we were surprised to find not only a recital on our agenda, but a practice session, too. (We were drafted; the parents were out of town).
Unfamiliar with the terrain, the practice served to learn directions to the location, a benefit in and of itself, since it took a little while to find the church hall. That was a chapel at a retirement hall, a place with 30 foot high ceilings and streaming bright sunshine shining in, a perfect space for a recital.
The program was an Honors Recital for the Charleston Academy of Music. With five music teachers having over 200 students for the year, there were only 19 performers for this Sunday afternoon performance, and therefore, the pick of this year’s music students.
Soon we were hearing music familiar from recitals of years past, from mostly classical composers many will recognize: Clementi, Bach, Haydn, Ginastera, Chopin, Massenet, Villa-Lobos, Ravel, and even Rogers and Hart (“Blue Moon.”) All but two pieces were on the piano, with the addition of two violin students. The recital lasted just over one hour in length.
While a few played with a little difficulty, overall it was an excellent performance by these varied and diverse students. We’ll admit to being particularly pleased by our granddaughters, time in the spotlight (they both ‘nailed it’), and then pleased with their music teachers’ affirmation of their playing. (“They didn’t miss a note.”) Yes, we were pleased.
Every time we think of a recital, we remember one particular recital from years back, this one at the Lawrenceville Presbyterian Church. The students were from a now deceased excellent piano teacher, Ms. Else Shewmake of Lawrenceville.
One of the music students, a young man maybe 10-12 years old, was assigned a particular piece, a “rondo.” He showed pretty good form, and was moving easily around the piano. Then it seemed that he was going a little long in this recital playing…….then it became obvious that he was having difficulty. You see, in this rondo, he kept playing parts over and over, not being able to determine how he could get out of the music. What should have taken perhaps four minutes was moving past eight….and by now the sanctuary audience had realized his problem. Finally, in desperation, the young man simply quit. It relieved us all, and made that recital especially memorable.
After Sunday’s concert, what’s next? Why you take the girls to an ice cream parlor, of course. That’s when we found the surprise of this recital: after these many years between recitals, ice cream prices have really soared!
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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