Today is Mardi Gras.

Trying to take time off before Ash Wednesday and Lent begins. Actually I am working on a pattern where I have some significant time away from the church grounds each week. I have scheduled a couple of Bach pieces for tomorrow night’s Ash Wednesday service.  Alle Menschen müssen sterben (All people must die) BWV 643 and Praeludium in C BWV 545. I know both pieces pretty well but the Praeludium has some moving pedal parts that I want to nail. So in the afternoon yesterday I traipsed over to church. Before practicing I decided on a prelude and postlude for this Sunday.

Here’s a couple cool versions of the prelude:

I looked up some interpretations online since I haven’t played that much Spanish baroque/medieval music. The first interp comes from a group directed by my hero, Jordi Saval. I was so happy to see that he had recorded this. The second seems to be a recording of a historical instrument in a Barcelona museum. I like both recordings quite a bit.

The second piece is a Passomezzo and Saltarello from the Tabualtur Buch of Bernhard Schmid the Elder. Here’s a nice recording I found online.

Both pieces come from a 1942 collection called Spielbuch für Kleinorgel oder andere tasteninstrumente edited by WolfGang Auler volume I which I believe I purchased used from Craig Cramer.

Lovely stuff. Schools are closed in Holland and the surrounding area today due to weather. I’ll probably give in again and go practice Bach later. Yesterday I spent three hours on the bench mostly reading through pieces of Bach many of which I have performed. I love the trios and preludes and fugues, but most of the ones I like take a lot of prep time, something I am keeping an eye on so that I don’t spend too much time doing my job. But it is fun to sit and play carefully through old Bach trios and Preludes and Fugues.

Also, I am composing and that is taking energy. I think I will manage to get my piece done in time. It is a collection of dances. I deliberately chose something that if I don’t quite get done for the deadline I can submit what I have and finish it at my leisure.

Dawn agreed on Sunday to learn the G major Bach Cello suite first movement. I worked on the D Minor prelude and fugue of Bach yesterday and plan to schedule it at the May recital. I am still pondering the rest of the recitals I have scheduled for May and June. I want them to be rewarding and fun for everybody involved. I think I can pull that off.

I’m back into my dermatologist to have a significantly less lethal spot removed from my back next Thursday. I had a call today from the pathology nurse and we scheduled this appointment. It’s a basal cancer which is more routine than a melanoma.

One of the nice things about the pieces I have chosen for this Sunday is that I can effectively  rehearse them on the piano and don’t have to go into church to practice them.