Playing in Public
Music performance frequently generates anxiety, and managing it can be learned, thorough preparation of the score being the first essential. Performing often enough to be able to regard the process coolly as a job is another. Good training includes being in the performing space, with a performance coach, if available, a few hours prior to performance. The coach should not be a luxury, and does not have to be the teacher. Anyone can guide the player in walking on and off, though experience in such matters does help. Here is a recent, and probably familiar, stress generating experience.
Playing for weddings is now a rarity. For a recent engagement out of London on a vaguely familiar organ, time spent revising Mendelssohn’s Wedding March was essential homework to avoid the embarrassment of incompetence before a musically literate congregation.
Two hours before the ceremony I arrived at the church and an hour later, the programme of organ music was ready. The choir was positioned at the east end and the organ at the west end. The console mirror was extremely small = Stress 1. How I wished for bifocal specs and a sound system to aid one’s senses. Accompanied choral items were very nicely performed, despite the bridesmaids walking right down the aisle, completely blocking the limited sightline between organist and conductor = Stress 2. Fortunately this unexpected moment was short lived.
However, guests and wardens stood next to the floor level organ, inches away from the instrument, talking loudly before and after the service whilst the organ was being played = Stress 3. One felt too polite to ask them all to move away from my personal space. Such lack of awareness was disappointing. On a happy note, at least one guest had recognised Bach’s Trio Sonata in Eb, so one felt satisfied with the outcome. Being fully prepared and experienced facilitated remaining unflustered. Making everything look as easy as falling off a log is part of our professional veneer. On the other hand, many musicians regularly perform surrounded by all sorts of ambient noise, ranging from the constant hum of traffic to chattering people and crying babies.
Consider the buskers (some well worth hearing), pianists who play on railway stations (very brave and worth a pause), bands and singers churning out carols in December, jazz musicians, plus many more : we should not complain too loudly or too long that we don’t always have an attentive, silent audience. On the other hand, it can be much easier to play when no-one is listening, so flaws go unnoticed when one is locked into a world of Bach, Buxtehude and whoever else. An advantage of public pianos is a big rather than small space, and deep concentration can be easier under those circumstances. Perhaps in situations as described above, when the sanctity of the church building is not being observed, we should develop our concentration further in order to keep going as the buskers and railway station piano players do. So, the stress of performing is relative, like all other things, and should be viewed in such a perspective. Managing stress has become big business for many retailers and therapists. It is good that help is available either privately, through the NHS or other work place contacts, or perhaps best of all, via best friends.
To sum up, the first essential is to have learned piece(s) thoroughly over a fair period of time, not to perform new music too soon. Good music, like good tea, needs time to brew. The second is to create lots of opportunities which might include playing to the family dog, into a recording device, or anyone who is friendly in a private, rather than public space. The downside of the weekly church service is that it is too easy to play music that is only half learned. Far better to recycle known music through thoughtful planning. A third essential is to practise in the performance space, common sense for most, but essential for organists. The fourth is to accept that a slip or two might occur, but the only person to be upset is you. Learn how to breathe out anxiety before walking on, and again before starting to play. Last but not least is to learn, practise and play with relaxed optimism and a sense of flow. The effects of negative thoughts about tricky corners during learning will stick like superglue and are difficult to overcome, even at several years’ distance.
With that in mind, put your best feet forward for the Composite Recital at Penge Congregational Church. Either way, do join in, the more the merrier. See you there.
One last thought: who has kept their New Year (Musical) Resolutions? Did anyone have any? Do let us know. I am exploring and learning as many selected Buxtehude Chorale Preludes before September as I can. There are many gems amongst them, many of which are infrequently played.
Marilyn Harper
