Last night I had the coolest experience! My brother called. We used to play piano duets together all the time. We did a full recital together every year for nearly 10 years. We even were featured on the local news once. He called me and here's how the conversation went:
L: "I was just driving down the road, minding my own business, when GUESS what they played on the classical radio station? Guess! You'll never guess!"
Me: "What? I'll never guess. Tell me."
L: "Just guess!"
Me: "Ummmm, Samuel Barber's Souvenirs for piano, four hands."
And would you know, I was RIGHT!!! We just wailed and laughed and laughed, that I was able to guess this very obscure piece of music that we played once together, probably 20 years ago. I haven't heard it or played it since. Last week I had been looking through my duet music, choosing duets for my piano students, and had stumbled across my score that I was able to pick up on sale a couple of years ago. What are the chances that I would have that piece on my mind, and that he would hear it on the radio and call me, and I would KNOW that was what he was experiencing, too? When we used to play together, we had something special; we could anticipate what the other would do without even having to signal the other. In fact, in practicing, we would sometimes stop in the middle and start at the same place without even discussing it. We totally had E.S.P. (extrasensory perception, telepathy, precognition, whatever you want to call it), and you know, maybe we still do. I have played with a lot of people, and I have never come close to finding what I had with my brother, in terms of really knowing what the other was going to do without cues. It would be fun to play those pieces together again, now that we are older and know how music oughta sound.
Do any of you experience this within your musical ensembles? I'd love to write a book about this someday. Tell me your stories.
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How COOL! I'd love to hear you guys play that piece someday. I know playing with someone on that level is very satisfying. I don't know why that happens. Probably something about being biologically connected and growing up in the same house listening to the same Mom play the piano and sing and being exposed to the same music from the same people when you were younger.
ReplyDeleteI think it's weird when you experience this with other musicians whom you have no reason to have that kind of connection with. Seiji, for instance, I've barely said two words to--he's twenty years younger etc., but when we play together it's like I know what he's going to do before he does it, and I respond and he does the same. It feels like "support." We think it's because our violins are brother and sister though . . . hahaha