Chaconne #15 Music Party, Oneida Lake NY

July 28th, 2013 – performance around 12:30 pm.  The performance took place on Sunday afternoon of a chamber music weekend amidst wonderful readings and wonderful performances by many musicians from the Syracuse area.  Other than the first public performances this was the first time in the Journey series where I was playing for professional colleagues (as well as other musicians and music lovers).  I was gratified to find that not only did my ideas hold up in that situation, but they were felt to be compelling and were taken as valid.  I tried out a new understanding of pacing for the end, and it worked.  Still the opening theme and first two variations need to be much more organic.

8 thoughts on “Chaconne #15 Music Party, Oneida Lake NY”

  1. It was such a treat to be able to hear this performance on Sunday. I have never heard this Bach’s great piece played in such close small room before,
    and was overwhelmed by the intesity and the music I could feel from him.
    The environment was just perfect being in a small living room right by the
    beautiful Oneida Lake in Central New York. I took my 16 year old grand
    daughter visiting me from Japan for the summer. She plays the violin and belongs to a youth orchestra. To her delight, that Bach’s piece was her
    very favorite one. She even got the score and tried to go through, so
    she knew how difficult that piece was to play.
    I do not play the violin, so I do not know how difficult it was technically,
    but certainly that performance pulled and submergerd us all into the music
    he was creating. What I mean is that we could feel the music Shem feels from this piece. This piece is very known to be a great piece, but certainly without the help of this kind of performance, I can not appreciate
    the greatness of this piece. It was so different from what I hear from the
    CD. So thank you Shem for providing us such an opportunity.
    I am an amateur pianist who now, in my retirement life, has a passion in piano. There isn’t much hope for improving my technical skills but I can still try to play close to what the composer was intended to. Listening to great performance like this was very inspiring, as I could truely feel Bach’s music through you.

  2. I have heard this Chaconne before. But never like this. In the middle of musician friends. This music touched us all. As a shared experience. A fascinated group .. The incredible J.S. Bach work was offered to us in a simply “natural” way, as if this IS the way to play it. It flowed intensly , pouring over us. I don’t think we were “absorbing” it. The music stayed in the room to be kept as an everlasting memory.
    Thank you, Shem!

  3. Simultaneously exultant and melancholy.

    I would imagine that if, somewhere along the way, you were to tape your performances it would be most interesting to hear the evolutionary changes that occur between #15 and #100. Best wishes with your project….

  4. Thanks for this moving, insightful performance in such a relaxed and intimate setting. This time around, you stood there in bare feet and shorts, with listeners huddled around you only 5-15 feet away. Throughout the small, packed space, people were listening so hard that you could hear a pin drop–it felt like we were eavesdropping on the practice room of a fine concert soloist.

    Thank you for letting us share in your exploration of this profound musical masterwork, and good luck on the rest of your “Journey of 100!”

  5. Back when I had a cassette player in my car, I listened to my cassette tapes of Bach’s Sonatas & Partitas over and over, endlessly intrigued while on long trips. I even bought the music and made attempts to play less complicated sections. How precious it was on Sunday at Rose’s beautiful camp to experience a live performance of the Chaconne. The music hinted at resolving into an ending but then would change character and flow into yet another beautiful intriguing section and I would be so happy. When the music finally stopped, I held my breath hoping that it would again begin – never ending. Outside the windows the day was overcast above the lake; inside the wood paneled walls of the room seemed to embrace all of us together with the music of the violin, giving an almost surreal experience. Tears filled my eyes. Thank you.

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