The musical genius of M. White

Today started with a brisk walk to school after I realised I had forgotten my Travel Card in Kanneljärvi. Fortunately, a member of the choir brought it back with her and gave it to me today. In Helsinki, taking the tram is possible without showing your ticket, but on buses there's no such chance. Accompanied by Elgar's violin concerto and a bright sky, I made the way from home to Bulevardi in 20 minutes, arriving just in time for the first lesson.
The day also ended with a brisk walk from the bus station through the gloomy and downright spooky construction site of Kamppi to the tram stop. This happened considerably late (just before 10pm) because of Dominante's rehearsal, after which some of us went to a pizzeria. I got hungry and decided to come home to enjoy my authentic sandwiches, which are always to be recognised by their thrilling vegetables (Finnish cucumber and, sometimes, tomatoes - this week from Holland) and perfectly shaped cheese slices. Dinner is still going on with Fazer's hazelnut chocolate.
While accompanying Dominante today at the rehearsal I started thinking how I've never seen a book written on accompanying choir rehearsals on the piano. So I started thinking of things I would put in such a book, if I were ever to write one. Here are some tips!
1. Remember you are there to make the work of the conductor easier and to help the singers get acquainted with the music they'll be hearing when the orchestra steps in - this means that a choir rehearsal is no place to exhibit your spectacular pianism. No matter how many mistakes you make, the singers - and especially the conductor, will appreciate your work very much!
2. Get to know the music. Listen to recordings and find patterns in the accompaniment, which will help you when sparks fly during the rehearsal and you find yourself too absorbed by everything else to concentrate on all the notes in the music.
3. Always bear in mind that the vocal scores are the ones which have been done after the orchestral scores. This means that all the notes played by the whole orchestra have been crammed into the piano part, which creates the impossible task of one pianist trying to produce the sounds played by at least 30 players. You are NOT required to play everything written - a very useful policy ("Die Kunst des Weglassens" according to Professor Hauschild - the art of leaving out), especially in Bach's scores, where the pianist often feels that having one more hand would be that much more helpful for playing the basses as well.
4. Keeping in time is essential. Remember you are not there to play for yourself - you are forced to follow the conductor just as much as the singers. Hitting the right keys is not as important as keeping up the rhythm. If you keeps stumbling on those tricky leaps in the left hand, the conductor will probably curse the day he asked you to "help out" at the rehearsals.
5. When the conductor gives orders on dynamics or phrasing, he is also adressing you. No matter how hard the singers try to create an effective pianissimo, their efforts will be ruined by your banging. Pay special attention to themes which repeat themselves - the conductor doesn't always easily distinguish between the sounds he is hearing, and if you make a phrasing differently from the rest, he might easily think it was one of the singers.
6. Do not stress about turning the page. The music will not stop even if you have to take five seconds to turn the page in peace.
7. Accompanying a large-scale vocal work is very tiring, so try to use your energy effectively. Instead of spending all of it on doing your best during the choral passages, try to concentrate on the parts where the choir gets to breathe and the orchestra has its big moments. However, try not to stress about these, since they are usually the parts where the pianist has a tendency to speed things up. If you are already worn out after the first ten minutes, try just playing along with the basses for a while - it is highly unlikely the conductor will stop the whole choir to ask for the meaning of this.
8. Don't doze off for ONE INSTANT. If the conductor says bar 15, you are usually the first person relied on to pay attention and have your hands ready on the keys and your nose in the right page before he waves his hands.
9. If the choir is about to rehearse, say, "Cum sancto spiritu" from the B minor mass, turn to the page before the piece starts, because, probably, the conductor will ask you to play the last measures from the previous piece so the choir gets used to hearing the same music seconds before they are supposed to jump into the new key.

Well, I certainly got excited about that!!
Piece of the day: Margaret White: Pedal study. A charming little piece for the harp: 37 bars of music involving no less than 55 pedal movements. I am preparing this for my next lesson. All seven pedals are used, and four or even five changes during one measure are not uncommon. The "melody" consists of chords (either broken or played secco) ascending very slowly in a highly alarming chromatic pattern. This means the piece is not very likely to be heard in concert halls.