Thrills and trills

I don't understand people who ride their bicycle from place to place when it's -20 degrees outside. What planet are they from?
This is one of the thoughts I had today as I walked the well-trodden path from the tram stop home at 20.50. A tiring day, and tomorrow I have to be up and about at 6.30 so I make it to the German school to accompany, among others, chirpy girls playing the recorder (If you don't know what this is about, don't ask). I'll also accompany a particularly talented young singer who is going to perform in the category of musicals (She's probably also reading this so onnea matkaan!).

However, it was also a very nice day. This crisp winter weather is just fine with me, if it only weren't for the fact I can't see anything after going inside because my glasses get so steamed up. I also like to see Helsinki so clean and bright and to feel the snow crunching under my feet.

After my obligatory breakfast (since yesterday when I realised I had been having hardly anything to eat in the mornings) - two pieces of toast with jam and cream cheese, preceded by the even more essential glass of grapefruit juice - at the computer, my day started by having a cup of tea with the newspaper (a rare luxury) in Ruoholahti. I also printed the study programme for choral conductors in Graz and drooled over it for some time while the teabag in my cup made the drink almost solid. After that, I had a piano lesson for the first time in more than two months.
Quick lunch, and I travelled to Kallion Kirkko in a hurry to listen to my friend's B exam at the organ. The road there from Hakaniemi metro station is all uphill and all my huffing and puffing as I entered the church must have made people think something was wrong with the organ.

It was a beautiful exam, by the way - starting with Michelangelo Rossi's Toccata from the 17th century, which seemed like a prelude followed by two chorale settings by Bach and, also, Bach's Toccata and fugue in d minor. Obviously, we're talking about Bach here and the words Chorale Setting deserve the capital letters, as they naturally are much more than your every-day four-part harmony. And that toccata and fugue truly rocked the church! It's very thrilling, especially as a pianist, to watch an organist at work, because suddenly you realise there should be a third hand somewhere but that's actually what the player's feet are playing. And when that fugue theme culminated and was played only with the pedals while the hands accompanied with sequential chords, I was almost jealous. Another highpoint was the loooong trill with the pedals, while the two manuals reached their climax (for the fourth or fifth time).

Kaisa chose the much larger organ on the balcony of the church for the rest of her program, which consisted of Franck and the always obligatory 20th century work which was also surprisingly impressive.
From Kallio, I came home for a while to plan my afternoon and evening at my two jobs - first teaching in CM and then conducting Lauttasaaren Laulajat. Tuesday evenings at 21 are usually deep breath-moments, and the weekend seems much closer already! However, there are some milestones coming ahead in the next few days, but I'll write about those another time.
PS. No picture in this post because the blogger server is not acting normally.