Day Four--Challenges and Rewards at Humboldt

Hermann Goetz

As I discovered last time I came up to the Humboldt Chamber Music Workshop, there is one day that is a little tougher, and Thursday, for me, was that day. The piece I was assigned, the Quintett by Hermann Goetz (1940-1876), was a little more challenging, and so there were a few areas that I really didn't have down when we went on stage to play the piece. I had to work a bit harder during the rehearsal periods, and although I liked the feeling of stretching my abilities that the tougher piece brought out, it still gave me a little anxiety.

I was playing with seasoned musicians, too, so I didn't want to slow them down. I had a time in the afternoon where I needed to go over a couple of sections and it was still tough. But I can see now the areas that I need to work on to make my sightreading and technique even better for next year. And it still felt wonderful to participate in a day of "work" and to attend an afternoon and early evening of remarkable performances.

In the evening, after dinner, I went to the library to assist with the music. I'd never been inside it before--just to its front window--so it was an adventure. There were rows and rows of piles and piles of carefully organized manila envelopes of music, arranged by category. The numbering system was devised, I assume, to help musicians determine where to look for what they wanted.

After refiling some envelopes, I helped Tom to put away music that belongs to the University collection. We made lots of progress, although the job remained unfinished when I left three hours later. It felt good to do something to help the Workshop.

I then joined the party, which was in full swing at 11 p.m. and went past midnight. Hard to believe that this little island of delight in the sea of life is approaching its final day. I took a little stroll after breakfast on Friday morning:

The century-old Humboldt campus is beautiful