Resphigi: Andante con Variazioni

The following is an excerpt from my journal written during the glowing aftermath of a chamber music rehearsal. It is brief and incoherent, as though written in a daze, but that is what music does to you; it beclouds the mind, stirs the soul, and radiates joy and longing through every fiber of your being. I felt it worth sharing - one of my more sentimental moments:

Today we played through the Resphigi Andante con Variazioni; I was the orchestral reduction, Ryan played the solo cello part. Unfair that I have never heard this piece before now, as I believe it to be one of the most sublime orchestrations alongside Mendelssohn’s violin concerto and Mozart’s piano concerto in D minor. Those cascading arpeggios of the harp – simulated crudely by the piano in my score – are as the sounds of angels; those double, triple, quadruple stops make one’s pulse quiver with anticipation; those long, broad notes held in delicate balance as the orchestra swells underneath in all its glory and all its grandeur. It is no affectation, no mannerism that my companion began to sing out during one of my interludes; the music is irresistible.

 Nothing more to be said of this; I invite you to listen.