There is a particular Bach fugue that I like to practice (I am a keyboard artist) to the mental rhythm of “I love you, (wife’s name)”. It works for me, as a kind of meditation. I leave out the exact identifications here, of both the fugue and my wife, as that sort of thing is different for every musician/husband, artist/wife, plumber/partner, et al.
David Salminen, pianist, in concert ~ Sunday, Feb. 24, 2019, 1:30 pm ~ at a new venue (for him): Michelle’s Piano Company ~ 600 SE Stark St. Portland, Oregon 97214 ~ admission free (donations welcome to cover costs and support the artist) ~ program: cosmic improvisations and toning with tones ~ email david@wholeworks.net for more info ~ more about the location: https://www.michellespiano.com/about/
(photo credit – NASA image – public domain)
“Earth – You Are Here”
David Salminen, piano improvisations
July 10, 2016, 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Portland Piano Company, 711 SW 14th Ave, Portland, OR 97205 – phone 503.775.2480
free admission and open to the public – donations welcome
The idea behind this “Earth – You Are Here” concert is suggested by the NASA images of Earth from space, beginning from the time of the Apollo missions of the late 1960’s and continuing. These images remind us of the unity of humanity and the wholeness of life as we know it – from a cosmic perspective. David’s improvisations build intuitively and spontaneously on the extraordinary resonances that are possible with the modern grand piano, via the 88 keys as entry points, in activating the sounding board as a vehicle for a holistic experience of endlessly evolving complexes of harmony and harmonics.
BY THE WAY – If you can’t attend in person – please check this out, for the fun of it:
“Know your strengths and own them and don’t apologize for them.” attributed to Annabel Acton (seen on the Forbes.com website, 5/11/16) – As a kind of example… I have been able to improvise at the piano, quite amiably, since the beginning of my own memories, from around the age of 5. More importantly, as I discovered in the fall of 1980, it is possible to improvise with great purpose and result, given special circumstances. Describing such “circumstances” could result in a very long story – and one that I hope to be able to share someday. Meanwhile – let me just say that I am very, very grateful to all the people who have attended my musical meditations over the past 30-odd years, with the kind of openness and attitude that facilitates a methodology driven by spontaneity.
Musical improvisation has been an essential part of me since early childhood, although it has become vastly more sophisticated (I daresay), since I “went professional” in my 20’s, through decades now of intentional nurturing. Is my predilection for improv and spontaneity opposed to all the classical training I had in childhood, as well as in college, or complementary to it? I lean towards the notion of complementarity. One thing is for sure – any time I work on standard classical repertoire, I am well reminded of how challenging and worthy of respect the re-creative way of doing music really is!
David Salminen 