This Song Without Words by Felix Mendelssohn is one of the most haunting, romantic pieces for piano! ...You can hear the dark shiny water reflected in the bass, and the lights flickering all around its gently rippled surface. Then the song begins, wistful and soft, as calm and romantic as the handsome boatman poling you along. There are candles along the waterway glowing like starts in the night, and flowers on the gondola. The night is warm...
The funny thing is, this fine and gentle performance is done by a guy who looks awfully sweaty- he must have been performing for a long time previously in that concert, or maybe it was a hot summer night. Or maybe he just sweats when he performs. It's hard to perform! My big problem is my nose runs. Let's say I've got my piece well under control, well no matter; I get adrenaline anyway and it all comes out my nose. You can't stop in the middle of a long fugue to blow it all out. That puts a big, undignified break in the work of art. Even if I do memorize all my music I still ought to have a page turner even if only for intermittently holding a hanky to my nose. Still I am thankful: I don't get sweaty hands. I'd rather suffer a wet upper lip than to have to play Fugues on a Slip'n'slide.
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