XIV.


Intro I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII. XIII. XIV. XV. XVI. XVII. next

 

(May overlap ‘Variation XIII)

 

Individual variations are just the starting point in practising and putting together a performance. As soon as one follows through with all the stages necessary for realising a given variation and combines it in a sequence with another, one discovers the importance of transition: when and how the objects and preparations should be removed, where the instrument is placed, and so forth. If I choose to leave objects attached to my instrument, the bass can potentially accumulate paraphernalia until the end of the piece. Multiple preparations can enrich each other or cancel each other out. Alternatively, I can place them neatly and methodically on the table whence they came, or throw them on the floor like cigarette butts.

 

The significance of transition is especially noteworthy in ‘Variation XIV’. I must not only deal with the chain of junk after drawing it out of the F-hole, but I must also install it inside the bass before the performance begins — preferably inconspicuously — and manage it in the preceding variations. If I am to turn the bass upside-down in ‘Variation VIII, this could compromise the security of the chain inside the instrument, only preventable by delicately manoeuvering the instrument. In 2009 this was not an issue — I had forgotten to install the chain before the concert — and ended up running backstage to do so in the middle of the show. In 2014, I bypassed the problem by playing ‘XIV’ before ‘VIII’. In 2015, I declined to perform ‘VIII’ altogether.

 

Yawn on your tiptoes.