Adam Tendler's Blog, page 11

baptism

well, i got the “rough” part down. i left the piano and reached the back of the room, pacing for a moment as the applause died away. i barely heard it, even as i bowed. the first words i heard came from a dude who said, in the darkness, “it wasn’t as bad as you think,” and then disappeared. 

i need to quite literally play the toccata ostinato once a week for a different group of ten people in order for it to not kick my ass every time i take it to the stage. this is the first time i hadn’t played it as an encore after, say, 90 minutes of solo performance. instead it came after an hour commute to lincoln center, 2 minutes to try the instrument, and then three more hours waiting without touching a key. and then, when the time comes, it feels nothing short of being shot out of a cannon, the keyboard transformed before my very eyes, my left hand a mere paw. 

i saw it coming, honestly, and if i’m honest, chose this very experience precisely to baptize the piece through that kind of fire in preparation for next month’s recording. a tried and true masochist, i still hoped for the best. i thought of kapell’s live recording, and how at the end he seems to just slam the keyboard, but it provided little solace. i wished i had simply started over, something i considered in the first thirty seconds. it would’ve been funny, at least.

rough, yes. fast, yes. with great energy, yes. brittle, probably. i’ll work toward “very clean.” i have a little time. i just need to find those ten friends. 

#juicy (at New York, New York)

#juicy (at New York, New York)

avatarBack in the day, people were lucky enough to only have to be fake in real life.

avatar

Back in the day, people were lucky enough to only have to be fake in real life.

IIThe first time I heard the middle movement of Ravel’s piano concerto, I didn’t think it was real.

II

The first time I heard the middle movement of Ravel’s piano concerto, I didn’t think it was real.

fearsthree irrational fears that actually affect my behavior: 1) someone is lunging out of nowhere...

fears

three irrational fears that actually affect my behavior:

1) someone is lunging out of nowhere to push me in front of a subway car (so I look feverishly around me as it approaches

2) I’m going to fall *up* the stairs and bite my tongue off (so I tuck it behind my teeth)

3) someone’s going to violently swing open a door toward me as I reach to open it, thus smashing my hand (so i just stand there)

Saw this in a student’s copy of the Bartok Op. 14 Suite. I was...

Saw this in a student’s copy of the Bartok Op. 14 Suite. I was like, “Woah, that’s a bit intense.” “It was *your* suggestion,” he said.

⚠️CAUTION: boring pointless piano post ahead⚠️ I’m recording...

⚠️CAUTION: boring pointless piano post ahead⚠️ I’m recording Røbert (

lanaCan someone do an anthropological study of how audiences watching piano (and piano specifically)...

lana

Can someone do an anthropological study of how audiences watching piano (and piano specifically) concerts in public spaces assume that the instrument is for the performers AND ALSO for them? It weirds me out every time, and *happens* every time. A pianist just finished his Messiaen, and no sooner did he walk away from the instrument than another gentleman set upon it. Oh, I thought, this must be the next performer warming up. Nope! Lana Del Rey in two-part counterpoint. I try to imagine myself doing something similar—watching a singer finish their song in a restaurant or park, and me seizing upon the mic when they take a break. I’m not a singer, and I’m not thē singer, but hey I like to sing! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

my realization of 5 pages (each page being a “system”) of cage’s...

my realization of 5 pages (each page being a “system”) of cage’s concert for piano. his is prettier.

E#earlier this week i emailed christian wolff about ☝️ ONE ☝️ note i suspected was a misprint in a...

E#

earlier this week i emailed christian wolff about ☝️ ONE ☝️ note i suspected was a misprint in a piece he composed in 1952. i figured he would reply, once and for all, “you’ve got to be kidding and please stop writing me and how did you get my email address anyway?” instead he wrote saying that no one had ever pointed that out to him before, and yeah, it’s totally not an E#.