Last night as I was practicing piano, I felt overwhelmed by all the work I still need to do to get the music ready. I decided to take a break from my Rachmaninoff piece for a few minutes and play through my arrangement of "O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus" (which I'm also playing for the recital). That piece is much easier for me to play, and one reason is because I know what I'm communicating through the text of the music.
"O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free! Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me! Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love, Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!" (Lyrics by S. Trevor Francis, 1875)I suddenly remembered something one of my piano teachers once said in commenting about my playing. He said, "It is more interesting to show why you play something than that you can play it." The notes are important...and yes, I do need to have the memory completely solid, but the music is much deeper than all of that.
So this week, my goal is to get into the "why" of the music. Because that's what it's all is about.
"And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD." -Psalm 40:3
