I was reminded of this today, because I have been playing the piano just a little bit recently, revisiting a simple Bach prelude which remains in my fingers.
This piece is not Bach, but Chopin, Nocturne in E Minor, and has never been in my fingers. It is something my beloved Mum used to play, when I was a small child and we had moved "back" to Ganna's house in Hastings, after Dad died. I called it "Water Music" because of that wonderful flowing rippling line in the left hand.
So imagine, if you will, this little girl, twirling and swirling, arms outflung, toes pointing, using all her best ballet steps, round and round on the carpet in the drawing room, with its centre medallion, knowing the music so well that her final dying swan was always at the heart of the motif.
The pianist here plays it just as Mum used to - with my eyes closed, I could feel myself there.
What a lovely memory of childhood delight!
ReplyDeleteIt's funny isn't it, how little vignettes of the past sit in our memories until something conjures them up.
ReplyDeleteSweet memories !
ReplyDelete