Advent Calendar VI

 

Last night I was stunned by the new Tuba Concerto "Dreaming Awake" by Lauri Porra, a fabulous piece played excellently by Lewis Chinn, this was the UK premier of a piece so new that I can't find any recordings of it to share or point you in the direction of. For now I'll just say that I think this will be a major addition to the repertoire for tuba, even if at the moment it is technically a bit beyond me. I never really completed my studies on tuba and to tackle a solo piece like this I would have to do a lot of practise. 

The Trombone will be featuring
this weekend

Indeed I have to do a fair bit of practise just to maintain the standard that I am playing at and with three performances on three different instruments this weekend I am having to do a fair bit of preparation. My musical weapon of choice is my Besson 984 EEb Tuba, but in the lead up to this Christmas I am playing my B&S CC tuba, my Yamaha Bass Trombone and my Besson New Standard Euphonium. It is nice to get out the less used instruments, but of course that does mean I need to make sure they work, oil the valves and grease the slides, and of course do some practise to make sure I can do the job!

This week has been pretty much all about preparation, getting ready for the weekend, preparing myself and my instruments, preparing food so that I can still eat properly amongst the rush, preparing the bands during rehearsals, and preparing myself physically as I continue my visits to gym. It will be nice tomorrow to actually start the performances.

And, that's what Advent is really, a time of preparation, in times gone by that might have been preparation through fasting, physical as well as spiritual preparation for Christmas. For those of us who are Christians this is the point of Advent. Today's reading (in the Anglican Lectionary) is from Luke 13;22-30 which is also all about being prepared.