Jacob Heringman's DGM Diary Archive

June 2000

20.56

Back in sunny South London, tired but glad to be home. The garden is absolutely stunning, with many of Zan’s roses in full bloom. This is in some ways the best time of year. Summer is still young, the colours and the smells are intoxicating, and the fresh beauty of everything is almost overwhelming.

The tour was a real learning experience: I did three solo concerts of Josquin, which were well received, three ensemble concerts with various others, two master classes, and some private teaching. It was all very new to me; I’d never before had the experience of doing a solo programme several times in quick succession like that. I found it extremely rewarding, being allowed to do the same pieces repeatedly. It’s such good music that one always finds new things in it, and it’s such demanding music that it never gets easy and always requires 100 percent commitment. Two of the three concerts were quite good I thought, and the third, for lots of complicated reasons, was disappointing for me, though the audience seemed to like it. (I think it’s mainly myself that was unsatisfied.) I’d also not done a lot of master classes before, and it’s a new and strange experience to teach a series of people for half an hour each in succession, while others look on. One has to address one’s remarks to the auditors as much as to the active participant. I wasn’t quite sure whether I’d have anything useful to say to these people, but it seems I did. The teaching went down well. Also on the tour, I saw my mother (she flew out to Bloomington for the first concert) and brother with girlfriend (they came to the Berkeley concerts). So it was a full and intense time. Gail, who arranged the tour, was a great host, and it was nice to stay with them in Chicago. I’ll be back for another tour in October/November.

Meanwhile, back in Streatham, there’s the beautiful summer to enjoy, and a pile of correspondence on my desk and in the email in-basket to answer, and a trip to Japan in twelve days’ time. 22.25 It’s raining, at last! We’ve had several days of really intense heat in South London, complete with hay fever and shriveled garden, but also beautiful luxurious long evenings. The other night we ate outside and remained there talking and watching night fall until 11 pm. It’s heaven to be together, under the stars, picking up the scent of the roses and savouring the summer evening! We’re celebrating our first year of marriage (and our thirteenth year of knowing each other!). Zan received the first edit of her new disc with Fretwork today, and we’ve been listening to it and planning the order of pieces. There’s some real magic on this new disc, and I hope it does well. We’ve also been rehearsing with the New London Consort for tomorrow’s concert in the Spitalfields Festival in London. I hadn’t touched a lute for nearly a week now, and I’m realising that I’ve really needed this break. Soon work begins for the next DGM solo disc. Watch this space! Meanwhile, I’m off to Japan for ten days from the 29th of June. We had a good talk today, Zan and I, and drew some conclusions: --we don’t laugh as much as we used to --perhaps we’re feeling and acting a bit care-worn --our annoyances and frustrations with particular colleagues who are difficult to work with because they are egocentric and power-crazed and not interested in the deeper meanings of music--these annoyances are specks of dust in the grand scheme of things. Why? Because such petty people, though they make our lives difficult in the present moment, are themselves but momentary specks of dust in the universe. (For that matter, so are we!) --our current financial worries (which, I have to admit, are preying on our minds) are as nothing in greater scheme of things conclusions: --our lives are here and now! let’s make the most of it; let’s remember how lucky we are to have each other, and to have our lives, and our health, and our music! --let’s not take things too seriously--there’s no point. Don’t get bogged down in these petty annoyances. Keep your perspective. Remember to enjoy the adventure which is life. Remember that you are full of love, and allow yourself to feel that love and to give it freely to all people you meet. Remember to laugh!!!! 00.18 Late! About to sink into bed, exausted. Enjoyed Hugh’s wonderful photo of Earthworks with Larry Coryell. I too was at the gig last night (sitting two feet away from Hugh, as a matter of fact), with the "DGM contingent". It was a superb and inspiring show, from start to finished. I was transfixed by Bill (as I always am) and the other three Earthworkers, all of whom are brilliant, and by the magnificent playing of Larry Coryell. Bill is a pleasure to watch, his body the picture of efficiency and relaxation, but his alert eyes darting in all directions as he picks up musical clues from his colleagues. The man looks like he’s in heaven when he’s playing, and it’s an inspiration to me to hear and see someone who loves his music that much. Patrick Clahar is a fiendishly good saxophonist; the towering and maniacal Mark Hodgson is in complete command of his bass, and seems to be in several places at once most of the time (Hugh’s photo is accurate in that respect); Steve Hamilton is a brilliant and solid pianist. I’d urge everyone to go and hear Earthworks. As for Coryell, what can one say? He’s a master. His playing and his presence were simply wonderful. (I’ve been a fan for many years.) Bill remembered me after only having met once briefly before, and, with his amazingly sharp memory, knew exactly when and where we had met (it was over a year ago!). It’s been an exciting couple of days, with new developments on the career front, most noteably the addition of a formidable ally in Melanne Mueller, who has agreed to work with me as an agent/manager. With her excellent skills and experience behind me, I can’t help thinking that things are looking up in my quest for solo performance opportunities. Watch this space. Zan is working in France, and I’m working away at my desk trying to catch up with correspondence, chores, emails etc. before disappearing to Japan on the 29th. At some stage, I must pick up a lute and start practising again, too! I’ll email the Japanese tour schedule to Dan in a minute, and interested Japanese website visitors will be able to find the details on the Tour Dates page from tomorrow, I hope. Thank you, Dan. If anyone reads about this tour (or any of my others) on the DGM website and decides to come to one of the shows, please come up and say hello afterwards. It would be nice to meet you.

23.35

Sunday night: it’s getting late--so much to do. I’ve taken advantage of Zan’s absence to make a stab at putting things in order. I’ve actually more or less cleared my desk (miracle!), and answered most of the emails I needed to answer. I’ve put together the programme for a concert of French Airs de cour which I’ll be doing at the South Bank Centre in London on the 9th of September. I liaised with various people in the States and Canada about the October/November tour. I communicated with Andrew Keeling and Elizabeth Liddle about their contributions to Virelai’s projected cycle of contemporary settings of renaissance love poems. Also, I made a little bit of a start on planning the next solo DGM disc. I have to get going on this sooner rather than later, because I’m performing the programme in October/November. Finally, last but not least, I watered the garden and picked and ate strawberries. Heaven.

Andrew Keeling and I had a nice chat on the phone this morning. Every fifty or so emails, we call each other up. It’s strange to hear the voice of someone you communicate by email with frequently but rarely talk to. I shall unfortunately miss him when he comes down to London for the Big Event on 3 July. I’ll be very sorry to miss the concert too. But on that day, I’ll be in Tokyo.

Wonderful visit from Matt Wadsworth yesterday. He’s a fellow lute player who lives not so far from here. We talked at length about some of our common preoccupations, most noteably the difficulty of making a living, particularly if you are someone who, like Matt and myself, doesn’t want to compromise artistically (or, to put it another way, doesn’t want to do work he doesn’t enjoy or find musically rewarding).

And now, I must check to see if my e-lute (that’s lute tuned in e, not "electronic lute") is ready for tomorrow’s rehearsal with Angus Smith. We’re preparing for our concert in London on 12 June.

By the way, I discovered last night during the process of working on my application for a British passport, that I’ve been outside of the UK (where I live) for 279 days during the last three years. This means I’m abroad about three months out of every year. And that’s just travels outside England. Touring in the UK comes on top of that. I would estimate that I’m at home about two thirds of the year, and on the road the rest of the time. I suppose that’s not too bad for a performing musician. I certainly have colleagues who are on the road a good deal more than that. It’s just that I don’t really do big tours. Three weeks is the longest, and more usual is just a short trip for a couple of nights to do only one or two concerts. This means that there’s a great deal of coming and going, and not much prolonged touring. I’m not sure which is more tiring. Sometimes I’m tempted to wonder what it would be like to have a job that involves living and working in the same place more or less all the time. I’d probably like it for a few months and then get horribly restless.

It’s midnight on June 26th. On this day one year ago, Susanna and I married each other. She’ll be back on Tuesday, and we’ll have another celebration. There’s much to celebrate when two people who belong together find each other.

2009

It’s Wednesday evening in this time zone, and I’m about to knock off to enjoy a final dinner with Zan before flying off to the far east tomorrow, for my first ever visit to Japan, about which I’m very excited, never having been there before. It’s been a day of practising, correspondence, and miscellaneous chores, mainly.

Practising: mainly for Japan, but also delving into the new DGM solo project, which I will tour in October/November, and which I intend to record sometime between about December and February, depending mainly on my readiness and on financial considerations.

Correspondence: email is a great thing! It’s so easy to communicate with people around the world, and my phone bill has certainly gone down. I’ve been sending mail back and forth furiously to Tjasa in Slovenia, where Virelai will be premiering two new pieces by Andrew Keeling in August. Andrew and I have exchanged a lot of emails today too. I’m thrilled to learn that the Festival in Radovljica, where we’re playing (it’s near Ljubljana, apparently), wants to fly him out to be present for the premiere of his new pieces. I’m just waiting to hear back from Andrew. I’m crossing my fingers and hoping he’s free. I’d love him to be there. Also an email from a London-based musicologist speaking very highly of the Josquin release. It’s great to have meaningful and constructive feedback. I’ve also greatly enjoyed the new-found contact with label-mate Tony Geballe.

Chores--too boring to recount. But we do have a new garden shed, and it’s a splendid specimen.

I enjoyed reading in RF’s Diary this morning that he’s experimenting with new fingerings. I think that the thing I love most about Robert is that he never ever closes his mind to the new.

~