*headdesk*

Two. Two cellists out of six were there last night, and our principal was not one of them. At the end of the evening our conductor came over to us and said, "You did very well. You must be starting to feel like the violists." Which was terribly funny, really, and if I'd been in a clearer headspace I would have laughed instead of tripping over myself to downplay the mess I'd made of My Fair Lady. We'd sight-read the MFL medley and while the first half was fine, at the halfway point we got to an arrangement of 'I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face' that made no sense to me rhythm-wise and I lost the wave I'd been riding and crashed. (It possibly has something to do with the fact that I can't remember how the song goes to save my life.) On the other hand, we'd handled both the symphonies very well, which was quite encouraging.

At least I got the chance to sit as a stand partner with M. for the first time ever, which was a truly delightful experience. She has absolutely lovely tone. And as one of the violists said, when there's only two of you you can suddenly hear what you're playing. And it was nice to discover that I don't suck, but it was also stressful in that all of a sudden I didn't have the principal cellist's wing under which to play. I couldn't fudge the runs like I sometimes allow myself to do in order to be ready for the next bits. Sometimes my fingers surprise me by demonstrating that they actually do know where to go and when.

I would like to work on the quality of sound I'm producing, but all that seems to fly out the window when I'm trying to get my fingers in the right place. I know, I know; practice...

(Originally posted at Owls' Court.)