Fran took her Cello Grade 1 in June, having been learning for just over a year at that point. That year seemed to span her going from a little girl to a big girl, in part because i think she discovered that working hard at something she wanted to achieve reaped real rewards. I’ve watched her apply that to so many parts of her life during the 18 months since she began and the change in her is remarkable.
During that time she also played in a concert and took part in a music festival. When she took her grade 1 she ‘Passed with Merit’ with a score of 126 and a host of good remarks about her playing. We’ve recorded her pieces and added them below but she wants me to point out that when we did these she hadn’t played them for 2 months or more and was far better when she took her exam. They are all pretty short, but don’t actually expect anyone to really listen. I thought it would be nice for her to have a record to look back on later.
The various remarks on her score sheet were lovely; “sprightly performance”, “captured spirit through good tempo and well controlled bowing style”, “fluent and confident playing”, “fine sense of character” and lastly “you play very well – supporting tests just need just need a bit more precision, especially sight reading, to realise your full potential”. Sight reading, which she is normally very good at, was the only place where her marks really slipped at all, which was probably nerves and something to work at.
Well done Fran.
mmm I remember Anna playing the middle piece … and the bottom one, for that matter. Nice work Fran 🙂
You have to come to the Weald and Downland Early Music Afternoon one day – they have a cello group playing there and I bet it would inspire Fran. 🙂