September 5

Daedalus: Welcome back!

Icarus: Thanks. I'm glad to be back at school.

D: (laughing) We'll fix that. So how did you spend your summer?

I: It seems like all I did is eat, sleep, and breathe the “Harp” Quartet of Beethoven.

D: Why the “Harp” Quartet?

I: I'm performing it this year. And my quartet was able to get together to work on it over the past few weeks.

D: Wonderful. How have you worked on it?

I: Well, we spent a lot of time rehearsing it, and we've listened to a recording of it. Then I did a harmonic analysis of the whole thing, and I stumbled through it on the piano. There were concerts, too—we've heard two performances of it recently.

D: How did you find the performances?

I: One was exquisite—absolutely magical. I was completely transported. In fact, it was after hearing that performance that I knew I had to play the piece. The second was horrendous: technically amazing, but really pedantic, and unmusical.

D: And that recording?

I: Interesting. But it got scratched up so I had to throw it out.

D: You like the piece then?

I: Oh my god, yes. It's an extraordinary piece. It's the best.

D: So after living with a piece as wonderful as the “Harp” Quartet, why do you seem in such a bad mood?

I: Because I want to find out how to play this piece as well as I possibly can. What makes that great performance better than the mediocre one, and much better than the lousy one? And I'm darned frustrated, because I'm not having much success.