p.clarke memorial concert '05

i was looking thru Jim's virtual folder that he kept on our computer. I found 3 documents that were titled; friends, women, and financial advice for Gayle. I browsed through them. (it's too hard to read them just right now)
anyhow i found this in one of them:
                    I plan to play another concert, solo piano material, on April 22, 2005, and I hoped he would still be around to attend.  I will put an empty chair on the stage, to symbolize Phil sitting there, watching my playing.  Current plans for content:  Schubert  impromptu Beethovenís Waldstein Piano Sonata #21 (which Gayle likes a lot), Schubertës Wanderer Fantasy; end of first half; second half:  3 works of Chopin: 1st Ballade (G Minor), 2nd Scherzo, and 6th Polonaise (Heroic); and concluding with Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue. Planned encores, if requested, will be Debussyís Clair de Lune (a favorite of Maria Avila), perhaps a Joplin Rag, perhaps Schumannís Traumerii (translation "dreaming", based on a Scottish lullaby).  Perhaps also a Gottshock work, for my new piano teacher Dr. Maria Goodman.  


Jim used to play recitals without the music in front of him so everything was memorized. That means that I would have to listen to these pieces almost every day for about 4 months. I used to hate it at times. Now i would do anything to hear them coming from our Steinway....  If i hear recordings of the Polonaise that is mentioned above or think of it i will start crying. I remember the last time jim played Clair de Lune, it was about 2 weeks before he forgot how to play. he played it for his friend mike. i was in the living room quietly sobbing. i knew that was the last time i would hear him play. and i swear i will never hear anything more beautiful in my life. anyhow, his writing goes on....


      Update May 2005; Dr. Goodman dumped me as her student; said she didnít have the time.
The concert went OK, though I got lost a couple of times in the Beethoven Sonata, the work I thought I had memorized well enough, so I didnít really practice it enough.  I used the music to play the Schubert Fantasy, so that went OK, even though having the music I still got lost a few times in that.   The 2nd half, 3 works of Chopin and the Gershwin Rhapsody went well.


I remember this recital, and he did use the music in the Schubert. i remember thinking that it was a little off. maybe it was an early sign of the dementia. the other mistakes were minor and he went right through them, only a handful of people at the recital would have recognized them. anyhow, reading all of the titles and his recap on the recital brought back some memories that i didn't want to forget.