The Logics

In a long ago age of youth, sitting in the folding chair reserved for the lead A-string violinist, I sometimes critiqued the sheet music during performances, silently thinking to myself that the tempo was too slow, and though I might be free to play as I wished when alone, never would the conductor allow the orchestra to perform an interpretation other than what was printed on the paper before us. During solos, standing amidst an audience of hundreds of students, I inwardly felt as though I was living in an awkwardly slow world, where perhaps it might be more productive if I were permitted to work my math homework in-between notes.

While recently browsing iTunes, attempting to find music worth enduring, my search landed upon numerous performers, a precious few of which were endurable to me, but not by a wide margin. Upon listening to a sampling of Hilary Hahn’s Bach Concertos, not only were the ears pleased, but also the mind smiled with the enjoyment of hearing Hahn’s performance of Concerto for 2 Violins in D Minor, BWV 1043: III, Allegro at the lively tempo that I once wished might have been permitted for myself.

Perhaps I am too sensitive to the emotional intensities of an artist’s music, or perhaps the term might also be written as ‘biased,’ but I do have my personal preferences, and within the preferences I have observed that I only find the emotional tone of specific personalities to be compatible with my own. Hahn’s music possesses a quality personality that I very much like, and I know of no album of Bach violin that I would recommend above that of Hahn’s Bach Concertos.

http://www.hilaryhahn.com/albums/bach-concertos.shtml