". . . little shall I grace my cause

In speaking for myself. Yet, by your gracious patience,

I will a round unvarnish'd tale deliver . . ."

(William Shakespeare's Othello, I.iii.88-90)

Monday, March 8, 2010

When in Rome . . .

Today as I instructed one of my piano students in a certain musical concept, he was reminded of something similar he had heard today from his choir director, who also happens to be my husband. (This young man, poor dear, gets a double dose of our household on Mondays). Attempting to process and connect the two pieces of information, he asked, "Oh, you mean like Cantor was talking about today? That linguini thing?"

Linguini? The Cantor does like his pasta, but I didn't remember him talking about linguini when I attended rehearsal today. I puzzled over this for a moment; then it dawned on me that my student was probably remembering another Italian word.

"Are you thinking of tenuto, Robert?" (Nor his real name.)

"Yeah, that's it! Tenuto!"

Tenuto, linguini, ritardando, lasagna, accelerando, crescendo, spaghetti, fettucini, allegro, fermata . . . no wonder my student was confused. It's all the same, really. Especially when you've had a long day at school and supper is looming!

No comments: