It is my boast (and this is a bit of a boast) that I almost never totally forget a piece of music that I’ve performed, however long the interval until I perform it again. Unfortunately I usually don’t remember it perfectly either, and on re-encountering the piece I have to work out how much re-learning I’m going to have to do.
In the last couple of weeks I’ve been re-introduced to some long-lost friends. I have good recall of Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, which keen readers may remember I sang in 2014. Preparing an all-Bach programme (and preparing is all I’ll do, since I’m not free to sing in the concert), I find I don’t know Bach’s Magnificat as well as I thought I did; I sang the other soprano line last time I did it.
On the other hand, I remember Komm, Jesu, Komm and Singet dem Herrn, both works full of notes, almost perfectly, although I have not performed either of them within the lifetime of this blog. Komm is my favourite Bach motet but I have bittersweet experiences of it, as the last time I sang it was the final concert of the Brandon Hill Singers, where we barely had enough singers to cover the parts as so many had left. (I missed singing in another performance around then; it was the main work in a concert from which I felt I was unfairly excluded.) My previous performance of Singet was before I came to Bath.
So which factors help a piece stay in the memory?
- I’m more likely to remember a good work than a bad one
- having really learnt a piece thoroughly at some point; the first time I sang the Bach motets we were not stood with those singing the same part, so we really had to learn our line thoroughly
- having first encountered the piece when young and with a more retentive memory
- on the other hand, if I learnt a piece only a few years ago, I expect I’ll remember it
- having performed it more than once, even if the last performance was a long time ago
- the more notes there are, the more you have to remember
The most severe tests are the works I have done only once before, when I was a student. When I encountered them again recently, I didn’t remember Elijah or the St John Passion well, but there is a lot in both, and first time round they were, erm, rather hastily rehearsed. Similarly Mozart’s C minor Mass. If I want a real test, I ought to try having a second shot at Howells’ Hymnus Paradisi, at least, those parts that are not taken from his Requiem.