an Artistic Score Engraving update from November 2024

Dear all,

Welcome back to the monthly update. We have had a rainy October here in NW Italy—which is sad and unusual—and now, beginning of November, we have 20 °C and sun. It is the first non-foggy November I have witnessed in my life, seriously!

The Gratitude Corner

My birthday was on October 16th, and we celebrated in the Langhe region (SE Piedmont), which, in this season, is known for its white truffles.

It was a great experience in general, but what made my day was the waitress who remembered about us from one year ago, including the table where we had been sitting. Therefore, this month’s gratitude corner is dedicated to everyone who does their job humbly and passionately.

Who did you meet in your daily errands that struck you as a passionate worker, as someone who cared only about making you feel good?

NEWS

Flipping the coin

If we exclude this short parentheses of celebration, tough, it was a tough month, riddled with uncomfortable events, and with plenty of unprofessionalism blocking my path ahead.

I started to feel a sense of being drained by this extra thing—publishing—that I’m doing and which is bringing little—if any—tangible result. As long as I do it for myself, it feels great. As soon as I release something, though, I expect something back—ranging from a simple comment to a purchase, it doesn’t matter. I expect a reaction! The silence that usually follows, though, is not of my liking.

So much so that, when my father wrote me to wish me “Happy Birthday! 100 of these days!” my first, instinctive reaction was: “Oh no, please, not 100 years like that!”

That realisation made me feel how tired I was, and what a toll it had been to take 2 hours each day—after the ordinary 8+ hours of work—to dedicate to my editions, for three full years. No time for resting, no time for reading, no time for practicing my cello, no time for enjoying anything else. It felt… wrong!

The only thing that could have made me realise a change was needed was my body. Several symptoms gave me signals, but I kept ignoring them, until ten days ago, when my neck completely blocked. At that point, I realised how difficult it is to explain to your family doctor that you require your hands to support your family, and how careless it is to trust the National Healthcare System here. I will book a private consultation at a Sport Medical Centre on Monday and see how it goes.

So, what will I do now? Will I just stop? Not at all! Just, I have to take it easier. If I have enough spare time and working on a specific project brings me joy at that moment, I will work on it; otherwise I will just do something else.

I spent 18 beautiful months in the company of the Dotzauer Trio and, in the end, I was almost sad to release it, knowing inside me that few—if anyone—apart from me would have cared about it. One of my Italian professors, a Piano Trio player for 30 years, when asked to blind listen to it and give it their opinion, even replied: “What is this, AI?”. I don’t think I have to add anything else.

What am I good at?

If you look for me on the web, the first result coming by should be my work on the cellist’s posture. Thousands of people have downloaded my work from 2009, hundreds have sent me appreciation messages, and two (2!) have dared purchase the book itself!

Given how quickly I am able to recover from issues during cello playing, how good I am at identifying issues and providing solutions, I am wondering: should I be making something about it? Videos, a course, a book, all of them? But, most importantly: would you pay for such a resource? If so, how much would you consider a fair price for something like that?

Please let me know!

Reviews

I have had the honour of being interviewed for the Dotzauer Project by the Association Française du Violoncelle. Here’s the cover of the magazine:

And here is the first page of the interview:

Please consider supporting the AFV by visiting their website and subscribing.

New Editions

While I have been working hard at them, none of the eight new editions I am focusing on managed the October cut. They will have to be completed by mid-November, though, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, I have updated the Va, pensiero by Verdi for Cello Ensemble (min. 8 players), both in its original key and in G major.

Talking about printing, four new editions will be printed in Week 46 and become available by the end of November: they are:

Piatti: Quartettino “In Vacanza” for four cellos
Dotzauer: 12 Original Pieces Op 63
Piatti: Canto sopra uno studio di Duport
Donizetti: Larghetto “Una furtiva lagrima”

Bottom Line

Thank you for reading so far. As always, I value your input, comments, and feedback but, as a dear friend told me, if already you are not unsubscribing, it means you are interested in what I do.

You can join my mailing list here to get weekly gifts and promotions, browse my editions here, and check what’s available for print in the HNE Store. My YouTube channel, finally, contains video renditions of most of my editions.

See you next month for the final update of 2024, and I would love to hear from you about what you are doing and where your more or less musical endeavours are bringing you.

Michele

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