{"id":661,"date":"2020-11-25T16:33:04","date_gmt":"2020-11-25T16:33:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mdw.ac.at\/internationalblog\/blog\/harpsichord-and-continuo-teacher-smuggled-into-ljubljana-slovenia\/"},"modified":"2023-03-20T16:27:15","modified_gmt":"2023-03-20T16:27:15","slug":"harpsichord-and-continuo-teacher-smuggled-into-ljubljana-slovenia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mdw.ac.at\/internationalblog\/2020\/11\/25\/harpsichord-and-continuo-teacher-smuggled-into-ljubljana-slovenia\/","title":{"rendered":"Harpsichord and Continuo Teacher Smuggled into Ljubljana, Slovenia!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>I know the title sounds promising: after all, desperate times call for desperate measures, even if it only concerns improvisation, continuo and harpsichord playing. I was invited by Prof. Miklavcic of the Academy of Music at the University of Ljubljana to teach improvisation, harpsichord and continuo. Right at the beginning, he said that the second wave of coronavirus would certainly make it difficult, so we might have to do the course in September \u2013 before the borders closed again. Unfortunately, the borders did close just a few days before my trip was scheduled. However, good musicians should be able to find ingenious solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just when I was in total despair about the trip, the Covid measures and quarantine, Prof. Miklavcic came up with the following idea: \u201cIf I pick you up in Villach early in the morning and take you over the border in my car with a Slovenian number plate, you certainly won\u2019t be checked and you\u2019ll be able to avoid the mandatory quarantine.\u201d At least, we\u2019d been told it was mandatory in the beginning. In fact, my other dear Slovenian colleague \u2013 Domen Marincic, a lecturer on the same course, checked the details and found out that in certain cases, no quarantine rules apply: luckily, I happened to be one such case! Now I know that you, dear reader, would much rather read about a thrilling crime committed in&nbsp;secrecy and smugglers outwitting border&nbsp;controls \u2013 but in the end, none of that happened. Still, I need to sell my story, and a catchy title and a promising start are always a good thing! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After arriving and before starting to teach, there was time to get some rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For those of you who don&#8217;t know or haven&#8217;t been to Ljubljana yet, Ljubljana is an absolute must-see. There\u2019s an ice-cream stand every 50 metres \u2013 so after enjoying an amazing Gibanica cake, you only need to walk about 50 &#8211; 60 steps to reach the next pastry shop and ice-cream stand!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mdw.ac.at\/internationalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/IMG-20200907-WA0021.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3057\" width=\"814\" height=\"458\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>We had a really nice double-manual harpsichord for the lessons, a double-manual organ and a piano. The lessons took place at three different locations: in St. Florian\u2019s Church up at the end of Gornji trg, at the Music Academy and in St. James\u2019s Parish Church. The two churches were amazing for this course. Lovely acoustics \u2013 ideal for a harpsichord and baroque music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-id=\"3058\" src=\"https:\/\/mdw.ac.at\/internationalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/PHOTO-2020-10-12-15-28-39.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3058\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-id=\"3059\" src=\"https:\/\/mdw.ac.at\/internationalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/PHOTO-2020-10-12-15-28-42.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3059\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The individual lessons were really interesting \u2013 with young, friendly, very talented students, all extremely interested in harpsichord and continuo playing. I found it quite amazing that even piano players came to individual lessons, which seems to suggest that there\u2019s excellent cooperation between the departments in Ljubljana. In addition, each student had a particular strength that I found fascinating to work with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mdw.ac.at\/internationalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/PHOTO-2020-10-12-15-28-43.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3060\" width=\"593\" height=\"593\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>For me, perhaps the highlight of the course (besides my daily Gibanica and ice cream, naturally) was the long lecture on the stylistics of continuo playing. Lots of students and several teachers gathered for the event. We were able to look at numerous pieces and put them under our musical magnifying glass. I truly enjoyed showing all the different ways in which we can actually shape the same progression and what it takes for the same harpsichord to sound more French in one piece and more German or Italian in another. Sharing views on music is a special experience too. The highlight of highlights was, of course, the round-table discussion after we\u2019d heard all three lecturers speak on various subjects \u2013 the first on continuo, the second on Mozart&#8217;s own ornaments, and the third on being an early music soloist in a modern orchestra. It\u2019s very inspiring to see young musicians thinking about music \u2013 to hear their ideas, their views and their experiences! I certainly learnt a great deal from them in a just a few days and I truly hope I can repeat the course again in the future in order to learn even more from the students.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I know the title sounds promising: after all, desperate times call for desperate measures, even if it only concerns improvisation, continuo and harpsichord playing. I was invited by Prof. Miklavcic of the Academy of Music at the University of Ljubljana to teach improvisation, harpsichord and continuo. Right at the beginning, he said that the second 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