Hodges evocatively recounts her deep longing to play Bach's Chaconne and her difficulty with practicing it. For violinists, she writes, "it's the pinnacle of our repertoire."
Why does she feel so drawn to the piece, yet so reluctant to play it?
3. Why is Hodges both drawn to and hesitant to play Bach’s Chaconne?
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Our program is here to foster an inclusive, welcoming environment for all readers. To keep our community respectful and engaging, please follow these guidelines:
• Be kind and considerate to others.
• Stay on topic, keep discussions constructive, and use appropriate language.
• Trolling, spamming, harassment, or hate speech will not be tolerated.
• Share only original, non-copyrighted material and appropriate content.
• Do not post or share personal details about yourself or others, including real names, addresses, or any other identifying information.
• Do not post anything illegal, threatening, or otherwise harmful.
• Moderators reserve the right to remove content or suspend users who violate these guidelines.
• Users are responsible for their own posts, and our platform is not liable for user-generated content.
• Report issues instead of escalating, and respect moderator decisions.
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smkelly
- Posts: 11
- Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2025 7:35 pm
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erebus
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Wed Apr 23, 2025 5:03 am
Re: 3. Why is Hodges both drawn to and hesitant to play Bach’s Chaconne?
You can practice it but never perfect it.
Exceedingly long and solo so you have nobody to play off or hide behind.
It has many melodic counterpoint harmonies that require technical prowess, and so much stamina.
It's romantically associated with the loss of the composer's wife, and has a fairytale-like associated lore.
It is repetitive and morose. It seems lonely. It's parts repeat poetically, and allude to earlier passages, so it feels.. haunted. It's deep and evocative.
It's hard to play, and Classical musicians know it, so it is a demonstration of great prowess, and prestige, if one can pull it off well.
And spite is a great motivator.. when a mentor tells you you aren't good enough, and it doesn't fit with your own concept of self, you need to either change your own self-image, or fight for being better. You never want to have that one piece that has beaten you.
Exceedingly long and solo so you have nobody to play off or hide behind.
It has many melodic counterpoint harmonies that require technical prowess, and so much stamina.
It's romantically associated with the loss of the composer's wife, and has a fairytale-like associated lore.
It is repetitive and morose. It seems lonely. It's parts repeat poetically, and allude to earlier passages, so it feels.. haunted. It's deep and evocative.
It's hard to play, and Classical musicians know it, so it is a demonstration of great prowess, and prestige, if one can pull it off well.
And spite is a great motivator.. when a mentor tells you you aren't good enough, and it doesn't fit with your own concept of self, you need to either change your own self-image, or fight for being better. You never want to have that one piece that has beaten you.
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Dee
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Re: 3. Why is Hodges both drawn to and hesitant to play Bach’s Chaconne?
I can only reply as someone who is often called to speak in public, but has bad anxiety about it. You have a point to get across and you understand the dynamics of it, and even imagine how great you will do getting the point across. The day comes when you have to present but the nerves start going mad, you shakily walk up to the podium fighting what you know will happen, and when you open your mouth you freeze, or talk too softly, or tremor and words don't come out, even though that is not what you wanted to happen or thought would happen. I imagine it's similar for playing a piece of music. You have practiced and know the music, and can play it well by yourself, but as soon as you get to the venue and see all the people, you get nervous playing for so many. Your own energy changes and you start feeling like you will let someone down.
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erebus
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Wed Apr 23, 2025 5:03 am
Re: 3. Why is Hodges both drawn to and hesitant to play Bach’s Chaconne?
Dee wrote:
> The day comes when you have to present but the nerves start going
> mad, you shakily walk up to the podium fighting what you know will happen,
> and when you open your mouth you freeze, or talk too softly, or tremor and
> words don't come out, even though that is not what you wanted to happen or
> thought would happen.
I think this is definitely a thing where a lack of confidence makes you try to THINK things through, rather than feel them.
In any complex endeavour there is both the thinking and the feeling.
I once read that there are 4 stages of competence
1# unconscious incompetence : you know you don't know how and you don't know how to improve
2# conscious incompetence : you know what you OUGHT to be doing to get better, but it's beyond you just now
3# conscious competence : you know what to do, but you have to think your way through it
4# unconscious competence : what some people call mastery, or "Zen / no mind"; you feel it just come to you automatically - you got this.
(quick google on it gave me this)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_stages_of_competence
Anxiety messes up that connection between body and mind, or even just mind flow.. if you start to question in when you are in-the-zone, then you drop that flow and have to re-engage consciously to pick up the pieces (or play pizzicato because your bow is on the floor
)
> The day comes when you have to present but the nerves start going
> mad, you shakily walk up to the podium fighting what you know will happen,
> and when you open your mouth you freeze, or talk too softly, or tremor and
> words don't come out, even though that is not what you wanted to happen or
> thought would happen.
I think this is definitely a thing where a lack of confidence makes you try to THINK things through, rather than feel them.
In any complex endeavour there is both the thinking and the feeling.
I once read that there are 4 stages of competence
1# unconscious incompetence : you know you don't know how and you don't know how to improve
2# conscious incompetence : you know what you OUGHT to be doing to get better, but it's beyond you just now
3# conscious competence : you know what to do, but you have to think your way through it
4# unconscious competence : what some people call mastery, or "Zen / no mind"; you feel it just come to you automatically - you got this.
(quick google on it gave me this)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_stages_of_competence
Anxiety messes up that connection between body and mind, or even just mind flow.. if you start to question in when you are in-the-zone, then you drop that flow and have to re-engage consciously to pick up the pieces (or play pizzicato because your bow is on the floor
)