14.12.06

Selwyn College, Cambridge

Etter tri dagar med øving, trasking i byen, øving, trasking i byen, og so burtetter, spela eg ein etter måten vellukka konsert um kvelden 19. november. Blestingi var god, med A3-tavlor kringum i midbyen, men endå kom det (hugsar eg rett) berre 12 menneske. Altso: sovori blesting er korkje ei naudsynleg (eg fekk godt med folk i Eikersund i sumar) elder tilstrekkeleg åtgjerd for å trekkja folk. At det i mange fall hjelper er ei onnor sak. Gildt var det at flestalle som kom var ungdomar, både frå Selwyn og andre stader.

Når eg skriv at konserten var «etter måten» vellukka hev det fleire grunnar. Varmen i den vetle kyrkja vart skrudd upp i meste laget, det må hava vore meir enn 25 grader, utan at eg var fyrebudd. Og so gløymde eg å setja vassflaska slik at eg kunde nå henne frå benken. Det vart etter kvart tungt å spela ... Vidare var det eitpar verk eg ikkje totte eg fekk til godt nog under fyrebuingane, og dei gjekk ikkje stort betre under konserten. Like fullt, det var gildt å spela, og folk tottest lika det dei fekk høyra.

Dagen etter eg kom til Cambridge fekk eg bod um at Malcolm Wechsler var avliden. Malcolm, som arbeidde for Mander Organs i Sambandsstatane, var hovuddrivkrafti bak Amerika-ferdi mi i 2004, og han hjelpte mange andre på liknande vis. Konserten min var tileigna minnet hans.



After three days of practice, wandering about in town, more practice, more wandering, and so forth, I played a reasonably successful recital in the evening of November 19. The recital had been well announced — there were large posters in the city centre — but still only 12 (if I remember correctly) people showed up. Conclusion: such promotion is neither a necessary (I got a fair audience in Egersund this summer, with very little promotion) nor a sufficient condition for large audience. This is not to deny that it might work very well in many cases. Anyhow, it was good to see that most of those who attended were young people, from Selwyn as well as other colleges.

There are several reasons for me saying the recital was “reasonably” successful. The heating was turned up excessively just before the recital — it must have been more than 25 centigrades — without me being prepared. And then, of course, I forget to place my bottle of water so that I could reach it from the bench. Concentrating gradually became quite challenging ... Then, there were a couple of pieces I wasn't satisfied with during the preparations, and they didn't go much better during the recital. Still, playing was an enjoyable experience, and the audience seemed to like the music.

The day after arriving in Cambridge I got the message that Malcolm Wechsler, the US representative of Mander Organs, had passed away. Malcolm was one of the key persons in my 2004 America adventure, and helped many others in a similar fashion. My recital was dedicated to his memory.

Gud som hakkar

«Skal vi forklare evangeliet for en computernørd kan det være at vi skal bruge nogle lidt andre ord og sammenligninger end vi plejer. Fx beskrive Gud som en hacker, Helligånden som en trojansk hest og Jesus som et antivirus-program.»

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