GETTING TO KNOW RACHMANINOFF

Entry for May 31, 2007
It all happened one night at the home of my Grandparents in Syracuse N.Y. Although my home was in Buffalo N.Y., Syracuse was where I went when my parents wanted to lose me. My cousin Bob Dodd was an excellent pianist and was playing a classical number of some great difficulty. He completed the piece and amidst the cheers from those assembled there, my Grandmother Dodd leaned over and said to me "Jimmie, don't you wish you could play like that? I replied, peevishly, "I could if I wanted to". Ah, that was my mistake. Now I had a personal challenge to prove me right. When summer approached I, somehow, acquired the number entitled "Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C# Minor". It had more notes than I had ever seen in my life and although I had been taught piano by Mrs Mueller from ages 7 to 10, never had I looked at a piece that was so scary. Nevertheless, I had issued to myself an obstacle which now looked to be way over my head. This piece began with three ominous notes that sounded like a frightening horror movie and went Bong, Bong, Bong, each note descending on the keyboard. Some of the chords had more notes than I had fingers on both hands!! But I practice religiously every day and some times twice a day and that Bong, Bong, Bong, must have driven my Grandparents crazy and yet they permitted me to continue my project without a word. Of course whenever I made a mistake I had to go back to the beginning and do the Bong Bong Bong again. However, after several weeks it was beginning to come together and I had reached a point where my fingers automatically went to the proper chords without having to read the page and think about it. So, Summer had concluded and I was enrolled in High School, attending parties and finding a piano there. I would sit down and play to the attending cheers the piece I had spent many weeks perfecting it. Then someone would say, "Play something else, Jimmie". In an embarrassed voice I would reply "I can't!. Thats all I know." In retrospect it was my love for my Gramma Dodd that propelled me to finish the task and validate my words "I could if I wanted to." I had accomplished my purpose and although I never did learn another piece of music with that degree of skill, I did get to know Sergei Rachmaninoff and he didn't turn out to be so bad after all.