Like ears to my music

Alright, I know I am probably being silly about this, but it is sort of a big deal to me, and I am very very thankful for it: in a matter of hours my October Sunrise for wind ensemble will receive its world premiere from a fantastic group, the Eastman Wind Orchestra. It is my first performance of a "work for large forces" (and don't get me started on the military metaphors in music organizations).

If I start listing all the people and things I am thankful for I will sound even sillier--no one is handing me an Oscar--so I won't do that.

I got a call a couple of hours ago from the conductor, Dr. Mark Scatterday, and he tells me rehearsals have gone well and the performers really like the piece, which is just about the best possible news to me--like ears to my music! A week ago I was still worrying that something might go wrong in rehearsal that would lead them to drop the piece--one must worry about something, I guess--and maybe I still don't quite believe it that this little piece will finally have a performance!

If this performance doesn't go well, then the piece probably does not work--but I'm pretty sure it will. I can be confident, not because I think it is a profoundly great piece, but because I was fairly conservative. Sure, I asked for some difficult things--just not all at once. And of course I can be confident because Eastman invented the wind ensemble.

They said they're enjoying it, right? Which means it's working, right? They're not having to fight with the piece to try to make music out of it, right?

Such a strange thing, to be so deeply involved with the music and yet completely disconnected from it.