Thinking about Ramin Arjomand's improvisation of about 10 days ago (how many piano performances am I still thinking about ten days later?): He spent a lot of time centered on D.
As some of you know, D is the center of the piano sound, situated as it is midway between the first sharp (F#) and the first flat (B-flat), both of which figure prominently in an overtone series that includes D prominently. Some of the greatest repertoire for piano is in that key, whether obviously or by inference, as is the case with Schumann's Waldszenen, the object of my current study.
It cannot be by chance that this is where he wanted us to be. I don't have perfect pitch, by the way, but I believe strongly in the phenomenon that I call "the heart of the instrument." That is why it doesn't matter to me whether the violins are tuned to A=440 or A=415; either way the sound will cause the entire instrument to resonate.
When that happens I, too, resonate.
