Happy Birthday, Wolfie!
Today is the 250th birthday of Wolfgang Amadé Mozart. In honor of him I offer you this silent, poor-man’s video of me playing a piece by a composer whose work he admired and promoted, namely, J. S. Bach.
That’s not a goatee I’m wearing. I’m picking my nose with a microphone.
This picture was taken at my company’s holiday party, held late in January instead of during the December rush. One of my co-workers is leader of a cover band that played during the party. He arranged for several of us musical types at Bridgeway to provide a half-hour’s entertainment during their break. I perceived that fast, loud and short was the order of the day. So I opted to play a violin piece that’s the Baroque equivalent of a 75-second electric guitar solo: the first movement of Bach’s Sonata for violin and continuo in E minor, BWV 1023.
I know what you’re thinking: Did Love of Peace’s keyboard player hammer out the continuo part on a Kurzweil? Well, they don’t have a keyboard player. Besides, the violin pyrotechnics are suspended over an E pedal point. Which makes the continuo dispensable. Which I took as a license play this piece by myself in front of a dormant drum set and a roomful of hooting software professionals. 
As long as you *pick* something for greatest hits night…we love to hear you play, with or without the goatee. Did you notice that someone changed the announcement this week? There will be no more reprisals.
Looking at that animated GIF, all I can imagine is the other musicians thinking to themselves, “How long does this cadenza go on?” …
And, apropos of almost nothing (except the speed of the animated GIF, on my computer at least), here’s a viola joke I’ve always found funnier than I should:
A viola player went to a piano recital. After the performance he went up to the pianist and said, “You know, I particularly liked that piece you played last — the one that started with a long trill.”
The pianist said, “Huh? I didn’t play any pieces that started with trills.”
The viola player said, “You know — [hums the opening bars of Für Elise].”