A Musician’s Baggage

This week we have the decorators in. I say ‘decorators’ – I actually mean the singular. This meant shuffling around the contents of our house in the manner of one of those sliding puzzles you have as a child. The skill of those puzzles is being able to think at least 6 moves ahead, which just doesn’t happen when you’re dealing with real furniture. With real furniture you tend to prioritise according to the weight of each item.

Our house is a mess. I write this now as the lovely Sarah roots around under, over and inside furniture looking for her copy of the Bach double violin concerto, and the hunt is not going well. You see, the problem is that each and every musician takes around their own small version of the Bodleian library with them whenever they move. You have your solo music, your chamber music, you orchestral excerpts and photocopied parts, you have your teaching books, then you have your cds, your dvds…you have so much stuff. I mean, we could open our own small branch library. I’ve always fantasised about having a room where the music, books and cds are kept – a quiet room. But for now it’s stuffed everywhere – which makes the hunt for the Bach difficult.

Is it just us, or does every musician have this much baggage? Doesn’t it really get on the nerves of your other half if they’re not a musician?