There's a story about Chopin. One day he was improvising for a Polish friend, and his friend remarked, "I've heard that before! Are you sure you were just improvising?" Chopin beamed with pride and said, "That is the greatest compliment -- it means that I've played with a true Polish spirit, and it is the spirit that you recognize."


So, tonight, my grandfather and his wife came to visit from California, and I played for them a new piano piece that I'm writing (just started it 2 nights ago -- it's not the one I posted here). Later, we were talking, and he told me what he was thinking while I was playing: "Did Sam base this on a folk song, or did he write it himself?" Well, I felt like Chopin beaming to his friend.

You're brave to play your compositions for others. I find it hard enough to play something somebody ELSE wrote in front of an audience; I don't think I could stand the added performance anxiety of wondering if they liked the music.