I have been thinking of the basics of interpretation a lot recently. You sometimes hear the argument: “better be original”, meaning that originality should be the first and foremost quality in your musical activities, be it choice of repertoire or your way of playing. While I'm more inclined to agree with this in regard to the choice of repertoire, I'm a bit suspect when it comes to the question of interpreting your piece of music. And yes, before you put me off as an utterly conservative, narrow-minded jerk lacking any imagination, hold on! It might not quite be the agenda I'm trying to put on you now... If you ask me, being original is the first prerequisite to create art at all! Now the question here is, what do you mean by originality? Everyone of us is a unique blend of different traits and energies, which make our so called “personality”. If we play our music as naturally and lively as we speak, we will automatically project that unique blend to our environment, t