Some disconnected, ill-planned thoughts
Below is my most recent Xanga entry, made just before I created this site.
A long, long time ago...
I can still remember how
that music used to make me smile...
It's been a while since I started playing piano... It was by Asian suggestion, and maintained by Asians. But in a nutshell, that IS how I began my musical career...
And I knew if I had the chance
that I could make those people dance
and maybe, they be happy, for a while?
God, I remember the days of Asian parent warfare in which the quality of a child was measured by his/her grades and piano-playing prowess in which the winner was the one who could most effectively humiliate and undermine his child's ability and self-esteem.
But Feburary made me shiver;
with every paper I'd deliver,
bad news on the door step.
I couldn't take one more step...
... my god, I remember so vividly when my aunt lived at home. These days I don't mind her as much; we only talk in English now and she doesn't yell at me. I'm not sure if I was emotionally scarred or not by her. Anyway, two hours a day every day over the summer of '98 and '99... and people wonder why I didn't enjoy elementary school and could never play after school
I can't remember if I cried
when I heard the news of his widowed bride,
but something touched me deeeeeep insiiiiide...
The day the music died.
God, those were bad times. Isn't it amazing? Soccer, karate, Chinese school... I hated them all. It's incredible that I managed to persevere through this medium alone. I hold this and BC Calculus as my sole remnants of elementary school and early childhood. It seems that the earliest acquaintances I have now... are from sixth grade. And fag does not count.
Did you write the book of love
and do you have faith in God above,
if the Bible tells you so?
Do you believe in rock and roll;
can music save your mortal soul,
and can you teach me how to dance, reeeeal slooow?
I guess that I was getting philosophical when I started writing this. Call me idealistic, but a true music performance can change the world. Specifically, I'm thinking about romantic music, I guess... Beethoven's piano sonata Op.27 No.2 made a woman fall in love with him. I am not surprised... it is not a difficult piece, or even a particularly sentimental one. But it's the performer who puts it into the music, not the music that plays the player. Perhaps I am wrong in imagining the greying Ludwig playing the music on the developing piano, fondling the keys - not disgustingly like Liszt, but with moderation in true Beethoven fashion.
Perhaps I due Liszt an injustice by using his name in mockery. I must say I am not at all a fan of Liszt personally... from what I hear, he was a real womanizer, and while I am not jealous and while I understand this, it sitll irks me somewhat to know that his music was for pure display. He invented the modern positioning of the piano to show off his right hand technique and his profile, which he considered attractive. In the end though, it is unfair to criticize him. He is tenfold the pianist I could ever be, his music while cheesy is heartwrenching, and despite his apparent vainness, it is clear how he could have seduced so many women in his time.
The one romantic pianist I have remaining was not at all a womanizer. He was considered insane for being such a recluse, but his keyboard skill was quite possibly superior to Liszt and Beethoven. His music really pushed the limits of the keyboardist as well as the pianist. Some of it was repetitive, some of it was a mixed bag, but all of it was beautiful. Frederic Chopin... music fit for the novice, fit for the expert, and fit for the most casual of listeners.
I must now return to Beethoven. While his Moonlight Sonata was incredible, the one piece that got me truly into the groove was one that even today I haven't mastered. His Pathetique was the first "world-changing" piece to me. Three movements, all of which emphasized lyricism with technique. The other of these "world-changing pieces" are... Liszt's "Un sospiro" and Chopin's Nocturne Op.9 No.2 in E-flat major. Someday perhaps I will write more on that note.
This is what happens when I listen to Beethoven. ^___^
No, it is not normally my style to post lyrics.
SD
Sept. 22, '05
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