Background: Piano Concerto Op. 10, No. 1 - First Movement - Chopin
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My Life ¡V An Overview
Have anyone heard the Piano Concerto by Fédéric Chopin? Probably not. I guess everyone should hear it, at least once. Not only will you sense the lyrical melodic sequences, you will also be amazed with the technical difficulties, whereas inner harmonies are embedded. Credits should also be given to the performer, because a certain degree of virtuosity is needed to ruminate, and perform this piece. I, personally, do not reach this plateau, as my skill level does not allow me to play this masterful piece. Why do I make an effort in describing the music? There must be some reasons behind.
Although music can be very technical, a 3 year old kid can tell whether a music is ¡§good¡¨ (consonance vs. dissonance) without any prior knowledge to the field. So what good does music really serve? Recent psychiatrists determine that classical music can help in the children¡¦s brain development. I have the same viewpoint. Music has more impact than that of drawing or novels, where the very picture is given in colors or words, this picture can be anything, and usually closely to one¡¦s, at least my life.
Why me? Why am I the center of discussion? Perhaps this is amongst the thousands of questions that have yet to be answered. It is impossible to answer each and every question, after all. One, however, can approach this state of being by ruminating, although it is usually bounded to failure.
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The piece starts with the orchestral part, as the strings, brass and the percussion all take role in this (grand) introduction. It is with high anticipation that I arrive this planet. Perhaps the most exciting fact is that I was able to move, cry and do things around space, and specifically, the Earth. For the first time, I feel something tangible, although long before I have been living in a watery home where food supply, coming from an unknown source, is sufficient¡K
What is ¡§growing up?¡¨ All I know is that one could grow both physically and mentally. But how? By what means? Grow up through¡Kthrough incidents, or time, matter? Size matter? Experience matter? What is it? Perhaps I have never investigated this subject well enough to get a definite answer. Or perhaps it is just a question with no answer. Why does ¡§growing up¡¨ happen at the time it does? Is ¡§growing up¡¨ a good thing or bad thing? I never know about it.
The high expectation is quickly followed by a period of emptiness, as the music has suggested ¡V the strings are playing piano (softly), blurred with clarinets and flutes which are playing the harmonies. This period of emptiness occurs because I don¡¦t¡¦ recall much from this period of time. What does that mean? Did my brain stop working when I am 2, and recommence at 5? Or is there just nothing interesting enough for me to remember? Perhaps I did lose my identity at that time. I haven¡¦t developed yet, however, I am sure that I am just like any children at my age, sleept, eat, and make trouble all the time. Perhaps the only ting I remeberi sthe fact that I first attended school when I was 3, which seems to be a long time ago¡K
The next few years rest in peace. We are now at the lyrical part of the song, where some simple notes blend to form consonance ¡V it is also the part where the piano starts to dominate the piece, and it is the very same idea that I start to have control over myself ¡V build my own character .Clouds start to get clear when I enter Diocesan Preparatory School, which is one of the finest primary institutions in Hong Kong. Although pressure is everywhere (or nowhere ¡V I don¡¦t¡¦ know what pressure is at that time), the introduction to ¡§outside life¡¨ makes my life more interesting. By outside life, I mean my being outside my house, or activities proposed directly by my family. I enter the school band of my school, where I played the trombone. Because I have to brace teeth later on (thus I cannot play a wind/brass instrument), I switch to percussion, where I am the backbone of that department. I started to take piano lessons. I start to build relationships with people. It is in this school that I had my fights, I met friends and my best friend, and get into some really serious trouble. My grades are improving gradually¡K
For some reasons, I am uncharacteristically shy. My ¡§growing up¡¨ haven¡¦t¡¦ helped me much, evidently, I never spoke up in classes; I am scared of other people (especially strangers and girls) ¡V I am always reluctant to talk to them, even though I may have something serious to talk to him/her. I guess it will be worse when it comes to girls, however, in the old days of mine, I was never exposed to girls (I forgot to tell everyone that Diocesan Preparatory School is an all boys school ¡V no girls, sorry), nor did I have any chances of knowing them, given my ¡§busy¡¨ schedule everyday. I don¡¦t know what to do to change it, can someone give me some suggestions?
The integrity and complexity of the piece increases, and the concerto starts to develop into a ¡§complete piece.¡¨ There is a little bit of everything: scales, arpeggios, and tremolos ¡V skills that can only be achieved through strenuous fingering exercises. Every instruments start to take part in the music, as the strings, brass, percussion, and the piano, each playing with some very high skill level, start to form some formidable passage while maintaining harmonies. After 5 years at that school, I move on to the next level, where I attended Diocesan Boy¡¦s School for the next three years. Here is a quote from the school¡¦s website, written 3 years ago, (ed note: 1998) about my point of view of this school. After all, I am just a ¡§normal¡¨ DBS boy; everything in the quote holds true, at least for me.
¡§Beyond the antiquated, unassuming sign that points towards the school drive, there lies a place bustling with enthusiasm, a campus exhibiting a kaleidoscope of achievements, a haven where a large family of DBS boys will call home for the next seven years. In the hill there is perhaps one of the greatest endowments for the DBS boys. From the busiest gather points outside the tuck shop or in the hall to the peaceful and quiet stretches of green outside the far-end classrooms. DBS itself epitomizes a flourishing society, with activity and energy that never seems to cease. School life in DBS is not only characterized by academic results but perhaps even by extracurricular pursuits and achievements. There are many minute details, many pleasant subtleties, many neglected interested that DBS are all too often left out. Only by considering and appreciation all of these aspects, can we see a complete picture of the true nature of DBS school life.¡¨
I knew the best people here, I learn my most valuable lessons here, and there are lots and lots of minute incidents that is perhaps too important to the growing of my mind¡K
For the first time in the piece, the music starts to oscillate in key signature ( for amateurs, it means that the music ¡§sounds¡¨ differently). What can I infer from it? Perhaps this is the stage where the music starts to conjure up into a complete piece. Coming to Berkshire is my wish, though not my dream. My sole purpose of coming to an American high school is to get into the ¡§best colleges in the world,¡¨ namely Harvard, Yale, Stanford, MIT, Princeton etc. What I have realized, however, is a big surprise. Not only did I revive academically, I undergo a metamorphosis which could never be learned in any textbooks; it is an intangible influence about how to treat other people (with benevolence), how to mix with people of different nationalities, how to communicate with different people, and after all, being satisfied when there is a slight deviation in the work plan¡K
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The piece has its ending point, some time in the future, and so is my life. But what will happen and had happened is far more important than the fact that it does happen. It holds true for the piece also. As for my future, who knows what I¡¦ll turn into? Many things have yet to happen. I am wandering through time. Often time I think I am mature enough to take responsibilities, other time I consider myself as an infant, at least in my mind. Why does this happen? Only after listening to this piece can anyone contemplate about me, or myself.