You shall pardon me for gushing about Mozart here again x0 What you will listen to below is from his Jeunehomme Concerto, written when he was 21. It's a real miracle, given its boundless energy and never-ending vitality. One thing so remarkable about Mozart is that he's able to come up with music of such optimism even during times of sadness. Not that he was experiencing any disaster when he composed this concerto, but if you listen to his later works, (Concerti 23-27, the Jupiter Symphony), you can hardly believe that he was in debt and dying as he composed some of those cheerful works. However, to a discerning listener, he will discover some tears behind the smiles in some of these works.
Anyway, to me, Mozart is the purest musical voice ever. His music is touched by God because it flows so naturally and unaffectedly. There is no pretence in him at all and he has maintained a childlikness throughout his tragically short life. To play his music well, you must get rid of every bit of ego in you and just let the music speak naturally, without imposing your idiosyncrasies on the work. The piece you are about to hear contains a middle section where the restless music comes to an abrupt halt, the tempo slows considerably and we get a rather quaint minuet which to me is infinitely beautiful - you feel as if time has come to a halt and suddenly, you begin to notice all the beautiful things around you that you've failed to notice when the pace of life gets too fast.
Okay, enough blabbing. On with the music!
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Ode to the greek god statues at the National Museum
Hail, statues of Greek gods,
how far you have journeyed to our humid abode.
You'd better take care of your naked marbled bodies,
and mind you don't catch a cold.
In the dark recesses of our national museum,
your light shines forth.
Four out of five visitors come for you,
bypassing the relics of Farquhar and Sang Nila Utama.
One of them sighs at your high cheekbones,
praying she will find one in real life at least half Greek and a quarter God.
Another rubs his flat nose,
"It can never be as high as those," and into his hanky he blew his nose.
how far you have journeyed to our humid abode.
You'd better take care of your naked marbled bodies,
and mind you don't catch a cold.
In the dark recesses of our national museum,
your light shines forth.
Four out of five visitors come for you,
bypassing the relics of Farquhar and Sang Nila Utama.
One of them sighs at your high cheekbones,
praying she will find one in real life at least half Greek and a quarter God.
Another rubs his flat nose,
"It can never be as high as those," and into his hanky he blew his nose.
Posing with Keat's Ode on a Grecian urn
We have our Socratic seminars because of this guy
Head of a veiled woman. She looks sad.
The goddess Athena
Eros, the little god of love
I can't remember what this is, but it looks nice and orderly
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Beethoven is...
Beethoven is....
...simple and childlike (Fur Elise)
...so full of worship and goodness (Ode to Joy)
...stormy and full of anger (Symphony No. 5)
...full of manic energy (Symphony No. 7)
...so mysterious and reflective (Moonlight Sonata)
...so melodious and full of sweetness (Spring sonata)
...playful and cheeky (Turkish March)
...oh so romantic! (Romance in F)
How all-encompassing he is! His music embraces all the emotions of the universe.
...simple and childlike (Fur Elise)
...so full of worship and goodness (Ode to Joy)
...stormy and full of anger (Symphony No. 5)
...full of manic energy (Symphony No. 7)
...so mysterious and reflective (Moonlight Sonata)
...so melodious and full of sweetness (Spring sonata)
...playful and cheeky (Turkish March)
...oh so romantic! (Romance in F)
How all-encompassing he is! His music embraces all the emotions of the universe.
Monday, March 10, 2008
This House believes...
i watched the telecast of 'the arena' on tv just now
one of the boys actually rolled his eyes (on national tv!) when his opponent said something he disagreed with
the judges were seated on this elevated platform and the debators had to look up to behold them when they delivered their verdict
gaurav keerthi is a good adjudicator because he gives a fair and balanced verdict with practical advice for the debators. he is also very calm and articulate
one of the boys actually rolled his eyes (on national tv!) when his opponent said something he disagreed with
the judges were seated on this elevated platform and the debators had to look up to behold them when they delivered their verdict
gaurav keerthi is a good adjudicator because he gives a fair and balanced verdict with practical advice for the debators. he is also very calm and articulate
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
My big fat pretentious rap
Yo girl why so bored?
There's more to life you know?
Yo girl why so bored?
Your life's what you make of it.
Yo girl why so stone?
You can't forever sit there alone.
Yo girl why so glum?
It's time to get up from the slump.
There're many things you can do,
to make your life more full.
Ways of thinking you should change,
to give your life more range.
Start by smiling more,
accept others who are different,
listen to others more,
don't always insist on your way.
Respect your elders,
though you don't know why they always scold,
but they care a lot, you know?
Don't befriend someone just because they can help you,
but befriend them because you want to help them.
Yo girl why so bored?
There's more to life you know?
There're many things you can do,
to make your life more full.
Love someone not to feel good,
but love that someone because your heart tells you so.
Your life might not always be filled with rainbows,
shooting stars do not come by every day.
But the gentle morning breeze,
the warm sun on your skin,
the happy voices of playing children in the evening,
mother's simple but familiar dinner,
father's encouraging smile,
and your best friend's friendly squeeze of your hand,
are simple things to be happy about.
Yo girl why so bored?
There's more to life you know?
There're many things you can do,
to make your life more full.
PS I will give you 50 bucks if you can fill in the music for me.
Disclaimer: I know nothing about raps, except that you stick out your index and baby finger and go 'yo yo yo'.
There's more to life you know?
Yo girl why so bored?
Your life's what you make of it.
Yo girl why so stone?
You can't forever sit there alone.
Yo girl why so glum?
It's time to get up from the slump.
There're many things you can do,
to make your life more full.
Ways of thinking you should change,
to give your life more range.
Start by smiling more,
accept others who are different,
listen to others more,
don't always insist on your way.
Respect your elders,
though you don't know why they always scold,
but they care a lot, you know?
Don't befriend someone just because they can help you,
but befriend them because you want to help them.
Yo girl why so bored?
There's more to life you know?
There're many things you can do,
to make your life more full.
Love someone not to feel good,
but love that someone because your heart tells you so.
Your life might not always be filled with rainbows,
shooting stars do not come by every day.
But the gentle morning breeze,
the warm sun on your skin,
the happy voices of playing children in the evening,
mother's simple but familiar dinner,
father's encouraging smile,
and your best friend's friendly squeeze of your hand,
are simple things to be happy about.
Yo girl why so bored?
There's more to life you know?
There're many things you can do,
to make your life more full.
PS I will give you 50 bucks if you can fill in the music for me.
Disclaimer: I know nothing about raps, except that you stick out your index and baby finger and go 'yo yo yo'.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Inspired
Yesterday I was at Amazing Grace Presbyterian Church at Upper East Coast for the Good Friday Choir Rehearsal and the choir pianist was my piano teacher. After hearing her, I'm now quite inspired to practise the piano.
Schumann's Carnaval, here I come!
Schumann's Carnaval, here I come!
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Paper cuts
I've been getting some strange cuts on my hands recently.
Last Sunday I was pulling out this file from a cabinet in church and the sharp edge sliced my left palm. Okay, the word 'sliced' makes it sound quite horrific as if blood spluttered in all directions but actually, it's only a 1cm cut and not too deep.
Then on Thursday, I was helping a colleague open her newly-bought IT gadget (can't remember if it's a thumbdrive, laser pointer or something like that), which was so securely sealed that you have to make cuts in all sorts of directions before you could pull the thing out. After that, I discovered a small cut on the left hand of my baby finger, opps...I mean the baby finger of my left hand.
Then, this afternoon, I discovered another cut at one of the joints on the back of my right baby finger. I don't know how I got that cut, but it must have been there for some time, because there was dried blood around it on the wrinkly skin around the joint, forming a web-like pattern of brown. Must have cut it somewhere this morning.
Why am I writing this boring account of the misadventures of my hand?
Anyway, on my last lesson with 301 on Thursday, the Language Arts rep gave a tiny impromptu 'tribute' to me on behalf of the class. Anyway, the gist of her speech was thanking me for giving them worksheets :) They are a very responsive class who are always on task.
I'm sorry to those of you whose links on my blog have disappeared. The cyber bogeyman invaded my site and swallowed them! Haha.
Last Sunday I was pulling out this file from a cabinet in church and the sharp edge sliced my left palm. Okay, the word 'sliced' makes it sound quite horrific as if blood spluttered in all directions but actually, it's only a 1cm cut and not too deep.
Then on Thursday, I was helping a colleague open her newly-bought IT gadget (can't remember if it's a thumbdrive, laser pointer or something like that), which was so securely sealed that you have to make cuts in all sorts of directions before you could pull the thing out. After that, I discovered a small cut on the left hand of my baby finger, opps...I mean the baby finger of my left hand.
Then, this afternoon, I discovered another cut at one of the joints on the back of my right baby finger. I don't know how I got that cut, but it must have been there for some time, because there was dried blood around it on the wrinkly skin around the joint, forming a web-like pattern of brown. Must have cut it somewhere this morning.
Why am I writing this boring account of the misadventures of my hand?
Anyway, on my last lesson with 301 on Thursday, the Language Arts rep gave a tiny impromptu 'tribute' to me on behalf of the class. Anyway, the gist of her speech was thanking me for giving them worksheets :) They are a very responsive class who are always on task.
I'm sorry to those of you whose links on my blog have disappeared. The cyber bogeyman invaded my site and swallowed them! Haha.
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