It Really Doesn't End

So, I finally got around to recording my Chopin with the motivation of getting it done in time to enter it into a competition our local radio station was holding. (which explains the nerdy intro at the beginning =P )

And now I'm on youtube. O.o

=P

Anyway, here it is. I failed the left hand in one part and ruined another chord at the end, and wasn't as pleased with the emotions that came out this time around......but it was alright, and it does more justice to this post. The thing about playing such an emotionally deep piece is that you get something just a little bit different every time.

I was wearing such a formal dress because of my co-op semi formal later that evening which I will have pictures for later. Sorry the video is so big.

Here's an excerpt from that post:

I like to call a piece of joyful serenity made perfect with pain and sweetened with God's grace, blessings, and love.

It's the joy you find in the midst of the pain.
The peace you find to accept what you have lost.
The grace God gives you to give up what you know you cannot keep.
The blessings He lavishes upon you to show you His everlasting, eternal, all-encompassing love.

It's not bittersweet, because it's not both at once. It's not just plain happiness, because there is pain in there.

You've probably heard that it's the darkness that makes the light beautiful. It's the pain that makes the healing wonderful.

This piece is a full, deep, meaningful joy that you won't experience fully unless you have endured the pain beforehand.

There are so many different feelings you can pull out of this piece, and that's why I love it.

It really has astonished me how many different ways you can play this piece, and the depth of emotion you are constantly finding. My sister and I were talking today about how positively deep music is - it never ends! There's always something new. You can spend months on one piece and still find new and exciting things in it.

The other day, I discovered "righteous anger" in the cadenza. (the really fast chromatic part at the end) Maybe it was because I had just watched this speech on abortion, or because I was feeling particularly angry at things I felt were not my fault.

Other times, the cadenza just screams "Why, God??"

But my favorite part is at the end. I discovered how to play the last two chords in a way that almost guarantee that the right notes are voiced. Part of it was that I put the words "Be Still" on those two chords.

So many times in life I don't understand why things are a certain way, why people do things the way they do, or how there ever could be an end.

But God always says,

Be....Still.

Listen for that at the end.




PS - Some other time, if anyone cares to listen, I'll geek out to you about different parts of that Chopin and how amazing they are (as if this weren't enough), as well as the intricate emotions I think Chopin put there; or perhaps I'll show you my Beethoven. ;)

Tournaments Do Weird Things To Us

Verve Tournament was last weekend!!! =D

Seriously, who doesn't love giant pieces of chocolate cake the size of your head and half-crazed line dancing to live bluegrass music and winning piles of trophies?

Okay, so I didn't win piles of trophies. Just one. (It's shiny and extremely sharp on the end. ::grin::) But other people did.

I love how speech tournaments end up being some of my best, most memorable weekends. I've only been to 2 and already I'm getting them all mixed up. But oh, I love it.....running frantically to a round, tournament pizza, meeting new people, slippers, blazers, breaks, skits, sharp trophies....

My Illustrated Oratory got 2nd place, which was extremely surprising. My dramatic only got 13th, but it was still loads of fun.

I ::cough:: will admit I memorized my speech the night before the tournament. And I was pretty nervous about it too.

So, a friend of mine and were having a conversation on gmail the other day about memorizing speeches. (this was pre-tournament as I was frantically trying to memorize)

Me: Thing is, I tend to do a good amount of forgetting when I'm extremely nervous.......
Friend: ah
hmm.
so don't get nervous! =D
Me: That's a good point.

About a day later, I sent an email to my sister and asked her to pray for my speech tournament. She wrote back and gave me this verse:

I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.

I honestly thought this was the coolest verse in the world that God could have given me. Not only did it say "I will go in the strength of the Lord" (as in, He will give me the words, strength, and calm nerves for my speech), but "I will make mention of your righteousness..."

If you've seen my speech, you know that it's on Chinese characters and their connection to the Bible - and that the climactic point (and pretty much my thesis statement) is righteousness.

Is God amazing or what?

It was absolutely amazing how peaceful I felt during the rounds. Yes, I messed up, which usually caused my heart to go ::kerthump:: and my face to turn pink and I would fumble with the boards to pass the time while I remembered what came next. But that only happened once or twice, and for some reason I could still keep going smoothly and enjoyably.

It's amazing the peace God gives you when you know you are doing it for Him, that there is nothing to be afraid of, and that His joy is your strength. =)

I'll post more pictures soon!

God is so good!

My computer is fixed!! I have a brand new operating system (Windows 7!) =D but have lost all my emails =( So, if there's an email you sent me and I never replied...well that's why. :-/ It's so awesome how God has continually blessed me with a working computer, even with the number of times it has broken down!

I also remember that I've promised y'all pictures of the Book 1 Recital - and I'm sorry it's taken so long, but hold on a little bit longer! I have not forgotten! Some of our friends took the pictures, so they are currently in their possesion and I have yet to get a copy from them. :)

Meanwhile, I wanted to share my excitement for my friend Tara, who was recently engaged!! It has been such a blessing to me, as a teenager, to see their [Tara and Stephen's] godly example during their courtsrhip.

Here are some pictures that she posted on her blog. :)

Book One Recital, here we come!

So, over the past few weeks/months, we've been working on a big recital/play - here's a sneak preview, and after the recital I'll have more pictures and a story! :)