KLAVIERONLY

Mozart k279: simplicity is the best

2012-03-19T09:30:00.003-07:00

This is the piece I have recently been playing.

k279 is the first sonata among the 18 sonatas Mozart composed, and, just like J.S. Bach's two books of WTC, it is arranged in the key of C major; bright, delightful, and full of hope.

Harmonically, the 3-movement sonata reveals the pure, simple structure by staying in the close-related keys, e.g. G major, g minor, F major. Alrite, now you might ask, if so, isn't it very "boring"??!

Not if you find out how genius Mozart creates the shifts of various figures and articulations within short paragraphs.

1. A grand introduction:

2. The development of the motive through sequences:

C-E-C#-D D-F-D#-E

G-Bb-G#-A A-F-F#-G

3. The extension of the cadence through changes of articulation, harmony, and sequences.

4. The modification from the opening phrase in the second subject.

In the opening phrase, the 16th-note phrase is heading toward higher register, while in the second subject, the phrase becomes the scale down.

5. The gorgeous sequential and melodic writing.

and a fancy sequential passage after resolving to the tonic !

Ever, Forever

2010-01-05T13:42:00.000-08:00

"Up" and Ravel

2010-01-02T14:46:00.000-08:00

What can the Pixart movie "Up" connect to Ravel Piano Concerto??

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The monologue music in the movie "Up" instantly reminded me the 2nd movement of Ravel Piano Concerto in G major.

The atmosphere of melancholy, while the old man realized that he never made the dream of going to Paradise Fall come true, and while he was reading the Adventure Book belonging to his beloved wife, eventually, he was conscious of the fact that....her dream was no longer going to Paradise Fall long time ago, it has been living a happy life with him.

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Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major was composed during 1929-31, after his tour to US. There Ravel was heavily influenced by what was fashioned- Jazz Music, including the harmonies and jazz vocabularies.

If you are interested in other Ravel's compositions with jazz elements, check his Sonata for Violin and Piano, and his one-act opera L'enfant et les sortilèges (1925).

For more information, check this.

Here and There

2010-01-02T07:21:00.000-08:00

How do we define different periods in life?

by place?

by certain event ?

or by someone?

Memory Assembling

2009-12-31T05:12:00.000-08:00

How long does it take to assemble memories together?

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puzzle 1:Months ago, a friend took me to a local shoes shop which I loved very much, rarely high quality and genuine leather can be found elsewhere. Sadly, I was never able to find the shop afterwards, and my stupid ego/ laziness also stopped me from asking my friend where exactly it is...

puzzle 2: I had my very first fresh fruit salad and water-boiled only pasta in a shopping mall @ lisbon, where I definitely thought it is impossible to find it on this island. Weeks after, one day I was walking around the city center area, starved and tired, AND, HERE IT IS! The salad shop is right in front of me!

puzzle 3: There is this famous pastry shop in the very center of center in the city where we always wanna go and taste the food, unfortunately, center of center also implies how difficult to find a parking lot, after 5 rounds of driving in the center area, we gave up.

puzzle 4: Recently I have been practicing in this music school in the city, and after getting off the bus, I need to go through the main streets where lots of restaurants and shops locate.

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After all, it took me two months to know....

Pastry shop, Salad shop, and Shoe shop is right next to each other, unfortunate to me, that street happens to be right at the curve point , where you can't see three shops in one straight line.

Bartok and being John Malkovich

2009-12-20T05:15:00.000-08:00

Being John Malkovich (1999) is a movie written by Charlie Kaufman, who also wrote "Adaptation" in 2002 and "Synedoch, New York" in 2008.

The story describes a puppeteer, Craig Schwartz (John Cusack), saw a recruitment on the newspaper and went for a company where is located on the seven and half floor.

One day, Craig found a secret way in the file room where goes to the mind of John Malkovich, a famous actor.

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In the film, at the very beginning scene, Craig was manipulating a puppet on the stage in a big theater with Blue velvet curtain. Apparently the story was right on the way to its climax, the puppet seemed to think he was a real person, until he found out someone was actually controlling him. The puppet looked up, and at this moment, he saw Craig! The puppet then broke down, his body collapsed on the floor. He filled with anger, smashed his fists on the mirror...

Music from Bartok Concerto for Orchestra, Allegro perfectly created the atmospheres of anxiety, anger, panic, and shock. Strong Rhythmic Motif is remarkable in Bartok's music, and it articulated the introduction scene of Being John Malkovich.

Exotic: Yamato-e v.s. Eiffel Tower

2009-12-15T16:05:00.000-08:00

How often do we have the exotic feelings?

The word "exotic" always reminds me Debussy, a significant French composer, who went to Paris Exposition Universelle (1889), and the impact from there changed his musical style, moving from the influence of Richard Wagner to Eastern element music.

In fact, the most important symbol in this exhibition was the brand-new Eiffel Tower, which served as the entrance in the event.

In there, Debussy was introduced to Gamelan music from Java, where is part of Indonisia. The special pantatonic scale effects inspired him, thus created the impressionistic music.

What about Impressionism in Art?

That was even back then, in Exposition Universelle (1867), japanese woodcut prints (Yamato-e) appeared in Paris, artist like Van Gogh was deeply influenced by its strong contrast in color, the unconstraint from traditional space and three-dimensional perspectives.

Nanny Starbucks

2009-12-15T15:03:00.000-08:00

I was calling an internet service company this afternoon.

To be honest, since I moved to Portugal, I haven't heard the American accent for a long long while.... the moment that representative picked up my call, it made me feel like..."damn! I am back to the States!" and...in a good way which never be expected in my life.

The internet service I ordered generally works in all the Hotspot points, and basically, most of Starbucks do have the Hotspot service. Therefore, the guy was pretty confused why I had to close my account if there is not any problem in connecting the WIFI.

"Ma'am, is there any particular reason that you have to close your account?"

"You know this unlimited plan works in any place with Hotspot."

"Sir, hmm...the fact is...I live in Portugal now, and here...they don't really have many Starbucks, not that I can recall.."

The moment I said it out loud, yet, I felt very sad, like an person who was expelled from the civilized world.

Coffee in Portugal is actually tasty and cheap, even the vending machine provides high quality coffee, but the difference is...people here don't hold the paper cup of coffee, walking on the street, chatting with friends or pretending they are busy on the cellphone, "DRINK WHILE MOVING" is definitely a double-NO thing!

In winter, I miss my Starbucks world back in the States sadly....and oddly, I still love coffee here.

All the feeling is simply from a representative from my previous internet service, what can I say?

Admit it, winter does make us feel nostalgic.

Sérgio AZEVEDO

2009-12-14T14:56:00.000-08:00

Abertura Giocosa - In Memoriam Prokofiev

Toto and his Cinema Parodiso

2009-12-02T13:05:00.000-08:00

Alfredo: Living here day by day, you think it's the center of the world. You believe nothing will ever change. Then you leave: a year, two years. When you come back, everything's changed. The thread's broken. What you came to find isn't there. What was yours is gone. You have to go away for a long time... many years... before you can come back and find your people. The land where you were born. But now, no. It's not possible. Right now you're blinder than I am.

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If you were a filmmaker, what would you do if you sensed the film industry is going to collapse in the foreseeable future?

The director Giuseppe Tornatore, who was born in Sicilian village, Italy, chose to tell us the story through the relationship between Alfredo (a theater's projectionist) and Toto (a little naughty boy who is enthusiastic in film).

Localized Foreigners

2009-12-01T05:36:00.000-08:00

Something you never know without living there.

It’s like “roommate” philosophy,you don’t see all aspects of a person unless you live with him/ her.

The matter of being insiders or outsiders happens everywhere, back to the ages when airplanes didn’t exist, when taking boat from one place to another cost numerous days, when exchanging knowledge spent ¼ of life,

it seemed very easy to define whether you are “in” or “out”.

Being localized is like, well… a real mother, the one who gave the birth and raised the child. You suffered the damn pain, sacrifice your body shape, and freedom, only until then, you swear you will love and protect this little thing even when he/she grows up, because you will never forget “those unforgettable moments”, because you truly experienced.

Let’s say every place where you have stayed for a certain period of time had something to do with destiny, like super-mario, you fulfill the mission in this section, then next one...etc.

The advantage of being a foreigner is that the local people would usually excuse your 'poor' spoken dialogue, uncomfortable gestures, slightly stammered. However, if you stay longenough, these 'fun' things become 'funny' things, the next step is to decided whether to 'fix' it, or....'abandon ' it, anyway, both suggests getting yourself out from the circumstance.

What about me?

Haha....

Just like what portuguese love to say..."it's still in the process".

Infinite Music

2009-11-29T14:42:00.000-08:00

1900: Take piano: keys begin, keys end. You know there are 88 of them. Nobody can tell you any different. They are not infinite. You're infinite... And on those keys, the music that you can make... is infinite. I like that. That I can live by...

1900: You rolled out in front of me a keyboard of millions of keys, millions and billions of keys that never end. And that's the truth Max, that they never end. That keyboard is infinite... and if that keyboard is infinite, then on that keyboard there is no music you can play. You're sitting on the wrong bench... That is God's piano.

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The story began in the musical instrument shop, a devastate man with a little scruff walked in, put his case on the table, asking for selling his trumpet.

"A musician who had to exchange his beloved instrument in order to feed himself...." I was drowning myself into this scene right away, how painful that must be.

Later I found out that there is perhaps another meaning for the trumpeter, the end of old times, an extremely respectful way in memory of his most intimate friend in music, the pianist 1900.

What is your "the other"?

2009-11-26T03:05:00.000-08:00

Have you ever thought of..." what if everything you own now, has 'the other' object in the other world?"

The truth is, there are always two sides to everything, right and wrong, good and bad.

In 'Coraline', what she needs didn't get fulfilled in reality. Someday, she followed the path of mice, and found this small door , which originally was just bunch of bricks behind, was surprisingly 'goes to somewhere!'

The small door is an 'exit', a media/key to escape from the unsatisfying current situation, and the tunnel connecting two world symbolizes the process, the route, and the 'way.'

What is in the world of 'the other' ?

Is that the place where everything/everyone is completely unrelated, unexpected, so we will be distracted by all the 'newness', excited about the adventure ?

Is that the place where everything/everyone is fully perfect to us, matching our expectation, and nothing needed to worry about, whatever we dreamed of before, it becomes true in the world of 'the other.'

what is yours?

Paula Rego: pintor português

2009-11-23T04:03:00.000-08:00

Undoubtedly, she is one the best storyteller in the contemporary world.

The very first impression, to me, is "bleeding" and "realistic"

Check her "snow white" series, they are very far from fairy-tale.

What we seen, is the critical side of the story:

The poisonous apple given by the stepmother, and what snow-white tried to protect, is

her virginity. (That is what has been described in the book, however, me and my friend were wondering why would an apple related to "virginity" ?!........Later I thought of the symbol of apple in christianity, apple = sin, that might explain something.)

This one is from snow-white series as well, the woman in the black dress bending her knee like being punished in the back is most likely her stepmother, remember in the story, the first time snow-white was supposed to be murdered by a hunter, turns out that she not only survived, but even the hunter (killer) was enchanted by her, the expression on snow-white's face definitely shows the victory she made.

The women figures appearing in Paula's painting are mostly sharp and man-ish, as well as the body, people who are used to venus-like images, for example, botticelli from the Renaissance (check the work by him below).

The subject of this one is "Angel", the women who holds a sword on her right hand and a sponge on her left hand.

Ms Rego used a lot of materials and stories from Disney world. Like the following work, she is inspired by the Disney "fantasy". The muscularity of these ballerinas is very obvious.

Ms Rego is also a Practitioner of Realism, in lots of her works, she created the model, setting the exact gesture for the figures, before she composed.