Solutions

On difficult days when you just want to stay home and not see anybody, the best thing to do is usually just the opposite. (I'm talking days when you have a meltdown over a curling iron not doing what you want it to do.)

Of course, it helps when your best friend is among the company. (And when you have the option of a hat.)

That makes everything alright.

Love you, Tali.

Simplicity

This morning I sit home alone.
Outside the rain drizzles quietly.

I'm bundled warmly in my jammies, a sweater, and a pair of slippers, enjoying a cup of hot tea and a deliciously cooked grapefruit.
The only inside noises are the dripping of the faucet and the hum of the refrigerator.

I turn on my recordings of early music. I need to review the gregorian chants for an upcoming final.
But as I sit and listen, the simplicity draws me in. A single line, unaccompanied, singing words in a dead language. Words that will never be obsolete.
They bring rest and comfort, solace from the accompaniment of life. And they remind that this season is not about getting through finals and passing classes.

It is about Advent: the God-man entering into the frenzy of life on earth and offering peace for our souls.


A boy is born to us,
and a Son is given to us;
whose government is upon His shoulder
and His name shall be called
the Angel of great counsel.

Sing ye to the Lord a new song,
because He hath done wonderful things.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.

-Puer natus est nobis (translation)

Motivation!

With a capital M!

Something got into me today and I've been sitting at the keys more than usual.
It could be that juries are just around the corner. But no, I was finished with jury preparation at the 2-hour mark.

Sophomore review.
*Insert ominous music*

Sophomore review is a proficiency exam that all piano majors must take to be "promoted" to junior status.
My repertoire list is as follows:
1. Prelude and Fugue no 18 (WTC book 1) by Bach
2. Beethoven Sonata op. 10 no. 1 (all three movements)
3. Rondo Capriccioso by Mendelssohn
4. Chopin Etude op. 25 no. 1 (Or maybe op. 25 no. 5?)
5. Scriabin Etude op. 2 no. 1
6. Sonata no. 2 (1st movement) by Prokofiev
7. Finally, a contemporary piece that I have yet to be assigned

I copied this list and put it up next to the door in my music room. So now every time I leave the room, I mentally ask myself, "Are you sure you don't want to put in some more time?"

Five-hour mark. Done!

Here's the audio to the 4-Hand Sonata by Poulenc that my duet partner and I performed a couple weeks ago. The video should be up this weekend, and I'll post that then. I can't wait to see it, because the piano moved during our performance! So scary! It felt like it moved a whole two feet, so I'd like to see if the shift is visible in the video. Anyway, enjoy!

Oh, and congratulations to my friend, Erin, who was just accepted into our piano studio! Woohoo! I'm so looking forward to having her in the studio next semester! :D