My cello exam is tomorrow

and I don't feel ready. At all. I can't yet play all my technical requirements up to speed. Ahhh!

In other news, I made myself a tumblr. I think I might keep that account separate from this one. I think I'll make that one more about my visually artistic endeavors, and this one can be more about my personal life. Maybe it'll turn into an online diary for me to vent my frustrations or something. If you will.

Sherlock meets Tangled

I watched this amazing video today. It is too good not to share. 

Sherlock is stuck in 221b. He's bored. Of course. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9CbS6gaO9g&feature=related

The video uses footage from the BBC Sherlock Series and music from Tangled (specifically "When Will My Life Begin.")

I love him 'painting' the walls. I love him reading the books. I love him taking a climb.

I think I'm becoming obsessed with Benedict Cumberbatch's character.

However, I don't think Sherlock would ever be that interested in anything vaguely related to the solar system.

Some Debussy and Bach

I had the privilege of playing for the inauguration of the newly-donated piano in a church in downtown Toronto. Despite the weather being ridiculously gloomy (it was not really raining, but it was very much not dry), the day was extraordinarily beautiful; although I've never considered myself especially religious, the service was lovely and the people were very kind. What a wonderful day!

I played some Bach and Debussy. The pieces can be listened to in the YouTube links below. 

Here is Debussy's Arabesque  no. 1 from Deux Arabesques, as played by the master Walter Gieseking.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmDfLZSWlKI

And here is a beautiful performance of J.S. Bach's Prelude and Fugue in E-major from Book One of the WTC by Dominique Kim at the 10th International Russian Music Piano Competition. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSOdUHiiXiU

Enjoy!

Agony in the Woods

In one of our music courses at school, we are entering a musical theatre unit. Among a number of musicals, we're studying Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods. Just for a bit of a smile for the day (I certainly feel like I need one - what a long Tuesday!), I thought I would post Sondheim's "Agony." "Agony" is a hilarious duet between two Prince Charmings. Cinderella's Prince is on the search for his beautiful princess-to-be who has, since midnight, run away from his ball. Rapunzel's Prince is lamenting the futility of his love for the girl trapped in the tower with no doors.

It is absurd and hilarious. I love it!

Listen to it on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFgMowOwek0

The lyrics are below:
[CINDERELLA'S PRINCE]
Did I abuse her
Or show her disdain?
Why does she run from me?
If I should lose her,
How shall I regain
The heart she has won from me?

Agony!
Beyond power of speech,
When the one thing you want
Is the only thing out of your reach.

[RAPUNZEL'S PRINCE]
High in her tower,
She sits by the hour,
Maintaining her hair.
Blithe and becoming and frequently humming
A lighthearted air:
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-

Agony!
Far more painful than yours,
When you know she would go with you
If there only were doors.

[BOTH]
Agony!
Oh, the torture they teach!

[RAPUNZEL'S PRINCE]
What's as intriguing-

[CINDERELLA'S PRINCE]
Or half so fatiguing-

[BOTH]
As what's out of reach?

[CINDERELLA'S PRINCE]
Am I not sensitive,
Clever,
Well-mannered,
Considerate,
Passionate,
Charming,
As kind as I'm handsome
And heir to a throne?

[RAPUNZEL'S PRINCE]
You are everything maidens could wish for!

[CINDERELLA'S PRINCE]
Then why no-?

[RAPUNZEL'S PRINCE]
Do I know?

[CINDERELLA'S PRINCE]
The girl must be mad!

[RAPUNZEL'S PRINCE]
You know nothing of madness
Till you're climbing her hair
And you see her up there
AS you're nearing her,
All the while hearing her:
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-

[BOTH]
Agony!

[CINDERELLA'S PRINCE]
Misery!

[RAPUNZEL'S PRINCE]
Woe!

[BOTH]
Though it's different for each.

[CINDERELLA'S PRINCE]
Always ten steps behind-

[RAPUNZEL'S PRINCE]
Always ten feet below-

[BOTH]
And she's just out of reach.
Agony
That can cut like a knife!

I must have her to wife.

Improvisations

It may be March Break for the kids at my school, but my friend M and I decided that we'd go to school anyways for a little jam session on the piano and cello. As someone who is primarily Classically-trained and who hasn't had much experience with improvisation, it was very exciting to do some improvisation with M. Considering that I've studied piano for so much longer than I've studied cello, I was surprised to find it much easier to improvise on cello (or as a 4-hands piano improv with me on the upper ranges of piano with M on the lower ranges). Perhaps the fact that I've had less training on cello makes me less rigid or less stiff.

Time really does fly when you're having fun. M and I were only able to stay for about 1.5 hours, but those 1.5 hours sped by quickly; it was 1:30pm before we knew it! I left our school (and headed over to Chinatown and Kensington Market for a nice long walk and a bit of getting lost with my mum) feeling so much more refreshed than I've felt in a long time.

My favourite part of today's improvisations was the absence of metre (and tonality) in most of our music. Everything just flowed from one part to the next; there was no ticking metronome inside our heads. I suppose it can be considered the equivalent of a free-writing stream of consciousness with commas and dashes but no periods.

What a beautiful day.