Music has always been my biggest passion, whether listening to it, or playing it. Music is not flat, it’s not simply notes on a manuscript. It’s real, it’s concrete. I can feel it flowing through me, lifting my soul to the heavens. I can touch its silvery notes, feel their texture and know their shape. Music touches people more than anyone gives it credit for. I know from experience that music can shape your life, help you fix the one you have, and make a dream for a life to come. I remember years ago, when my grandfather was dying in the hospital. Two major things saved me from depression: ice cream, and music. Though I have always enjoyed music, it was from that point that I think I really came to truly love, appreciate, and depend on music. Since then, I have taught myself the piano, sung with all my heart and soul, and learnt to play the violin. To me, singing and the violin helped to lift my spirits and more fully appreciate the time I have here.
People from the beginning of time have used music to express themselves, and let out all the feelings not so easily said. Many musicians use lyrics along with a melody to express themselves, but some use only the music and the notes to express their thoughts and feelings. One of my favorite composers does this. His name is Claude Debussy. I love him because of his incredible talent to compose and express how he feels and what he thinks. He wrote a piece named “Clair de lune”. This piece is happy, in a melancholy way. When I listen to it, my soul just seems to rise with the notes, soaring upward to the stars. That is one of the things I love about classical music; it can say so many things and touch so many people with just notes on a manuscript paper.
It is such a gift to be able to write your feelings with music, but a talent just as admirable is other artists and musicians being able to express others’ music the way intended. Hilary Hahn, for example, has a beautiful interpretation of “Ernst' s Grand Caprice on Schubert's Der Erlkönig, Op. 26”. It is amazing how she could play the notes just right and so quickly. I love watching her fingers fly across the strings. I play the violin, and I know how difficult it is to keep good posture while playing, but she maintains perfect posture and still can focus enough on the music to play it the way it’s supposed to be. I love the way she does the dynamics of the music, all of the crescendos and decrescendos that give the music life. I admire her passion as well as her talent.
One of my great aspirations is to become the best musician I can. My whole life I have loved to hear the music, and now it is my turn to help create that same music and share it with the world. It’s so important for the world to be aware and appreciative of music, and I want to give at least part of my life to the cause, as Hilary Hahn has given hers. I think that it will help me to become more in tune with the spirit, and with what is really important.
Part of becoming a great musician is becoming cultured with all genres of music, and learning to love them for all their different aspects. I doubt that Hilary only listens to the music she plays, as well as Debussy or A-Ha. One of the reasons they are all amazing musicians is because they understand and know all kinds of music, and love them all. I hate to admit that I am not as cultured as I’d like to be with violin music, or even concert music. This is an amazing opportunity to not only listen to an incredible artist, but also get one step closer to becoming one myself.
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