#piano performance

A little clip of a relatively obscure Tchaikovsky piece for solo piano. This is the first movement of the piano suite titled: Souvenir de Hapsal, Op. 2. The movement is titled: Ruines d’un château (which translates directly as “ruins of a castle”). This is my performance from December 2022.

Tchaikovsky composed this piece in 1867 when he was still relatively young, about 27 years old. For reference, Tchaikovsky passed away in 1893. The piece was inspired by his stay in the region of Hapsal, which is now present day Estonia.

The piece is written in ternary form (ABA form). The A section, some of which is shown above, seems to depict this abandoned castle in its current, derelict state. The music is reflective of a funeral march. Also, the way the notes fit in your hand, it makes your right hand feel like a spider crawling slowly in a web somewhere inside the castle.

It’s a beautiful and haunting work and a clear example of how Tchaikovsky is able to evoke strong images and feelings within his melodies. It probably helps that he was one sad homosexual. And so am I. 🖤 Much love to our boy, Pytor, during this pride month.

どの演奏者も楽曲も素晴らしかったです🎹✨

どこの国のどなたが演奏されても手に汗を握り、ちょっとのミスタッチに「あっ‼️🤭💥」と大声を挙げて心配したり、演奏者の苦労を思って涙がにじんだり、もう前のめりになって、なぜか緊張しながらワクワク、ドキドキ、ハラハラの楽しい毎日でした。

今大会ではYouTube のライブ配信がありましたので第一次予選からテレビの大画面で視聴でき、スピーカーに繋いで演奏を聴けたのがありがたかったですが、すっかり寝不足になりました😮‍💨

結果は皆様、ニュースなどでご存知の通りだと思いますが、優勝はカナダのブルース・リウさん、日本人は反田恭平さんが2位（日本人最高位タイ）、小林愛実さんが4位という快挙でした👏

おめでとうございます、を超越した演奏者の方々ばかりでした😭それは第一次予選で惜しくも残念な結果になった方々も😢どなたも輝いていました🌟

@stu-dna January study challenge

3. do you tend to make new year’s resolutions? how well has that gone for you in the past?

I like the idea of new year’s resolutions, just because I’m a sucker for the idea of starting over brand new at the beginning of a clean new year. However, that means I tend to go over the top, and once I mess up, I just give up completely (because in that mindset, once I mess up, the “clean new year” aspect is ruined).

This year, I’m trying not to think of it as “resolutions” and more like “personal goals I want to attain and I just happened to start seriously trying to attain them on a day that makes my organization self happy,” AND I picked fewer goals and made plans to help me meet them.

This year’s “personal goals:”

- waking up on time every morning (6:45am once classes start) and having time in the mornings for an effective morning routine, a filling breakfast, and a general good start to my day -- plans to meet this goal: start getting ready for bed/going to bed at a reasonable time, getting my outfit and school things ready the night before, doing things I enjoy but don’t usually have time for (like Duolingo) in the morning

- at least three hours of piano practice every day (yay junior recital preparations) -- plans to meet this goal: schedule out when and what I’m going to practice the night before, no phone in the practice room, quit thinking about how much I don’t want to do something and just do it anyway, reward system (if I practice a minimum of three hours every day for 100 days, I can get a music-themed sweatshirt I’ve been wanting for ages)

Day 3/366

- up at the actual time I’ll need to be up for once classes start a week from Monday! This is a lot earlier than I usually get up so it was hard but I need to get in the habit so I’m in exhausted pain in the mornings now and not when I have morning classes.

- more Duolingo. I’m really enjoying studying German - my background is in Latin and the related Romance languages like French and Italian so the challenge of studying a language NOT based in Latin is a lot of fun! I love figuring out the patterns and rules, and I really love the sense of genuine pride I feel when I’m able to translate something kinda complicated. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to keep up with my studies once classes start, but this gives me something academic-related to do on break so I don’t get so bored.

- more practice. My wrist was bothering me yesterday so I may not get in the full three hours. But I’m focusing on listening to my body this year. Old Nicole might have pushed through the pain just to get all the hours in, and really regretted it later. New Nicole stretches and warms up, and is paying attention to see if/when/how things get uncomfy, and tries to avoid or find ways around that. Also, I accidentally left my violin at my family’s house so I can’t practice that, but orchestra placement auditions aren’t until the first day of classes so it will be okay.

Me, tonight, playing “The Game is On” from the BBC’s Sherlock on piano. Not the best performance, but I did learn it yesterday.

“The game, Mrs. Hudson, is on!”