I sometimes wish I would be able to graduate without taking any classes. Yet again I find myself, at 9 PM, not having even a chance to think about practicing yet today because of all the homework I've been doing. I won't give myself a full ride, though: I procrastinated this take-home until the last minute, but I along with everyone else in this class. (AP Chemistry, in case you all are wondering.)
I will defend myself, however, and say that if I'm forced to go to bed without practicing, it won't have been without playing. I have band, as I do every day, where I usually sit and wait while the director works with the flutes and trumpets and practice either Mozart's Concerto in C or the oboe excerpt from Rossini's La Scala di Seta to occupy myself, at approximately a dynamic of pppp. And people say clarinets are the quietest instruments in the woodwind section.
I'm feeling pretty good musically, though. I'm currently listening to WQXR, and they're currently broadcasting a concert by Leif Ove Andsnes, solo on piano at Carnegie Hall. It's incredible, and I remember specifically one particular thing he said during an interview prior to the performance on the air. (At least, I assume it was him, I never heard specifically.) Nevertheless, he said how one piece he was playing was one he considered an "old friend"; he had first seriously started to attempt to master it at around age 16. This reminds me a lot of Mozart's Concerto (the one previously mentioned), and I just found it somewhat uplifting. Hey, this guy wasn't playing Chopin in Carnegie hall at age 6 (not like I know of anyone who did; nor do I know for sure that Andsnes did not), and look where he is: audience members interviewed said he is "one of their favorite pianists". Not bad, not bad. He certainly sounds charismatic, and plays quite excellently. Colorful, with a wide range of tone and musicality. I'm impressed. I'd be also impressed by myself if I weren't impressed.
I'd say more, but there's not much more to say. I'm still highly bothered by how this year, contrary to every other school year I've had in my lifetime, we have no midwinter vacation. It's instead an "extended weekend": this coming Friday there is no school, and the Monday following is off, too. I'm bitter. My classmates are bitter. The teachers are bitter. And all this because of the absurd amount of snow days we had to have last year. This year? The only ones used so far were back in October from that freak snowstorm on Halloween.
Bitter, bitter, bitter.
I will defend myself, however, and say that if I'm forced to go to bed without practicing, it won't have been without playing. I have band, as I do every day, where I usually sit and wait while the director works with the flutes and trumpets and practice either Mozart's Concerto in C or the oboe excerpt from Rossini's La Scala di Seta to occupy myself, at approximately a dynamic of pppp. And people say clarinets are the quietest instruments in the woodwind section.
I'm feeling pretty good musically, though. I'm currently listening to WQXR, and they're currently broadcasting a concert by Leif Ove Andsnes, solo on piano at Carnegie Hall. It's incredible, and I remember specifically one particular thing he said during an interview prior to the performance on the air. (At least, I assume it was him, I never heard specifically.) Nevertheless, he said how one piece he was playing was one he considered an "old friend"; he had first seriously started to attempt to master it at around age 16. This reminds me a lot of Mozart's Concerto (the one previously mentioned), and I just found it somewhat uplifting. Hey, this guy wasn't playing Chopin in Carnegie hall at age 6 (not like I know of anyone who did; nor do I know for sure that Andsnes did not), and look where he is: audience members interviewed said he is "one of their favorite pianists". Not bad, not bad. He certainly sounds charismatic, and plays quite excellently. Colorful, with a wide range of tone and musicality. I'm impressed. I'd be also impressed by myself if I weren't impressed.
I'd say more, but there's not much more to say. I'm still highly bothered by how this year, contrary to every other school year I've had in my lifetime, we have no midwinter vacation. It's instead an "extended weekend": this coming Friday there is no school, and the Monday following is off, too. I'm bitter. My classmates are bitter. The teachers are bitter. And all this because of the absurd amount of snow days we had to have last year. This year? The only ones used so far were back in October from that freak snowstorm on Halloween.
Bitter, bitter, bitter.
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