Today was our solo violin recital, and as you can see from the photos, three of our kids played. Bethany was third on the program, right after the amazing Andrew, who is 8, (I think) and played like he belongs in Carnegie Hall. The teacher introduced Bethany, saying it was her first recital, and Bethany said, "And I have to play after Andrew!" We all laughed. Bethany played Andantino by Suzuki very nicely. =) Naomi was a couple of students later and played Minuet 1 by Bach with beautiful dynamics. And several students later the teacher announced a special guest. Peter got up with his chicken puppet (the guest) and had the chicken announce his piece, The Happy Farmer, by Schumann. These recitals are a wonderful mixture of advanced students playing amazing pieces, and young beginners squeaking out a few notes of a Twinkle variation on their tiny 1/16 size violins.
While some of the students merely play notes which fall onto the floor of the church panting and gasping for breath-- others play music that rises like light, filling the air with emotions drawn from the very souls of those who hear. The difference has nothing to do with age or technical proficiency. Little Andrew can play like a gypsy and coax the cold stones from the wall into dance, and some of the very beginning students bring feeling to a Twinkle variation-- while a technically advanced student may, when she is done playing, find her notes lying in a puddle on the floor before her.
1 comment:
It's so true! When I play, I want to make people cry or laugh or stand up and cheer... I don't think I've gotten there. But I think that's the difference between something that is nice and something that is amazing.
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