2018-05-31

【Aiden in English】

        Last performance of Pennbrook MS, onto the high school. Can’t say I’m not nervous, because I am, but at the end of the day, it’s nothing more than just a simple performance. If anything, this is less than a normal concert, since each selection is played by groups consisting of less than ten people. Most of the bands were put together by music directors, from the jazz band to the orchestra and some vocal ensembles. A few were formed from people who just wanted to play a song before the end of our Pennbrook experience, such as mine.

        In the end, I participated in a total of three different selections. The first was a saxophone small ensemble, where we majorly screwed up. We played twisty “Sabre Dance” by Aram Khatchaturian, probably the most annoying song for any bass instrument. It’s almost the exact same concept of “March of the Dwarfs” by Edvard Grieg, with a repetitive back and forth eighth note harmony. For most of the song, I felt as though my thumb was going to fall off from pressing the octave key so many times. In total, I played an exact six different notes. While that may sound simple, the physical load pretty much broke the entire bari-sax section.

        I think the song was a massive failure, even though we made it through. However, things got better quickly. I was essentially cornered into playing Rachmaninoff's Prelude in G Minor Op. 23 No. 5 again, but this time I felt alright getting through the song, even after practicing on such short notice. I will say it boosted my confidence going into the final piece. 

        Earlier this week, our band director asked us to be the closure of the concert, which we accepted with alacrity. Not going to lie, that was a lot of pressure, considering how good the other performances were tonight. The final piece was the Monsters Inc. theme by Randy Newman and arr. Trombastion, a song all of us wanted to play for quite some time. So after searching around for a bit, I found sheet music for a trombone, sax, drum set, piano, and bass. Wow, that’s convenient, it’s like a jazz gig… 

        Because of weird scheduling for me, the practice was somewhat of a problem. I didn’t have lunch study, and other times were filled with classes. So we all decided to sacrifice a few lunches to practice. I wasn’t complaining because it’s one of the rare times when the band room is expectedly quiet. 

        Eventually, we got the gist of the thing. When performance time came around, I feel we were pretty lucky. Not only did the introduction to the song go alright, which it normally never does, I actually didn’t look as if I was going to puke. Not going to lie, this performance freaked me out immensely, since I don’t consider myself a jazz pianist. Somehow, I had it work and didn’t botch up a solo, which is seemingly easy but difficult for a novice not used to play piano on a swing beat. End of the story, I made it through the entire thing. I also finished off the last chord an octave too high. Guess you can say we ended on a high note. 

        At the end of the day, Pennbrook really feels like the start of my musical life. I totally understand how the numerous performances for piano have begun a trend long before, but nothing beats playing in front of friends.

        “Music is to the mind, as air is to the body.” (Plato)

【红霞译文】

        进入高中之前宾溪初中举办最后一次音乐晚会，千万别说不犯怵，我内心紧张得要命，待回过头重新再看其实无异于普通演出，如果硬要瞎白活，未必赶得上一般性音乐会，毕竟每个节目都未超过十个人，况且多数乐队均由音乐总监撮合而成，演员不是来自爵士乐队或管弦乐队，就是来自合唱乐团，只有少数乐队才由个别想要同台献艺的好友自行搭伙，譬如像我就是这种情况。

        今晚，我总共参加了三个节目表演。第一个萨克斯管小合奏，好生生砸在了我们手上，提起阿拉姆·哈恰图良旋风式《马刀舞曲》大概称得上低音乐器最难摆布的曲目，与爱德华·格里格《侏儒进行曲》的创作风格几乎一脉相承，八分泛音重复出现，演奏过程中有很多小节需要来回按八度键，大拇指快要压折了。总的来说，我吹了整整六个不同音，这些乐符也许听上去简单，但要靠上低音萨克斯管吹奏出来还是挺吃力的。

        走完一遍过场，我觉得曲子演得漏洞百出，然而情况很快好转，我被赶鸭子上架，再度弹奏拉赫玛尼诺夫《G小调前奏曲》钢琴作品23第五首，尽管事先没工夫准备，但这回我发挥得不错，为下面最后一个节目出台增添了信心。

        早在本周演出前几天，学校乐队指挥要求我们几个压轴登场，大家爽快应允。实话实说，这可带来很大压力，要知道参加今晚表演的个个身手不凡，而《怪兽电力公司》(兰迪·纽曼作曲、特罗姆巴斯申改编)主题曲则一直是我们想要演奏的作品。我上网不大功夫，竟一下子搜出长号、萨克斯管、架子鼓、钢琴和贝司乐谱，甭提有多给力！俨然爵士乐队阵容……

        由于时间冲突，合奏练习让我大伤脑筋，主要因为我没有午餐过后的自习空挡，其它时段又东奔西颠忙于上课，所以大家只好挤掉几顿午餐硬凑在一起排练，这样反倒让我们捡了个便宜，我毫无抱怨之意，但唯有午休期间琴房才会消停下来。

        我们终于大功告成，演出自始至尾进展得顺顺利利，不能不说福星高照，这种际遇可谓前所未有。坦率地讲，我心情十分紧张，毕竟自己不是爵士钢琴手，合奏没捅娄子，独奏也未卡壳，对于并非善长弹奏钢琴摇摆节拍的新手来说谈何容易。我如愿以偿，并把乐曲最后一个和弦抬高了八度，你说得没错儿，我们完美收官。

        说一千道一万，宾溪初中真是我音乐生涯的开始，虽然我投入钢琴表演已有很长时间，但没有什么比在朋友面前演奏更令人情绪激昂。

        “音乐之于心灵，犹如空气之于身体。”（柏拉图）

Today in History(历史上的今天):

2015 GHCS Commencement—Bitter-Sweet-Salty(羡慕嫉妒爱)

2014 Golden Key in Carnegie Hall(2014年卡内基金钥匙音乐节)

Crosslinks(相关博文):

2018: Ninth-Grade Pit Orchestra(高一伴奏管弦乐队)

2017 Eighth-Grade Spring Concert(2017年初三春季音乐会)

2017 Pennbrook MS Spring Concert(2017年宾溪初中春季音乐会)

2016 Seventh-Grade Spring Concert(2016年初二春季音乐会)

2015 Mont Band Spring Concert(2015年蒙小管乐队春季音乐会)

2015 Sixth-Grade Spring Concert(2015年初一春季音乐会)

2014 Fifth-Grade Spring Concert(2014年五年级春季音乐会)