I hate classical music and I don’t understand why people listen to it is what I said to my aunt more than five years ago. Now, whenever I have the chance to wear headphones, I’m listening to Hans Zimmer or Two Steps From Hell, anything in the genres of Epic music (modern classical genre) or neoclassical music. It can be uplifting, inspiring or terribly depressing and gory. Classical music can be too gentle, or too rough, too monotonous, or too dynamic but it is never void of depth and meaning. These modern classical soundtracks bring tears to my eyes without any lyrics. It’s incredible what power music alone possesses!
I was exposed to different pieces of classical music since I was a child. It was a different sort of exposure than what we have in our IDC class. It wasn’t via life performances where we can actually see the performer and are enwrapped in their music, as was the case with Sarah Buechner’s performance. It was through old tapes of Vivaldi, Mozart, Bach, Grieg, Beethoven, Strauss, Verdi, Tchaikovsky and many others. (The most talked about was Chopin perhaps, as my school building was right next to a villa of one of Chopin’s students and he had stayed there for some time). Music class was a mandatory once-a-week class in Ukraine that I had for seven years. Most of the time in class I would spend drawing beards, make up and horns on these composers faces in my book, In a dark cold classroom. I had very little interest in whatever pieces I was exposed to. In 7 years of learning about classical music the only pieces I would be able to identify now are “Rigoletto”, “Moonlight Sonata” and “In the Hall of Mountain King” and that Is only because I have them in my playlist.
Before Sarah Davis Buechner began playing her first piece I looked at the program to see what exactly we were going to listen to. From the class reading I knew that we will hear Mozart’s and Chopin’s pieces, but there were two other artists on the program. I’ve heard of George Gershwin before, though the only thing I remembered was that he was from New York. Anton Arensky was a new name to me. I found it interesting that the pieces were played in a sequence from the oldest to the most recent. From classical Mozart, followed by romantic Chopin, to more modern Gershwin. Ms. Buechner talked about theme of early death that occurred in all these artists lives. To be honest I did not find all the pieces as dark and depressing. I thought they were quite upbeat, especially Gershwin’s Second Rhapsody. I thought that the melody was getting better each time, the encore being my favorite. The fact that It was her own interpretation of the piece suggests to me that she contributes to this progress as well as the great composers did in their time. Listening to these different pieces made me think of change and progress. The music spoke without words.
I was thankful that Ms. Buechner kindly explained the background of each piece she was about to perform without making the audience feel stupid. She knew we needed some insight and she entertained the audience as well. I did not anticipate that she would start speaking Japanese. Ms. Buechner was so consumed with her music that It’s clear that music is a part of her. Watching an artist perform leaves a lasting impression on people, something that cannot be accomplished by merely listening to a tape or recording. Ms. Buechner was very humble and friendly and I greatly enjoyed her performance.
