who says classical music is boring?

I went to see the Nashville Symphony last night. It was so lovely! We've been so often lately. It's such a fun and easy way to have a fancy night out.

The effect on that picture kind of makes me look like I have a black eye, but I don't, in case you wondered. Don't worry.

So here's something that.. might be common knowledge, but it JUST clicked for me yesterday.

We're all familiar with Paganini's 24th Caprice, right? It's probably the most popular one, maybe because it starts out so simply with the theme, that ambitious and optimistic violinists choose it to learn (before tossing it aside in frustration when they realize their tiny hands can't play 10ths in succession)(not that I know this from personal experience) In any case, it's catchy. To remind my readers which one it is, here is Hilary Hahn.

And then, of course, everyone knows Rachmaninoff's famous Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Variation 18 - if for no other reason than being a fan of the 1980 movie Somewhere in Time. (and let's be honest, who isn't a fan of Christopher Reeve back in 1980? Dreamy.)

(And here's a fun fact. In the book Bid Time Return, that the movie was based on, the piece was actually Mahler's 9th. But it was apparently too long to fit into the movie, and someone, somewhere decided that Rachmaninoff would be a better hit.)

...

Here's how awesome music is: the Variation #18 is the 24th caprice theme, upside down. WHAT.

Mind blown.

...

vintage beckablog

I've been entertaining myself lately by reading very old journals/blogs from many years ago.

The following is my dramatic account of a nerf gun duel between myself and a friend, in the game of Nerf Mafia. (in the old AACC days) For those who have never played, the point of the game is to be the last one alive - in this game we had two teams, and we played over the course of a few days, between classes, all over campus. With Nerf guns. There was one person who was a moderator, and we had to report to her when we died or when we killed someone, so she could keep track of which team was winning. Here is what I sent her. Oh, and of course we all had nicknames.

October 18, 2005 -The Account of the Death of Jordan

as told by Cutthroat Maggie to The Don

It was a dark and stormy night. Well- it wasnt night. But I vaguely remember it being a sorta gray day. I was in a terrible mood. And I knew that The Duke was out to get me. So, I bought a gun on my way to school, loaded it, and put it in the front pocket of my backpack where it would be pretty accessible should the need arise. I planned my day in order to avoid everyone that I usually hang out with. Later that morning, I heard that someone had killed the Duke, so I figured I was ok and I went to The Hill anyway: a mistake that would change the course of the game drastically.

I walked into the gazebo. I felt like I was surrounded by dead people. In fact, I was. Ghosts of soldiers who had gone before me loomed around.... ghosts of old comrades.... and enemy ghosts, encouraging my one living enemy to slay me as soon as possible.

One thing that I had overlooked in my plans for the day-- Jordan was still alive. Alive and armed. I had the distinct disadvantage, because although I had a gun, it was in my backpack. And there was a gun aimed at my head. I was certainly in a pickle. How could I get my gun out of my backpack before he shot me? I moved casually across the gazebo and sat down. All eyes were on me. They interrogated me, asking "Do you have a gun?" (They happened to know that as of last night, I hadnt even bought one yet) I said no, I was unarmed.

Suddenly, I reached into my backpack, and pulled out.... a mountain dew. Jordan gasped, and drew and fired quicker than Matt Dillan in any of his best shootouts. I was quite impressed. But his aim left more than a little to be desired, and the bullet flew by, leaving me unharmed. My clumsiness almost killed me. I should have moved more slowly in getting my drink out.

Bystander ghosts (the Duke and Chase) were telling Jordan to just shoot me and be done with it. Just shoot! I put on my best innocent, helpless female look, and was like "please don't shoot me."

To his credit, Jordan was a complete gentleman. Chivalry is not dead, even in the midst of wiley evil feminine devils. "I don't want to shoot her if she's unarmed," he said.

But the gun remained fixed on me. His phone rang. My hands were shaking. The gun remained fixed on me.

We began talking of other things.

His guard went down. My gun went up.

I fired, and there was a silence while people took the time to realize how they had been tricked.

I laughed evilly. Cutthroat Maggie is not one to be trifled with.


My own death was not nearly as dramatic.

_______________________________

Eulogy for the Death of Cutthroat Maggie

(several days later)

I hid in the pine trees on the side of the hill,
going up slowly to make my kill.

There was Becka talking with friends,
with no means of escape, and no clue of her end.

She saw me coming and ran for her gun,
but she had no more time, because her time was done.

So I took my gun and shot her point blank in the chest,
and she is now quite dead as you have probably guessed.

Josh

music to my ears!

I've realized that my happiness is directly proportional to the amount of music I'm playing and the amount of sunlight that is available. So, I've been pretty awesome in the last week or so. I always become noticeably more cheery when the clock springs forward and the days get longer!

But my life has been filled with so much music lately, it's ridiculous. All of it is good, all of it makes me happy, all of it is epic and wonderful. Last weekend I went to DC to play some video game quartet music for The Art of Video Games exhibit in at the Smithsonian. It was so much fun! I have very limited video game experience, but as soon as I became aware of the music a few years ago, I absolutely admire and enjoy the soundtracks. So good, so well written, and so very well adapted for string quartet by my good friend Chad! We were much more popular than we expected (even signing some autographs), and it looks like we'll get a few more gigs out of it!

My trip to DC happened to coincide with one of my favorite currently touring bands ever. The Infamous Stringdusters played at the 930 club, and wow. If you don't know about them, go listen to everything they've ever done. If you do, then you know. I already knew they put on a good show, because I've seen them plenty of times before - but this was honestly the best I've ever seen them. And good company enjoying it with me made it even better!

Then, as soon as I got back, the Cleveland Orchestra was performing a guest concert here in Nashville at the Schermerhorn. They played Beethoven Symphony #6 (which I always find fitting for this time of year) ( --Beethoven 7 is for rainy days, 6 is for warm spring days. 9 is for summer. 5 is for doomful situations.) The Grieg Piano Concert0, played magnificently by Gabriela Montero (who dazzled us with an encore, improvised the Dr. Zhivago theme in the style of a tango), and then Pines of Rome (Respighi). It was. Fantastic. Pines of Rome is just one of those pieces that, by the end, the world could end and no one would mind. I was impressed with the Cleveland Orchestra, too - not that the Nashville Symphony isn't as good, they are just a slightly different (if slightly rougher) flavor experience. Like, if the Cleveland Orchestra is Maker's Mark, the Nashville Symphony is perhaps Jack Daniels. (which makes the Baltimore Symphony Jameson; the Minnesota Orchestra would be Glenfiddich)

My own little orchestra, the Nashville Philharmonic, is a six-pack of something delicious. Maybe Fat Tire. This upcoming concert series is a really, really great program. We are playing the Sibelius Symphony No.2, that I didn't know at all until we started rehearsing, but I have fallen completely in love with it! I love playing music that I can recognize things that modern composers mooch off of, for movie soundtracks. Dvorak, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius. They were there before John Williams, before Hans Zimmer, and they used techniques and textures to convey things on a broader scale than just the pictures and plots we are forced to associate with modern classical soundtracks. Don't get me wrong - those are great now. Just recognize the great people that came first.

ALSO in the last week, I've been to two graduate recitals at Belmont. One violin and one cello, two grad students that I'm friends with. Both were terrific! Highlights were the 1st movement of the Tchaikovsky violin concerto (that I'm already very familiar with, but his performance was just stellar), and the Boccherini Cello Concerto No. 9 (I had heard her practicing it, but I had never heard it with accompaniment, it was delightful!)

So what's next? This weekend I'm going to the Nashville Symphony. Here's the program:

Kodály - Dances of Galanta

Rachmaninoff - Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, OP. 43

Franck - Symphony in D minor

I'm most excited for the Rachmaninoff - but stay tuned for a review, and also more about the Spring Duet Recital in the works!

rebecca

i have the best life ever

24

it was my birthday yesterday!

good music and cheer for all to hear

This: is so good.

(click through to the second half of the recording, too)

song sunday

Two gems to brighten your Sunday!
.

.
.
.

Happy Windsday, Owl!

Yesterday was definitely a blustery day.

The weather was weird all day - very warm, sunny, windy. There was a tornado watch in effect for the whole day, and it was supposed to get very bad in the late afternoon. There was an interesting variety of reactions to the whole situation, my own was nearer to the cynical "it's going to hit outside the city and not right on top of me" opinion. (rather than the other side of the spectrum: "ALL THE MATTRESSES IN THE WORLD CANNOT KEEP ME SAFE FROM THIS EARTH SHATTERING TORNADO MESS" or "atmitwckmsftestm" for short)

It got dark, and I went out to the front porch with my cup of tea to wait for the apocolypse. (Nashville was really treating it like the end of the world. Schools closed early, everything cancelled due to paranoid atmitwckmsftestm-ers. I stayed at work, because I don't have a basement at home, and well, if I'm going to die in a tornado I'd rather be with my friends at work than alone above a garage.

As predicted, it got very bad at about 4pm. We heard there was an official tornado warning, and it started raining very hard. So, of course, we all were on front porch watching it. And ran around in it..

(Danielle "blowing away")

Then it started hailing really hard, and we went inside. The electricity flickered, but didn't go out! (I did worry enough at one point to make sure I had my violin and my computer with me, of course)

Here's a video I took of the hail. (It was supposed to be a picture, not a video, hence my surprised "oh!" at the beginning, just fyi.)

Look at how big some of the the hail was:

After it cleared up, there was an absolutely terrific sunset (no editing done to the photo):

leap recovery day

I love March. I feel like on March 1st,

everyone breathes a sigh of relief,

the end of winter is in sight.

In Nashville, it has been around 70 degrees the last few days,

so spring has pretty much been having around here for a while already!

Days like today make me wish I had a puppy to take on a walk.

So, crafty people.

I have twenty wine bottles that I have soaked the labels off of.

Anyone have any ideas of what to do with them?

How about this?

The only problem with building a chandelier being: I don't have a place to hang it. Maybe this will be a spring project for my next house. (will consult with future roommate)