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Beethoven - Burned in Ash, Born again with Music

2010-09-25T10:13:00.005+07:00

Recently i had been talking a lot about how i like Mozart more than Beethoven (which is true). Somehow I realized the more i tried to brag about Mozart, i found out that obliviously i have developed an empathy towards Beethoven.

I never really like Beethoven's music, simply because lots of his piano works are in my biased opinion, harsh, bang-y, unsophisticated, confusing, and uncivilized (though i have to admit that his orchestral works are brilliant). But I see now that it has always been my prejudice towards Mozart's music that creates this sentiment. Now I see Beethoven's suffering, his scream, his rebellious nature, and his passion.

If you are a dancer, what do you feel when you lost your feet?
If you are an artist, what do you feel when you are blind?

Well, Beethoven literally suffered from the cruelest curse ever laid upon him. Just listen to his symphony no. 9, where the famous choir song "Ode to Joy" simply blasts us away from earth to heaven, a proclamation that God is the Greatest, where it depicts thousands of angels singing on the stairs to heaven glorifying God Almighty! Such a music, and yet Beethoven can only hear one pitch ever since he was totally deaf!

In one of my conversation with my friend, he quoted one of Beethoven's complain:" God, why do You torture me by giving an ability to create such a beautiful music, but yet You took away my only mean of enjoying it?!!"

Apart from his deafness, nothing good ever really came to him. He was rejected by all of his beloved ones, he had bad relationships with all of his acquaintances, his nephew ran his money away, he never really had a permanent living place.

At last, I still love Mozart, but i'm now humbled. Coming to realize that there existed a man who stood his ground enduring all this worst possible mental torment to persist in expressing himself in the depth of his music, I have finally understood that indeed his music speaks of his life. This man is indeed admirable!

Below is the link to the documentary about Beethoven's life:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67pKZrxgv4Y

30+ Days Camp Started!

2010-06-05T21:45:00.003+07:00

Well2, if not for my injury at my right hand, i won't even be here to write anything. Seems it's a blessing in disguise, but, oh well...

About my injury, haha, pretty stupid. The way I have been playing piano all this time has been wrong, seriously. Ironically, it's mostly because of my own seamlessly obnoxious sense of perfection. It's just me; I mean, I always try to get the best out of everything I am doing. I tried to develop strong fingers, but in the end I developed a destroyed hand.

People around me mostly didn't realize about how severe it was, until recently when I had to postpone my piano jury because of the pain.

I felt depressed. As a musician, his/her hands are his/her treasure, their asset, their "LIFE". For the first time in my life, i encountered a serious thwart in my path. Lucky for me, when i went to a orthopedist, he said i needed to rest, and he said i would still be able to play.

Well, with the jury postponed, I had to returned to sg early, while everyone in my school is enjoying their early-planned holidays. For what? People asked. "Practicing, lol," I grunted. "What the hell?" they asked, shocked. After explaining everything, they will just shook their heads, sighing because of me.

I can't stay in pgp for now, as i don't pay for the vacation stay, and nor does my scholarship. Yeah, so now i stay in my buddy's house, Jonathan Shin's.

FUUNNNN!!!
His father is crazy (funny, i mean, hh), as well as his son, jojo (that sounds like mojo, lol). The first dinner I had in his house was meal with three hundred spoon of laughter. Buahakakakaka...

And this will go on until the nus orientation week starting 13 jul (I guess), and that means more than one month.. hhh, yay..

Article Response

2010-03-16T07:48:00.001+07:00

Hi everybody, I'm back!

Well, I found a very interesting educational article as I browsed through the internet, and I decided to write a response to it. The title is "Learning to Live with a Learning Disability" by Christine Harrell.

Here is the link:

http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=2633726

The main idea of this article is the importance of finding an appropriate learning method for those with learning disabilities. In the first half of this article, Ms. Christine explained about perpetual learning in one's life, and how a person still learns something once he/she leaves the school. In the second half of the article, Ms. Christine emphasized the importance of learning adaptation for a person with a learning disability.

I definitely agree with Ms. Christine's argument that what we learned back in school is simply to imbue us with the skill to thrive in life. We may not need to "calculate a hypotenuse, know what the inside of a frog looks like, or know what year the War of 1812 was fought" after we left school, as Ms. Christine argued. But all those "unusable" informations we learned in school, in my opinion, were indeed taught to us to enhance our skills in processing informations and applying knowledges into our lives.

For those with learning disabilities, the challenges in life seem formidable, as they have to try harder to overcome the obstacles caused by their body condition. But actually, what they really have to do is to adapt with their own weakness and to find different learning strategies that can benefit themselves despite their body condition. This holds true for their whole lives, as one keeps learning new things throughout even when he/she is old. Thus, appropriate learning systems are required for those with learning disabilities in order for them to survive their own lives.

Ms. Christine believed that someone with learning disability should find the perfect school, as "many public school systems are not up to the task, teaching coping strategies instead of real learning skills". She also argued that "students (with learning disabilities) don't need to learn to cope; they need to learn to thrive". I don't really agree with this, because adaptation skills are crucial in one's life. In my opinion, teaching coping strategies is fine as long as it enhances one's learning ability. It is true that those with learning disabilities should have their own learning systems, but that doesn't mean that they have to move to another school. In third world countries where the economical condition is not as good, moving school will be a painful task. It is a teacher's job to cope with such students, not to discriminate them from the others.

By and large, I really agree with the main idea of this article, as we know that learning is also one of human rights. All people, including those with learning disabilities should have a proper education throughout their lives. Besides, what is more amazing that to see one with a learning disorder succeed in their own lives?

Music genres by composers in classical music

2010-03-02T06:36:00.001+07:00

Reference: Wikipedia

Music as we know today is often categorized into many genres. We are obviously familiar with music genres such as jazz music, pop music, RnB music, rock music, and classical music. Each genre has a unique form of sound organization, and hence, one can easily tell the difference between one genre and another. But that's not the case in classical music. When we are dealing with classical music, the variety of the genres becomes enormous. The reason is, classical music spanned for more than 4 centuries, and new forms of music kept emerging from time to time. As a result, now we have hundreds of classical music genres classified.

Despite its enormous variety, we can still track the growth of music genres from medieval era until now. In this blog, I'm trying to talk about music genres in each period of classical music. Let's start with Baroque period.

Baroque Period (1600 - 1750)

The widespread use of contrapuntal (counterpoint) technique in this era became a major feature of many keyboard, organ, vocal, and orchestral works. A significant music genre in this era that uses this technique is fugue. Johann Sebastian Bach is a composer who extensively wrote many fugues.

Another genre, Suites, also emerged. Suite in this period is an ordered set of dance-like pieces. Each of these pieces were named after a specific type of dance that flourished at that time. A standard set of a Suite consists of a Prelude, an Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, an Intermezzo, and a Gigue. Johann Sebastian Bach is also a prominent Suite composer.

Organ music were flourished with many virtuosic works such as Toccata and Fantasia.

Classical Period (1750 – 1820)

Moving from Baroque style to Classical style, composers in this era preferred a style which was more transparent and clear. They moved towards music with homophonic texture from music with layered polyphonic texture.

Two most important genres in this period are Symphony and Chamber music. Symphony is an orchestra work that consists of 3 or 4 movements, each with its own theme. Chamber music, on the other hand, is a kind of music that is written for a small group of instruments, for instance, a string quartet (which is prominent in classical period). Joseph Haydn is a prominent composer of both symphony and string quartet, and is known as the “father of Symphony” and the “father of string quartet”. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed over 40 symphonies throughout his life. In late classical period, Ludwig van Beethoven emerged with his nine symphonies, which has now become most performed works in the whole world.

Another prominent genre in this period is opera, with Mozart as the most important composer for it. Some of Mozart's most prominent operas are “the Marriage of Figaro”, “the Magic Flute”, “the Abduction of Seraglio”, and “Don Giovanni”.

A lot of piano works were as well composed with the invention of piano by Cristofori. Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven composed many piano sonatas.

Romantic Period (1815 – 1910)

In this period, music has moved towards a new style. Composers in this era sought to compose with a greater and richer harmonic range, and a freer style.

As a continuation of Classical music, some genres like symphony, sonata and opera remained prominent in Romantic period. In orchestral works such as symphonies, the orchestration expanded with the addition of instruments with lower range.

In this period, nationalism music as a music genre also appeared. Composers like Chopin, Liszt, composed pieces with regard to their own nationalities. Chopin, for example, composed many Mazurkas: a form of piano music that was written in the style of a Mazurka, a traditional dance form of Poland. Liszt, on the other hand, composed his famous Hungarian Rhapsodies.

Music in my life

2010-01-17T22:13:00.003+07:00

Half a year passed since I was admitted to Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, and I have learned many things since then. My instructor and my mentor as well, Dr. Hecht, has been a magnificent role model for me in achieving my goals. He taught me everything I didn't know, and he knew exactly what I was weak at, and so he progressively monitored over my growth musically during past semester.

Every Monday evening, from 7 - 9 pm, we had a studio class, in which all students of Dr. Hecht were gathered in the building's concert hall, to listen to the student's of Dr. Hecht's choice performing on the stage. We were the only audience though, and the performance itself was just an experimental one, before the students got to the real 'thing'.

Each time I was in that hall, I felt my existence as a musician. When I listened to other's playing, I said to myself," I want to be like that." Especially whenever our beloved Abigail Sin, a young music prodigy, performed in the studio class, I always went through a state of 'trance'.

The sound of her playing ravished me and when I looked at the other students who were listening to her, I could see tears.

The studio class always brought me a new impetus every week, to work harder. I wanted to be able to play the piano at the same quality. I wanted to be the one whose playing can melt the audience's heart. And when I meditated through this, I realized, that this is what music is supposed to do: to touch people's heart.

Just think about it. We are all musical creature. Proof? Well, all of us have our own heartbeat, which is often rhythmical. Other than that, hm.., how many of us, right when we are reading this blog, are 'audiating' a song in our head, subconsciously? Also, singing, whistling, these two activities are done very frequently in our life, yet we often don't realize it when we are doing these activities. That just means that music has been part of our everyday life. It rooted so deeply in ourselves that sometimes we don't even know when it rings in our head...

Well, to me, music is my passion. I was born with it, I grew with it, laughed with it, cry with it. I just don't want to abandon it. Yes, it is a hard path to tread down as a musician, but as I have said above, I want to be a musician whose playing can touch people's heart. And so my journey goes on....

If you live for music, you will always be ready for it..

-Dr. Hecht

Ballad of the Crushed one

2009-08-19T22:34:00.003+07:00

I stare at the sky

with sand under my toes

with the wind swirling through my ears

gazing at the horizon

I trudge in the mud

craving once again the sweetness from the past

when I was weak and vulnerable

with my dad's shoulder below my legs

and his voice under my ears

saying

grow up my son...

I climb the verdant hill

smelling the fragrance of the flowers

the fragrance of loneliness

it squeezes me until shapeless

when memories of her smile wipe away my daydream

and my tear bursted from these exhausted eyes

A tree behind me

and a palm leaf beside me

they comfort me not

now that warm loving shoulder will never appear below my legs anymore

while I am still breathing

nor will that smile appear again before me to ease my pains

I am crushed to pieces

I stare at the cloudy sky

gazing at the horizon

ripped apart by these excruciating torturous torments

knowing

there will be more pain

as long as this wretched world

still exists when my eyes are opened.....

Enlightenment

2009-07-30T20:44:00.003+07:00

Starting a new life at Yong Siew Toh conservatory of music this july has been something unforgettable in my life journey!

Firstly, lots of new friends. I can say YST is the most heterogenous faculty in the entire NUS: it got students from 11 different nationalities! Besides, I got a friend from Australia, and she speaks a very articulate and fluent English (although with funny wierd Australian accent), so here is also a good place to practice my english.

But these couple of weeks have been an "enlightenment" for me.

I start to think more about my life.

What I want in my life.

And then about the music I play.

YST is just like the gathering place for all geniuses from all around Asia. I, compared to them, is just like nothing. I possess poor piano technic, and I am not as sensitive as the other.

Then what can I do? Can I really catch up with them?

These questions have rocked me to the core. I was shocked to realize that I have these questions in my mind. Is music all about competing with each other? Is music all about comparing myself with the others and saying,"hey, I am better than you, hey you're better than me", or "hey, he can execute this passage faster than you do"???

No, that's stupid.

I am here at YST to improve myself

I am here to study

I am not here to compete and to be towery!

I am here to make my own music!!

And the only one I have to defeat is

MYSELF!!

Yeah, looks like YST has changed me a lot.

One thing I love from YST is,

the "almost"-absent-state of "kiasu"

the like of which Medan possesses very deeply.

Here, a student can teach the other student,

I mean, to share what they have earned from their teacher

the freedom to criticize others' performance without the fear of being scolded

the very meaning of friendship here in YST has been heightened to its upmost level

that is to support the others

and to be glad of your friend's improvement

YST is just like an Utopia for me!!

Au Revoir tous les Mondes!!!

2009-07-03T09:27:00.003+07:00

I have faced many miseries through this June, and I barely can stand them. My father was sent to the hospital, and passed away like the wind. Fortunately I'm sure where he will go after that.
At first, I thought I would have a nice, adventurous June...
Thank Jesus, because of His accompaniment in all this hard time, especially when He grant my prayers: My father accepts Him as his Savior at the last moment... That's the biggest relief..
I will meet you again, Pa, in some 60, or 70 years, when I died, I will meet you again, in the most perfect place, Paradise. Just wait!!

Yesterday, my friends and I went out together to Sun Plaza and watched Transformers. Quite a good film, except for the last part of the movie; It's too hurrying. It wasted too much time at the beginning, and ended up too agitated in the end.
Btw, our beloved Dicky flies to Australia today, and I think it's the last time in this year I can see him. Bye, Dick..
Another is, my job is done..

A week to go to Singapore for a new place and home. Feels like it's been only a few hours ago that I held my own concert, and now I stand at the gate of the new future, a gate of new style of forging, new training, new work, new lesson, and new hope. I will miss you all, dear friends.
Bye, Mom, Cie, Miss Rose,Dicky, Rt, Rosemerry, CL (you're so far away), Rinie, Ayu, Richat (si taek, hh), Susu, Hendra, Abe, Gilbert, Weddy koko, Sir Daud, Miss ratna (hh), sapa lagi ya??

Hehe, Au Revoir, tous les Mondes!!! Au Decembre!!

A Word Succeeding the Recital

2009-05-20T11:54:00.003+07:00

It was nearly two months since the last time I wrote a blog here. It was a harsh, tough, and painful road since then. I was preparing myself for the final exam, national exam, and for the first concert I have been dreaming for a couple of years. So now, I wish to share what I felt when the concert is held.

I was amazed when I walked through the wooden floor from the backstage, by the huge amount of glimmering faces listening to my footsteps. The auditorium was poured with more than 600 hundred people, all expecting a memorable performance from me. My heart throbbed ferociously, frightened by the fact that it was my very first public concert.

Actually it was not a really successful concert, at least not in details. As I sat on the piano bench, and started the first repertoire, my hand shaked – I think you all barely noticed it - which was indeed my failure in overcoming the nervousness. Another is, yeah, as usual, lots of dropped and missed notes scrambled the original quality of the songs. For that I beg for all your pardon.

But I realized afterwards, that the point of a performance is not about presenting a completely out-of-mistakes playing, but it’s about how I, as a pianist, can provide a morally and philosophically nourishing performance. My biggest joy as a performer, is to see my audience go back home with their hearts relieved of all their personal woe and weariness.

Yes, as you all said, it was indeed a successful recital. But if it was not for the supports of many personalities, I thought I wouldn’t have enough courage to continue till the last note.

Firstly, I thank You, Almighty Father in the Heaven, for Your eternal love, for Your abiding accompaniment, be it in my grief, be it in my joy. I presented You this concert, I hope You are pleased.

Secondly, I thank you, Mom. You all know that she never abandoned me, and never did she stop to encourage me. I am really grateful for having a terrific mother like you in my life journey.

Thirdly, thank you, my miss Rose Mary, for her teaching and guidance, which have led me to this concert. She was so meticulous in her teaching, so persistent in forging me, without her, I would have held a terrible concert for all of you....

Fourthly, for my all my friends, Dicky, James, RT, Sandok, RHT, Richat, Hendra, Suando, Felix, Sir Hapis, Rosemerry, my dear sister, CL, Snowy, Ayu, Silvia, Ina, Lai2, Rika, Iriani, Jaslyn, Ivana Polim, Sasa, etc. Your unceasing supports have been my fuel and zeal amidst the struggle against all the pain during my training. I really, really, couldn’t do it without you all.

Finally, for all of my audience, I really hope my performance satisfied you all, and thanks a lot for sparing your precious time to attend my recital. Anyway, your commentaries are really welcomed, needed, to be precise, hehe...

The Beauty of Bahasa Indonesia

2009-03-08T23:49:00.002+07:00

Today I am going to show you how 'grateful' we are to speak Indonesian, in front of Malaysians... haha. Malay has less vocabs than Bahasa, so they use weird existing entry to define a word, and that means they have lots of words which have several definition. Most of them sound just hilarious to us Indonesian..
Henceforward, I think I can't write in all-English for this blog.

==========

INDONESIAN : Kementerian Hukum dan HAM
MALAYSIAN: Kementerian Tuduh Menuduh

INDONESIAN: Kementerian Agama
MALAYSIAN : Kementerian Tak Berdosa (oh please...)

INDONESIAN : Angkatan Darat
MALAYSIAN : Laskar Hentak-Hentak Bumi

INDONESIAN : Angkatan Udara
MALAYSIAN : Laskar Angin-Angin

INDONESIAN: Pasukan, bubar jalan !!!
MALAYSIAN : Pasukan, cerai berai !!!

INDONESIAN : Merayap
MALAYSIAN : Bersetubuh dengan bumi

INDONESIAN: rumah sakit bersalin
MALAYSIAN: hospital korban lelaki (hmm… make sense..)

INDONESIAN : telepon selular
MALAYSIAN: talipon bimbit

INDONESIAN : Pasukan terjung payung
MALAYSIAN: Aska begayut

INDONESIAN : belok kiri, belok kanan
MALAYSIAN : pusing kiri, pusing kanan

INDONESIAN : Departemen Pertanian
MALAYSIAN: Departemen Cucuk Tanam

INDONESIAN : gratis ngobrol 30menit
MALAYSIAN: percuma berbual 30minit

INDONESIAN: tidak bisa
MALAYSIAN: tak boleh

INDONESIAN: Satpam
MALAYSIAN: Penunggu Maling

INDONESIAN: Aduk
MALAYSIAN : Kacau

INDONESIAN: Di aduk hingga merata
MALAYSIAN : kacaukan tuk datar

INDONESIAN : 7 putaran
MALAYSIAN : 7 pusingan

INDONESIAN : Imut-imut
MALAYSIAN : Comel benar

INDONESIAN : pejabat negara
MALAYSIAN : kaki tangan negara

INDONESIAN :bertengkar
MALAYSIAN : bertumbuk

INDONESIAN : Pencopet
MALAYSIAN : Penyeluk Saku

INDONESIAN : Tidur siang
MALAYSIAN: Petang telentang

INDONESIAN : Air Hangat
MALAYSIAN : Air Suam

INDONESIAN : Pengacara
MALAYSIAN : Penguam

INDONESIAN : Sepatu
MALAYSIAN : Kasut

INDONESIAN : Ban
MALAYSIAN : Tayar (the root is from the pronunciation of Tyre in English)

INDONESIAN : kulkas
MALAYSIAN : peti sejuk

INDONESIAN : rusak
MALAYSIAN: tak sihat

INDONESIAN : keliling kota
MALAYSIAN : pusing pusing ke bandar

INDONESIAN : Kedatangan
MALAYSIAN : ketibaan

INDONESIAN : bersenang-senang
MALAYSIAN : berseronok

INDONESIAN : bioskop
MALAYSIAN : panggung wayang

INDONESIAN : rumah sakit jiwa
MALAYSIAN : gubuk gila

INDONESIAN : dokter kejiwaan
MALAYSIAN : Dokter gila

INDONESIAN : narkoba
MALAYSIAN : dadah

INDONESIAN : pintu darurat
MALAYSIAN : Pintu kecemasan

INDONESIAN : hantu Pocong
MALAYSIAN : hantu Bungkus

INDONESIAN: Orang cacat
MALAYSIAN: Orang Kurang Upaya

INDONESIAN: Ruang Ganti
MALAYSIAN: Bilik Bersalin

A weird language, isn’t it? Just how ‘proud’ we are to speak Bahasa…
Anyway, Malaysian language is weird in our opinion, but I think they will laugh as well at our Bahasa, so it's vice versa…

You guys are greatt!!

2009-03-07T21:06:00.000+07:00

Yeah, two golds for our class today for newsreading in Indonesian and another for the table tennis match.

The gold medal of the newsreading contest has been won over by two of our class distinctive talents, Johan and Tiffany. Johan, a smart guy who got his nerve at not only academic performance, but also literatural skill. On the other hand, Tiff, or jiso (as I usually called her), has been born with a brilliant brain, as her talent shines not only now when she brought the gold with Johan to our class, but also when she was representing our school to National Science Olympiad in Computer Department last year. Bravo and Brava!! Anyway, another two girls of our class won over a bronze in the same field, CL and Fransiska. Again, congratulations!!

Yet another star in our class, Budiman, succeeded in beating his final opponent with total victory in the final round of table tennis match, scoring 3-1. Well, what can we say? He has trained unceasingly over years and that has led him to the perfection of the skill, more than the others. Besides, he himself is the chairman of our school table tennis club. Hoho...

Ultimately for today, 2 GOLDS!!
I am proud of you all..

Funny trivias - It is really out of our Observation!!

2009-02-27T21:35:00.000+07:00

The trivias below are really hilarious and stupefying. I browsed through the internet and found out many facts that we should - or have to - know, but it has escaped seemlessly from our sight...
Here you are..

========

Did you know………….

- Your skin weighs twice as much as your brain…

- Jupiter is large enough to contain the other 7 major planets in our solar system

- Walt Disney World ‘excretes’ about 120.000 pounds of garbage per day

- Barbie’s real name is (if you know I bet you are surely a Barbie maniac)... Barbara Millicent Roberts

- In ancient China, people who wanted to commit suicide ate a pound of salt

- About ten millions of people share the same birthday with you...

- Cinderella’s slipper was originally made of fur, not glass…

- There are no public toilets in Peru (swt)

- Beethoven dipped his head in cold water before he started composing

- Adolph Hitler's mother seriously considered having an abortion but was talked out of it by her doctor (LOL!!!)

- A cubic mile of ordinary fog contains less than a gallon of water

- You have to walk 80 kilometers for your legs to equal the amount of exercise your eyes get daily (WOW)

- In the Andes, time is often measured by how long it takes to finish smoking a cigarette

- A blue whale has a formidable tongue, which approximately weighs the same as an adult elephant

- The longest word you can type from only a row of the keyboard is “TYPEWRITER”

- Ants never sleep…

- Donald Duck was banned in Finland because it doesn’t wear pants…

- Chicken are the most close animals in relationship with the Tyrannosaur

- It is impossible to lick your elbow

- More money is produced for the MONOPOLY than for the U.S. Treasury each day

- Butterflies taste with their feet

- Coca Cola was originally green (what??!~!)

- The longest all-consonant word in English is “RHYTHM”

- A Mosquito has 47 teeth

- Most lipsticks are partially made of fish scales

- The ancestor of rabbits used to be carnivors

- The world's longest name is (try read it aloud): Adolph Blaine Charles David Earl Frederick Gerald Hubert Irvin John Kenneth Lloyd Martin Nero Oliver Paul Quincy Randolph Sherman Thomas Uncas Victor William Xerxes Yancy Zeus Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorft Sr.

- A sneeze travels out of your mouth at more than 100 miles per hour (huahaha)

- Dolphins sleep with one eye opened… (swt)

- In 1963, baseball pitcher Gaylord Perry remarked, "They'll put a man onthe moon before I hit a home run." On July 20, 1969, a few hours after Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, Gaylord Perry hit his first, and only, home run

- In Cleveland, Ohio it is illegal to catch mice without a hunting license

- In York, excluding Sundays, it is legal to shoot a Scotsman with a bow and arrow

- On average women speak 7000 words per day, where as men speak just over 2000
(apalagi medan ayi-ayi...)

- When Thomas Edison died in 1931, Henry Ford captured his dying breath in a bottle (gubrakk!!)

- One of the Trivia above is not true. Which one is it??

Admitted!!!

2009-02-13T22:29:00.000+07:00

Finally all my perseverance and assiduous work have been paid off!!! I am already admitted to the conservatory of my dream, the Yong Siew Toh of NUS. Ohh.... Halleluiah..!!!

Btw, It's been long since last time I put my word here. I have been busy all this time, but I think i can post my upcoming blogs more frequently from now on.

Since tomorrow is the lovers day, I wish you all a happy Valentine day.... Love is like an eternal flame, never flicks once it is lit..

And finally, thank you all for your unceasing supports to me. Without your supports, I don't have enough courage and strength to go (train, indeed...) this far. I promise you all, friends, I won't let all your supports become useless..

back for only a blog's sake..

2009-01-03T18:52:00.000+07:00

sorry... long time no see...

It's been a long and tiring time I had, ensnaring me unable to quench my thirst to write a word here... I practised piano for a hell of time, although I also played a lot, particularly DotA.. swt..

Since I passed a lot of 'red-days', Christmas and New Year's Eve without a word in this forum, I beg now for all of your forgiveness, and I would like to greet you all: "Happy New Year 2009!! Wish you all da' best!!"

Now, indeed, I have found a new hobby.. hehe. I learn a new language, weird one. haha
It's the elvish Quenya.... swt

so, bye for now..

Namárië

Back to those wonderful days in Singapore

2008-09-30T18:20:00.000+07:00

I have told some of my friend about my experience when I was in the 3rd IPF (Indonesia Piano Festival) last July, but it seems that I need to tell you completely the story...

IPF itself was more like a summer music camp than to a festival, so it means they had some program of educative tuitions inside. This year's tutors were no other than the great Mr. Iswargia (aka Sir Lendi) and Mr. Johannes. They have also been invited last two years in the 1st IPF, but by then we also had another Japanese tutor, and she was Miwako Fukushi. Unfortunately for this time, she couldn't come for some reasons....

Simple yet educative, that is what I can really tell about the 3rd IPF. When I was inside, I finally fathomed that music requires my soul, that way I can convey effectively what the composer announced in a composition. Chopin, for example, was - and is - famous for his 24 etudes. Each of his etudes are unique, no two are alike; Each was predominantly composed to solve a single problematic keyboard technic. (Compare to those boring Hanon etudes, almost ALL ARE THE SAME!!! HUACKK...). But it is important to know that Chopin Etudes are more than just finger exercises, but they also include the very idiomatic and philosophy ideas of Chopin himself, just like another form of composition beside etudes; ballades, rondos, sonatas, etc. For example, Chopin wrote the 'Revolutionary' Etude (Op.10 no. 12) in great anguish when Poland - his home country - was invaded by the Russian. Schools were burned, bridges were brought down, many were killed, soldiers fell, women were ravished; he poured all this painful thought into his music. (Just to tell you, his tears dropped as rainfall when he wrote it).

In that sense, I can't play this etude like I am playing a boring finger exercise, but I need to bring out all Chopin's anguish so the audience understands what kind of agony the Russian brought to Poland. That requires my soul to do so.

Revolutionary Etude by Stanioslav Bunin
Feel the wrath of the Russian, and just listen to the music, don't look at the performer.. haha

Ahh... enough for the theorial stuff...

The theme of this summer camp was 'IPF on Tour', because this time the whole party of IPF went to Singapore. The first two days of the 3rd IPF were spent studying in UPH, and in the evening of the second day, we performed a concert at Usmar Ismail Hall. That was a nice concert, and I played Dante Sonata. My playing was not very good, lots of slipped notes and mis-interpretations made it even worse. But, it's over, and I can do nothing. And at the end of the concert, Mr. Johannes said to me,"There are at least twenty features of your music playing that still need improvement. Keep working." I was a little bit upset, but I have to step forward.

For those 2 days we slept in the dormitory at the D - building of UPH. My roommate was a nice Suroboyo pianist, named Aloysius Albert Oenaryo (AAk :)

Albert , trying to grab my camera...

This is.... you know.... performing at Usmar Ismail Hall

This is Usmar Ismail Hall, quite big, right? But wait till you see NUS' hall

Singapore: We finally flew to the faithful land of Singapore (haha... too caricatured). The night before we flew there I was so busy packing my stuffs which messed the whole room, and the activities took me until 01.00 am. I was so exhausted the next day in the airport, yet I still persisted not to fall asleep. Instead, I wasted those boring waiting hour in the airport by playing card (cap sa).

Who's gonna win this time?!

What a nice reminiscence it was when I arrived in the Lion Country, because the last time I hit my feet at Singapore's soil was when I was a 9-years-old innocent boy. The first place we went was the 'Hang Out Hotel', our residence for the next 7 days. The hotel was rather small; It was 7-floored, and it got some good refreshment place inside. In general, it was quite good, except for the silly security system. Huh..

Hang-out hotel

After lunch we went to a music school which was situated in a plaza (what?!!). We were not there to study; We were there to hire some pianos for practising. The practise rooms were actually very small (ouch), and the quality of the pianos were no better than the room. Aarrgghh.....

**********

The educative features of the 3rd IPF was presented mostly when they set a schedule in which we could attend the Singapore International Piano Festival. Many celebrated pianist were invited to perform at Victoria Concert Hall, namely amongst them the most recorded performer, Jeno Jando, and many others. This was actually the first international festival I have ever attended, by means it carved a deep impression in my memory.

The Festival ran from July 2nd to July 6th, in which the concert started from 8.00 pm every day. Different artist each day showed up on the stage of Victoria Concert Hall, but their programmes crossed at one similarity: the theme of the festival. It was a unique theme after all: "Bach to the Future - 300 years of piano masterpieces". So, in every programme the artists seemed to have prepared at least one of Bach's compositions.
Let's take a look at my review at each artist's performance. (I give comments only to particular songs which I feel I can give sufficient remarks.)

Wed, 2 Jul 08, 8pm
JENÖ JANDÓ (Hungary)
BACH: Chromatic Fantasy & Fugue, BWV 903 PIANOFEST PREMIERE
BACH: Italian Concerto, BWV 971
BARTÓK: Suite, Op.14 PIANOFEST PREMIERE
KODALY: Dances of Marosszek SINGAPORE PREMIERE
LISZT: Sonata in B minor

This guy didn't seem as pro as many have remarked. (Well, the only thing that makes him a distinct performer is the tremendous amount of recordings he has made.) His Bach sucks, his Liszt also sucks, his Kodaly (hmm...) quite good. However, his Bartok was......... fantastic!!! That seems natural since he was the student of Georgy Sanders, the student of Bartok himself. It's a pity that he didn't choose his programme wisely, why chose Liszt when you got your nerves on Bartok?!!

Thu, 3 Jul 08, 8pm
JENNIFER MICALLEF & GLEN INANGA (UK)
BACH-REGER: Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068 SINGAPORE PREMIERE
BEETHOVEN: Grosse Fuge in B-flat major, Op. 133 SINGAPORE PREMIERE
MOZART-BUSONI: Duettino Concertante (after Piano Concerto No. 19)SINGAPORE PREMIERE
HOLLOWAY: Gilded Goldbergs (Selections) SINGAPORE PREMIERE
MARTINU: Fantasy SINGAPORE PREMIERE
STRAVINSKY: Three Dances from Petrushka SINGAPORE PREMIERE

The two performers were Duo pianist - two pianists who play piano together, whether it is four-hand, or two pianos. These two were absolutely talented, both of them were virtuoso. I liked their performance, especially for their Duettino Concertante and the Petrushka. Their technic was also horrifying; jumping octaves, perfect executions, and great leaps of notes. The two payed very harmoniously - I could hear one great maestro is playing, not two. Bravo.

Fri, 4 Jul 08, 8pm
KIM SUNG-HOON (Korea)
BACH:
Partita No. 6 in E minor, BWV 830 PIANOFEST PREMIERE
SCRIABIN:
Sonata No. 5, Op. 53 "Poem of Ecstasy" PIANOFEST PREMIERE
BRAHMS:
Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 5

Yeah, this was yet another miracle of this festival. Kim Sung Hoon has won many international-scaled competitions, and this issue was proven true by his great performance that night. But something funny about his performance: when it came to expressive melodies, he started to sing and looked upward (without taking a glance at the keyboard). I wondered how he managed to do so without making mistakes, and I said to my friends that he put a mirror at the ceiling of the stage so he wouldn't have many slipped notes, haha. Still a great performance throughout.

Sat, 5 Jul 08, 8pm
CHRISTOPHER TAYLOR (USA)
BACH:
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988
RZEWSKI:
The People United Will Never Be Defeated! SINGAPORE PREMIERE

Yeah, this was my favorite guess pianist for the entire festival. His ability to put the audience at the fantastical world he wished was very nice. The critics in USA acclaim him as 'one of the most brilliant pianist at the horizon these day'. Unfortunately for me, I fell asleep when he played Rzewski. You might wonder why Christopher played only two pieces, but to tell you the truth each song consists of more than 30 variations!! There were so many clashed dischord in rzewsky, so I kinda felt sleepy then. hihi. However I persisted not to sleep when he played Bach, because Goldberg Variations was one of the greatest masterpieces of Bach. I was astounded when he was playing goldberg, and I can't keep my eyes off him. It was one of the best Bach performance I have ever seen; each note was as crystal clear, each phrase was forged smoothly. I can't hold my mouth to shout 'Bravo' at the end of the performance....

Sun, 6 Jul 08, 8pm
KONSTANTIN SCHERBAKOV (Russia)
BACH-GODOWSKY
Violin Sonata in B minor, BWV 1002 SINGAPORE PREMIERE
SHOSTAKOVICH
Preludes and Fugues Op. 87 (Selections) SINGAPORE PREMIERE
BEETHOVEN-LISZT
Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125. "Choral"

We were late for the concert, and we missed 'Shostakovich'. (Scherbakov switched Bach with Shostakovich.) However, I didn't really like the whole performance, because the songs were all transcribed. It was a pity because Scherbakov was a worldclass pianist, but he chose such a programme. I can say no more...

******************

The festival taught me one lesson about the importance of adequate technic. It is useless when you got musicality as you lack sufficient 'tools' to depict it. Thanks to Mr. Lendi for reminding me about these stuff.

We also went for masterclasses in NAFA and NUS. We got lessons from Mr. Benyamin Loh (Nafa) as well as with Mr. Thomas Hecht and Mr. Albert Tiu (both NUS). We got many valuable lessons from them, and having time with them working on repertoires was exhilarating.

By the end of this IPF we also performed at NUS Orchestra Hall. This time all the participant showed major improvement in their performance, including me. (Again, I played Dante Sonata.) Bravo to all the participants.

Yes, to acknowledge you, the NUS Conservatory was very big. Just take a look at these photos.

Very big right??

Here ends the story of the 3rd IPF. It's not very good writing i guess, so don't hesitate to leave any comments.

Beware.... Naruto spoiler.....!!!!

2008-09-27T22:05:00.000+07:00

Prepare yourself, if you wish to proceed...

Note: I personally don't really trust this, but it's all up to you... The provider of this information himself don't even give adequate information about the ending of PAIN and Madara, how awful...

But just take a look at the spoiler..

In the end:

Yondaime aka Namikaze Minato:

You know him as the 4th and he's the father of Naruto. But something you don't know is that he's the founder of Akatsuki,too. (WOW!!!) You might wonder how he could survive such a devastating encounter with Kyubii. (Don't ask me!! Ask the provider: lol) But it's like this. Yondaime is just like Itachi, whose real personality differed from what he tended to show us. But this hokage is different. He just seemed very concerned about the survival of his village, but indeed, his lust of power overwhelmed him more. So, when he finished on sealing the demon-fox inside Naruto's belly, he got away from the Hidden Leaves and foundered Akatsuki. Oh, and about Kushina, his wife, she was forced by Yondaime to join Akatsuki, and she left Naruto in lacrymation.

How about the story told by the 3rd about the death of Yon?

He didn't know that Yon didn't die, instead, he assumed that Yon sacrificed himself using a terrible jutsu and the whole village trusted the 3rd and hailed Namikaze as national hero.

Itachi:

(You may laugh at this)

When the 4th created Akatsuki, he sent invitation to three prominent shinobi from Konoha to join him, and they were Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Itachi. Orochimaru received this invitation gladly, but Itachi and Jiraiya refused. Yon didn't attempt to force his sensei (which he gave so much respect), but he didn't want to give up on Itachi so easily. He threatened to kill all of Itachi's clan, yet Itachi persisted not to join him. Thus Yon sent the 'white tiger'- one of Akatsuki member - to murder the entire clan of Uchiha (lol). Itachi begged him to spare his young brother's breath, and finally he decided to join them. But inside his heart, he hoped that his young brother will avenge the death of their parents.

Kakashi:

He falls in a battle with the 'white-tiger' while protecting his friend Gai. (Oh no.....!!!)

Naruto:

His final battle is with the Yellow - Flash, and he wins it with the help of his mother, who dies while protecting his son. After that, yeah, Naruto becomes hokage....

Note also that Naruto finally gets along with Hinata, and Shikamaru with Temari. Sakura?? Don't ask me..

**: You see, it's ridiculous. The spoiler creator marred the story which is already clearly told by Madara about the annihilation of Uchiha clan!! Btw, where is Madara and Pain??!! haha.
If you want to see the original version of this spoiler (because i rewrited it all haha), just click the link:

http://www.narutocommunity.net/forums/SUPER-NARUTO-SPOILERS-BE-t7216.html&st=620&start=620

Yea, if you agree with me, just click the above link and give him a critical bash!!!

Back again in front of the pc

2008-09-21T22:04:00.000+07:00

Hello there!!

I'm back to continue my last unfinished blog...

Today i have had such a bad day.. ohh.. who can stand a 4 hours blackout?!! i'm quite in no mood right now...

i'm someone who is really mad of mythology and epic stories... Very valiant and worth reading.
Some twist of love tales inside make it even greater. I can spend a full week to enjoy a story by Tolkien..
He is my favorite writer till now, and i can't find any better one. He was a freak in weaving new languages of Elves, and I found them very interesting.. Just try reading "The Hobbit" and I will find you persist on finishing it instead of having your dinner... hahaha

I'm now in no relationship with anyone... Though i have some strong feeling with a girl in my school, but i just feel dismayed if I have to tell her about my feeling... I start to like her since I'm in the junior high school, but no major improvement since then. My heart grows weary day after day, perplexious if I am about to loose her... Oh man...

Yeah, that's something about my life, i will tell u more whenever i experience something interesting. Btw, feel free to post comments on my blogs.

Ahhh.... fresh meat...

2008-09-20T21:40:00.000+07:00

Here the abominable Broodmother finally shows itself carrying a butterfly and a Vladmir's offering with status: Doglike....hahaha

I'm here in my sister's room borrowing her PC and signing up for an account in this site. I have read several of Sandoko's blog and I found them exhilarating!! Though some guys left negative comments on his blogs, yet they seems great to me. Those blogs boosts my lust of writing, and I'm now as enraged as Ursa Warrior..!!!

I have nothing to say in my 1st blog, so i decide to give all my best into telling myself.
My name is Budianda and i'm a quarter past seventeen,hh. If you like to search for a future pianist, just come to , Kalimantan Island. Yes, I'm about on a journey to become a great pianist, but the path is truly harsh. My present instructor is Miss Rosemerry Halim, and she is such a great teacher!! She is compassionate, meticulous, perseverant, and also discernible. I have been working with her for a hard 5 years, and i'm really grateful for now i'm a better piano performer, though i still need a lot to learn.....

I'm now in the last year of senior high school of SMA Sutomo 1 Medan. It's a difficult year for me since i have to practice on piano for more than 3 hours per day, but guess what? I found a new hobby recently, and it's....................DOTA!!! I visit the internet cafe with my friends every friday noon while the others are having lunch. I'm about to play a match of DOTA right now, but since i am using my sister's room, she keeps on begging me to leave her room because she wants to have an earlier sleep... Haiyahh..
I will just continue tomorrow...