真実の詩

Yes, my new banner is practically the same as my last, except I just used a new picture. I'm afraid I'm not very skilled in Photoshop to make anything much different. -__-;b

I haven't really thought of New Year resolutions yet. I don't think I have any ground-breaking ones this year.. Just the regular, I suppose. Like:

1) Stop procrastinating
2) Practice more piano
3) Work on becoming less socially-awkward

etc, etc...

Well, I guess there's also the "hobby" resolutions, like:

1) Compose more
2) Finish my stupid fanfiction
3) Write my own original fiction
4) Learn more piano pieces (which is kind of a required task, now that I'm being graded on it in school..)

Hmm...

Anyway, other news:

The E on my piano (E5, to be exact) is acting up. Sometimes the hammer will hit the string, but sometimes it only gets halfway there. I was testing out a microphone I found in the basement (from an old karaoke set). It's still not very good, but it's better than the standard computer type. But... then my E died... -__-||| Maybe it was that Chopin mazurka I was playing. Only recently have I listened to other renditions of it. I have always played the beginning much more... violently.. (but it says "forte" on the sheet music! Why does everyone else play it so softly??) Anyway, the first note you hear is that E that's causing me trouble, and it's the one I put the greatest accent on when I play the mazurka. Oh well.. it's a weird key: when I give it a rest, it gets "better", but it's still very sporadic.

Anyway, I somehow managed to record something, nonetheless. It's missing some E's, and I would've liked to redo it a few more times, but my parents came home and started making a racket, so I had to stop recording. But that's ok: you make do with what you have. I was going to play something more familiar - Beethoven or Chopin, someone like that - but then I thought this would be a better piece for the occasion: what better time to hear new music (probably to most) then the New Year?

The piece is called "La sarabande", written by the French composer, Gabriel Grovlez (1879-1944). It was apparently inspired by a poem by Tristan Klingsor. It's a very nice poem, so I've included the translation here. Enjoy!

Download!

The Sarabande

Those who will come here to dance
Will no longer need to have light legs:
It is your turn, marquis and shepherdresses,
In ornaments of the past.

The bows under the fingers of the musicians
Loiter enough for the sarabande
And the delicate shoes move without hurry
On the rhythm of this ancient air.

A last note dies in the violins
Like a most tender confession;
The fringed dresses on the high heels
Whirl without waiting any longer.

And in pairs of tired couples
With little steps, the whole band
Of dancers of the sarabande
Go away.