Les rêves des amoureux sont comm’(e) le bon vin
Ils donn(ent) de la joie ou bien du chagrin
Affaibli par la faim je suis malheureux
Volant en chemin tout ce que je peux
Car rien n’est gratuit dans la vie
L’espoir est un plat bien trop vite consommé
A sauter les repas je suis habitué
Un voleur solitaire est triste à nourrir
A un jeu si amer je n’peux réussir
Car rien n’est gratuit dans…
La vie… Jamais on ne me dira
Que la course aux étoiles; ça n’est pas pour moi
Laissez moi vous émerveiller et prendre mon en vol
Nous allons en fin nous régaler
La fêt(e) va enfin commencer
Sortez les bouteilles; finis les ennuis
Je dresse la table, de ma nouvell(e) vie
Je suis heureux à l’idée de ce nouveau destin
Une vie à me cacher et puis libre enfin
Le festin est sur mon chemin
Une vie à me cacher et puis libre enfin
Le festin est sur mon chemin
English lyrics:
Dreams are to lovers as wine is to friends
Carried through lifetimes, (and) spilled now and then
I am driven by hunger, so saddened to be
Thieving in darkness; I know you’re not pleased
But nothing worth eating is free
My hope is a banquet impatiently downed
Impossibly full, now I’ll probably drown
Many thieves’ lives are lonely with one mouth to feed
If giving means taking, I’ll never succeed
For nothing worth stealing is…
Free at last; won’t be undersold
Surviving isn’t living; won’t eat what I’m told
Let me free, I’ll astonish you; I’m planning to fly
I won’t let this party just pass me by
The banquet is now underway, so…
Bring out the bottles; a new tale has spun
In clearing this table, my new life’s begun
I am nervous, excited; (oh) just read the marquee!
A lifetime of hiding; I’m suddenly free!
My dinner is waiting for me
A lifetime of hiding; I’m suddenly free!
My dinner is waiting for me
Monday, December 31, 2007
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Into the West
Lay down
Your sweet and weary head
Night is falling
You have come to journey's end
Sleep now
And dream of the ones who came before
They are calling
From across a distant shore
Why do you weep?
What are these tears upon your face?
Soon you will see
All of your fears will pass away
Safe in my arms
You're only sleeping
What can you see
On the horizon?
Why do the white gulls call?
Across the sea
A pale moon rises
The ships have come to carry you home
And all will turn
To silver glass
A light on the water
All Souls pass
Hope fades
Into the world of night
Through shadows falling
Out of memory and time
Don't say
We have come now to the end
White shores are calling
You and I will meet again
And you'll be here in my arms
Just sleeping
What can you see
On the horizon?
Why do the white gulls call?
Across the sea
A pale moon rises
The ships have come to carry you home
And all will turn
To silver glass
A light on the water
Grey ships pass
Into the West
Your sweet and weary head
Night is falling
You have come to journey's end
Sleep now
And dream of the ones who came before
They are calling
From across a distant shore
Why do you weep?
What are these tears upon your face?
Soon you will see
All of your fears will pass away
Safe in my arms
You're only sleeping
What can you see
On the horizon?
Why do the white gulls call?
Across the sea
A pale moon rises
The ships have come to carry you home
And all will turn
To silver glass
A light on the water
All Souls pass
Hope fades
Into the world of night
Through shadows falling
Out of memory and time
Don't say
We have come now to the end
White shores are calling
You and I will meet again
And you'll be here in my arms
Just sleeping
What can you see
On the horizon?
Why do the white gulls call?
Across the sea
A pale moon rises
The ships have come to carry you home
And all will turn
To silver glass
A light on the water
Grey ships pass
Into the West
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Our Town
Long ago, but not so very long ago
The world was different, oh yes it was
You settled down and you built a town and made it live
And you watched it grow
It was your town
Time goes by, time brings changes, you change, too
Nothing comes that you can't handle, so on you go
Never see it coming, the world caves in on you
On your town
Nothing you can do.
Main street isn't main street anymore
Lights don't shine as brightly as they shone before
Tell the truth, lights don't shine at all
In our town
Sun comes up each morning
Just like it's always done
Get up, go to work, start the day,
Open up for business that's never gonna come
As the world rolls by a million miles away
Main street isn't main street anymore
No one seems to need us like they did before
It's hard to find a reason left to stay
But it's our town
Love it anyway
Come what may, it's our town.
The world was different, oh yes it was
You settled down and you built a town and made it live
And you watched it grow
It was your town
Time goes by, time brings changes, you change, too
Nothing comes that you can't handle, so on you go
Never see it coming, the world caves in on you
On your town
Nothing you can do.
Main street isn't main street anymore
Lights don't shine as brightly as they shone before
Tell the truth, lights don't shine at all
In our town
Sun comes up each morning
Just like it's always done
Get up, go to work, start the day,
Open up for business that's never gonna come
As the world rolls by a million miles away
Main street isn't main street anymore
No one seems to need us like they did before
It's hard to find a reason left to stay
But it's our town
Love it anyway
Come what may, it's our town.
Birthday Celebration
Strange, the RJC batch. There seems to be a polarisation on how people are viewed, this being particularly apparent in the way some people's birthdays are celebrated as compared to others. I'm not saying we shouldn't do something in appreciation or commemoration for the person. Far from it, it's important that this be done. However, let's do this for everyone, not a select few. Otherwise those who get ignored might feel jealous, even sidelined. A fine way that would be to present batch unity, yes.
This applies to me on a personal level as well, and I have made it a resolution to find out everyone's birthdays next year, and do at least something for them. Of course in the personal case you can't treat everyone equally, some people do mean more to me than others. Still, I aim to at the very least send an sms, or a card. Especially since our batch is celebrating our 18th birthdays next year, I think we should do something special. Been doing up a batch list, hopefully I can get everyone in.
This applies to me on a personal level as well, and I have made it a resolution to find out everyone's birthdays next year, and do at least something for them. Of course in the personal case you can't treat everyone equally, some people do mean more to me than others. Still, I aim to at the very least send an sms, or a card. Especially since our batch is celebrating our 18th birthdays next year, I think we should do something special. Been doing up a batch list, hopefully I can get everyone in.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Gollum's Song
Where once was light
Now darkness falls
Where once was love
Love is no more
Don't say goodbye
Don't say I didn't try
These tears we cry
Are falling rain
For all the lies you told us
The hurt, the blame!
And we will weep to be so alone
We are lost
We can never go home
So in the end
I'll be what I will be
No loyal friend
Was ever there for me
Now we say goodbye
We say you didn't try
These tears you cry
Have come too late
Take back the lies
The hurt, the blame!
And you will weep
When you face the end alone
You are lost
You can never go home
You are lost
You can never go home
Now darkness falls
Where once was love
Love is no more
Don't say goodbye
Don't say I didn't try
These tears we cry
Are falling rain
For all the lies you told us
The hurt, the blame!
And we will weep to be so alone
We are lost
We can never go home
So in the end
I'll be what I will be
No loyal friend
Was ever there for me
Now we say goodbye
We say you didn't try
These tears you cry
Have come too late
Take back the lies
The hurt, the blame!
And you will weep
When you face the end alone
You are lost
You can never go home
You are lost
You can never go home
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Coda 3
Coda 3 is over, marking the end of yet another year as a band member.
Pretty standard stuff pre-concert, moving stuff from RI to VCH, including a wheel-less bass drum to make life difficult for people. Short soundcheck of only 1 hour though.
Generally, I was quite nervous for this, as I felt we had not really prepared enough. Further, ticket sales seemed quite dismal. Fortunately, it seems that the fine tradition of ungodly high door sales at VCH was upheld, and the concert hall was reasonably full.
Before the concert, they showed photos of the past batches of RI, RJC and RGS bands. Seeing my own batch photo brought back many memories of better times.
The opening piece of the concert was March and Procession of Bacchus, one that I'd done before on the VCH stage. This also brought back memories of Prometheum XI, although Quan Hui's interpretation of the piece was vastly different from Mr Oura's.
The next piece was by Sze Han, Foster in my Mind. We did this one quite well, I think, and I love Foster's melodies such as Old Folks at Home.
Wenrong's solo in Gabriel's Oboe was nice. I've always admired him as a player, both his tone and technique are unbeatable. However, I still fail to see the logic of a trumpet solo in a song called Gabriel's Oboe.
Peterloo Overture, our main piece for the first half, was pretty decent. Not the best, but I think the slow parts were really nice.
During the interval, I met quite a few people from the audience, such as Michael and Jia Wei. Nice to see them there. The interval was short though, barely 15 minutes.
Global Variations is a nice piece, and I think we did pretty well for it. The French national anthem, although one of the most parodied in the world, was nice to play.
My first solo in an actual concert came during the ensembles, where the saxes played the theme from Laputa: Castle in the Sky. Apparently it was too soft, so when I get the recording I shall ask Shuotian to boost the bass by about 10x
Metro Gnome is quite cute. Difficult to play the piece cleanly, but I think we did well enough.
Othello was our best piece for the night, I think. It's really very emotional and expressive, and I think we brought that across nicely.
There's very little I can comment on the encore piece, I will survive. You can't do much with an encore, but for 1 week of prac we did alright.
All in all, the concert was quite a success. I was glad to play in VCH again after 363 days (since Coda 2). On a personal level, however, I was quite disappointed that my close friends, such as Chester, Paul, Zi Guang, Shuyi, Bertrand etc were unable to make it for the concert. I think that this kind of lessened the satisfaction that can be derived from a good concert, and I think that my personal drive to do well was also lessened slightly.
However, on a band level, we did really well I think, apparently even beating the past 2 concerts for sales. Musically, the band did well, and Sze Han and Quan Hui have been great conductors. I think that Coda 4 should be even better, and personally I would like to be involved in the committee if I get the chance.
This year in terms of band has been quite a full one. A Tempo, SYF, JC Band Fest, and Coda have been the major events, and I think all of them have standards far higher than what I am used to. I think JC Band Fest and Coda in particular have caused me to improve tremendously.
Time to look forward to next year I guess, with Play 08, A Tempo XIX (I'm wondering why A Tempo in 2005 was XV while in 2007 was XVIII), an overseas trip and Coda 4 all coming up.
Pretty standard stuff pre-concert, moving stuff from RI to VCH, including a wheel-less bass drum to make life difficult for people. Short soundcheck of only 1 hour though.
Generally, I was quite nervous for this, as I felt we had not really prepared enough. Further, ticket sales seemed quite dismal. Fortunately, it seems that the fine tradition of ungodly high door sales at VCH was upheld, and the concert hall was reasonably full.
Before the concert, they showed photos of the past batches of RI, RJC and RGS bands. Seeing my own batch photo brought back many memories of better times.
The opening piece of the concert was March and Procession of Bacchus, one that I'd done before on the VCH stage. This also brought back memories of Prometheum XI, although Quan Hui's interpretation of the piece was vastly different from Mr Oura's.
The next piece was by Sze Han, Foster in my Mind. We did this one quite well, I think, and I love Foster's melodies such as Old Folks at Home.
Wenrong's solo in Gabriel's Oboe was nice. I've always admired him as a player, both his tone and technique are unbeatable. However, I still fail to see the logic of a trumpet solo in a song called Gabriel's Oboe.
Peterloo Overture, our main piece for the first half, was pretty decent. Not the best, but I think the slow parts were really nice.
During the interval, I met quite a few people from the audience, such as Michael and Jia Wei. Nice to see them there. The interval was short though, barely 15 minutes.
Global Variations is a nice piece, and I think we did pretty well for it. The French national anthem, although one of the most parodied in the world, was nice to play.
My first solo in an actual concert came during the ensembles, where the saxes played the theme from Laputa: Castle in the Sky. Apparently it was too soft, so when I get the recording I shall ask Shuotian to boost the bass by about 10x
Metro Gnome is quite cute. Difficult to play the piece cleanly, but I think we did well enough.
Othello was our best piece for the night, I think. It's really very emotional and expressive, and I think we brought that across nicely.
There's very little I can comment on the encore piece, I will survive. You can't do much with an encore, but for 1 week of prac we did alright.
All in all, the concert was quite a success. I was glad to play in VCH again after 363 days (since Coda 2). On a personal level, however, I was quite disappointed that my close friends, such as Chester, Paul, Zi Guang, Shuyi, Bertrand etc were unable to make it for the concert. I think that this kind of lessened the satisfaction that can be derived from a good concert, and I think that my personal drive to do well was also lessened slightly.
However, on a band level, we did really well I think, apparently even beating the past 2 concerts for sales. Musically, the band did well, and Sze Han and Quan Hui have been great conductors. I think that Coda 4 should be even better, and personally I would like to be involved in the committee if I get the chance.
This year in terms of band has been quite a full one. A Tempo, SYF, JC Band Fest, and Coda have been the major events, and I think all of them have standards far higher than what I am used to. I think JC Band Fest and Coda in particular have caused me to improve tremendously.
Time to look forward to next year I guess, with Play 08, A Tempo XIX (I'm wondering why A Tempo in 2005 was XV while in 2007 was XVIII), an overseas trip and Coda 4 all coming up.
Beyond the Sea
Somewhere, beyond the sea
Somewhere waiting for me
My lover stands on golden sands
And watches the ships that go sailing
Somewhere, beyond the sea
She's there watching for me
If I could fly like birds on high
Then straigt to her arms I'd go sailing
It's far beyond a star,
it's near beyond the moon
I know beyond a doubt
My heart will lead me there soon
We'll meet beyond the shore
We'll kiss just like before
Happy we'll be beyond the sea
And never again I'll go sailing
Some sailing
I know beyond a doubt
My heart will lead me there soon
We'll meet I know we'll meet
Beyond the sure
We'll kiss just like before
Happy we'll be beyond the sea
And never again I'll go sailing
No more sailing
So long sailing
Goodby farewell, my friend,
No more Sailing....
Somewhere waiting for me
My lover stands on golden sands
And watches the ships that go sailing
Somewhere, beyond the sea
She's there watching for me
If I could fly like birds on high
Then straigt to her arms I'd go sailing
It's far beyond a star,
it's near beyond the moon
I know beyond a doubt
My heart will lead me there soon
We'll meet beyond the shore
We'll kiss just like before
Happy we'll be beyond the sea
And never again I'll go sailing
Some sailing
I know beyond a doubt
My heart will lead me there soon
We'll meet I know we'll meet
Beyond the sure
We'll kiss just like before
Happy we'll be beyond the sea
And never again I'll go sailing
No more sailing
So long sailing
Goodby farewell, my friend,
No more Sailing....
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
May It Be
May it be an evening star
Shines down upon you
May it be when darkness falls
Your heart will be true
You walk a lonely road
Oh! How far you are from home
Mornie utúlie (darknesss has come)
Believe and you will find your way
Mornie alantie (darknesss has fallen)
A promise lives within you now
May it be the shadows call
Will fly away
May it be your journey on
To light the day
When the night is overcome
You may rise to find the sun
Mornie utúlie (darknesss has come)
Believe and you will find your way
Mornie alantie (darknesss has fallen)
A promise lives within you now
A promise lives within you now
Shines down upon you
May it be when darkness falls
Your heart will be true
You walk a lonely road
Oh! How far you are from home
Mornie utúlie (darknesss has come)
Believe and you will find your way
Mornie alantie (darknesss has fallen)
A promise lives within you now
May it be the shadows call
Will fly away
May it be your journey on
To light the day
When the night is overcome
You may rise to find the sun
Mornie utúlie (darknesss has come)
Believe and you will find your way
Mornie alantie (darknesss has fallen)
A promise lives within you now
A promise lives within you now
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Strange Things
I was on top of the world
It was right in my pocket
I was living the life
Things were just the way they should be
When from out of the sky like a bomb comes some little punk in a rocket
Now all of a sudden some strange things are happening to me
I had friends,
I had lots of friends
Now all my friends are gone
And I'm doing the best I can to carry on
I had power (power)
I was respected (respect)
But not any more
And I've lost the love to the one whom I adored
Let me tell you about the strange things are happening to me
Strange things
Strange things are happening to me...
Ain't no doubt about it
You got someone you think you know well
It turns out a stranger
The minute you turn your back
You're in it all by yourself
They laugh at your jokes,
You think you're doing well
But you're in danger, boy
You end up alone, forgotten, way up on the shelf
Strange things are happening to me
Strange things
Strange things are happening to me
Ain't no doubt about it
Strange things are happening to me
Strange things
Strange things are happening to me
Strange things
Strange things
It was right in my pocket
I was living the life
Things were just the way they should be
When from out of the sky like a bomb comes some little punk in a rocket
Now all of a sudden some strange things are happening to me
I had friends,
I had lots of friends
Now all my friends are gone
And I'm doing the best I can to carry on
I had power (power)
I was respected (respect)
But not any more
And I've lost the love to the one whom I adored
Let me tell you about the strange things are happening to me
Strange things
Strange things are happening to me...
Ain't no doubt about it
You got someone you think you know well
It turns out a stranger
The minute you turn your back
You're in it all by yourself
They laugh at your jokes,
You think you're doing well
But you're in danger, boy
You end up alone, forgotten, way up on the shelf
Strange things are happening to me
Strange things
Strange things are happening to me
Ain't no doubt about it
Strange things are happening to me
Strange things
Strange things are happening to me
Strange things
Strange things
Monday, December 24, 2007
You've Got a Friend in Me
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
When the road looks rough ahead
And you're miles and miles
From your nice warm bed
Just remember what your old pal said
Boy, you've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got troubles, well I've got 'em too
There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you
We stick together and we see it through
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
Some other folks might be
A little bit smarter than I am
Bigger and stronger too
Maybe
But none of them will ever love you the way I do
It's me and you
And as the years go by
Boys, our friendship will never die
You're gonna see
It's our destiny
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
dedicated to RJCSB, RIMB and all my other friends
Depression
Sigh... Things really haven't been going well for me the past few days, ever since the batch outing... I feel as though I'm losing touch with even my closest friends. Family's not very supportive, as usual, and the absolute lack of an audience at Coda 3 isn't helping that much.
What happened? I miss last year... At least then I still had the RI batch, one of the nicest support networks ever. Now even that's gone.. It's not helping that on concert day, some of my close friends will be distributed quite evenly among Paris, Hong Kong and Taiwan, is it?
I miss Paul already...
What happened? I miss last year... At least then I still had the RI batch, one of the nicest support networks ever. Now even that's gone.. It's not helping that on concert day, some of my close friends will be distributed quite evenly among Paris, Hong Kong and Taiwan, is it?
I miss Paul already...
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Year-end blues
As the year draws to a close, I think it's important to give thanks where thanks is due. As such, I'd like to thank 2 of the most important people in my life.
By RIMBarisax
They've stuck with me right from the start, when all else seemed lost. New people entered my life, some relationships ended, still others stopped and started, but these two have been by my side all this while. When I was desperately trying to fight for what seemed like a lost cause, they fought right alongside, and they've never failed to help me out in my own times of need. The situation's improved since the beginning of the year, but still, I'll never forget what they've done for me.
It's a great feeling to know that there's someone you can always count on. I know most people frown on such displays of gratitude, but since no one reads this anyway... Thanks guys, you mean a lot to me.
In an unrelated case of depression, why are none of my close friends going to be at Coda, with the possible exception of Jinjun? Unless you count the players anyway. It's even more depressing when you consider the fact that it'll be my first (and likely only) concert solo, during the ensembles, and there's nobody to play to... Sad. Situation's not much better with the whole band, only 200 seats sold.. I pray it improves.
By RIMBarisax
They've stuck with me right from the start, when all else seemed lost. New people entered my life, some relationships ended, still others stopped and started, but these two have been by my side all this while. When I was desperately trying to fight for what seemed like a lost cause, they fought right alongside, and they've never failed to help me out in my own times of need. The situation's improved since the beginning of the year, but still, I'll never forget what they've done for me.
It's a great feeling to know that there's someone you can always count on. I know most people frown on such displays of gratitude, but since no one reads this anyway... Thanks guys, you mean a lot to me.
In an unrelated case of depression, why are none of my close friends going to be at Coda, with the possible exception of Jinjun? Unless you count the players anyway. It's even more depressing when you consider the fact that it'll be my first (and likely only) concert solo, during the ensembles, and there's nobody to play to... Sad. Situation's not much better with the whole band, only 200 seats sold.. I pray it improves.
Monday, December 17, 2007
JC Band Fest Concert!!
Wow.
Got to the Esplanade early, at 1:30pm, and met up with the rest of the RJC people. Holst went in first, while we in the Honour Band dumped our stuff in the absolutely huge dressing rooms, then went to Marina for lunch and to buy stuff.
Soundcheck was pretty fast, we didn't even run through the pieces completely. Dr Mazzaferro seemed happy with what we did though, so he let us off for dinner after a short time.
Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to listen much to Holst's and Fennell's performances, although I would have liked to. I did catch a bit of Raffles Chorale up at the concourse to the Esplanade though, and they were quite good.
Our holding area for the concert was the loading bay, which was the same for MyRIad more than a year ago. Naturally we were all nervous, which is normal for a concert of this scope. Being in an honour band raised the pressure even more. I was pretty confident, though, that our performance would be a success.
And what a success it was. There were a few minor mistakes here and there, but really not of any consequence. Festmusik by Richard Strauss was our opening piece, a fanfare which I think the brasses did extremely nicely. Unfortunately the piece was not scored for baritone saxophone, so I was left with the bass clarinet score to work with, which was quite sad.
I like First Suite in E flat, by Gustav Holst. It's one of the few songs in which the baritone saxophone has such lyrical, expressive lines. I hope I managed to do them justice, and I relished the chance I had to be melodic and really feel the music in a way you can't do most of the time as a bassist.
Der Traum des Oenghus, by Rolf Rudin, is a very mysterious piece, with a thrilling climax. That flautist who played the solo at the end is good, and so were the others. Even Dr Mazzaferro was getting emotionally charged by the song, which means we did something right.
My favourite piece of the entire concert, El Camino Real, by Alfred Reed, was up next. Very wild and very fun, especially the beginning and end. Shuqi did a beautiful oboe solo, and overall this piece was just great. Love the out-of-control feeling of the ending, and when we played, it wasn't too hard to imagine cowboys charging up and down the royal road.
Remember what I said about few pieces giving the baritone saxophone nice, expressive melodies? His Honour March, by Henry Fillmore, is one of them. Standard march, but so nice to play the trio part, and the ending was really nice. An excellent end to the concert.
Overall tonight's concert was marvellous. I heard Dr Mazzaferro didn't even use scores to conduct, but just conducted how he felt. I admire his conducting a lot, and I learnt a lot from him too. He's a good man too, even complimented me on my playing when I saw him on the escalator after prac. It's not often you see a conductor who comments "Great job with the bari sax", or any other bass for that matter. I really hope someday I can play music under his baton again.
The band too, showed its worth as an honour band. Although of course, this concert can never give me the kind of satisfaction Prometheum or Coda can deliver, I doubt I'll be able to get such a wonderful musical experience again. This event really pushed me to improve, and I hope I can apply what I've learnt in other areas.
I love my section. Pity we had such a short time, but still I hope we can become good friends! Daryl, I think you're a good player, as long as you keep it up, relax and enjoy yourself on stage as always, you'll do very well. Same for Elizabeth, you're really a better player than you give yourself credit for. Stay cool, confident and calm, believe in yourself and you'll be fine.
I think playing for JC Band Fest 2007 has given me some new insights into the meaning of music. What is music, really? I share the views of Mr Oura when I say that I think the purpose of music is to send some message to the audience. When it comes right down to it, in the end, no one will care about the low B flat being out of tune (unless it's so dramatically off it can sound like an A). What matters is the feelings and emotion you need to bring across to the audience. Don't worry about the notes, unless you want to become the world's best midi player. To quote Mr Oura:
music without message is really boring and it is not music , just a sound (or noise)
if the message doesn't have any love in it. something awful.
only the message with full of love makes people happy
Of course, the most important part of the music is the getting together, enjoying ourselves and forging bonds with the others.
So, to both AC and Rwinds, happy concerts on the 26th this month. To my section and to the band, thanks for the music and the good times. To everyone else, happy JC Band Fest 2008
Got to the Esplanade early, at 1:30pm, and met up with the rest of the RJC people. Holst went in first, while we in the Honour Band dumped our stuff in the absolutely huge dressing rooms, then went to Marina for lunch and to buy stuff.
Soundcheck was pretty fast, we didn't even run through the pieces completely. Dr Mazzaferro seemed happy with what we did though, so he let us off for dinner after a short time.
Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to listen much to Holst's and Fennell's performances, although I would have liked to. I did catch a bit of Raffles Chorale up at the concourse to the Esplanade though, and they were quite good.
Our holding area for the concert was the loading bay, which was the same for MyRIad more than a year ago. Naturally we were all nervous, which is normal for a concert of this scope. Being in an honour band raised the pressure even more. I was pretty confident, though, that our performance would be a success.
And what a success it was. There were a few minor mistakes here and there, but really not of any consequence. Festmusik by Richard Strauss was our opening piece, a fanfare which I think the brasses did extremely nicely. Unfortunately the piece was not scored for baritone saxophone, so I was left with the bass clarinet score to work with, which was quite sad.
I like First Suite in E flat, by Gustav Holst. It's one of the few songs in which the baritone saxophone has such lyrical, expressive lines. I hope I managed to do them justice, and I relished the chance I had to be melodic and really feel the music in a way you can't do most of the time as a bassist.
Der Traum des Oenghus, by Rolf Rudin, is a very mysterious piece, with a thrilling climax. That flautist who played the solo at the end is good, and so were the others. Even Dr Mazzaferro was getting emotionally charged by the song, which means we did something right.
My favourite piece of the entire concert, El Camino Real, by Alfred Reed, was up next. Very wild and very fun, especially the beginning and end. Shuqi did a beautiful oboe solo, and overall this piece was just great. Love the out-of-control feeling of the ending, and when we played, it wasn't too hard to imagine cowboys charging up and down the royal road.
Remember what I said about few pieces giving the baritone saxophone nice, expressive melodies? His Honour March, by Henry Fillmore, is one of them. Standard march, but so nice to play the trio part, and the ending was really nice. An excellent end to the concert.
Overall tonight's concert was marvellous. I heard Dr Mazzaferro didn't even use scores to conduct, but just conducted how he felt. I admire his conducting a lot, and I learnt a lot from him too. He's a good man too, even complimented me on my playing when I saw him on the escalator after prac. It's not often you see a conductor who comments "Great job with the bari sax", or any other bass for that matter. I really hope someday I can play music under his baton again.
The band too, showed its worth as an honour band. Although of course, this concert can never give me the kind of satisfaction Prometheum or Coda can deliver, I doubt I'll be able to get such a wonderful musical experience again. This event really pushed me to improve, and I hope I can apply what I've learnt in other areas.
I love my section. Pity we had such a short time, but still I hope we can become good friends! Daryl, I think you're a good player, as long as you keep it up, relax and enjoy yourself on stage as always, you'll do very well. Same for Elizabeth, you're really a better player than you give yourself credit for. Stay cool, confident and calm, believe in yourself and you'll be fine.
I think playing for JC Band Fest 2007 has given me some new insights into the meaning of music. What is music, really? I share the views of Mr Oura when I say that I think the purpose of music is to send some message to the audience. When it comes right down to it, in the end, no one will care about the low B flat being out of tune (unless it's so dramatically off it can sound like an A). What matters is the feelings and emotion you need to bring across to the audience. Don't worry about the notes, unless you want to become the world's best midi player. To quote Mr Oura:
music without message is really boring and it is not music , just a sound (or noise)
if the message doesn't have any love in it. something awful.
only the message with full of love makes people happy
Of course, the most important part of the music is the getting together, enjoying ourselves and forging bonds with the others.
So, to both AC and Rwinds, happy concerts on the 26th this month. To my section and to the band, thanks for the music and the good times. To everyone else, happy JC Band Fest 2008
Saturday, December 15, 2007
JC Band Fest 2007
After these 4 days it's finally time for the concert! JC band fest has been so fun, meeting new people and trying out challenging new songs. I'm glad I got the opportunity to play for honour band, it's really been a great experience. At first I though the songs were boring, but the scores were very misleading! El Camino Real and His Honour especially. Dr Mazzaferro has been a very good conductor, and a nice guy, always entertaining us with his stories of things like 600 bar rests and so on. I really learned much from him, and I hope everyone else did too. Been nice playing with new people, especially my section.
Tomorrow's the concert, the day we've been working so hard for, and it's at the Esplanade! Let's all do our best and make good music. It's no point if tuning and intonation are perfect. You'll just sound like a midi. What counts is your expression, your feeling and your ability to bring a message across to the audience. Our songs tomorrow are all so expressive, if we can do it right. I want to feel the songs, imagine the glory of Austria in Festmusik, indulge in the beautiful melodies in Holst's First Suite. I want that imagery of the dream Oenghus went through to come out. I want to feel the wild Spanish flavour of El Camino Real, and get that image of whooping cowboys into my head, and I want to enjoy the rich American flavour of His Honour March. More importantly, I want to give these messages to the audience, and let them feel what we do. Even more so that I now have the chance to play out in some beautiful phrases in some of the songs, I want to be able to do them nicely. Let's not play notes, let's play music out there, and we'll have a great time.
Even though this concert is not likely to deliver the satisfaction Prometheum XI and Coda II gave me, it still has, to quote Dr Mazzaferro "some serious goosebump potential". Let's do this thing!
Tomorrow's the concert, the day we've been working so hard for, and it's at the Esplanade! Let's all do our best and make good music. It's no point if tuning and intonation are perfect. You'll just sound like a midi. What counts is your expression, your feeling and your ability to bring a message across to the audience. Our songs tomorrow are all so expressive, if we can do it right. I want to feel the songs, imagine the glory of Austria in Festmusik, indulge in the beautiful melodies in Holst's First Suite. I want that imagery of the dream Oenghus went through to come out. I want to feel the wild Spanish flavour of El Camino Real, and get that image of whooping cowboys into my head, and I want to enjoy the rich American flavour of His Honour March. More importantly, I want to give these messages to the audience, and let them feel what we do. Even more so that I now have the chance to play out in some beautiful phrases in some of the songs, I want to be able to do them nicely. Let's not play notes, let's play music out there, and we'll have a great time.
Even though this concert is not likely to deliver the satisfaction Prometheum XI and Coda II gave me, it still has, to quote Dr Mazzaferro "some serious goosebump potential". Let's do this thing!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)