citizens of day and night
Oct. 8th, 2021 01:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nnozomi・An interesting day last week for the orchestra second generation. I’ve known Y-ko, the daughter of my fellow cellist T, since she was a gawky amiable four-year-old; this week she got accepted (very early!) to art school and I’m delighted. (Maybe she’ll end up a famous mangaka? She is a Yuri on Ice fangirl among other things, and I’m still hoping to get her into Guardian one day.) At the other end of the kid range, our player-conductor H brought his two-year-old Yu-chan up to the podium with him during rehearsal. Yu-chan waved a pen around (“Which conductor should we follow?” from R in the trombones, very drily), hung onto his dad’s leg, walked in circles, rattled the fire extinguisher on the wall (everyone in the front row stops playing: “Yu-chan, no!”), and sat down on the podium edge to gaze earnestly at M the concertmaster (I see your point, kiddo, he’s a fine violinist with beautiful eyes). Possibly not conducive to concentration during rehearsal, but very entertaining.
・Oh dear, I suspect part of my Yuletide requests this year will fall under “cdrama weird antagonistic side characters edition.” I mean...nobody actually said I can’t (separately) request both Huo Daofu from LTR and Wang Shi’an from The Rebel...? (I’m not really under the impression that anyone is likely to write Wang Shi’an fic, but I remain so fascinated by him that I might as well go ahead and make the gesture.)
・Some very kind person went through and left kudos on, I think, every single one of my Guardian fics, even my poor unregarded Lin Jing one, which was a very nice boost. I keep meaning to be better about kudos and commenting, oh dear.
・Rereading Jane Langton’s The Astonishing Stereoscope, which has to be one of the most, well, astonishing children’s books about religion ever written. It’s funny (“’The whole thing is just chemistry,’ [Aunt Alex] mumbled to herself, running her finger down the recipe. ‘Simply a matter of applying heat and cold to various compounds to achieve a change of state. Now what on earth does “cream the butter” mean? I’d better look it up. I hope it’s in this dictionary of Pictish and Proto-Saxon.’”) and painful (Eddy’s and Eleanor’s guilt is so, so well described), and it uses the most straightforward of vocabulary and phrasing to evoke the numinous with incredible vividness, without ever pinning itself down to any one faith. “This party of four is hereby declared free citizens of day and night, and of the top and the bottom of the infinite firmament, and it shall therefore be accorded all the rights and privileges belonging thereunto.”
・laireshi reminded me that the Chopin Competition is happening now, and so I’ve been listening to Chopin all week. I don’t have a very good ear for distinguishing between pianists, just occasional moments of “wait, no, why would you pick that phrasing” or “ooh that’s nice, that’s just how I like it,” but it’s an education. They also interviewed a previous winner, my pianist-crush Seong-Jin Cho, who just seems like a very low-key, likable, thoughtful guy as well as a stunning musician. I liked this idea of interpretation, with regard to writing etc. as well:
E.B.: What is your attitude to Chopin’s music today? Has it changed in the six years since the Chopin Competition?
S.J.C.: I think, I haven’t tried to change my interpretation, but with interpreting music it is like with a face: you don’t recognise that you’re getting older, but other people tell you, that ‘Oh, you’re changing’. I didn’t intend to get old, but it is what it is... It is the same with an interpretation.
And (reposted from elsewhere because it still makes me laugh), this Z1L-esque earnest missing the point:
E.B.: If you could advise or wish something for the young pianists who are participating in this Chopin Competition, what would you say to them?
S.J.C.: I’m still a young pianist, I could participate again. I don’t have any such advice for my colleagues, but Warsaw in October was colder than I expected and I was a little dismayed at the beginning. So it may be a good idea to take many warm clothes for such cold weather.
[Is this entry annoying to read in terms of length, by the way? Let me know if I should put in a cut somewhere.]
Photos:
Be safe and well.
・Oh dear, I suspect part of my Yuletide requests this year will fall under “cdrama weird antagonistic side characters edition.” I mean...nobody actually said I can’t (separately) request both Huo Daofu from LTR and Wang Shi’an from The Rebel...? (I’m not really under the impression that anyone is likely to write Wang Shi’an fic, but I remain so fascinated by him that I might as well go ahead and make the gesture.)
・Some very kind person went through and left kudos on, I think, every single one of my Guardian fics, even my poor unregarded Lin Jing one, which was a very nice boost. I keep meaning to be better about kudos and commenting, oh dear.
・Rereading Jane Langton’s The Astonishing Stereoscope, which has to be one of the most, well, astonishing children’s books about religion ever written. It’s funny (“’The whole thing is just chemistry,’ [Aunt Alex] mumbled to herself, running her finger down the recipe. ‘Simply a matter of applying heat and cold to various compounds to achieve a change of state. Now what on earth does “cream the butter” mean? I’d better look it up. I hope it’s in this dictionary of Pictish and Proto-Saxon.’”) and painful (Eddy’s and Eleanor’s guilt is so, so well described), and it uses the most straightforward of vocabulary and phrasing to evoke the numinous with incredible vividness, without ever pinning itself down to any one faith. “This party of four is hereby declared free citizens of day and night, and of the top and the bottom of the infinite firmament, and it shall therefore be accorded all the rights and privileges belonging thereunto.”
・laireshi reminded me that the Chopin Competition is happening now, and so I’ve been listening to Chopin all week. I don’t have a very good ear for distinguishing between pianists, just occasional moments of “wait, no, why would you pick that phrasing” or “ooh that’s nice, that’s just how I like it,” but it’s an education. They also interviewed a previous winner, my pianist-crush Seong-Jin Cho, who just seems like a very low-key, likable, thoughtful guy as well as a stunning musician. I liked this idea of interpretation, with regard to writing etc. as well:
E.B.: What is your attitude to Chopin’s music today? Has it changed in the six years since the Chopin Competition?
S.J.C.: I think, I haven’t tried to change my interpretation, but with interpreting music it is like with a face: you don’t recognise that you’re getting older, but other people tell you, that ‘Oh, you’re changing’. I didn’t intend to get old, but it is what it is... It is the same with an interpretation.
And (reposted from elsewhere because it still makes me laugh), this Z1L-esque earnest missing the point:
E.B.: If you could advise or wish something for the young pianists who are participating in this Chopin Competition, what would you say to them?
S.J.C.: I’m still a young pianist, I could participate again. I don’t have any such advice for my colleagues, but Warsaw in October was colder than I expected and I was a little dismayed at the beginning. So it may be a good idea to take many warm clothes for such cold weather.
[Is this entry annoying to read in terms of length, by the way? Let me know if I should put in a cut somewhere.]
Photos:
Be safe and well.
no subject
Date: 2021-10-08 05:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-10-09 08:43 am (UTC)And omigod, I have never met or heard of anyone else who has read Paper Chains, which I ADORE! Right on.
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Date: 2021-10-08 07:59 am (UTC)Hee, love that litlte portrait of the kid visiting the orchestra! If you ever need to write any kidfic, you've got a scene all made up. And the advice to take warm clothes is just adorable, as you say, Z1L-esque, but also practical! I think a question like that is very hard to answer in the abstract, anyway.
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Date: 2021-10-09 08:48 am (UTC)Yes, true! It's a more useful (and cuter) answer than "I hope everyone can do honor to the spirit of Chopin" or something like that, which they can think of on their own anyway.
<3 <3
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Date: 2021-10-08 09:46 am (UTC)And oooh, pics! ♥! They're so evocative. *stares for a while*
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Date: 2021-10-09 08:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-10-08 11:31 am (UTC)And your post length is fine! :)
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Date: 2021-10-09 08:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-10-09 11:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-10-09 10:53 pm (UTC)That's an interesting point! I've been thinking it over. For me, because Wang Shi'an does some genuinely unforgivable things in a setting which is (or feels) more historically "real" than that of the other dramas I know from, I feel weird about using "liking" this way. (I mean, MDZS Jiang Cheng does some pretty horrible things and I have no qualms whatsoever about being very fond of him; fantasy-ancient-China and fictional-1940s-China seem to hit differently for me.) I think it's probably a your-mileage-may-vary thing, and I'll be very curious to see how he strikes you when you watch the drama.
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Date: 2021-10-08 01:32 pm (UTC)Thank you for the heads-up about the Chopin competition. I bet my co-worker would be interested (if they don't already know about it).
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Date: 2021-10-09 08:51 am (UTC)Seriously! You included. I gotta be better.
Thank you for the heads-up about the Chopin competition.
Thank laire, she reminded me! I hope your coworker enjoys listening.
no subject
Date: 2021-10-08 03:09 pm (UTC)You might have some luck with a request for Huo Daofu, at least. I know several people who found him very intriguing in LTR.
Your post length are totally fine, I think. Certainly doesn't bother me!
no subject
Date: 2021-10-09 09:00 am (UTC)You and the rest of the orchestra, believe me ;)
You might have some luck with a request for Huo Daofu, at least.
There is surprisingly little Huo Daofu-centric fic, given that as you say people seem quite interested in him! I think I'll throw a request out there and see what happens.
no subject
Date: 2021-10-08 03:50 pm (UTC)I mean, that's exactly the sort of thing Yuletide is for!
(And your post length is not annoying at all! ♥)
no subject
Date: 2021-10-09 09:00 am (UTC)You have a point! (Either that or bite the bullet and write the damn fic myself, but oh dear.)
<3
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Date: 2021-10-08 05:54 pm (UTC)I've never heard of the Langton book and am very intrigued.
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Date: 2021-10-09 09:07 am (UTC)I think you might like the Langton book! As noted in other comments here, it's actually #3 in quite a long series (although the ones I really like are #1 through #3); if you have a chance to come across them, let me know what you think.
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Date: 2021-10-08 06:02 pm (UTC)E.B.: If you could advise or wish something for the young pianists who are participating in this Chopin Competition, what would you say to them?
S.J.C.: I’m still a young pianist, I could participate again. I don’t have any such advice for my colleagues, but Warsaw in October was colder than I expected and I was a little dismayed at the beginning. So it may be a good idea to take many warm clothes for such cold weather.
LOL, it's so cute. But also, he's right - October in Poland can be very cold. Sometimes it can even snow in October. :D
And I have a pianist crush, who won Chopin Piano Competition (in 2005), too. It's Polish pianist Rafał Blechacz. He is so talented.
And I don't mind the post length. It doesn't need a cut IMO.
no subject
Date: 2021-10-09 09:11 am (UTC)Maybe I will move to Poland. It was 30 degrees Celsius here today...
And I have a pianist crush, who won Chopin Piano Competition (in 2005), too. It's Polish pianist Rafał Blechacz. He is so talented.
You are in good company then! From the same interview:
S.J.C.: ...I’ve dreamed about participating in the Chopin Competition since I was a child. I was a huge fan of Rafał Blechacz when I was eleven years old.
I'll look up Blechacz!
no subject
Date: 2021-10-08 06:34 pm (UTC)I have no formal music education at all -- I just go "ohhh, I like this one!" at some performers :)
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Date: 2021-10-09 09:12 am (UTC)I just go "ohhh, I like this one!" at some performers :)
Works for me! Your ears clearly know what they are doing.
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Date: 2021-10-08 08:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-10-09 09:13 am (UTC)Oh, you have a treat coming! The Diamond in the Window is the first in quite a long series. I really like the first three (The Astonishing Stereotype is #3), but there are plenty others too.
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Date: 2021-10-10 02:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-10-10 10:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-10-11 12:04 am (UTC)It is! I also have this one. *^^*
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Date: 2021-10-11 12:27 am (UTC)(I love Shizuku and Seiji, but I also quote Yuko-chan every summer when I get freckly in the sun: "You made me wait outside for so long! I'm gonna have so many freckles now!" lol.)
no subject
Date: 2021-10-10 09:14 am (UTC)That's what Yuletide is for! \o/
The Astonishing Stereoscope, which has to be one of the most, well, astonishing children’s books about religion ever written.
Oh, I don't know it! I should check it out. (The excerpts don't sound very child-like at all, so that's a plus.)
Is this entry annoying to read in terms of length, by the way? Let me know if I should put in a cut somewhere.
No.
I didn't feel like this entry was longer than your usual ones? They all seem fine. <3 (Of course, marketing tells me that spreading your content out to more and shorter posts will get you more interaction and more "followers", but that doesn't mean I want to do that. I'm happy to stay as far away from twitter as possible, not only in practice, but also post-structure-wise.)
I love the angles and combination of man-built structure and nature in the first two photos. And fruit! I've never seen kaki, it looks like oranges to me. :D
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Date: 2021-10-10 10:50 am (UTC)It's #3 in quite a long series, so if you find it and like it you'll have plenty to read! I guess they'd be called middle-grade now, chapter books/short novels as opposed to, like, picture books.
I didn't feel like this entry was longer than your usual ones? They all seem fine. <3
<3 (I read my f-list with cuts automatically open, on a computer, so I never know what other people are doing this way. Usually I add a cut or two for long paragraphs just in case...)
I love the angles and combination of man-built structure and nature in the first two photos. And fruit! I've never seen kaki, it looks like oranges to me. :D
Lovely description! Very much what I love about city living. lol, the first time I saw kaki for sale I thought "why are those tomatoes orange?".
no subject
Date: 2021-10-10 04:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-10-11 12:26 am (UTC)