Wanderlust

I went to a TSO concert tonight, during which they performed the orchestral version of Brahms’s piano quartet no.1, op.25, transcribed by Schoenberg. I enjoyed reading the program notes on this piece, just thought to share it here.

Listeners with open ears should enjoy this creative transcription immensely. In it Schoenberg, who was intimately familiar with Brahms’s style, paid his ideol sincere and stylistically appropriate homage. This is how he explained his reasons for creating it:

1. I like the piece.

2. It is seldom played.

3. It is always  very badly played, because the better the pianist, the louder he plays and you hear nothing from the strings. I wanted once to hear everything, and this I achieved.

I

Backdrop of the sky is the infinite blue, like the clear glass, such sweet purity. Golden leaves kissed by the sun and the grandiose warmth of autumn, dancing, flaunting in the air.

That is all I see. My heart has lept with the leaves.

In that shade of gold and blue is all the colours of the fall,  all the happiness of the immense desolation.

II

Light has decided to envelop the mist, the mist embraces the light.

I live under the magical clouds of glittering, spotless rays of incense, the incense breathes of the limitless of time.

III

A little boy kneels in his cart, resting his head on his hands, wide-eyed and outworn.

I loved his eye-lashes, butterflies they are.

Though what lives under the wings of the butterflies,

Of a little boy?

VI

Night.

The raindrops wet everything in the womb of the soul.

I walk, and I see, with a sudden beam lent by a passing car, the golden leaves on the ground, so many, wet and silent.

The golden leaves? Or are they infinitely blue.

You know, sometimes when someone comes into your life, you feel like neither you nor your life can ever be the same again.

Our trio had a great experience playing the Beethoven triple concerto, and now the next goal is clear and near. Ms.O’s words had given me so much encouragement because I take so much faith in her. She said, just give it all you have.

Perhaps I feel like my year has just begun. And it is back to that all, or nothing again.

Tonight, the stars are especially bright.

Tonight, as I was dragging my fatigued body out of the school building, I saw the janitor. And as usual, I said hi, and as I was waiting for a friend, the janitor and I started talking.

Hi! How are you? He said. I’m reeaaally tired, I replied. Not having any moment to sit down and do nothing from 8am to 11pm makes me feel as heavy as lead.  So … eleven hours of work eh? I work twenty hours, and sleep only four hours. He said, and laughed. Wow, why is that? I was shocked.Well, I work this job, and another one at the electricity company; my wife was diagnosed with cancer two years ago… and I’ve got two boys, they need to buy stuff for school. Life is tough.

Life is tough.

Tonight, before I end a day of endless work, I’d like to dedicated a moment of prayer to people like this out there.

This is a pair of oxfords I found on taobao.com screams: have me!

So, since when have I started liking oxfords? I’m not sure. Though I do currently own a pair of spectator oxfords made by Le Chateau (possibly patent leather? I’m not sure. I got it from Goodwill for $5 and I’m enjoying every cent of it) I remember this past summer at Banff, this Russian violinist from a quartet who owned a pair of vintage-looking I-don’t-know-what-you-call-it shoes that resembled something like this:

She was a tiny skinny girl, who would wear these vintage looking shoes without socks and with capris pants showing off the part of pale skin. I loved it. They say you can tell a person’s personality by looking at this person’s shoes, I have to agree (though maybe not in this case with the Russian girl, since I didn’t get to talk to her much; but I guess at least I got a sense of her personality from her music-making).

What about a pair of white wingtip oxfords?

I think if I see a woman with a pair on the street randomly, I would walk up to her and make friends.