What to Listen for in the World

I thought this article was very cool, because I was able to relate it to what Paul talked about in class today. How they say composition and music are thought of very differently, in the sense that in class today, Paul asked about 4 or 5 people what they thought his symbol meant, and each person had a very different sound. As soon as I read the part about "understanding" it just made me think of that; how we all understand the same thing in many different ways.

Also, I believe that you have to believe in yourself to do something. If you quit believing, you will not succeed. Just as Yo-Yo-Ma did. He read the piece, played the piece PERFECTLY, then once the author pointed out the "impossible" part in it, he began to play it again and was stopped at the "impossible" part and wasn't able to do it anymore. Because he stopped and realized that for a split second, his fingers were uncomfortable, he couldn't do it anymore.

Paul Elwood

I thought today was an interesting class period. Paul was a pretty good speaker. I really enjoyed listening to his music; it almost reminded me of like African or Indian music, the kind where the snake slithers up through the top of the basket and the musician is usually playing a flute. Even though it was a banjo, the beginning of the music before he started to sing and all reminded me of that. But other than that, he talked about many famous composers; some that he knew, some he was able to trace back to, and others just in general. It sounds like he has been all over the world; Moscow, Russia, many different states in the U.S., and he will be going to Africa sometime soon too. He has been composing for about 30 years or a little more. He had a very good activity to try to teach us a little bit more about composing and how to come about it and have an open mind. He knew a lot about what he was talking about and is a very good banjo player.

The Lives of Others

This movie is AWESOME! I loved this movie, I saw it fall semester for one of my German classes during the German International Film Series and I thought it was so cool. It is just so interesting and sad, the things that they did during the separation of East and West Germany. How the Stasi bugged peoples' homes and spied on them for months and even years in this case. I felt bad for Christa because she thought she was ratting her husband out, but really Wiesler hid it and "saved" Georg. One of my favorite parts was when Georg said, "I'm sorry." to Christa and she didn't know what he was talking about and really he was talking about getting her into all of this mess. I think Wiesler, like we mentioned in class, didn't know what passion and love was until he was spying on this couple and then he felt it and didn't want to ruin what they had and so he began to cover some of their flaws and things that could have gotten them in trouble with the Stasi. My most favorite part was at the end when he went into the book store and opened up the book and saw it was dedicated to him. I thought that was so awesome!

The Composer and His Message

Basically, I think that music is a way for expressing one's emotions or feelings. I think that many musicians these days write songs and sing songs that have to do with the personal lives, especially the past. Those are the songs I find the most intriguing because it's like you get a back stage pass into their past, and sometimes even their present. So I find that composer's write for themselves a lot, and not for their fans. Although, some do write just for the fans, I believe the best music comes from their heart. So, I do agree, that composition, if you are writing for yourself, can be one of the simplest things in the world. But if you are writing for somebody else, or your fans, it can be much tougher.

My favorite part of this little article was the very last line written in German saying, "Emotion is fit only for women-for man, music must strike fire from his mind." I thought that was very cool because women are much more emotional then men, most of the time. And for men, a lot of times they just go at whatever they are doing with all their heart and all their strength. So that is what I made from that last sentence.

Improv Sketch

CORE:

Character-my character's name is Escalia (or something; French eviqualent of "stairs"). She is one of three wives to Mr. H.

Objective-the objective of my character is to kill her husband and inherit his vast fortune. Though, none of the three wives knows whose name is written on the will, so they all try to kill him in their own ways. The secret we hide is that no one else knows that the others are trying to kill Mr. H too. (WE ALL WANT THE MONEY)

Relationship-I am married to Mr. H and he is also married to two other women and we all live in the same house.

Environment-in the den/tea party room of Mr. H's great big mansion.