Rondeau ~Third Movement~

                                                                  Rondeau

4 days before concour (the last day of registrating the piece’s choice)

*in the hall before the music rooms*

                I wonder if there is someone that can be asked about this song, I can get the feeling but I haven’t got the grip of aura yet, Kaori mumbling. Suddenly… “

Maybe I can help?” said an anonymous voice.

 “Who?” shouted Kaori.

“Whoa, you don’t have to be like one of those horror movies victims, it’s just me.” Said Jocelynn from one of the music room.

 “Ohh, it’s you.. Ehh, do you really mean it?” said Kaori.

“Of course,I do. What? Are you expecting something like I’m actually a yandere and ready to stab you or attack you randomly?” replied Kaori.

“…. Yandere? You know such words? Are you a fan of anime?” said Kaori.

“Oh, yes. From shonen to shoujo. Action, drama, romance, even supernatural and tragedy genre.” Replied Jocelynn.

“Whoa, I thought… someone like you would just like opera or a theater… or something that is NOT like manga or anime.” Said Kaori.

“Ohh, I love all of them, Opera to theater. I love all of them. Besides I’m living in Japan, so I’m supposed to learn the culture, right? Besides I love all of those act-related things. Altough it’s an animation.” Said Jocelynn.

“So, back to the topic. Can you help me? You are an expert on things like opera, right?” said Kaori.

“Hmm.. So you are going to perform L'amour est un oiseau rebelle from Carmen right? Uhm, in my opinion if you want to play this one that bad. Why don’t you just play the “Habanera” part from Sarasate’s Carmen Fantasy?” said Jocelynn.

“Eh? What? It is the same?” asked Kaori.

“It is. It seems you are really never get into classical music at all, right?” said Jocelynn.

“Ah, yes. I’m a complete amateur!” said Kaori.

“You are so proud of yourself haha, by the way. Let us see if the dorm’s library has the piece book.” Said Jocelynn. “C’mon!”

“Ahh, yes!” both of them are going to the library.

*in library*

“I got it! ^^ here!” said Jocelynn.

“Oh, let me see, let me see! :D” said Kaori….. “Harder than this…” after Kaori opened the piece.

“But, I’m pretty sure you can play it. For an ordinary amteur to be in here. You must be a REAL genius. Now now, don’t think me as a yandere that use sarcasm all over the place.” Said Jocelynn.

“Well, then. Ehm if only Tomoka is here, so there is someone who can play the Piano.” Said Kaori.

“I can do that for you.”

“Ah Charles, you are looking for a piece too?” asked Jocelynn.

“Ah, no. I actually want to look for a piece that I’m going to play for the second week.” Said Charles.

*really? He is already thinking about the second week, heck even the second theme has not been announced yet.* Kaori mumbling in her mind.

“So, then.. Habanera from Sarasate’s Carmen Fantasy right? Well, let’s do it then. C’mon Kao-chan.” Said Charles

*Kao-chan? Please don’t add another weird name -_-“ *

~Carmen Fantasy – I “Habanera”~

*weird, I actually enjoyed playing this one more than the actual version of Habanera. This one has more swag and sounds better. Plus, I have mastered the actual habanera. So…*

“Ehhh.. ohh.. it’s a bit different. Let me try it one more time.” Said Kaori.

“Well, I guess that’s all for today.” Charles left the Piano like a boss.

“WAIT! WE HAVE NOT FINISHED. Oh well.” Said Kaori *cue an anime screeching screams*

“Let’s continue with me, then.” Said Tomoka from outside the room.

“Tomokaaa-saan~~~” shouted Kaori

“I actually listened to your performance, haha you are really an amateur. Hey, don’t you know that this piece is an international standard piece for concour. And you gave it a decent performance. I think I underestimated you a bit.” Said Tomoka.

“Eh? Is it really that hard? I thought this was more like an “improved” version of the ordinary one?”said Kaori.

“*sigh* you are really a genius, to be honest I can not even play some part of the piece eventhough I have mastered Habanera with my violin” said Jocelynn.

“By the way, have you asked the judges to change your piece. Today is the deadline.” Said Tomoka.

“Don’t worry, I have everything under control.” Said Maria Ohka from the second floor of the library.

“Maria-sama?” said Jocelynn.

“Yes, your rendition is superb. Why? This is the first time you played it, and you only made some unnoticeable mistake, but I’m sure the more you play, the better you can perform. I don’t even care for that Tetsuya-brat for making you have a miserable life. Besides I am the one who is in charge with the piece registration. Hahaha.” Said Maria Ohka

“What’s wrong, I want to listen to your practice again.” Said Maria Ohka.

“Yes!” said Kaori.

~playing Carmen Fantasy I- Habanera~

“Good, good!” said Maria Ohka.

“But, I can not still get Carmen into my performance. It looks like I can’t have her swag when she flirted with the guys.” Said Kaori.

“Jocelynn. You are actually majoring in vocal right? Sing me the Habanera.” Said Maria Ohka.

“Yes, but really? Right now?” said Jocelynn.

“Yes of course.” Said Maria Ohka.

~singing the Habanera from Carmen~

*note : this convo is happening in the middle of the song*

“That’s it. Kaori-san take a look. Can you see the swag? You should just imagine there are many brats around you lurking around, but you don’t afraid in fact you want to get ALL OF their hearts. Give up your pride and flirts with them. You are hungry of love. That’s the swag of Carmen can make you turn into a bitch who is ready to catch your guy. Get it?” Explained Maria Ohka.

“Hungry of love, eh? And is it safe to say that Carmen also reflecting the spirit of freedom? The freedom of love. The feeling that all you want is Love right now.” Said Kaori.

“Good one, that is what your performance should be.” Said Maria Ohka

“Great, Jocelynn. It looks like you have not lost your vocal technique even after 2 years of hiatus” said Maria Ohka.

“Thank you so much, but I am not in hiatus. I have given up in vocal major.” Said Jocelynn.

“Oh you have?  I pity you. By the way Kaori-san keep practicing and get the swag! I’m looking forward for your performance. Ciao!” Maria Ohka left the library.

“I’m sorry, but I must leave right now. But, then you have known Carmen’s swag. I bet you can perform way better than that. Adieu” said Jocelynn.

“It looks like there is something bitter between Maria-sama and Jocelynn-san” said Tomoka.

“Of course there is. But then, what can we do now? We still have not known each other well.” Said Kaori.

“Let’s continue the practice then” said Tomoka.

"Tomoka, san.. I'm wondering... Why did many people here use french so much" said Kaori.

"Ehh...."

And then, they continued to practice. Since I want to make it fast. Next Chapter is the first concour performance ^^

Classical corner

Carmen Fantasy – Pablo de Sarasate (spain)

Hello! ^^ welcome to another edition of Classical Corner. In this edition I want to talk about Pablo de Sarasate’s “Carmen Fantasy”. Well it looks like if you have read the story. We can conclude that Carmen Fantasy is actually an international standard of violin competition. Well, it is a very hard piece, considering the composer. Sarasate is also the one who composed  Zigeunerweisen. You guys who have listened to this piece should have amazed of how crazy the composer is. The same thing also came out from my mind when I first listened to Carmen Fantasy. At first, I did not listen the piece from the overture, I listened it from the Gypsy Dance part (which is Chanson Boheme in the original opera Carmen) in a second I was amazed. Really. And Sarah Chang’s rendition literally blew me up.

Like our heroine said, this piece is more like an “improvised” piece of “Carmen” notable-pieces.  That’s true, since the motive and the melody don’t change at all. In my ears, I can notice that tempo is somewhat different from the original piece, and of course since it is for violin solo, there are parts which somehow are more difficult. Oh FYI I have talked about Habanera in the previous edition ^^

                            skip to 0:59 to listen to Carmen Fantasy version of "Habanera"

            skip to 0:36 to listen to Carmen Fantasy version of "Chanson Boheme" (Gypsy dance)

                                                

Rondeau - Second Movement

    Rondeau

So then our Kaori passed the audition and went to the final 8 (the judges’ reason can be read on the previous chapter :D ). Okay, so in order to make concour more better, the national TV set an ala training camp-style preparation. So the contestants (including our Kaori) are living in a dorm now. So before the dorm session starts there is an introduction session. Well then I’ll introduce them monologuely.

1.)    Hana Mori (花森)

From : Hokkaido, Girls’ Hokkaido state school

Instrument : Flute

2.)    Jocelynn Nanamura (七村  ジョセリン)

From : Tokyo, International Japan-England High School

Instrument : Violin

3.)    Takahasi Hirahara (平原 隆端)

From : Okinawa, Military Academy

Instrument : Trumpet

4.)    Tomoka Nakagawa (中川ともか)

From : Osaka,  Lily Catholic Missionary School

Instrument : Cello.

5.)    Daichi Sakaki (榊　大地)

From : Tokyo, Hadena Boys’ school

Instrument : Clarinet

6.)    Charles Homura (チャルレス　ほむら)

From : Tokyo, International Japan-England High School

Instrument : Piano

7.)     Sorimachi Sora  (反町空)

From : Osaka, Aosora Private school.

Instrument : Violin

8.)    Kaori Himegawa (薫理　秘め側)

From : Narita, Sakuragaoka public school

Instrument : Violin.

Well, after the introduction, the finalists choose their dorm via lucky draw. Our heroine is in the same dorm as Tomoka Nakagawa. Oh and don’t expect “Boys-meet-girls” dorm here. Since girls dorm area is separated from men >:D

After unpacking her belongings, Kaori shyly introduced herself to Tomoka. “Ehh, I’m Kaori Himegawa from Narita, majoring in Violin. Nice too meet you.” Tomoka replied “Oh, so you are that unexpected contestant from Narita? Nice to meet you, I’m Tomoka, from Osaka, majoring in Cello.” (expect a ^_^ emoticon from her).  Kaori whispered “So, even before the show starts, I already have such reputation.”… “Yes, you are ^_^” said Tomoka nicely. Kaori gasping and blushing like a red shrimp.  “I heard that you are actually a jazz amateur violinist, without knowing a single thing about classical music, and want to be here simply because of your consideration that this contest is a stepping stone for your pro career, I could not believe it at first, but after seeing your attitude just now, I believe it ^_^” said Tomoka. “Ehh, yeah, um.. well we are a roommate.. would you mind teach me anything about classical music, since you know..” said Kaori. “Of course, why not?” Tomoka answered (expect another ^_^ emoticon from her). “I bet the competition will be tough, especially with someone like you joining.” Said Tomoka. “Ah, should I take it as a compliment or consider it as sarcasm -_-“ said Kaori. “No, I’m complimenting you, really.” Said Tomoka with a serious face. “Well, the rules about the concour will be announced after the dinner, I’m expecting a new rules, since the last four years of concour have dropped the ratings. I bet they want to make this year’s going to be better.” Explained Tomoka.

“Well, ladies and Gentlemen. I’m Anna Martanikova will explain about the rules of this year’s concour. But firstly, I would like to know whether the foods we prepared are good enough or not. So are they match to ye taste?” said a young lady named Anna Martanikova. “OH YES, IT IS VERY GOOD, IT’S LIKE ONCE IN A LIFETIME.” Said our light headed Kaori. Yep, in a second a burst of laughter filled a whole room. Anna nervously (while holding laugh) replied “Well, Good for you! It’s  a pleasure”. “Ahem, now… After we heard an honest confession from our sweet Kaori, let’s move to the rules. Okay, so we are not going to do an elimination system like the rumors said, we are still keeping the same system, but…. With the strict judges we have now, we are changing the system. Now Judges should give a score based on the performance. Maria Ohka-san will give a score based on your song choice, Tetsuya-san will give a score based on your technique while Lucio-sama will judge your interpretation. The score’s scale is from 1-10, which means the best score per performance is 30. The winner is determined after 5 weeks of performances. We will cumulate your total scores,and the highest one will win.” Explained Anna.  “Uhm, I have a question. How about if in the finals, there are two highest total scores?” asked Jocelynn. “If that’s the case, we will cast a vote to the audiences.” Anna replied. “It looks like there are no questions anymore. Well then, it’s time for the theme, since it’s the beginning. The theme is always “The Beginning.” Explained Anna. Maria Ohka then explained more about the theme. “It is fine to choose any piece as long as it fits the theme, eventhough the piece sounds not related, won’t be a problem if your intrepetation is good.” Explained Maria. “Okay, then you will have 3 days from now to determine your piece. If you submit your choice after it, you will be disqualified from the first round and automatically get a 0.” Explained Maria more.

“Ha… I can’t decide which piece is I’m going to perform, I’m still a classical beginner.” Kaori is sighing. “Well, let’s think about it tomorrow, hee-hee I actually have decided the piece that I want to perform.” Said Tomoka. “Really? Well, can you suggest one for me?” asked Kaori. “I can’t darling, if you don’t feel the soul, if you can’t mix yourself with the piece, eventhou it’s a great one, it will be bland.” Explaind Tomoka. “Ahh, yes. Well, let’s sleep then, good night.”

So then, the training won’t be started before all of the finalist choose their piece to play. It’s D-1 now, and our heroine is still struggling about what piece she will perform. So she consults to one of the judges, but it looks like she choose the wrong person… “Ehm, so you want a suggestion of piece, eh?” said Tetsuya-san. “Oh yes, anything! Pleaseee” said Kaori. “How about this?” *handing a piece transcript*. “Habanera from Carmen¹?” Kaori looks confused. “Yep, it’s a great piece, it is a song about a new love, nice isn’t it?” said Tetsuya. “Okay, I’m trying to play it, please listen and correct me if i don’t play it right yes? :D” asked Kaori. *suddenly a bell rings, indicating that their training session is over*.. “Whoops, I guess you should try it at the training room or in your dorm since our time is over” said Tetsuya. “Okay, then. Thank you Tetsuya-sama!” said Kaori. Tetsuya the troll can only laugh from behind.

*in the dorm room*

“So, Kaori-san have you finally found the piece that you want perform?” asked Tomoka (expect another ^_^ emoticon).  “Ah yes, it’s a recommendation from Tetsuya-sama, it must be a great piece.” Said Kaori. “Ehmm,, Tomoka-san can you play the piano part for accompanying me play this piece?” asked Kaori. “Sure… Let’s see.. Ha..habanera? are you.. are you sure?” Tomoka asked. “uh-huh, since I don’t have any time left, this one is my choice. Besides, it is from Tetsuya-sama he must be very concerned about this.” Kaori answered. “Oh okay then.” Tomoka replied with a little laugh. Our heroine is started having a bad feeling about the piece.

*Tomoka-Kaori playing Habanera ("L'amour est un oiseau rebelle.) from Bizet’s  opera Carmen*

“…..why does this bad feeling scare me more after I play the piece.. I mean, the piece sounds like those sexual gypsy songs from a movie that I watched last month.”  Kaori mumbling in her heart while playing the piece…. “Oh my God, it really IS L” Kaori finally realized that this song is that “gypsy sex song” from a movie she watched last month. Suddenly she stops playing.

“What’s wrong? Is there any hard part there? Mind If I help?” asked Tomoka. “Eeh, no. I just… uhm Tomoka-san did you watch a movie named “The Troubadour”? When a gypsy started to dance, they play this piece, right?” asked Kaori. “Ohh, yes. Haha that’s why I asked you why do you choose Habanera ^_^” said Tomoka. “Ehh… but, but… I think I should change the piece that I picked.” Said Kaori. “But, then I think you should keep Habanera.” Said Tomoka. “WHYY?? I DON’T WANT TO LOOK LIKE THOSE GYPSY, MY IMAGE WILL BE RUINED ON THE FIRST PERFORMANCE, JEEZ THE MOVIE ITSELF IS SO FAMOUS THAT THERE’S A CHANCE THAT PEOPLE STILL REMEMBER IT :”( said Kaori. “But, again… I want to see how formidable my rival is, you know that if you pick an unrelated piece but your  interpretation is good, you can still have some plus point, right?” said Tomoka. “But……” Kaori sighing. “Don’t worry, I know someone like you can overcome this somehow ^_^” said Tomoka.

So our heroine is keep practicing. That night after the dinner, she wants to change her piece. But…. “I want to change the piece that I have submitted, Tetsuya-san.” Said Kaori. “Oh, you can’t.. you already submitted your choice.” Said Tetsuya. “But, isn’t it allowed to change the choice before the day?” asked Kaori. “No, you are an exception, I want to see how well you can pass a test from me ^_^” said Tetsuya. “On another note, I have asked the organizer to not allow you to change the song choice. Besides that sexy gypsy gimmick would be great for you” Said Tetsuya.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~~~~” Our heroine screamed like a maniac. She’s becoming the attention center (again) ^_^

Meanwhile, our naughty judge whisper “a gypsy costume, would be good for this piece’s interpretation.”

Classical corner :

Habanera (g. bizet)

“ L'amour est enfant de Bohême,

il n'a jamais, jamais connu de loi;

si tu ne m'aimes pas, je t'aime

si je t'aime, prends garde à toi! (Prends garde à toi!)”

“ Love is a gypsy's child,

it has never known the law;

if you love me not, then I love you;

if I love you, you'd best beware! (You'd best beware!)”

Etto, so I’m going to give a bit explanation about Habanera, well this piece is actually one of my first opera piece ^_^ it’s for a  mezzo-sopran and I’m a baritone, although both of them are the second voice in choir, the range is different, women will always have the longer range. So, shortly, I can’t sing this piece very well ^_^

            Well, as you guys can see, the lyric is about a gypsy who want to seduce the men in factory in Bizet’s most well-known opera “Carmen”. It’s in the act one.

            By the way Habanera itself is the most well-known piece in “Carmen”, along with its fantastic prelude (that sounds very flamboyant)

So, that’s the end of this edition of classical corner, I’m the writer with all of the respect for those who might be accidentally read this story say Goodbye ^^

                                     Carmen by Metropolia Opera New York

                         Carmen Prelude. This is actually one of my favourite classical piece ^^

Rondeau a Story about classical music - Movement 1

Err.. so my purpose of making this story is only for introducing Classical music :D

                Kaori Himegawa is an amateur violinist. Completely amateur, she never had a proper training with a music teacher before. But her talent is amazing, let’s see… she is also a street musician, she and her jazz band usually perform after school. Kaori herself is not a good student, since her aim is to be a pro violinist, but stranded in a usual public school -_-“ .

                Well, I think that’s the end of the introduction of this story’s main character. And no, I won’t make her looks like one of those “idiot and helpless” shoujo girl =))

Anyway, raise the curtain. This is the story! :D

                                                                    Rondeau

“So, here it is.. another annual national concour¹, eh?”, said the director of a National TV station. This story takes place in Japan, there is an annual national concour here (In my story dimension, since it is a classical-music story :D ).  “Of course, we still have a year before our contract with the sponsor end.” Said the secretary. “But, considering… well, the last 4 years’ concour…”, the director could not continue his sentence. “Well, the sponsors said the same thing too, if this year’s concour will end up like the last 4 years’, they will stop supporting the show.” It’s sad, I want to see more potential young boys and girls to be exposed”. “For this year, we are hiring a very strict talent scout for the concour.” Said the secretary. “Well, then.. I just hope that this year won’t be another mess like the last four year.”

So then, the new talent scouts (which also be the new judges :D ) are Tetsuya Sorimachi (25) a piano virtuoso². Maria Ohka (30) a coloratura³ opera singer and Sir. Lucio Armani a very famous conductor. These people are searching for those talented musicians with an audition. The system is the national TV spreads an invitation to every school in Japan. Music teachers from a school are the responsibles for picking the right students. After that the choosen students will be sent to the capital (Tokyo) for another audition until the final 8 students left.

Luckily our heroine (???) Kaori Himegawa is picked by her music teacher, is she the best on her school? NOT, it’s because she is the only student who can play a musical instrument in her school. Okay, readers must be imagining a small and stranded public school in a remote village, right? Okay, actually she and her band mates are choosen by the teacher, but only Kaori accept the invitation. Since she said that “This is my first step to be a pro violinist.” Well said Kaori, well said.

Oh and to her surprise, she is just realized that this concour is for classical music A WEEK before the audition. She is in a great panic state right now. “Ahh, what should I do!!?? I don’t know that it is for a classical music!” said Kaori. “You fool, that’s why I withdrew from the audition.” Said Yuuki his bandmate. “So do you want to give up?” asked Eri. “NO! this is my big step.. I just, I just don’t know what piece that I’m going to play.” Kaori answered sadly. “Well, my father actually has some of classical music recordings. I will lend it to you.” Said Eri. “Really? Thank you so much!” Kaori answered. “But do you really think, you can keep up with classical? Since we’re a jazz band, and you suddenly want to play one.” Said Yuuki. “I’m fine! Besides, to be a pro I must master all of those genre of music, right?” I will show you guys that I can.

After she listened to some of Eri’s father’s Classical CD. She picked a very simple piece. She picked English folk song’s named “Greensleeves”. “Eri-san please be my accompanist for the audition.” Said Kaori. “Ha? Do you pick a hard song, since the audition is this Wednesday.” Said Eri. “Well there are 3 days left, we should be hurry then :D” said Kaori Happily. Poor Eri doesn’t have any choice but to accept. Greensleeves itself in my opinion is not a quite hard piece to perform, the only question is.. well, if you take a look at wiki and other music source. Greensleeve’s lyric (because this is a song) doesn’t have an exact interpretation….. “Kaori-san so why do you choose this one?” asked Eri. “Hm? Well I’m a classical music beginner so that piece is the only piece that I can play so far”. Said Kaori. What a light-headed person -_-“

So, then the audition begin.. okay, since this is not an anime, and you guys might be imagining violinst and other musicians play a grandeur classical piece, we will just skip to Kaori’s turn. Surprisingly this girl doesn’t get nervous at all o_o . Kaori played the “Greensleeves” very well, and it seems somehow this piece is turned into a jazz tune. Maria-sama asked “Do you know what this song really means?”.  “I have no clue.” Kaori anwered. You guys who are classical music fans must be mad at this scene, surprisingly I’m not lol. So Sir Lucio asked another question “What is your aim then? If I may know, since you can resign if you are afraid to do the audition.” And then Kaori answered lightly “Oh, I want to be a pro violinist, and then I must have more experiences, I never experience Classical music before, so this might be a new step for me.” Tetsuya-sama could only laugh.  You guys might be predicting that Kaori won’t be pass the audition. Surprisingly she is. This is my story after all loll. Okay, I won’t leave this unexpected turn of event go into a mystery, this is not a “Higurashi 2.0”.

“This Kaori girl is very interesting.” Said Testuya-sama. “You would think something like that because she is a girl, right?” said Maria-sama. “Oh not like that Maria, I also think of the same thing. Like, I want to see her performance more.” Said Lucio. “You know what, from what I heard she is an amateur, her knowledge of classical music is very little and she improvised “Greensleeves” into a jazz tune is just…” Tetsuya answered, continued with a happy laugh. “It’s been a while since I saw your laugh, anyway I want to see her more. This girl is pass.” Said Lucio. “Me too.” Said Tetsuya. “To be honest, I disagree with you all, but I do sense something very unique. To my surprise I want her to continue to the main show too.” Said Maria.

Okay, so then Kaori passed the audition (effortlessly, you know what I mean lah). Like you guys might be predicted, her reaction is soo bubbly. “Be sure to watch me on TV right? 7 PM yeah” Kaori shouted it loudly. “Yeah, yeah of course, just don’t mess with being ranked last” said Yuuki. “Oh and thank you Eri-san for accompanying me, you’re definitely my luck charm.” Marked Kaori. “Ehh, I’m not really that fortunate but well, good luck. Play with your hearts, you have the skill, now the only thing left is how you can adapt to classical style. I’m sure you can do it.” Said Eri. “Yep, everyone, I’m going to my new step.”!

Foot note

¹ Concour is well, literally means a competition. The term of concour is usually found in a music competition.

²Virtuoso (from Italian virtuoso, Late Latin virtuosus, Latin virtus meaning: skill, manliness, excellence) is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability in the fine arts, at singing or playing a musical instrument.

³ Coloratura is The word is originally from Italian, literally meaning "coloring", and derives from the Latin word colorare ("to color"). When used in English, the term specifically refers to elaborate melody, particularly in vocal music and especially in operatic singing of the 18th and 19th centuries, withruns, trills, wide leaps, or similar virtuoso-like material. In other word, a vocal version of Virtuoso above.