Mozart k279: simplicity is the best

This is the piece I have recently been playing.

k279 is the first sonata among the 18 sonatas Mozart composed, and, just like J.S. Bach's two books of WTC, it is arranged in the key of C major; bright, delightful, and full of hope.

Harmonically, the 3-movement sonata reveals the pure, simple structure by staying in the close-related keys, e.g. G major, g minor, F major. Alrite, now you might ask, if so, isn't it very "boring"??!

Not if you find out how genius Mozart creates the shifts of various figures and articulations within short paragraphs.

1. A grand introduction:

2. The development of the motive through sequences:

C-E-C#-D D-F-D#-E

G-Bb-G#-A A-F-F#-G

3. The extension of the cadence through changes of articulation, harmony, and sequences.

4. The modification from the opening phrase in the second subject.

In the opening phrase, the 16th-note phrase is heading toward higher register, while in the second subject, the phrase becomes the scale down.

5. The gorgeous sequential and melodic writing.

and a fancy sequential passage after resolving to the tonic !

Ever, Forever

"Up" and Ravel

What can the Pixart movie "Up" connect to Ravel Piano Concerto??

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The monologue music in the movie "Up" instantly reminded me the 2nd movement of Ravel Piano Concerto in G major.

The atmosphere of melancholy, while the old man realized that he never made the dream of going to Paradise Fall come true, and while he was reading the Adventure Book belonging to his beloved wife, eventually, he was conscious of the fact that....her dream was no longer going to Paradise Fall long time ago, it has been living a happy life with him.

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Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major was composed during 1929-31, after his tour to US. There Ravel was heavily influenced by what was fashioned- Jazz Music, including the harmonies and jazz vocabularies.

If you are interested in other Ravel's compositions with jazz elements, check his Sonata for Violin and Piano, and his one-act opera L'enfant et les sortilèges (1925).

For more information, check this.

Here and There

How do we define different periods in life?

by place?

by certain event ?

or by someone?

Memory Assembling

How long does it take to assemble memories together?

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puzzle 1:Months ago, a friend took me to a local shoes shop which I loved very much, rarely high quality and genuine leather can be found elsewhere. Sadly, I was never able to find the shop afterwards, and my stupid ego/ laziness also stopped me from asking my friend where exactly it is...

puzzle 2: I had my very first fresh fruit salad and water-boiled only pasta in a shopping mall @ lisbon, where I definitely thought it is impossible to find it on this island. Weeks after, one day I was walking around the city center area, starved and tired, AND, HERE IT IS! The salad shop is right in front of me!

puzzle 3: There is this famous pastry shop in the very center of center in the city where we always wanna go and taste the food, unfortunately, center of center also implies how difficult to find a parking lot, after 5 rounds of driving in the center area, we gave up.

puzzle 4: Recently I have been practicing in this music school in the city, and after getting off the bus, I need to go through the main streets where lots of restaurants and shops locate.

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After all, it took me two months to know....

Pastry shop, Salad shop, and Shoe shop is right next to each other, unfortunate to me, that street happens to be right at the curve point , where you can't see three shops in one straight line.

Bartok and being John Malkovich

Being John Malkovich (1999) is a movie written by Charlie Kaufman, who also wrote "Adaptation" in 2002 and "Synedoch, New York" in 2008.

The story describes a puppeteer, Craig Schwartz (John Cusack), saw a recruitment on the newspaper and went for a company where is located on the seven and half floor.

One day, Craig found a secret way in the file room where goes to the mind of John Malkovich, a famous actor.

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In the film, at the very beginning scene, Craig was manipulating a puppet on the stage in a big theater with Blue velvet curtain. Apparently the story was right on the way to its climax, the puppet seemed to think he was a real person, until he found out someone was actually controlling him. The puppet looked up, and at this moment, he saw Craig! The puppet then broke down, his body collapsed on the floor. He filled with anger, smashed his fists on the mirror...

Music from Bartok Concerto for Orchestra, Allegro perfectly created the atmospheres of anxiety, anger, panic, and shock. Strong Rhythmic Motif is remarkable in Bartok's music, and it articulated the introduction scene of Being John Malkovich.

Exotic: Yamato-e v.s. Eiffel Tower

How often do we have the exotic feelings?

The word "exotic" always reminds me Debussy, a significant French composer, who went to Paris Exposition Universelle (1889), and the impact from there changed his musical style, moving from the influence of Richard Wagner to Eastern element music.

In fact, the most important symbol in this exhibition was the brand-new Eiffel Tower, which served as the entrance in the event.

In there, Debussy was introduced to Gamelan music from Java, where is part of Indonisia. The special pantatonic scale effects inspired him, thus created the impressionistic music.

What about Impressionism in Art?

That was even back then, in Exposition Universelle (1867), japanese woodcut prints (Yamato-e) appeared in Paris, artist like Van Gogh was deeply influenced by its strong contrast in color, the unconstraint from traditional space and three-dimensional perspectives.