June 17, 2005 at 7:13 AM

Did I mention that we have a lot of fun at this camp? It's late so this post will be brief, but tonight was a fun-filled evening. We had a lot of good events today that I will probably write about later in more detail--a group session with a music psychologist, and a seminar with Steve Dann on the orchestral world. Then we watched the National Arts Center Orchestra concert with the Beethoven Septet and Beethoven 9. That put me in very good spirits, and I was particularly excited that this was the first time I could follow along with the last movement in German and really feel the power of some of the words, like the huge chord on "vor Gott"--just before the almost comical Turkish music begins. Also, in general ever since reading the Heiligenstadt Testament in music history class, I have had so much more awe and respect for what Beethoven has done. Seeing how much he wallowed in the depths of despair over his deafness, it is simply miraculous that he could have written such a symphony of joy. Whether or not one is religious, the power of the music and Schiller's text is unmistakable.

After the concert, we hung out--my room has become a popular place for a few people to check their email--and I spent a lot of time with my roommate Carolyn and with Adrian Anantawan, whom I met here last year. He has a ton of old school recordings that he loves listening to and loaned me some. We also listened to recordings of ourselves, and of course were as self-critical as ever--I very much would like to burn some of his stuff to my computer, but he doesn't think it's good enough and won't allow it. It was simply hilarious to see him cringe and cover his ears as we heard literally perfect octaves! Despite this, I think we both have fairly healthy senses of self most of the time. It is certainly a hard persepective to keep, but there's a lot to be said for awareness both of one's limitations and potential--it takes constant reflection to know both your beauty and your flaws.

June 17, 2005 at 7:13 AM

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