Orchestra Concert

Last night The University Orchestra (of which I am a member) had its' concert. And it was AWESOME!!! This is probably my last sememster in orchestra and I tell you we went out with a bang. I'll tell you about the pieces and which ones were my favorite.

We started out on the right Foote... Ha ha ha! Just a little joke. Okay, I'll explain it. Our first piece was Air and Gavotte by Arthur Foote. (hence the pun...it's lame I know).
Air--very pretty and slow.
Gavotte--passionate, fun, angry, with a bouncy middle part.

Next piece Little Suite by Carl Nielsen (He's Danish--can you tell by the Picture?) (two student conductors for this piece)
At one point while we were practicing this piece I said to my stand partner (and very good friend Anna) "the composer must have been a cellist" "or really liked cellos" she added. Because this whole piece had many parts featuring the cello. We had a solo in each movement, which was fun. They were fun to play, but not my favorite of the pieces, but still fun.

Merrill Jenson is the composer of the next piece (he is a famous LDS composer). It was a composition that used 3 melodies of hymns to form the basis of this (kinda crazy/sonata form) piece. He even came and conducted it for us! It was a difficult song but we pulled it off. This also I didn't care much for. It seemed...a little frantic and went through too many keys in too short a time. But there were some really cool parts and it was satisfying to conquer such a challenging piece.

Forth piece is my favorite. (He's pretty handsome...) Ralph (pronounced Rayfe) Vaughn Williams' Concerto Grosso for String Orchestra. AMAZING. A Concerto Grosso is basically an Orchestra accompanying a smaller orchestra who has the solo part or "concertino." I was lucky enough to play the concertino along with 3 other cellists. So only four cellists playing the hard part (and often we split into 2 parts so there were only 2 of us playing one part! so exhilirating!) I'll have to do a play by play on all the movements.

Intrada-- My favorite. So powerful. Polyphonic (many voices), complex, and deep. I actually cried one day playing it.

Burlesca Ostinata-- Really fun. fast and challenging. a lot of tempo changes, which are always difficult.

Sarabande-- So heart wrenching and powerful. I felt I was ripping part of my heart out everytime I played it(sorry for the drama).

Scherzo-- literally means "joke" and it was very... almost schizophrenic (hmm..scherzo..schizo...) But I really loved it. It was really cool for its' weird ness. especially the last chord. because it seems like we're building up for a huge minor bang ending, but the song just breaks and then we come in with a soft major chord. kinda like saying "haha! Just kidding!" It was awesome.

March and Reprise-- the march was interesting, I liked it least (but that's definitely not saying that I disliked it because I still loved it). It was cool. but the best part about it was that it went back into the first piece. And the whole Concerto ended with the first piece.
It was one of the best pieces I've ever played... amazing.

BUT THEN! The band came onto the stage and for our finale we played higlights from the Carmen Suite by Georges Bizet.
(you know, Carmen, the Opera about a Spanish seductress, an officer who she seduces then dumps (he kills her because of it (it's opera--it has to be dramatic)) there is also Toreador (bullfighter) in there somewhere) It was awesome!!! It was so fun to be with the band. It just added another element that made the whole piece really powerful and so fun. It was a great piece to end with. We went out with a bang!


This concert was WONDERFUL! I wish everyone could have come. But I am so grateful that Mom, Dad, Steve, Andrea came. I also invited two friends from my ward, who came. The Littles (Ben's mom and dad) came. And surprise, I totally, jokingly invited Ben to come up for the day (he had the day off from work, but he lives in Utah, so I was joking), but he came! So that was a cool surprise too!



I know most of you know this, but I LOVE MUSIC so much. This concert was so fulfilling and so satisfying. I was just beaming and glowing afterwards! It was the best feeling ever. I pretty nervous beforehand, but afterwards the feeling makes up for it and more. It was awesome. Spectacular. Amazing. FANTASTIC!!!

Bright Future

If those of you who don't know, I've been struggling with health issues for the past while. My psychiatrist has been playing with several (many) medications that may or may not have been causing more adverse effects than good. So I've been struggling with knowing what to do about it. I've felt confused and even sick about it. So Andrea encouraged me to ask for a Priesthood blessing this weekend while the guys were up.
So yesterday I asked for a blessing from Dad, Kevin, and Will. It was a really wonderful thing.

It promised a bright future and that made me very hopeful. Hope is something that has eluded me for quite a while. I meet with my Psychiatrist this Thursday and I'm going to ask him about seriously cutting back on a lot (if not all) of my meds. It's kind of a scary prospect and I know it will be pretty hard, but I want to see if something else will work better, and the only way to know is to try.

So there is a brief update. Things are looking up. Down times will come, but sunny days are ahead.

Gratitude: I'm grateful...

For the Beauty of the Earth
*For my family
*For the love my family has for me
*For all the things my family has taught, teaches, and will teach me
*For the examples set for me by my family
*For compassion
*For second chances
*And third chances
*For forgiveness
*For kisses
*For hugs
*For fireplaces and soft rugs
*For cuddling in warm blankets
*For a nice warm bed
*For food
*For MUSIC
*The piano
*The cello
*My voice
*For all the choirs I have been in and will be in
*For learning
*For my fingers
*For safety
*For freedom
*For agency
*For the Ultimate Sacrifice
*For The Lord and Savior
*For Heavenly Father
*For the Holy Spirit
*For tender mercies
*When I'm having a bad day and I get in the car and one of my favorite pieces just happen to be on the radios
*For my future husband
*For all my past and present counselors
*For my friends
*For Lindsey and Anna
*For new opportunities
*For the new day
*For Life
*For LOVE


There are so many more. But I want to finish with the lyrics to a song I sang in a choir long ago:

Pilgrims' Hymn

Even before we call on Thy name
To ask Thee, dear Lord;
And we seek the words to glorify Thee
Thou hearest our prayer

Unceasing Love! Oh, Unceasing Love:
Surpassing all we know.
Glory to the Father and the Son
And to the Holy Spirit.

Even with darkness sealing us in
We breathe Thy name;
And through all the days that follow so fast
We trust in Thee

Endless Thy grace! Oh, Endless Thy grace:
Beyond all mortal dream.
Both now and forever and unto ages,
and ages. Amen


Happy Thanksgiving

Snow

Well, it finally snowed... It's true. I am actually amazed that we lasted so long without it! It was crazy how long it stayed dry. Well, there are some good things about snow: snowmen, snowball fights, there is something about being out in nature when it's covered in snow that is so peaceful, sledding, (skiing for those of you who do that), and my favorite, clear winter nights where the sky is so absolutely clear where the stars look so near that you can almost touch them. If it wasn't so durn cold, I could stay out there for hours just looking at the sky (oh and another great thing is one of my favorite constellations is out: Orion. I don't know why, but I've always liked him).

There are a lot of negatives associated with winter as well. BUT, I'm going to focus on the positives and hopefully I can make it through! I'll just remember that the Lord gave us winter so we can love summer. :) And trust me, after 5 months (sometimes 6) of the white stuff, we need lots of summer! Even if it means I have to say goodbye to my good friend Orion.

HURRAY!!!!!

Pi-tui! Pi-tui! (that is the sound of fireworks going off... Richard will know what I mean ;) It's done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My 10 Page Research Paper entitled "Weary of the Shadowy Self": The Quest for Virtue in George MacDonalds the Wise Woman and C. S. Lewis's The Great Divorce phew. Even saying the title wears me out... It was quite a lot of work and I am so grateful for everyone that helped me on it. Thanks to Lindsey for encouraging me and helping with my works cited page, thanks to Andrea for her encouragement (I could not have made it without your pep talks), and thanks to DAD for your revisions! I might actually get a good grade because of your coaching! and thanks most of all, to my Heavenly Father for His sustaining power and help. I definitely could not have done it without him. It was SOOOOO HARD!!! But I did it! YAY! I don't even care what grade I get... well, maybe just a little... :D But I'm DONE!!!! (Now all I have to worry about is the next paper... which rumor has it is supposed to be even longer... waaaaaaaaaaaaa....) But OKAY!

CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES COME ON! LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA!!!!

New Poem

Well, I was walking on campus one day and a very attractive young man walked by me and I thought to myself: "why is it that I couldn't meet him and fall in love with him?" Just a silly passing thought. But it was the thought that followed that I held onto: "Paths cross, but never meet." And Voila! (not to be confused with a viola) Two lines for a new poem! Then I built around it and I came up with an okay poem. Well I like it a lot. So here goes.


Crossing Paths (working title)

The road I'm on
I did not choose
Of all I hold
It's dreams I lose
I see a face
Beyond the feet
Our paths cross
But never meet

Sitting still
I'm running hard
Once solid heart
Now broken shards
Pale face and
Empty breast
A weight upon
My beating chest

Looking down
And seeing black
The sound of feet
Run front and back
Will it end
This path of grey?
This path of damned,
Gone yesterdays?

Once I sang
For only you
Now I sing
To make it through
But though I sing
You still stay
Just one path
One path away


I know it's kind of a dark poem, but let me know what you think. I welcome feedback (preferably in the form of constructive criticism :) Love You!

Elisabeth/Buzz/Betty, etc.

What Goes On Here?

I AM ALIVE!!! It's true. I know my life isn't as "busy" as all of your with kids and jobs and everything, but I think blogging is therapeutic in it's own right. So Emotionally, I have a therapist for that. Mentally, I have a Psychiatrist for that. So I'll tell you about other things!

Music: As some of you know I have 4 classes this semester, 3 of which are music classes: piano lessons, orchestra, and private composition lessons. All these are great.

Piano lessons: I'm focusing on 3 pieces that I love but that are highly difficult: Chopin's Waltz in C# Minor, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXTEkvUQfrQ&feature=related) Rachmaninoff's Prelude (which is minor and starts with the 3 really heavy octaves and then goes into those interesting chords, you'd know it if you heard it: here is the comedic version: I think it's hilarious (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifKKlhYF53w), and Louis Gottschalk's The Banjo, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3rL23IdbyI&feature=related)(That guy plays it slower than most, but I like him, and that performance was the one I like the most). These three pieces are all very different but they are all extremely challenging.

Orchestra:
Is so fun! I'm stand partners with one of my very good friends, Anna Jeffries. She is so great. She loves MST3K and has a goofy sense of humor like me. So we are required to do 2 hours of practicing a week. One hour with our stand partner. So it's always really fun to get together with Anna and play and talk. The music we are learning this semester is really interesting. My favorite is a piece by Ralph (pronounced Rayf) Vaughn Williams. I have never heard it before but it's really cool. We are also going to be combining with the university band for our final piece to play parts of the Carmen Suite (Bizet). It's from an opera. It's really awesome as well. side note: as a result of this I discovered an amazing arrangement and recording of some Carmen melodies for Violin and orchestra as played by Itzhak Perlman and the New York Philharmonic. Amazing.

Composition Lessons: WOW! I love Brother Kerr. He is so positive and encouraging. I have taken 2 finished pieces into him and he critiqued both of them. The first he had no suggestions for--he really liked it and was positive about me performing it somewhere. The second he made some really good suggestions and as a result I've come up with some interesting things. I've also re-started a piece that has been in my head for years. (one of) My favorite poem(s) is "The Hollow Men" by T.S. Eliot. (http://www.geocities.com/Paris/LeftBank/9824/hollow.html) And I want to write a Men's Choir piece with its words. So I brought the first part of what I have and he gave me some much needed feedback and encouragement. He's just the perfect teacher for this subject for me. It's great.

English 314: yikes... even though dad is the teacher this is a really hard class for me. It's not exactly the writing or the assignments... I'm not sure what about it stresses me. But I turned in a really good paper that I'm proud of. So that's good.

Other Notes: There is a cute cellist in my orchestra that walks my way after orchestra for a ways and we talk and he seems really fun and nice. I don't think he's gone on a mission yet so there is little hope of a future RELATIONSHIP there, but he is really nice and sweet. So a good friend. I think it's important for me to learn how to make friends instead of looking for more.
I'm walking Melissa and Doug Ricks' dog, Max occasionally. He is a big yellow lab and he is so fun! He loves me to death and just barks and jumps when he sees me coming to take him for a walk. I clean up after him, which I hope the people of Rexburg appreciate! :) He's really sweet and BIG! I just want to spend all day hugging him and walking him and scratching him and lying down with him. He's so comforting and accepting and loving. It's great. (Not Actually Max):

Well, there is an update. I was going to call it brief, but it's really not that brief. Sorry. :) Love you!

Back to School

Well, it's been a nice break, but all good things must come to an end soon, I suppose. However, I have 4 classes and I am super excited about all of them. I am taking Eng 314 from Dad. It's going to be challenging but it'll be fun. I'm a good writer and I like any opportunity to improve my writing.

I'm also taking piano lessons. I'm really excited. I haven't had piano lessons for a while. I am going to learn some pieces that I've had my eyes on for several months.

I'll be in orchestra again. I have had so much fun in there the past few semesters. Brother Kevin Call is teaching again and he is the best teacher ever. He is actually the reason that I took it in the first place. I have a really good friend that plays the cello. I hope we are stand partners again.

But the class I have to admit I'm most excited and nervous about is PRIVATE COMPOSITION LESSONS! from one of my favorite teachers: Brother Kerr. I don't know what to expect. But with Brother Kerr I am sure I'll learn a lot. I'm excited.

So that's what is going on school wise. I'll try to blog more often. I enjoy your blogs. I don't have much news compared to you guys. But I'll keep you updated.

Love ya.

Quick Update

My depression has flared up suddenly and intensely. I am not able to take a full load this semester so I only have 3 classes.

I'm surviving. Some days are harder than others. I am still having nightmares every night. So I'm constantly tired. I'm trying not to think about Ben, but it's hard. Everything seems to be reminding me of him. So this picture represents how I feel most of the time.

A few good things. Richard, Laura, Mom and I are getting together to make Dad a great birthday present. For quite some time he has wanted mom and I to record our music, so today Mom and I are going up to Richard and Laura's to record music. I'll let you know how it goes.

I miss you all...