From the Poll to the Piano

Surprising as it is, the leader of my previous blog poll was Tchaikovsky!

That is most people indicated that they never get tired of his music.

To tell you the truth, I was both proud and surprised at the same time.

On the one hand, I was proud to be Russian and consider Tchaikosky my composer, so to speak.

On the other hand, I was a little surprised because I could never imagine he would lead the poll.

I mean, who does not love Tchaikovsky? You have to be deaf to stay indifferent to his music. But does that mean you can never get tired of it?

No. Not for me anyway.

I mean whenever I listen to Tchaikovsky, I am happy to do that, but I do have to be in a certain mood for his music. Sometimes, gorgeous as it is, it's way too intense and pompous for me. Take Piano Concerto #1 for example. Anybody?

Even in the calmest of Tchaikovsky's melodies in his lovely ballets and operas, there is always a hidden tempest in there that does not let you relax, right?

Well, at least this is how I feel.

Nevertheless, I do like Tchaikovsky too very much. The Queen of Spades, Eugene Onegin, Swan Lake, the Sleeping Beauty, the Nutcracker...

So last weekend, Troy and I were playing the piano again and I decided to play the Waltz from the Sleeping Beauty.

I have sheet music for it. The only problem is that the level is Intermediate! As a rule, all my sheet music is Beginning, which allows me to play it no problem. Of course, the ornamentations are missing, but the melody is still there and I can do it and feel good about it. This one is so much more difficult.

Troy loves the melody. I have to confess that at the moment I sing it much better than I play it, and even better I dance it with him in my arms. He loves waltzing around the room to it.

Even though the music is hard, I feel that it's not undoable, and eventually I will be able to put it all together and make it sound pretty. I know I will.

It just takes time - that's all.

But it is incredibly beautiful and worth every try and effort. Just bear with me: I'll nail it down.