Without music, life would be an error. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
The Princess was well prepared for the Holiday Kick Off recital. She played a Baroque piece in 2/2 time called "Fantasia" and a Christmas song, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." She did not do her absolute best. In fact, it was one of the worst performances she has ever done. She was probably distracted by a boy who visited the bathroom and was not that quiet in doing so. The angle of the piano was so that the pianists faced the bathrooms and I watched her eyes twice divert from her music; when the boy went in and when he came out. She did fine during the noise and did not have a problem until a measure or two later, but it was definitely related.
At one point she played a wrong note a few times trying to get it right and then stopped for a just a few seconds—what seems like too many minutes to a mother watching her daughter struggle. She then backed up about two measures, a good starting point, and played it through as it was meant to be played. Mistakes do not frazzle her at all—she is a true performer. She does not get shaky like so many of the children tend to do nor does she show frustration. I am always proud of her, but this day I was proud of her because of her showmanship.
The Princess played the same songs for our church service a week later without any mistakes other than a bit of a shift in the timing, mostly because she started out playing one of them a bit faster than she should have. I don't think anyone really noticed besides myself.
I usually don't compare my child with another but I have to say that recitals are eye-opening as to how advanced she really is. The boy who was about a year older than she is and started six months before her was playing songs similar to ones she had played over eighteen months ago. However, he also has other talents that were put to use as part of the program that day. He was the comic relief doing cute "commercials" written by Miss Trudy, one sponsored by Miss Trudy's dog. The boy enjoys the limelight and was referred by the emcee as Mr. Personality.
I suppose there are no breaks when a child reaches this level in piano, or so it seems. We have picked out one of the two classical pieces the Princess will begin working on for judging in March and the spring recital in April. This will be the first time she has been judged so I am looking forward to seeing how she will do. The piece picked for her is doable, but purposely meant to be difficult. She amazes me how well she reads music now, but then she has had 4½ years of lessons.
~ My Lord, thank you for the gift of music and for this musically-gifted soul you have given to me. ~
