Listening
In an earlier post, I talked about my enthusiasm for Peter
Jackson’s films of The Lord of the Rings.
One of the things I adored was Howard Shore's music. I ran out and bought the CDs, of
course. At first I listened to the music as a way of re-experiencing the
movies. I’d done this with other movie music, like The Last of the Mohicans, Shakespeare
in Love, Titanic, and all the
work of Ennio Morricone. Romantic, evocative music fits the same slot in my
brain as Mendelsohn’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream” or his violin concerto, or
Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet,” Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherazade” suite, or
Borodin’s “In the Steppe of Central Asia” (one of the pieces I listened to
while writing Shannivar). It’s narrative music, emotive rather than
abstract, and I find it marvelous to write to.
Singing
When at long last it was my time to embark upon piano
lessons, as a first-time older adult student, I grabbed a copy of the easy
piano versions of The Lord of the Rings
music. My goal was to play “Into the West.” I was one of those folks in the
theater with tears down my cheeks as the song ended. But I was just starting
out, I had zero self-confidence, and I wanted to make sure I had the skill to
play it well. My teacher and I selected “In Dreams” (which is also the leitmotif for the hobbits) as one of my
early pieces. Even in the easy version, it was a challenge. And it had words, words
in a key within my limited vocal range.
Like others of my generation, I got caught in the folk scene
of the ‘60s and ‘70s, and even taught myself a few chords on the guitar.
Although I enjoyed singing in a group, I had become convinced I had a terrible
voice. I remember being told as a child that I couldn’t sing. So of course, my
voice was strained, thin, unreliable in pitch. With the piano to support my
voice, however, along with lots of practice when no one else was in the house,
not to mention having an encouraging teacher, I learned how to breathe more
deeply and relax my throat. The higher notes became easier and more clear. I
added other songs and vocal exercises, which helped my confidence. “Wow,” my
teacher said after one class, “who knew you had such a voice?”
