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Piano Rose: a Favourite Sound

Posted almost 4 years ago

[Johannes Brahms - Capriccio Nr. 2 in B Minor / 3:14]

Of all the wonders that surround us, it's always the littlest that set me waxing lyrical. Thus, the first rose that bloomed in our garden, or the first rays of sunshine after days of rain never fail to enrapture me. (Apologies for the preciousness)

So there I was, sitting in the sun-soaked garden this morning when from my neighbours' windows notes from a piano came trilling down in my direction. There was something essentially elating about these crotchets and quavers fluttering above me. It is indescribable.

In his self-interview, to the question "What are some sounds you like?" Tom Waits answered among other things: "Piano lessons coming from an apartment window." I can certainly understand why.

I don't have an apartment window to offer you or even a piano lesson for that matter. All I have is this little piece by Brahms and this video from YT (the closest thing to a piano lesson)

Perhaps this would have worked better in the morning...

(Photo of Millgate House Gardens by UGArdener © all rights reserved)

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Comments (28)

  1. Misstee
    Misstee says What a beautiful garden and home!
    Permalink posted 06/08/2008
  2. Bartleby
    Bartleby says It's private garden in Richmond, Yorkshire. It's won quite a few prizes too!!!
    Permalink posted 06/08/2008
  3. amber
    amber says Alas, I have yet to have a first rose bloom in my garden. roses, someday However...will a peony do? peony The music...it's perfection.
    Permalink posted 06/08/2008
  4. dachmo
    dachmo says Michael, That's so freakin weird! Why did you just post a picture from the Millgate House! I was looking at their website just 5 hours ago.
    Permalink posted 06/08/2008
  5. Madeline Burke
    Madeline Burke says What a beautiful interlude for this afternoon, ... the roses are blooming here also.
    Permalink posted 06/08/2008
  6. toronno
    toronno says It's so descriptive. I can remember myself walking down a tree-lined street on a rainy day and stopping to listen as the faint sounds of the piano drifted along the October air. You've caught the same moment in a different season. Wonderful...
    Permalink posted 06/08/2008
  7. Mike the Knife
    Mike the Knife says As the piano plays, I can see you gamboling about the grounds. Oh, heady days of summer, filling us with heat and fecundity, blah, blah, blah...
    Permalink posted 06/08/2008
  8. lilja88
    lilja88 says Your mornings sound heavenly. It's always the little things that get me too, and make me remember how serendipitous the world really is sometimes... I regret the decision I made to stop taking piano lessons after elementary school. I thought it was "uncool" to play the piano back then (as opposed to the guitar or something like that) but now I really wish I had kept learning. I still have my piano and can still read notes and play a few tunes but only at a beginner's level... Have you seen "Le Voyage du Ballon Rouge?" There are some good piano lesson scenes in that...the little boy is so cute. I couldn't find any clips of them but here is the theme song from the original film (Le Ballon Rouge).
    Permalink posted 06/09/2008
  9. lilja88
    lilja88 says Here are two songs from my favorite film (Amélie) that I am determined to learn someday..."La Valse d'Amelie" and "Comptine D'un Autre Ete: l'apres midi" by Yann Tiersen. Maybe if I watch these videos enough times I can learn how to play them...
    Permalink posted 06/09/2008
  10. Augusts1
    Augusts1 says A most pleasant piece Michael. I used to play piano when I was growing up & had 5 yrs of lessons. My fave composer was Chopin & I loved his preludes, especially the Raindrop Sonata.
    Permalink posted 06/09/2008
  11. Bartleby
    Bartleby says *Amber*: Wow, that garden of yours could win a prize or two. Your peony's so red I'm almost blushing... Thank you ever so much for allowing me a glimpse of your secret garden. *dachmo*: Coincidences and stellar conjunction are hard to explain but always a real joy... Are you planning a visit there any time soon? *Madeline*: The first rose had a sightly yellow hue and smelled as pretty as the cascading piano notes -- Thank you for popping in. *Toronno*: I don't know what it is about the sound of someone's practising their piano which never fails to arrest me in my path. It's really magical... *Mike*: No gambolling for me, just a cool morning sifting the newspapers and sipping my tea.. *Lilja*: Serendipity has always been a favourite word with me. I haven't seen "Le voyage du ballon rouge" and truth be told I've lost contact with cinema altogether. Unfortunately. The music sounds really nice. Do you know who composed it? -- About "The fabulous destiny of Amélie Poulain," I saw it on location. Every year in Paris, the city organises free screenings of films about Paris in open air. It was quite fun to watch Amélie running around "Le Sacré Coeur" right there on the square of the cathedral. You should try it some day. *Aug*: Glad you like it. I knew you were more musical than me... -- I must say I find Chopin at bit too romantic for me sometimes.
    Permalink posted 06/09/2008
  12. deadmandeadman
    deadmandeadman says Michael, What a charming post. The small miracles all around us, so often unnoticed, can bee the most beautiful palliative for the harried soul. We need posts like this to remind us of that.
    Permalink posted 06/09/2008
  13. poebegone
    poebegone says Tom Waits, you sage. it was the drum lessons from the bigger house next door in the village where i knew a high school boy my age lived, then it was violin lessons 2 or 3 rooms from mine at the university dormitory (or, in fact, a cacophohy of lessons from the College of Music, which was right next to the College of Communication), then it was -indeed- piano lessons on the same floor as my apartment from a door that was always closed. thanks, Michael. preciousness is a necessary intervention to daily life. (:
    Permalink posted 06/09/2008
  14. FluxCapacitor
    FluxCapacitor says A piano/keyboard sits dorment in the front room of Capacitor Towers, a gift for The GF. Lessons will follow. I await to be similarly transported (to another room?). Lovely post, all the same.
    Permalink posted 06/09/2008
  15. lilja88
    lilja88 says When I get to Paris I will definitely check that out! Sounds fabulous :) As for "Le Voyage," it's not bad, but don't bother unless you have the patience for a long, meandering French film with no discernible plot...the original (1956) is much more interesting. Music composed by Maurice Leroux.
    Permalink posted 06/09/2008
  16. Bartleby
    Bartleby says *DMDM*: We certainly need open-minded people like you to appreciate those miracles too. Thanks for your kind comments, Jeff. *Poe*: You're very welcome, Ilay. Of course, you must sometimes put up with some cacophonous hammering before you can really appreciate the little hesitations which make up practice... *FluxC*: Wow, you gave GF a piano? Can I be your GF too? I don't mind paying for the lessons from my own purse ;) -- Lovely days ahead, then. *Lilja*: Thank you for the recommendation. If you ever need a guide to Paris, I know a street or two over there.
    Permalink posted 06/09/2008
  17. CeeOhBee
    CeeOhBee says Hey, I was that kid once, the one Tom Waits could have heard, that is, if he were walking around my childhood front yard in rural Oklahoma looking for crawdads in my ditch, which, because we are talking about Tom, sounds completely plausible. I may have been an Okie, but I knew from Brahms, and piano lessons.
    Permalink posted 06/09/2008
  18. Bartleby
    Bartleby says Hallo Cee. Knowing Tom, he wouldn't have stopped if he had happened to be prowling around your house... Since you had to practice your piano, could I ask what composers or pieces were your favourite exercises?
    Permalink posted 06/09/2008
  19. CeeOhBee
    CeeOhBee says I dunno. I can imagine Tom being an amateur herpetologist, stopping to smell the roses, not so much. As for exercise . . . bleeeech. I hate exercise. I will admit, though, that once I was good at sightreading, I took great pleasure in showing off that skill to outsmart my dad by playing all the Bach Preludes and Fugues that he never could. He deserved it for making me feel bad about math, physics, and swimming in the deep end of the pool. Granted, I only sightread the slower ones and usually those in E, E flat or F minor modulating to A flat major. Keys I could handle. I still love playing through Bach. Also, middle movements of Mozart sonatas, namely those that sound like the arias he would rather have been writing.
    Permalink posted 06/09/2008
  20. Bartleby
    Bartleby says You're too kind. Thank you very much indeed for indulging me even though you hate exercises. -- I was only asking because the "capriccio" above was a choice by default. I figured a little "whim" could do...
    Permalink posted 06/09/2008
  21. ardyjormkiv
    ardyjormkiv says ahhh. this is where my heart lies. double thanks to you and to lilja for the yann tiersen lesson...i need to learn those too!
    Permalink posted 06/09/2008
  22. Bartleby
    Bartleby says You're very welcome, Ardy. May I ask you what instrument you're practising?
    Permalink posted 06/09/2008
  23. ardyjormkiv
    ardyjormkiv says piano!!
    Permalink posted 06/09/2008
  24. Bartleby
    Bartleby says With this single word, you're now officially my favourite Mogger. -- I would love to learn an instrument but my laziness always seems to get the best of me.
    Permalink posted 06/09/2008
  25. Groon
    Groon says Took years and years of piano lessons, and even though I "got" it from a head standpoint, it never really connected with my fingers. I got alright at playing, but it was all very technically correct and soulless. I switched to trumpet and had more success (and connection) but it wasn't until I picked up a bass guitar that I felt my true musical calling. Unfortunately, in most cases, the sound of a practicing bass guitar wafting through your open window on a breezy summer's eve doesn't quite inspre the same effect as that of 88 well-played keys. Still. As far as flowers go, down here lately I couldn't tell you if the roses, or anything else for that matter, is in bloom, as walking outside is almost certain death with our scorching temperatures as of late. And the music? An excellent choice. Brahms is one I'm not too familiar with, but always seem to enjoy when I do hear it. I've always been a huge fan of Claude Debussy myself (I think I mentioned that before, don't remember).
    Permalink posted 06/09/2008
  26. Spike
    Spike says Bartleby, the Brahms track is wonderful. I have heard almost nothing by him until now. Only problem is that the tempo slows down and speeds up (rubato), a common custom in romantic classical music. I'm a founder of the Society for the Prevention of Rubato, but am making little headway. As for the young man playing the beautiful Bach piece, you referred to it as "this video from YT," and I thought you meant that it was you playing so expertly, which would help explain your considerable knowledge of music. But then you told ardyjormkiv "I would love to learn an instrument," so that means your musical perceptiveness must come from other dimensions of your being.
    Permalink posted 06/09/2008
  27. Bartleby
    Bartleby says *Groon*: The sound of a bass may not be as arresting as a piano but I'll always fondly remember its sound accompanied by a band rehearsing in the garage next to my parents' house. I find all those garage bands quite simply wonderful. -- Debussy's pieces for piano are also a favourite of mine. *Spike*: Well, thank you ever so much for your kind words. But I'm just an impostor at best and an idiot savant at worse... Anyway, I'm pleased that you like the Brahms. When I was younger, romantic music was the highest achievement in western music but now I must admit I find it rather tedious for some reason. (Maybe because it's been overused in all media) -- Regarding your SPR, is there a fee to join? Also, I seem to remember that our friend Cee isn't too keen on rubato either, is she?
    Permalink posted 06/10/2008
  28. Spike
    Spike says OK, so that makes three of us, which is a start.
    Permalink posted 06/10/2008

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