Sunday, May 11, 2008
8:44 PM
the concert i attented last night was okayish. okay fine to be brutally honest, it was pretty sub-standard technically. but they made a good song selection which included music from star wars and westside story (: so that helped to compensate a little for the lack of technical prowess.
as i was listening to the music from westside story, i couldn't help but be reminded of the westside story production put up by my dear alma mater last year. and from there i just had a rush of memories of jc days. ahhh, those were good days (:
after the interval, the orchestra played a not so famous classical piece that i don't think they could handle. the mistakes were even more jarringly obvious than before! and it was pretty messy because A LOT of them obviously were not following the conductor.
and so over the course of that final 30 minute-or-so-symphony, my thoughts basically wandered all over the place. it's quite nice to daydream on classical music lol even though in this case the playing wasn't altogether that great. if they played it well i'd definitely be much more focused on the players' ability to emote and simply be into the music. probably only one violinist was really, really good and interesting to watch.
well anyway, as my thoughts wandered, i suddenly had this analogy with regards to paying attention to the conductor.
Anyone who's played in a musical ensemble will know how crucial it is for every single person in the ensemble to follow the conductor. It’s the conductor that keeps the music together. It is possible to be skilled at the instrument and yet fail to play at the beat given by the conductor. This wrecks the rhythm of the piece and the togetherness of the music, such that what the players do amounts only making cacophonous sounds.
God our Creator is just like our conductor. When we fail to recognise how important it is to follow His timing and to play our part as He directs, we end up making a mess of what we do. It is only when we learn to use our gifting as He leads us, that we can make euphonious music, and everything falls into place.
Sometimes when you're playing in the ensemble, from the position where you sit, you can't hear how the ensemble sounds collectively, and you don't realise the effects of playing as the conductor directs. But if you hear the music as the audience does, you'll realise how together and beautiful the music sounds.
Similarly, sometimes we may not understand why things have to be done a certain way or you have to go through certain experiences. But when you see things from a different angle, even if that perspective is only acquired much later, you will understand the beauty of it all. Indeed, He makes all things beautiful in its time (ecc 3:11) (:
and it's nice to hear that back in sg the concert went well (: very very proud of and happy for my juniors. it's always nice to hear that stories are being continued in wonderful ways (: and there are so many pages yet to be filled; so many more chapters to come! there will always be ups and downs, but as you get to each new page, you'll understand the meaning of the content of the past (:
