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A summer night, perfect for quietly listening alone to the Solveig’s Song of the Peer Gynt Suites.
Peer Gynt, a man of many romances, was Solveig’s first love. He sought solace in Solveig’s arms for brief periods only when he was tired from his journeys or in trouble from his adventures. When old, frail and dying, for the last time and for good, Peer Gynt returned to Solveig, who said to him, “You are forever in my faith, in my hope, and in my love.”
Solveig’s persistence became an aria classic, and a favorite of many sopranos. The gentle haunting melody resembles Solveig forever waiting for the return of her love. Even if you do not understand Norwegian, you are sure to feel Solveig’s longing. In this moment, the expressiveness of the music far exceeds that of the written words.
In the movie, “Pretty Woman,” Richard Gere said, “Whether or not you understand the lyrics of an opera, if you are moved to tears the first time you listen to it, you will love opera for life.” Music, of course, does not always express sadness. It can be witty, angry, hesitant, anxious, and joyous….. Music encompasses all human emotions, but the key is whether the performer can convey to the audience the emotions that were intended.
I often feel that it is not hard to get my young students to play the right notes or even master pieces of great difficulty with a high level of technical skills, what is hard is to teach them to tell a story with music. To achieve that, I would randomly select a children’s book and read it with a normal voice word by word, then I closed the book and “described” the story with emotions, sometimes excited, sometimes soft, or loudly or rapidly. Right away, the students understood what I meant by “telling a story with music.”
The Peer Gynt Suites is a very good example of how to teach children to learn to listen to a story written in music. In addition to the sad and loving Solveig’s Song, there is the clear and refreshing Morning, and Hall of the Mountain King, where many little devils gathered,….. and various small pieces expressing different moods. |