7 minute read
What Music Means to Me” By Raymaellene Gomez • 10th grade
Music. Music is something that holds my heart. Something that lights me up in the dark. Music makes me feel as if the world made sense. Without it. Where would the world be? Music expresses how we all feel. Now if it didn’t exist. What would we all do?
Life without music is quiet. No Sound. No Rhythm. No Noise. No Beat. Just a plain simple world, that I truly see. A world with no color or emotion. Just dark and ruthless. A world that will leave us clueless and useless.
Now that music is gone. We will be left with confusion. Thinking of a conclusion. To solve this illusion. But now since music is gone. We will all be gone with it. So will the world be too.
Gabriela Montero performs with students from Trenton Central High School under the direction of Joseph Pucciatti. Photo by Denise Applewhite
Students at Trenton Central High School work with Stefan Jackiw. Photo by Sonya Isenberg
“Untitled”
I felt as if I was waiting for hours upon hours! I was waiting for the pianist to come on stage and play the pieces that I so dearly could not wait to witness. From waiting and waiting I heard loud applause, and therefore I applauded as well but saw that there was no pianist but more of an angel. Her smile outshone the whole room, and it seemed as if she was shining more than the spotlight. I blinked and I saw the pianist. I thought to myself, confused:
“Where did the angel go?”
The pianist introduced herself and bowed before sitting down at the beautiful grand. She then spoke again: “I will be playing a Chopin nocturne.”
My eyes have never been so wide before. I blinked a few times right when she put her hands upon the piano and started to play the familiar tune. I opened my eyes and saw the angel. She was playing so gracefully and so beautifully that I couldn’t help but shed a tear.
Silence, the nocturne ended. I looked up and it’s the pianist again. Everyone clapped for her once again, and I clapped as well. Then that’s when she went back to face the piano and played once more.
This was where the real magic happened.
Starting the piece, Rachmaninov’s Sonata No. 2, I felt as if the show already started with a bang. My ears go in and out as I blocked out everything, and it’s just me and the piano. The piano was being so well played that I imagine even Rach would play it like that. I looked up, and it was a sight to see.
I saw Rachmaninov playing the piano. Not only that, but I saw people that looked like they were not from the area. They were wearing old-timey clothing, as if they were dated back to the
nineteen hundreds, watching him. Then they disappeared, and I saw war: people fighting and shooting at one another, people collapsing everywhere. It was a shocking sight to see. I blinked a few times.
“This can’t be real”, I told myself. I looked up and saw the pianist again. But something didn’t feel right. I felt myself kind of... floating as if I was in water.
“What was that?” I heard thunder. I looked around, and I was in the middle of the ocean. I was panicking, and I didn’t know what to do now. I still heard the piano, but it was fading away every time I remembered I was drowning. I closed my eyes and relaxed.
It was back to normal, but the pianist had only finished the second movement. There was one more. What did I have to face next? Everything seemed fine and calm as I watched the pianist start the third movement, but then it happened again. Only, instead of watching a war happening, I was in the war. I freaked out as I heard men shouting, “Get down! Fire! Man down!”
I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know how I got here. It was crazy to see. Was this what war felt like? As I ran and tried my best to stay safe, the concerto continued to play in my head. Please, end very soon. I closed my eyes.
It’s over. I heard a round of applause. I clapped.
“Now I will be improvising from the Charlie Chaplin short movie, The Immigrant,” the pianist said as the movie credits came on.
I took a deep breath and sighed. “That was weird,” I chuckled to myself and closed my eyes.
I opened them again to see myself on a boat, and everything was in black and white. It was happening again. I checked my surroundings and saw people in worn-out clothing, then I looked down and saw that I had tattered clothes on as well. “I’m in the short film.”
Before I could fully understand what was going on, I saw people running inside the boat. “It must be time to eat.” I ran along with the other people as I tried to find a seat. There were only three tables, and they were all full.
“I wasn’t interested in eating that food anyways. What I was interested in was...” Before I could find who I was looking for, the boat began to rock. Then I saw him.
I saw Charlie Chaplin falling on top and rolling around on a...woman? It was so funny, but I didn’t laugh because I had to hold onto the table to keep from falling. I felt like I was going to be sick.
I felt like I was going to be sick.
Eventually, the boat stopped rocking. I walked outside to lay down at a corner until I had reached my destination. I checked my pockets and saw that I had money.
“I guess this won’t be over until I leave the boat,” I thought to myself: “Well, it won’t be too hard. I just have to stay away from pickpockets.” I closed my eyes to rest.
A few minutes went by, and I awoke from my sleep. I looked straight and saw a man pickpocketing a woman that was sleeping.
“That’s the girl’s mother! I have to tell her!” I said out loud to myself. Before I could get up and find the girl, she was already finding out about the disappearance of the money.
“Should I go up to her? Well, I imagine that the man took the money to gamble with Chaplin, and Chaplin has a thing for the girl. Maybe he’ll give the money to her when he finds out that she doesn’t have money anymore.” I sat up to watch it happen, and indeed it did.
By the time Chaplin found out about the lost money and gave his money to the girl, I saw we were at our destination: The United States of America. I saw the Statue of Liberty! It was a sight to see, especially because I had never seen it in, well... my current life, I guess you could say.
A few workers wrapped a rope around us and made us get out one by one. I got out, and now that I was in America, I didn’t know what to do. I still heard the piano faintly in my ear, so that meant that the show was still ongoing. I could explore how America was in the early 1900s, which was very exciting except for the fact that I came as an immigrant. I walked around thinking about how hard it must be to not know where you are or where to start. I put my hand in my pockets and pulled out money.
“I can buy anything!” I looked around and saw a store. I looked at my money and at the store and smiled, and I walked inside the store. I looked around and saw amazing things, but what caught my eye was a pocket watch. It was so pretty that I knew I had to have it. I bought it and kept it close to me.
I walked out of the store, and it started to rain. All of a sudden, I saw a couple running right past me. But it wasn’t any couple; it was Chaplin and the girl. I looked at them happily then closed my eyes.
I was at the show again. I heard a round of applause. What an amazing show it was. I looked down at my hand.
The pocket watch was there.
