It Had to be You

It had to be you, it had to be you
I wandered around, and finally found
The somebody who could make me be true
Could make me be blue or even be glad
Just to be sad just thinking of you
Some others I've seen might never be mean
Might never be cross or try to be boss
But they wouldn't do
For nobody else gave me the thrill
With all your faults
I love you still
It had to be you
It had to be you
It had to be you

Betty Hutton
"It Had To Be You" (1944)
From the Paramount Picture "Incendiary Blonde"
Written by Gus Kahn and Isham Jones
Orchestra conducted by Paul Weston
Released on Capitol 155

Link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h809JwAGB0&feature=related

Every Prayer

Every Prayer - Israel Houghton. feat. Mary Mary

I heard 'em say He brought me from a mighty long way
And now today I can testify that I believe it
And on my way I realized He's the one who kept me
When the storms of life arise, sleepless nights and desperate cries
He has captured every tear assuring me He hears

Every prayer, waiting on the answer only to discover He is near
And He hears every prayer for He has done great things
And I believe He's a God that always answers prayer

I heard 'em say the prayers of the righteous availeth much
And now today I can testify that I believe it
Now on my way I wanna let you know that He will keep you
When the storms of life arise, sleepless nights and desperate cries
He's captured every tear assuring me that He hears

Every prayer, waiting on the answer only to discover He is near
And He hears every prayer for He has done great things
I believe He's a God that always answers prayer

Don't despise the tears you've cried
Or the prayers that you have prayed
Heaven heard your every word
And the answer, the answer's on the way

I heard 'em say there is an answer on the way
My God has done so many great things, great things
Hold on and you will see there is an answer on the way
My God has done so many great things, great things

Oh, there is an answer on the way
My God has done so many great things, great things
Hold on, hold on, there is an answer on the way
My God has done so many great things, great things

Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on
Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on
Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on
You can make it, you can make it
You can make it for he has done great things

I believe He's a God that always
I believe He's a God that always
I believe He's a God who always answers prayers
Yes, He does

http://youtu.be/Kijc_5327yE

My love for piano..

I know I have drifted away from my path since 5 years ago. The days where I spent for music, live for music, with piano as my lover...The solitary hours in practice room... the breath that I used to hold each day.. Wishing to turn back the time, yet it is impossible. However inside me, the burning desire still persist.. and every time I listen to the tune..  I wish I could go back there.  No matter what I do, no matter what I toil for, alas ! My love of music still prevail. It is in me and it will never change. The whole emotion and body feel so much alive when it comes to me.  Yes, regret exists, however.. mistake has been made. I should have appreciated this in the past, I should have stayed focus on track... Surely the presence taught me to look for the future.. There is still hope. The love for music is still with me. .How much I dream for standing in the middle of the stage again.. I hope that I would be able to play in a recital once more.. Yes, in a grand hall, being poured by all the lights.  Yet, for now.. I surrender my desire to You... the inmost me... I dedicate my art to You.... I have my dreams. but let Your will be done.

MSO Tributes to John Williams

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra 's performance of Star Wars and Beyond ~ A Celebration of John William was certainly the best orchestra concert that I enjoyed most ~ And I thank God for this special opportunity to have this chance to enjoy the music so much ! The Saturday of 12th of March 2011, would be memorable and I really wish to have this opportunity again.

Firstly, John Williams has always been one of the master of film music that I respected. An American composer, conductor and pianist, he was educated in Julliard and had won numerous awards, including 5 Academy Awards and 4 Golden Globes. Notable in his works are the famous theme scores for the films : Star Wars, Jaws, Superman, Jurassic Park, E.T., Harry Potters 1& 2, and Catch me if You can. And truly, I enjoyed every single notes, every single pieces that was performed, all pieces were high and standards and really fantastic !

I grew up watching Jurassic Park, I watched E.T., even Star Wars and my mom used to play the soundtracks which meant I had been accustomed to the tunes and have grown up loving his music to such a degree that, it is never boring for me to listen to Catch Me if You Can's soundtrack and Harry's Wondrous World for 8 years ! And having this chance to listen to the live orchestra for these pieces played right before my eyes took all my breath away !

John William has this typical characteristic in his music which defines how much he loves it. The sweet beautiful melody, the clever usage of 'leitmotiv' and how he painted the characters of each different scores, proved how much genius he is. Main influences of his music are the prominent figures such as Strauss, Wagner, Prokofiev and Stravinsky and I would never forget the beautiful mournful tone from the solo violin for Schindler's List and would always praised the 20th century compositional idioms that he used in the opening for E.T.

Apart from that, MSO was so lucky to have the great maestro Anthony Inglis as the conductor. He is currently the Music Director of the National Symphony Orchestra in London and has vast outstanding repertoires throughout his career. His versatility as a conductor, his eloquent of speech, the warmth and his deep understanding of John's music was obvious through his deliverance. The way he created the usual rigid atmosphere of the concert hall into high valued theater representing Star Wars with the costumes were entertaining, as if the conductor had transformed into the characters itself. And, I do personally love his English accent !

Trust me, though it sounded odd.. as I listened to the delicate tunes from John's music.. the music and the harmony melts my heart so much.. that.. the feeling and the emotion were incomparable... even to the feelings that I felt when I had my first date. That is how much strong I love certain music and John William's is one of my beloved.

Catch me If You can

First viewed the film on 10th February 2003 for the first time.
Have had read the novel twice in year 2002 and 2007.
One the 13th June 2010, I have watched it again for the forth time.
‘Till today,the impression never cease.. Do you concur?

Directed and produced by Steven Spielberg, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Frank William Abagnale Junior & Tom Hanks as FBI agent Carl Hanratty, released on December 25, 2002, ‘Catch Me if You Can’ is a comedy-drama film based on the life of Frank Abagnale. Set in the 1960’s the film chronicle the life of Frank, who before his 19th birthday, successfully conned millions of dollars by posing as a Pan American World Airways pilot, dead-heading to many destinations in the cockpit jump seat, and he impersonated as a Georgia doctor (complete with a forged Harvard Medical School degree). Furthermore, he created a phony document of Harvard Law Transcript and then he legitimately passed his bar exam and masqueraded as a Louisiana attorney, which is awesomely impressive... His primary crime was cheque forgery, becoming so skilful that the FBI eventually turned to him for help in catching other cheque forgers.

Frank Abagnale is now one of the world’ most respected authorities, working with the FBI’s Financial Crime Unit on counterfeiting and secure documents, including check swindling, forgery and embezzlement. He has been a consultant, lectured and instructed hundreds of seminars worldwide and continues to offer his services for free to the FBI. Moreover, he has published several books, manuals and articles and has designed secure checks that are utilized by businesses worldwide

One of the factors that the film gets my attention is the setting. A near-flawless palette of period looks from the ‘50s and ‘60s times. The sequence of 'cat and mouse' chase between Frank Abagnale & Hanretty, also has succesfully created a lasting impression through its witty, clever scenarios, the humour that it contains and the mockery within. Especially the Soundtrack, which I still listen too for over 7 years, the collection and tone of music assembled dealt greatly with 1960’s pop culture. The fusion of several older generation songs with a similarly retro style of jazz in the underscore is obvious. John William’s composition for this particular film represents the perpetual chase. “The Float” is shifty with attractive rhythmic romp that is cyclical in its vibraphone and woodwind rhythms. It exhibits an excellent saxophone solo with ominous dramatic undertones.

Personally, I love “ Broken Home” the most, where the music volume has been reduced to melancholy solitude carried by a slow solo harp and lonely shadows of the solo sax and piano performances that graced the score's beginning. Perhaps, the whole OST has summarised a well-documented music album with indeed, a well genre-constrained score. The music simply never bores me. And it has been proven so strongly as I have listened to the soundtrack over and over again for more than 7 years.

Both reading the biography and watching the movie is inseparable. It would not be complete without doing both activities. Indeed, it has become one of my favourite movie to watch. While, the book itself is not to be missed, and if you decided not to read the book, you miss all the details.

Sources:
• Editorial Review, Filmtracks – Catch Me If You Can, written on 14th December 2002, revised on the 10th January 2009. Copyright © 2002-2010, Christian Clemmensen (Filmtracks Publications).
http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/catch_me.html

• Frank W. Abagnale, with Stan Redding , Catch Me If You Can – The True Story of a Real Fake, Bantam Book, USA 1980.

• Margaret A. McGurk, DiCaprio, Hanks have fun, so catch them if you can – The Cincinnati Enquirer, Friday, December 27,2002.
http://cincinnati.com/freetime/movies/mcgurk/122702_catchme.html

• Susan Goodwin & Becky Bradley, American Cultural History, Lone Star College – Kingwood.1960 – 1969.Copyright © 1999 [Kingwood College Library]
http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade60.html

• The Wikipedia Encyclopedia. Catch Me If You Can.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch_Me_If_You_Can

Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows - Soundtrack

The score for Deathly Hallows: Part 1 is composed by Alexandre Desplat, a notable French composer.

The first review of the soundtrack was released on October 31^st, 2010. The soundtrack received many positive reviews. ‘Obliviate’, the Prelude of the Deadly Hallows portrays the sad, mournful story, appropriate for the projection of the movie. It is neither a mysterious fantasy theme, nor a triumphant battle score, it is unique and full of depth, reflecting the progression of the emotions that the film contains.

At the time I watched the film for the first time in cinema; I noticed the melancholy tones and how the background music attracted me so much. When I found out that the composer was Alexander Desplat, it made sense to me. Having been listening well to Desplat‘s Curious Case of Benjamin Button, I could identify the uniqueness of Desplat’s composition; the sombre timbre, the many uses of dark tones, the beautiful melancholy tunes. And after I watched Deathly Hallows: Part 1, for the second time, I decided to purchase the soundtrack.

One month has passed, as I listen to the soundtrack all the time and I have fallen in love with it. ‘Obliviate’ sets the scene for a sad, mournful story and perhaps, highly appropriate to introduce this film. The music lends quiet emotional depth in ‘Harry & Ginny’, some tense, robust action with outstanding precision in many other tracks. In ‘Ron’s Speech’, the emotion in this music is high above success. It is so much serene and beautiful that I couldn't help but really feel it. Through the music, it depicts Desplat's genuine understanding towards the characters in the film; the painful transition from children to adult that the characters have to face, the struggles, and the deepest feelings, the dark forces, have all been illustrated with the entire soundtrack.

Nevertheless, John William’s scores for Harry Potter‘s first two movies received much credit as well. And Harry’s Wondrous World, ceaselessly, has been my favorite for 8 years and will always be.

No doubt, these soundtracks serve as my faithful companions when I was alone, in my room, which illustrates the mood of the story for Harry Potter series vividly. And honestly, some of the music suit my moods very much.

Wonderful Christmas

A time to remember the Saviour's birth.
A time for celebration, a time for thanksgiving.
A time of giving, a time of blessing and sharing.
A time for gathering, together with all the loves one.
Let's we cherish whatever we have and be grateful for all.
God bless ~ Merry Christmas 2008~


N.B.One of the best versions of 'O Holy Night'. Awesome performance, especially in the climax.

Chopin's Ballade No. 3 in A-flat major, Op. 47

It is not that easy to motivate myself to practise piano nowadays. My life as a music student seems like a long-lost-past. Yet, there 's one day when this particular Ballade came to my mind.. and it has been ages since I play a serious repertoire. Personally I found this ballade easy to listen to, though considered medium-hard in level of difficulty. Most of the time I prefer to play in minor keys, however this particular ballade is attractive on its own matters. Overall it starts of very much of classical music, then the second part sounds amiable and delicate, with certain inspiring parts, which sounds very lovely to me. The transition section before the ending contains certain drama and melancholy and it ends with a grand triumph.

August Rush

August Rush, a 2007 Academy Award-nominated drama directed by Kirsten Sheridan is one of the best movies that I have ever seen. The main character, Evan Taylor (Freddie Highmore), was an 11 year old prodigy who could just listen to anything and turned it into music. I myself would entitle him, 'The Modern Day Amadeus'.

There are two scenes that serve as hints of what the boy will become. The first one was the scene where he made the gesture of the conductor in a park. It is pretty obvious that this boy will be a virtuoso conductor sooner or later. The other one is the scene where he was playing the church organ. This grandiose scene depicts the boy to be ' an angel' or ' the chosen one'. Definitely he will be great. It is evident when he was brought to Julliard; he was honored to have his music, August Rhapsody, to be performed with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra with him himself as the conductor.

In my point of view, the movie introduces various aspects of music to the viewer. Evan's mother, a famous concert cellist named Lyla Novacek (Keri Russell) symbolizes the Classical, while his father, Louis Connely (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), an Irish guitarist and lead singer from a rock band, represents the popular. Their love story has been quite sentimental and melancholy, yet it is expected for musician couple. I like the juxtaposition of the music between the couple most. Other music that has been introduced includes jazz, R&B, Techno, country, gospel, blues, 20th century instrumental music, rap, et cetera. Basically, the representation of both high art and low art has been rather balance. 'Music is everywhere, if you care enough to listen' has been the central message of the show.

In a review by USA Today, Claudia Puig commented that "August Rush will not be for everyone, but it works if you surrender to its lilting and unabashedly sentimental tale of evocative music and visual poetry." The Hollywood Reporter reviewed the film positively, writing "the story is about musicians and how music connects people." (source: wikipedia)

Although the ending was a bit of a rush, overall I felt satisfied.
There were many times when I was driven into tears as I marveled through the story. A very big applause - Bravo!