What could be more exciting than continuously listening to the most beautiful music on the air from CBC while painting non-stop looking right into the dazzling morning light. How could any one not be touched deeply by Beethoven's 5th piano concerto which I can listen to again and again, and I always feel like choked up with tear whenever the second moment starts. I finished this painting when Beethoven's 5th piano concerto was followed by Beethoven's violin concerto! I would never forget the first time I heard Beethoven's violin's concerto decades ago back in China. It was Menuhin's performance! Back in those days, the opportunity to listen to European classic music was so rare in China, that I remember I would not hesitate to spend a week's earning as a high school teacher just to buy a music cassette. I remember that I got myself into trouble one Christmas I played from tape cassette recorder Handle's Messiah for my students instead of cramming them with lessons in the classroom on a Sunday. The party boss and principal gave me a warming not to contaminate our youngsters with poisonous Western cultures again! Maybe deep in me from that day on there had been a yearning to leave China! When I finally found myself in Canada a few years down the road, and when I discovered CBC Radio which I filled my five years of my lonely hours listening to day after day without the presence of my wife and daughter, there arose in me a silent resolve and heart broken determination to stay on in Canada and never move back to China again !
Everyone draws inspiration from something - and I can see yours in the beautiful art you create. And, of course, when you know the story behind a piece, it is so much more poignant.
ReplyDeleteThank you Marlene for your nice comment here !
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