Vilify a Violin

Chapter 6

A record of the conversation between E. Gotman and G. Samsa, involves only key information due to limited space. To ensure viewers gain a comprehensive understanding of events mentioned, only the main speaker's parts are remained. In this section, it is Elly Gotman speaking.

*About childhood*

"I remembered it was back when I was around, ten or eleven. We went to Vienna and, I watched my first play in my life. Well, strickly speaking, it's actually opera. Do you know Carmen? Yes, that one definately inspired me and opened up a brand new area full of possibilities. "

"Carmen is...a tragedy, though based on the most common interpretation, as she died, what people refers to 'the collapse of community', I think? For me Carmen had nothing to pity, even she died cuz she died for her faith. For freedom!"

"Or say Carmen herself is freedom. I hope I got a chance to watch Carmen again some day, perhaps after living in big cities. The theater is far away from where we are, about a two hour trip on wagon, and frankly speaking, the owner's taste is bad. The theater comes only with traditional things, you know, the typical drama- Dr. Faustus, Macbeth, this sort of stuffs, and undoubtedly, never anything contemporary and creative. They never have opera. Guess good things can only be found in big cities. Well, so my point is, Carmen really impressed me first time I watch it. I could never forget her red dress, and how it drew a neat curve when she stalked back and fro. She sang. She did a lot of gestures and facial expressions. She looked...so alive. "

"Oh, also about the story: it beat everything I had read before! I love adventures, but all of them are about male, and woman in these story? ha, they never play the leading character. But Carmen was different! She took the spotlight, and the play is even named after her. I mean, really, I still sense this excitement even today, when I mention Carmen. I can say Carmen is one of the reason why I've been yearning for city life all the time. Night, daggers, spy-"

"-Sorry I talked to much on Carmen, forgive me. Like you said, I primarily resolved to be an actress, but someone told me what made today's performance special was the guest. I forgot her name, but, with the pronoun 'her', a sololist! I heard people talking about her before and after the play all the time, and sometimes even in the middle of it. When I was fascinated by what happened on stage, it seemed most were attracted by things below the stage, down in the pit. It was said that the sololist used to be a member of the ochestra presenting that day, and on her trip around Europe, she dropped by and...got invited somehow?  In fact till today, I can't put my finger on that: If she was simply dropping by, then how she'd manage to work with the ochestra perfectly, with few rehearsals. Anyway, it's not the point of how she made it, but who she was."

"I didn't know basic things like 'do re mi' back then, so I had no way judging her performance as a pro, but she must be brilliant as a musician. Otherwise she had no way becoming a sololist. I remembered after the show ended, she went on stage after the actors and actress, and smiled and bent to the audience holding her violin- Ah, latter turned to be viola after I began to play violin, and soon the theater was submerged by applause. I gave her applause with all my passion and somehow, vaguely realized I would enjoy a life as sololist more than life as an actress. In some sense, you know, I even think she's the real Carmen. "

*Background of the piece 'Vilify'*

"...Hm, the reason why I called the piece 'Villify'? Well-"

"If I tell you because I feel like I'm vilifying my violin playing this mess, would you believe me? -Aww, I appreciate that, Grets. The thing is, well, my families obviously hate the idea that I'll leave home and no marriage to pursue my career. When I first mentioned it, their jaw were about to fall, and fury was insanly growing in their eyes. I explained my goal and process to achieve it to them, cautiously; Their face changed not. Then my father suddenly asked me what drove me into a sololist wannabe, and I explained all the stories I just told you. "

"Then he sighed deeply, and shook his head helplessly. He looked right into me, and abruptly, almost shrieking, he cried 'Oh, I KNEW IT! I shouldn't take you to theather and watched that frigging play and let you learn violin! Tell me, who put this idea into your head? Is it your tutor, uncle Hessie? No, it can't be...Ha, how foolish I am! You've told me already! That what you called Sololist...OH, THAT WITCH!"

"How could he call such an outstanding sololist 'a witch'! He was impossible that time, and really, his words pissed me off. I'm tried of arguing with him, so I rushed into the iron room and jot down whatever in my mind. I wanna write something full of rage, so I put the strongest chord together and made it sounds as sharp as possible. I wanna imitate storm and thunder by adding some percussion, but I'm not an expert on that. And just thinking about it, now and then, stirs me up. I have to go. I have to finish this piece and bring it with me on my way to music school. " 

"- Yeah, sort of; you can say that. Indeed I can write it into a piece without precussion, and probably a solo. However, I...Well you know, you need inspirations. And inspirations come often accompanied with strong emotions, the impulse to compose, but I didn't feel the same rage I experienced that time, so it's very hard to come up with something proper. Also, speaking of sololist, I feel like I need to spend more time practicing. Otherwise, I can't catch the entrance test held in Vienna for music school. "