second competed essay
Jenna Gholson
X. Life of the Mind
Gabriel Faure’s Requiem has been the single most influential piece of music in my life. It was the first serious piece I had ever performed, and I fell in love with it. My chamber choir traveled to New York City to sing it at Carnegie Hall in a vast choir - it was pure bliss. As tired as I was, I felt the music swell out of me, every note, dynamic, and word memorized. During solo sections, I closed my eyes and felt the room vibrate with intensity.
Faure wrote his music to capture exacting emotions, communicate them to the audience, and draw the same sensation out of them. As a performer on this piece, crying out “Christe Eleison” and begging God to grant peace to those who had died, I felt as if I was truly bargaining for their souls, and releasing them to be with the angels “In Paradisum.”
This has become the music which I listen to for calm, healing, and meditation. I wonder at Faure’s compositional skills, and marvel at his understanding of life, heaven, and God. If ever I lose faith, the Requiem is there to remind me of the existence of heavenly love, and earthly devotion.
i'm not so sure about using the word "sensation."
X. Life of the Mind
Gabriel Faure’s Requiem has been the single most influential piece of music in my life. It was the first serious piece I had ever performed, and I fell in love with it. My chamber choir traveled to New York City to sing it at Carnegie Hall in a vast choir - it was pure bliss. As tired as I was, I felt the music swell out of me, every note, dynamic, and word memorized. During solo sections, I closed my eyes and felt the room vibrate with intensity.
Faure wrote his music to capture exacting emotions, communicate them to the audience, and draw the same sensation out of them. As a performer on this piece, crying out “Christe Eleison” and begging God to grant peace to those who had died, I felt as if I was truly bargaining for their souls, and releasing them to be with the angels “In Paradisum.”
This has become the music which I listen to for calm, healing, and meditation. I wonder at Faure’s compositional skills, and marvel at his understanding of life, heaven, and God. If ever I lose faith, the Requiem is there to remind me of the existence of heavenly love, and earthly devotion.
i'm not so sure about using the word "sensation."