Crossing Beethoven and
Educaton
Happy
faces in our essay
contest winners Amy Mok and Joyce Lau as they
receive from
Ms Katherine Lu, one of
our judges, their prized
tickets right before the
Berliner Philharmoniker's
inaugural concert in Hong
Kong on November 13,
2005, under the auspices
of the orchestra's
Chief Conductor and
Artistic Director Simon
Rattle, of course. The
evening's concert
features Beethoven's Eroica
Symphony and works by
Berlioz and Ravel.
October
21, 2005
The
results of our Berliner
Philharmoniker Student
Essay Contest 2005 are
out!
The two
winning essays, posted
below with slight
editing, have shown
original and personalized
thoughts on music
listening or
concert-going. They have
also raised specific
discussion on the
orchestra and the concert
program, and demonstrated
reasonably good use of
English, essay flow and
delivery.
This essay
contest was held by
Maplewood to encourage
students to appreciate
the activities and
pastimes they are most
passionate about, show
their understanding,
feeling and experiences
in their own voices
through expository
writing as an integral
part of their educational
and personal development.
The two
essayists win the two
$1,200 student tickets to
the first-ever Berliner
Philharmoniker concert in
Hong Kong on November 13,
2005 and will be notified
by Maplewood shortly.
Congratulations!
Essay
1
Why
I want to win a ticket to
the Berliner
Philharmoniker concert?
AMY
WING HAN MOK
I started
piano at the age of
eight. Since then, music
has become an important
part of my life. In my
leisure time, I often
listen to RTHK Radio 4
concert programs and
music selections by the
DJs. I love different
kinds of music,
especially orchestral
music! They have rich
textures and beautiful
melodies and harmonies.
When the various timbres
of the orchestra combine
together, the sound is
just fantastic!! However,
I seldom have the chance
to listen to live
concerts of great
orchestras in the world,
because my family
financial situation does
not allow me to do so.
In
order to enrich my
knowledge of music, I
started studying this
subject in Form 4, and
took the HKCEE and HKAL
music examination. I
learnt more about the
historical background of
different genres of
Western and Chinese
music, and the way to
analyze and appreciate
them from different
angles.
Beethoven's
Symphony No.3 "Eroica"
was one of the pieces I
had studied. I was
particularly impressed by
the heroic character of
the piece. The story
relating to Napoleon also
added colour to it. I
have listened to various
recordings of this piece,
but I am sure that a live
performance will be more
heart-touching and
breathtaking. I have also
studied Berlioz and
Ravel’s music and
fully enjoy the Romantic
styles. Therefore, I find
the program performed by
the Berliner
Philharmoniker is very
appealing to me.
In fact, the orchestra
itself is the most
attractive. I have
listened to many positive
comments and great
recordings by the
Berliner Philharmoniker
on Radio 4. The orchestra
was established in 1882,
and had cooperated with
many world-class
composers like
Tchaikovsky, Berlioz,
Liszt, Strauss, Mahler,
and Bruckner. This is
their first concert in
Hong Kong, which is a
really unique opportunity
for music lovers to have
a closer look on this
fantastic orchestra and
listen to their
professional performance.
However, tickets are
selling so fast that it
is hard to grab one. I
really want to win a
ticket to the Berliner
Philharmoniker concert so
that I will not miss this
once-in-a-life-time
experience and be able to
share it with my friends.Wing
Han Mok, 19, is a Year 1
student in Professional
Accountancy at the
Chinese University of
Hong Kong.
--
Comments
from judges:
The
author explains why the
Berliner Philharmoniker
is worth supporting and
gives evidence of a good
command of the music
scholarship. There is
real passion in her
description of the
concert and strong desire
to attend the concert.
The author could have
said more about how she
developed a passion for
music and what she gets
out of learning music.
Perhaps learning music is
just for pleasure and
pure enjoyment? That is a
good enough reason. But
as a reader, I'd like to
know more.
|
Essay
2
Why
I want to win a ticket to
the Berliner
Philharmoniker concert?
JOYCE
SZE WING LAU
People go
to the Berliner
Philharmoniker concert
with one reason - to hear
world-class performance
live. For me, it is more
or less the same - to get
a taste of fine music, if
I ever have the
chance.
Despite
having taken HKCEE Music,
AL Music and being a
university music
student now,
I do not play an
orchestral instrument.
The Berliner
Philharmoniker will be
the one to make me a
listener understand the
joy of making music with
others!
Live
performance! I don't
have perfect pitch
but my ears won't be
fooled by sound produced
by the vibration of
carbon dust inside
speakers. I much prefer
the mechanism
of real instruments.
Going
to concerts allow me
to enjoy the acoustic
effect of the venue.
Hi-fi music
has acoustic
design, but that is
another
story. Furthermore,
live performance
allows interesting
mistakes, which are
absent in refined
recording.
Moreover, a compact
disc records
nothing more than
sound. Only when
sitting in the same
hall and feeling the
same temperature
can players
and listeners be
bound together by
music. This is why
people buy perhaps
the most expensive
tickets in their lives
for one concert
rather than ten
CDs for hundred
times of listening to
each.
Placido
Domingo conducted the
Berliner
Philharmoniker concert
"Spanish
Night" under a
shelter with
thousands of people
sitting around orderly on
the grass. In the
concluding piece, Domingo
took the microphone to
sing the famous
tune with the
audience
and everyone lit
firework sticks
in their hands.
I am in love with
that atmosphere!
It's a pity that only the
educated, rich ones
can afford the
concert in Hong
Kong. Yet the unique
style of the orchestra
will surely appear in the
concert hall!
Regarding
the programme, it's just
one-seventh of
the "Beethoven
cycle" presented by
the Hong Kong
Philharmonic Orchestra
last season. While
"Eroica" is
not the most
representative Beethoven
symphony, it is the
most remarkable one, both
in motivation (for
Napoleon)
and musical style. I
look forward to listening
to the fascinating
violin phrases in the 1st
movement!
If only I
had been reminded earlier
of the words of Simon
Rattle that "Music
is not luxury but a
necessity," I would
have bought the tickets
before they were
sold out. I
therefore write to
grab this one last chance
to fulfil my
necessity!Sze
Wing Lau, 18, is a Year 1
student in Music at the
Chinese University of
Hong Kong.
--
Comments
from judges:
The
author writes with a good
deal of sincerity and
presents her arguments
with candor and an
informed sensitivity....
I like her keen
observation: "live
performance makes
interesting
mistakes." We all
make mistakes, but not
always
"interesting."
The author mentions an
example of the unique
style of the Berliner
Philharmoniker, and
discusses a bit on the
program. Could have
elaborated more on
"music is not a
luxury but a
necessity" with an
example or personal
experiences.
|
Essay
Contest announcement,
September
13, 2005
Contest
rules
Thank
you all for
participating! Our
special thanks to Ms
Katherine Lu of Katherine
Lu Music Centre, Hong
Kong, in being one of our
judges for the essay
contest.
  
The Berliner
Philharmoniker performing
on stage, and performing
education outreach
through Zukunft@BPhil, a Berliner
Philharmoniker initiative
that seeks to make the
orchestra's work and its
music accessible to the
widest public.
|
|
