September
11th and Schubert Piano Trio
Dear diary,
There is a piano trio that got associated with the
events of September 11th. At
least for me. For this 25th anniversary of 9/11, this is a story of
Schubert Piano trio in B flat Major.
Music has a power to transport and connect us to
different places, people and events. It links individual to a group; it can
bring cohesion. It can bring optimism as well as sadness. It can be a symbol.
Montréal, September 2001: 2001 was the year when I
started my Master’s degree at Conservatoire de Montréal. Life was beautiful and
my only worry at that time was my sadness that Conservatoire had to move from
that beautiful old building in Old Montréal.
That September, I had a required class called Chamber Music.
It is a particular class where I was assigned to play duos, trios or quartets.
I came to Conservatoire with a soloist background and my chamber music works
consisted of works for two pianos or piano violin duos. I did not play many
piano trios. And somehow, we were assigned a grand Schubert piano trio in B
flat Major, one of the most celebrated masterworks in the chamber music
repertoire that takes 40 minutes to perform. I had an honor to do this trio with
Emilie, violinist and Yoav, cellist, two wonderful musicians that were doing
their Master’s at the same time as me. We had an entire semester to prepare it and
perform it in December, at Jeunesses Musicales du Canada concert hall here in
Montréal.
Our first trio rehearsal was scheduled for Tuesday,
September 11, 2001. That morning, I got up happy, and eager to go to
Conservatoire and start the work with my trio partners. Was proudly holding my Schubert trio scores in
my hands and was just about to get out when on my surprise I found my entire
family in the living room in front of the television. Thousands died, said from
another room, buildings collapsed, there are first responders and firefighters
dead as well, it was a terrorist attack. Unable to move I set beside them. Crying.
Life stopped.
Bus 97 going West was packed. I was on my way to
Conservatoire. In bus, unease and
silence. Hurt and confusion everywhere. Some were shaking heads in disbelief. We
were all looking at each other. I was holding my cell phone in one hand and my
Schubert trio scores in another. Like a compass. Almost squeezing them.
Arriving at Conservatoire, we did our first reading. An
atmosphere difficult to explain. I believe that all three of us just moved our
fingers and stared blankly through our scores. What a sad day it was.
New York, April 2005: Few years later, I found myself
in New York. I was preparing for the Chopin International Piano Competition. An
April morning my mom and I visited the Ground Zero before my piano lesson. In
2005 Ground Zero was still far away from the memorial that we know today. Fences were still around. All around buildings
were still covered. Beneath, thousands and thousands ordinary people that went
that morning to their work and never came back. The feeling that they had
families, they had hopes. It was all gone, life has stopped. We stayed there
for few minutes while ordinary people like us were rushing their ways to their
work.
I was late for my piano lesson as my lesson was quite a
few blocks away from the site. Once arrived, I started my worm up session with
some scales and etudes. That day I supposed to present Chopin first piano
concerto but during my worm up, I suddenly switched to the opening part of the
Schubert piano trio. I did not bring my scores, but from my memory, I managed
to play the opening and second theme of the first and second movements. Symbolically,
in this opening, the images of New York’s Ground Zero in front of me joined the
images of that Tuesday Montréal morning of September 11th. It was
the same sunny morning when I was holding my trio scores as I was securing
their existence in my hands on that bus 97 going West.
Montréal, April 2005: Few days later, I got back to
Montréal. Found my Schubert piano trio scores, opened them and went through the
entire trio, my part. Slowly. Remembering. Notes were going one by one. The
first movement, a beautiful second theme, then the second movement, third
movement Scherzo and fourth movement Rondo. Entire trio till its end. Reminiscence.
Schubert piano trio resonating.
An epilogue: In his theory of symbolic interactionism American sociologist Herbert Blumer explains that human beings act toward things, including physical objects, other people, institutions, and situations, based on the specific meanings those things hold for them.
This trio could be remembered as another requirement
for an obligatory class. But that was not the case. For me, this piano trio
transcended and ‘broke’ the fences. It became connected to the day and place of
human tragedy and to the people who are not with us anymore. Buildings were
full of people that day, music was surely part of their lives. September 11th
came between us and our everyday lives. September 11th came between
me and this piano trio. From that day on whenever I perform it, whenever I open
this trio’s scores, or hear it performed I am reminded of human tragedy of
September 11,2001.
Schubert Piano Trio n. 1 in b flat Major Op. 99 (D.
898) performed by Trio Dali
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