Bright World

Information:

• Source: Approved Measures Notebook
• Key: C Major
• Measures: 45
• Parts: Cello and Piano
• Duration: 3:05
• Pages: 4 Pages

“There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million.”
― Walt Streightiff

READERS OF HEARTS
Children have the advantage, over adults, to not lose any sleep over many things. At any given day, they can be anything they want, and be someone else the next day. Their joyful and curious nature, allows them to be brave. They certainly, can go from smiling, to frowning upon, and back to smiling in three seconds. The innate ability to see the whole world, full of impossible possibilities, enables their imagination to make sense of it.

If you engage in conversation with children, you must know, they are always two steps ahead of you, and can detect “bullshit” a mile away. Indeed, kids do seem to posses a natural intuition, alerting them at every turn, since they can be an easy prey. The same way horses, as an illustration, seem to read people’s heartbeats, and according to experts on the topic, allowing them to know of humans’ intentions.

MAGICAL MOMENT
Through out all of my years teaching music, the most fun I had was teaching piano to kids. Their unpredictability to react to circumstances is entertaining and educational, both at the same time. Being around children for many, is a magical moment. For me, it wasn’t only magical, it was a true eye opener on valuable life lessons.

Remembering my students is bittersweet: It draws a smile on my face, and at the same time, I wonder if they will remember me. Today, as I was thinking about my teaching days, I searched inside my memory bank for names and faces. Few names emerged in my head easily, I would like to mark down, for the record, some of them, sure and why not?.

Eztli, Fiona, Milo, Emily, Anthony, Chloe, Juliette, Weston, Phillipe, Callister, Van, Connor, Skyler, James, Olivia, Talia, Cruz, Bronson, Mason, Griffin, Lily, Tian, Brian, Lisa, Bryant, Oscar.

Of course, all these names only mean something to me. If I close my eyes, I can see clearly their beautiful smiles, and my mind automatically reproduces events they participated, music we played together, things they used to say. Without knowing, these kids enhanced my existence, and taught me more about life, than I’d ever taught them about music.

THE BEAUTY OF ALL
Understanding kids, is really not difficult, when one learns to treat them with the outmost respect, they would let you in into their extraordinary world. If only adults would used their imaginations, the same way kids do, the world could be a much friendly place. True happy children don’t have malice, they tell the true, they just simply do not have any intention whatsoever, to judge
nor to harm.

Children do not know they don’t know. And of course, it could be argue, but that in itself, is the beauty of their existence. On the other hand, adults have knowledge of their ignorance, and yet, act egotistically, while inflating their own value with useless ideas and opinions. That is such an ugly trade that we, as adults, acquired imperceptibly as we grow older.

PEACHES AND CREAM
Many times I have heard: Children are the future. They’re going to be the leaders of tomorrow and are going to make choices that will directly affect our generation. All of that, sure sounds very feathery, but not everything is peaches and cream. Yet, If we really want to be honest with ourselves, we should take a look at all the current leaders in the world; especially leaders in the political arena and reason that, they were once children, the future of the world. There’s only one question: What in the world went wrong?

As we grew older, I believe, we lost sight of reality, part of it is, because the toxicity of the world. The other part is the natural, or should I said unnatural, course of being a human. Because, we have to accept the fact that, it is not easy to be one.

A LETTER
All the pain and struggles humans faced, is that really necessary? But, I do not want to philosophize. Instead, I’d like to share a letter written in 1901 by Rainer Maria Rilke to Helmuth Westhoff, which encapsulates, in very general terms, the reason why I believe, children of today, become all of the sudden, disappointing leaders of tomorrow.

Most people don’t know at all how beautiful the world is and how much splendor is revealed in the smallest things, in some flower, a stone, the bark of a tree, or a birch leaf. Grown-up people, who have business and cares and worry about a lot of trifles, gradually lose their eye entirely for these riches which children, when they are alert, soon notice and love with all their hearts. And yet the finest thing would be if all people would always stay in this relationship like those children, with simple and reverent feelings, and if they would not lose the power to rejoice as deeply in a birch leaf or in the feather of a peacock or the pinion of a hooded crow as in a great mountain range or a splendid palace.

The small is as little small as the big is big. There is a great and eternal beauty throughout the world, and it is scattered justly over the small things and the big; for in the important and essential there is no injustice on the whole earth.

HOW MANY STARS?
One of the things I do to surprise myself and be amazed, is playing music I never heard before. Few years ago, I borrowed from the library a book with a collection of pieces from the 18th Century. The piano sonatas are now, my favorites to play.

In this occasion, I am including, into my composition, a few measures from the 3rd movement Allegretto, of the Piano Sonata in C Major by the Italian Classical Composer, Giovanni Platti (1690-1763). Which was included in the book mentioned above.

I wrote this piano/cello piece thinking of all the kids I taught music, let us not forget, that they are indeed, the future habitants of our planet. This piece is, an invitation to have fun, to smile and be amazed by the whole world around you, be surprise, do silly things, be a kid all over again_ try to count the stars in a clear night_ , but most importantly, let us rediscover the bright world we live on. Let’s use our imagination, in the end, it would make our whole world much brighter.