The Mission Complete

There are no beginnings, just a place a story picks up something new.

                                                                                                                                    - Cami Errant

On December 9, 2010, I was given a choice between two pieces of music that at the time, I thought to be impossible to play. My piano teacher (who I will give the name "Master" for the sake of the story), said I should play one for a prestigious competition in my community. The two compositions were written by Burgmuller, a Baroque musician. They were in a progressive book, numbers twenty-four and twenty-five. I had also played a piece in that book called Arabesque, which was only number two. The Swallow and The Knight Errant were both challenging pieces, no doubt. But Master was sure I could either of them in March, the month of the competition.

One week later, I returned to my piano teacher's house, with confidence in my choice.

I had tried to play both pieces, at least a little, to get the feel for them. Number twenty-four, The Swallow, was my favorite of the compositions. Only two pages in length, it had a gorgeous melody, and a consistent theme. The other piece, The Knight Errant, was much more precarious. First of all, the piece was three pages long, and it had to memorized, which I thought would be impossible with a piece at that level. Secondly, there was hardly a recurring theme. The first melody was repeated three times total in the entire song. Third, there were thirty-second notes! I didn't even know how to count those! The entire thing was crazy. It sounded cool, in and of itself, but a pianist at my level, I thought, could not possibly play something so challenging.

Inside Master's house, I played for her most of The Swallow, since I had gotten pretty good at it. I was sure she would be pleased with my progress on my favorite piece in the book. Master seemed content. Like most of the songs in the book, it was considerably fast, but I was pretty sure I could handle the speed. The song used a lot of peddling, which at this point in time, I thought I was pretty good at. So overall, The Swallow was my number one choice.
Next, she asked me to play what I had worked on in The Knight Errant. I hadn't done much work on it, since it was so difficult. The beginning chords were a bit of a stretch, so I didn't do very well on them. Master said that is was fine, and that it was quite a bit harder than number twenty-four. I explained to her that The Swallow was my primary choice. I was a bit surprised to hear her disagree. She said that The Knight Errant was much more of a "me" piece. I thought it was too hard. Still, she persisted, and I caved in, and took on that work of art that would be my project for the four months to come.

The following night, I was sitting at my piano, too far back on the bench, looking at Knight, and not knowing where to start. I studied the opening. Dynamic: Piano. I saw that at the end of the second line, there was repeat sign, which meant I would have to play it again. Oh joy. I recall sitting for ten minutes doing nothing but staring at the dead trees. Then I fell apart. In my extreme worry, I started talking to my parents, who were making dinner. Despite all of my well thought-out fear, they continued their attempts at reassuring me I would be fine. I had all of winter break to practice it. And that's exactly what I did.


In the beginning of January, I returned to my piano teacher's house. Feeling much more confident than when I had last been here, I explained the state of the piece. I had figured out all of it. It was slower than written tempo, and a little sloppy, but what can you expect? I played through all that I could, trying to exaggerate dynamics and melodies, while keeping things even. Once I'd finished, Master gave me a hug.

It took another three months to get The Knight Errant in a state of slightly pure beauty, but that was all I'd wanted. The competition ended up going pretty well, though I didn't win. I wasn't too surprised. It wasn't my best performance, but definitely not my worst. I was critiqued very well, on things I knew I had to work on, and on things I hadn't heard before, like not sitting far enough forward in my seat. In the end, I was content. It was a one-shot deal, but that's how it's going to work. Just yesterday evening, I had a piano recital for Master's studio. I was the second-to-last performer, going in order of level. The last student to play was a graduating senior playing a Chopin piece. I was a lot more comfortable thinking it wasn't all about me, but that I had the honor of opening for the seniors concert. I made virtually no mistakes, which made me happy. But what made me really happy, was listening to Nocturne, and thinking back on my experience with the Knight. It may be pushing it, but he is my friend.

I went through a lot of changes with this guy riding by my side. I pulled my hair out on grades, friends, and everything else under the sun. But when it came to problems with him, I never got very mad, or offended, or hurt. I talked things out slowly, and we came to the end in perfect harmony.

So now, my journey is complete. Our battle is over, not won. Well, not entirely. And one thing's for sure, I had a great time with you, Knight. Thank you.