Afternoon recital

Posted on Friday 1 October 2021 @ 12:14 by Captain Melody Jones & Civilian Sansa Draxx-Jones & Commander Caroline Miller & Lieutenant Marbim Rejal & Lieutenant Ricardo Draxx & Civilian Abigale Blackwood

Mission: First Contact
Location: The Round Table
Timeline: MD2 1300
1846 words - 3.7 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:


You are all invited to an afternoon Piano recital by Captain Jones to be held in the Round Table lounge today at 1300Hrs in honour of our guests from the USS Santa Maria.


The Round table had been set up with rows of chairs and the grand piano had been moved to the far end of the room in front of the big windows on the leading edge of the saucer section.

Sansa was looking forward to this. She always enjoyed hearing mom play. She and Fay entered the Round Table followed by Doctor Blessed. "We don't really have music on our planet " Fay commented "So this will be interesting."

"Mom's a really good player. She used to play a lot when I was younger." Sansa replied as they took their seats.

Gregor had just gotten off shift and heard about the Piano recital in the Round Table. He thought back to the days when he was young and listened to his Mum play the violin, and it had been a good while since he had been to a recital. He got himself a tankard of synth ale and found himself a place in a corner where he could watch both the recital and the room. In security some habits never die. He greeted those he knew as they came in with a nod and a wave.

Miles had arranged for his time on the bridge to be covered for a few hours. Having hit the sonic shower in his room, Miles entered the room, and looked around for a seat. He was wearing a kilt, with a simple homespun top. Of course, his ever-present mug was with him, the smell of lavender and earl grey tea followed him and he walked over and sat down.

Once everyone was seat Melody approached the piano at the front, before turning to the audience. "Good afternoon and welcome to this special recital in honour of our guests from the USS Santa Maria. I've chosen a program that will show off many different styles and techniques of composers from my home planet, Earth. First, we will hear from a composer who was born around 1870 in Germany. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers of music. This piece, the Moonlight Sonata was completed in 1801 and consists of 3 movements. The first dreamlike and very serene, the second more lively and the third outright tempestuous. The piece was first performed by the composer. I hope you enjoy it."

Gregor sat and absorbed the music like he did when he was younger and listening to his mum play at home. He closed his eyes briefly and the weariness began to slip away. He wished not for the first time in his life that he had taken the time to learn an instrument. But for now, it was simply enough to sit back and enjoy.

And with Melody sat down at the piano and began.

Beethoven - Moonlight sonata



Miles, began to relax. While he had only been introduced to piano music since he joined Star Fleet, he enjoyed the span of tones the instrument could hit. Having not heard the melody before, at least that he remembered, Miles closed his eyes and listened.

Caroline had been running a little late. And needed to get changed having thrown up again. She slipped in quietly listening to the beautiful music which you could hear down the corridor on approaching. Finding a spare seat she let the music carry her thoughts away into a calming space.


After the end of the last movement and after the applause died down, Melody introduced the next two pieces. "A change of style from romantic to baroque with these next two pieces by J.S. Bach who was born in 1685. There’s something special about the sheer purity of the first piece, his ‘Prelude In C Major’. The first gentle unfurling of the C major chord, one might feel, is where the whole story of modern western music begins. Well, not quite – it goes centuries further back. Yet this prelude is still a kind of tabula rasa, a tiny but perfect distillation of musical logic. The second piece is the Presto from his Italian Concerto."

And with that, she began playing again.

Bach - predlude no.1 in C Major
Bach - Presto from the Italian Concerto



Miles again enjoyed the music, using some guided imagery to remember some of the beautiful places he had experienced, as well, places from his homeworld.

"Next we'll have an example of a theme and variations by Handle which he wrote after listening to the local blacksmiths singing as they worked. There is the main theme followed by 5 variations. The first variation retains the same melodic shape while emphasizing the sustained harmony that accompanies the theme. In the second variation, most of the activity is shifted into the left hand with sixteenth notes and ornaments. This excitement is further heightened in the fast-paced triplets of the third and fourth variations and culminates in the fifth variation’s fireworks, composed of dazzling scalar passages, bringing the piece to a thrilling close. This is The Harmonious Blacksmith."

Handle - The Harmonious Blacksmith


Miles lightly clapped for Melody's skillfully playing.

Melody acknowledge the applause and smiled. "And now for something completely different." She went on to say. "This next piece was composed in 1899 by Scott Joplin. It was one of his early works, and became the model for ragtime compositions by subsequent composers. It is now one of the most famous of all ragtime pieces. This is The Maple Leaf Rag."

Gregor truly listened to the music, he could almost see it in his mind as it played. He felt relaxed for the first time in a long time, he wiped away a single tear as he found the music enchanting and beautiful and gave applause at the end of each piece. He would have to get a copy of the recital from the computer after it had ended. As long as the Captain didn't mind, he'd ask her after the recital was over.

Scott Joplin - The Maple Leaf Rag

Melody took a quick sip of water before introducing the next piece. "The next piece was written by Edward Grieg for his 25th Wedding anniversary. He named it after his summer home, located in Norway’s Hardanger Mountain Range and is in three sections, Welcoming the Guests, Reflections, and Farewells. I hope you enjoy Wedding Day at Troldhaugen."

Greig - Wedding Day at Troldhaugen

When she had finished that piece, she stood. "My final two pieces examples of a style called an impromptu. by two different composers. The first is the Impromptu in E flat by Shubert and was the second impromptu written by the composer. It opens with a scalar melody in triplets, accompanied by chords below it, which dominates the outer sections of the piece. The second is a Fantaisie Impromptu in c sharp minor by Chopin. This piece was written in 1834, but Chopin didn’t publish it in his lifetime. In fact, he specifically requested that none of his unpublished works be published after his death – though this was completely ignored and there are quite a few posthumous compositions of his that we now enjoy. It bears many similarities to the Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven which was the first piece I played this afternoon. I hope you've all enjoyed this afternoons performance and I thank you all for attending."

and with that, Melody sat down and began her final two pieces.

Schubert - Impromptu in eb major op. 90 no. 2

Chopin - Fantaisie impromptu in c sharp minor

Mathias had come into listen to Melody's recital, he had said not a word just listened to the music, enjoying what was being played. He had slipped in to sit by Caroline taking her hand, as Melody played. It was wondrous and soothing to his soul.

Now Hamish had thought to come to listen to the Captain's recital, and he did, he was late though, and was embarrassed by it. He didn't want to interrupt the playing nor Sansa's enjoyment, he did however glance towards her, enjoying the view.

"You played so beautifully Captain," Caroline said joining everyone. "I'm sorry I was a tiny bit late. Please excuse me for that."

Mathias chuckled warmly, " you were certainly here earlier than I was though." looking at Caroline. He then turned to look at the Captain. "You were magnificent Captain."


Melody smiled warmly "Thank you both." She turned to Fay "I hope you enjoyed the recital."

Fay had tears in her eyes. "Your playing was very beautiful Melody. You are very gifted."

Miles walked up and gave Melody a short bow, "I had heard you played from Sansa, but that was magnificent, thank you for making the afternoon enjoyable." Miles then headed off to change into his uniform for the rest of his bridge shift.

Gregor smiled warmly. " Beautifully done Captain. I hope you don't mind if I download a copy of this performance to my music files, It was quite enjoyable and relaxing."

"Of course Lieutenant, be my guest. I often find listening to music helps me relax too." Melody said.

"Thank you Captain, I very much enjoyed the recital. But I should be going now as I have other tasks to attend to. I hope that I may hear you at another recital in the future. " He said and bowed his head slightly in respect. He then turned and head for the door.

Sansa came over and hugged Melody. "It was really good Mom. I'll have to take a recording of it too so I can listen to it."

"I'm glad you all enjoyed it." Melody said as she look around at all the happy faces. "Now, who's hungry?"

OFF:

○●● Lieutenant Commander Marbim Rejal
Executive Officer
USS Merlin


●● Lieutenant Mathias McPhee
Chief Operations Officer
USS Merlin


○● Lieutenant JG Gregor Morgan
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Merlin


●● Lieutenant Hamish Teague
Chief Science Officer
USS Merlin


Sansa Draxx-Jones
Marine biologist
USS Merlin

Fay/Abigale Blackwood
Diplomatic liaison
npc Jones/McPhee

●●●● Captain Melody Jones
Commanding Officer
USS Merlin