Challenge #6: Personal essay
AUTHOR
In this essay from Under the Madness Magazine, von der Forst, a German exchange student, begins by describing his life with a host family in America. Then, as he puts on headphones during a sleepless night, he guides the reader through one of his favorite pieces of music: Antonin Dvorak's ninth symphony. As he narrates the piece from beginning to end, van der Forst divides it into music-inspired sections (adagio, largo, etc.) and outlines both the music itself and the personal feelings that it evokes in him. By the end of his essay, we feel as though we have experienced the symphony through the author's perception.
For your challenge, choose a work of art that resonates with you on a personal level. Then, guide your reader through it as von der Forst does with Dvorak's symphony. You may pick a piece of music, a movie, a novel, a painting -- anything that you can depict in detail from a fan's point of view. In writing your piece, give it section titles that reflect the medium itself. (For a painting, you may title sections "frame" or "background"; for a movie, you may include "opening titles," "climax," and so on.) Lastly, von der Forst's piece opens in diary format as he notes the time and place and describes himself in the process of playing the recording. Write a similar opening that establishes you as the audience for the piece that you choose.
Dear diary, it is two thirty in the morning, and I can’t sleep. I am laying on a gray pull-out sofa and my pillow
is again anywhere but behind my head. My thoughts are spinning around the day that is about to start and the
new chapter of my life that is about to be written. In the ten days that I’ve spent here so far, the white plastic
chair on the dock with the perfect view of the river and the opposite shore immediately became my favorite
spot. Now turning my head and looking through the windows of my new home, I can only see the numb light
of the moon and harbor lights that illuminate the dock. I am way too nervous to fall asleep anytime soon, so I
stand up, grab my headphones and walk out to the white plastic chair. While my thoughts still circle around this
New World that I will be living in for almost a year, I put on my headphones and the quiet night becomes
completely soundless. I press play, close my eyes and immediately start calming down as the soothing notes of
Dvorak’s 9th symphony start playing in my ears. In the four movements, Dvorak expresses his feelings about
living in a strange country, he illustrates his experiences with homesickness and describes the beauty of
American culture and nature. But why do I decide to listen to this piece of classical music in the middle of the
night, only a couple of hours before we drive to the boarding school that I will be spending my new life at?
Because it is an exact mirror of my year in the US.
Adagio
At the beginning of the first movement, the strings play a very dense and mysterious melody, symbolizing the
uncertainty and risks of leaving one's home. Those first few chords will always remind me of the feeling that I
had when I left my house on August 15. Suddenly, a horn interrupts the descending scale by playing a ship
horn-like fanfare, announcing Dvorak’s arrival in the United States of America. Slowly, the fog clears, and, on
the horizon, the port becomes visible. When the woodwinds start playing these high harmonies, I think of the
moment when my airplane broke through the clouds and I could spot Boston’s airport, looking like a tiny model
in a miniature world. Out of nowhere, the strings play an aggressive tune, which is then continued by the timpani
and concluded by the brass. I like to think of this part as Dvorak’s (and my) first impressions after arriving in the
New World: Everything is new, hectic, chaotic and simply overwhelming. The Adagio ends with seven separate,
loud exclamation points, indicating that there is more to come and symbolizing that excitement about the future.
Largo
Largo is Italian and translates to “heavy” or “deep”. Starting with a beautiful brass choral, Dvorak now invites us
to a slow, hopeful and bittersweet second movement. Regarding the delicate and nostalgic melody played by the
English horn, it is not hard to understand that Dvorak expresses his homesickness with this beautiful solo. As
soon as the initial enthusiasm and overstimulation wears off, the wish to be home with your family and friends
becomes pressing; I learned this the hard way: Months before my departure, my sister created a little “memory
book” for me. Everybody I was close with designed a page with a little text and many pictures - even our cats
put in photos. Now every time I feel the urge to be home again, I open the second drawer in my desk, pull out the
notebook and browse through my memories. In moments like this, I feel a little bit more connected to my home.
Scherzo
The third movement starts with bright, bouncy rhythms and fancy tunes. But how did Dvorak come up with this
melody that reminds a little bit of the beginning of Beethoven’s ninth symphony? Well, it is said that he took
inspiration from a Native American poem called “The Song of Hiawatha”. The loud beginning represents the
passage where the crazy magician called “Pau-Puk Kiwees” dances at Hiawatha’s wedding feast. This theme A
is soon replaced by theme B, again a typical Czech folk dance. Even though Dvorak starts engaging with
American culture and he even analyzes American poems, he just can’t stop thinking about his home. This is
exactly how I felt in the first couple weeks of school: I started to settle in, I found some great friends and became
a member in many societies and clubs, such as the orchestra or Model UN. But there would still be times when
things could become overwhelming and simply too much.
Allegro con Fuoco
The fourth and last movement begins with a melody that sounds suspiciously like the “Jaws” theme. As the rhythm
becomes faster, the strings are superseded by a browsing brass fanfare heralding the dawn of the New World. The
Allegro con Fuoco is all about flashbacks: Themes from previous movements show up again, intermingle and
create new melodies. Dvorak hereby expresses his excitement about the New World, but also makes clear that he
has not forgotten about his homeland, the Old World. There is an interesting part where the woodwinds and strings
play an uplifting and jovial melody that is again very reminiscent of Bohemian and Czech folk music, and
seemingly out of nowhere, all five horns interrupt this happy tune by blasting excerpts from the first theme of this
movement. This figure is repeated multiple times and gives you the feeling of being in between two worlds, not
really knowing where you belong now. For me, it was hard finding a solution to this “identity crisis”, and I still don’t
really feel like I have fully arrived in America. It is probably a good sign that I have not completely forgotten about
my home, since it is the place that I will return to when my time in the US is over.
Dear diary, as the final tones of this masterpiece slowly fade away, I stand up and walk back to the house. The
lights of the harbor shine numbly through the fog, the water ripples against the pier and I think I hear a ship horn
in the distance, announcing: Your ship has arrived at the port, welcome to the United States of America!
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