there are some classical pieces that have integrated themselves in my memory so closely that i can summon images and atmospheres upon re-listen. while sensory memories are connected to these pieces, the music most instinctively and acutely triggers inexplicable feelings i have felt throughout certain periods of my life.
i will update this table as new associations sprout from music i listen to. as of August 26, 2025, this page is still under construction.
| the music | z mého života (from my life) |
|---|---|
| Fauré: Les Djinns with orchestra, not piano accompaniment |
My final semester of college (March-May 2025). Les Djinns was one of the last pieces I played in my college orchestra, in collaboration with the choir. Lights from the front row of the orchestra. Dark skies and lonely nights in my dorm as I wept away the traces of heartbreak from my first break-up or the tension of anticipating rejection letters for jobs. Uneasy anticipation for the uncertainty of post-graduate life. The messes on the floor of my senior dorm, the rocking chair, the photos I had on my wall, the window I opened and closed every day, the twin XL bed I slept on. The lack of closure from my ex-- so much that I secretly begged to end up in the Bay Area to run into him. Images of the Bay Area, its suburban vibe and my desire to be there, even though I was never there during my time with this music. The swells of orchestra and choir parallel the wave-like fluctuations of my listless floundering. It's a short piece that harbors a lyrical gravity that I have not experienced elsewhere, not even in Fauré's other vocal works. Upon first listen, I looped it for what must have been hours, trying to sing along with the lilting climaxes, weeks before the first rehearsal of this piece in orchestra. |
| Beethoven: Piano Concerto no.5 "Emperor," II. Adagio un poco mosso | My study abroad semester (around March-May 2024). At the time, I was studying at a film conservatory in Prague, and one of my professors had assigned The King's Speech as homework. Weeks later, I attended a concert at the Rudolfinum's Dvořák Hall: a rehearsal of Steven Osborne playing the famous Emperor Concerto. It was then that I had made the connection that this second movement was used at the end of The King's Speech, metaphorically an ascension to king. This is the soundtrack of my free spirit, roaming Prague and other central European cities on trams and trains, a backpack and trenchcoat around my shoulders. This is the music of calm successes and smooth journeys. |
| Chopin: Ballade no. 1 in G Minor (Specifically the recording by Arthur Rubinstein) |
Freshman year of college (2021-22). There are associations with the popular anime show, Your Lie in April, which gives it (perhaps unnecessary) undertones of heartache, which my naive 18-year-old self adopted as the primary function of this piece. And perhaps influenced by my then-crush on a pianist who had played this at some point. I remember the nights I spent awake with my earbuds in, listening to an analysis of the various sections of this ballade, and absolutely adoring the yearning, anguished dissonances leading into the development. Anyway, I actually rarely listen to this piece because it reminds me of how foolish I was. It is beautiful; I simply prefer to listen to non-piano music. |