Spring Music Recital: Japan & Norway edition - Eva Varga

We enjoyed the children’s spring music recital yesterday.  Students ranging from 5 to 18 years in age performed pieces they have been working on the past few months.  It was a delightful concert, as always.

I love how hearing one another inspires them to work harder. Many times, they also discover new songs they too would like to learn.  It is also a wonderful way to share their growing music skills in a comfortable setting – allowing them to develop public speaking and presentation skills as well.

Sweetie performed a song from a Hayao Miyazaki / Studio Ghibli movie. The title is in Japanese Kanji, however, so we are not yet certain what song it is.  Sweetie thinks it is from Castle in the Sky.  If you know, please enlighten us!! 🙂

Edited 14 April 2014:  Thank you to Emily who shared in a comment that the violin piece was from the forest theme in My Neighbor Tortoro.  From there, we further learned that it is 風のとおり道  (Path Of The Wind).

Buddy performed Ja Vi Elsker, Norway’s unofficial national anthem. He also performed it at the lodge in March, substituting for our regular pianist who had had shoulder surgery.  He was very proud.

The words for the national anthem, written by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, one of Norway’s great dramatists and poets, were first published in 1859. The music was composed by Rikard Nordraak, a cousin of Bjørnson and a friend of the famed Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg, in 1864. It was first performed later that year for the 50th anniversary of their constitution.