Adagio

• Size: 8.5″ × 11″
• Materials: piano sheet, charcoal on paper
• Tools: charcoal

One memory that stands out the most from the collection of events that led me to fall in love with music, and specifically playing the piano, is the personal connection with this built environment.

It was night, and my Baba had just come home from a long day of work. He was tired, but he was very enthusiastic about me playing the piano accompaniment for Adagio with a professional group of violinists. It was around then that I started practicing piano in a way that had absolutely no ending to it; hours would pass, and I would still be trying to properly execute my crescendos so that it would not be taking away from the solo violinist.

On that memorable evening, I was practicing my piece one last time before the concert. Baba sat on the couch across from the piano, with the only light illuminating the room being the cylindrical lamp on the piano. The light was just enough that I could easily see the notes of the piano sheets, but not enough to illuminate the whole room. But Baba and I preferred it that way. So I played. He listened. He did not clap, but there was no need. We both already felt that the spirit of the song had finally been ignited.