I haven't always loved the song "Clair de Lune;" in fact, when my Grandma Flake (who also happened to be my piano teacher) first assigned this song to me, I dreaded practicing it with all of my rebellious teenage heart. It was difficult, it had five flats, and it was long and too abstract for my shallow teenage mind to appreciate (bear in mind that I had never actually heard the song performed--only played it one excruciating chord at a time, myself).
Oh, and did I mention that it was difficult?
My Grandma and Grandpa Beecroft would invite me to come practice on their piano when my mom needed a little less noise in our house, and although I didn't know it at the time, "Clair de Lune" happened to be my Grandpa's favorite song. I'm sure it broke his heart to hear me butchering such great art, but like the troopers they were, my grandparents acted as though it was never the least bit of trouble for me to go practice in their home for hours on end.
Grandpa never told me himself how much he loved "Clair de Lune;" in fact, I didn't find out until my mom called to ask me if I would be willing to play that exact same song at his funeral, after he gave in to the cancer that had been plaguing him during my freshman year of college.
The only problem was, by that point, I hadn't practiced it for at least three years, and I no longer had it in my current repertoire.
It worked out--someone else (my Grandma Flake, in fact) was asked to play for his funeral, which she did beautifully, of course, and I got to participate in other ways that were still meaningful, but a little part of me felt ashamed that I had given up on what I now realized was such a beautiful song out of sheer laziness.
When my Grandma Beecroft passed away a few years later, just a couple of weeks before I got home from my mission, I got to call my family for Christmas only a week after she had died, and my mom had some news for me that brought tears of emotion and surprise to my eyes:
"Jewel, Grandma--she left you her piano."
To this day, I have no idea why she chose me out of all of her grandchildren (many of whom are much more musically talented than I) to receive such a treasured possession, and when I came home from the mission and got married shortly thereafter, Grandma's piano had a prominent spot in our first, very humble, slightly-roach-infested apartment. And, because I was jobless at the time, and able to focus completely on myself and my own interests, I practiced on Grandma's piano for hours every day. "Clair de Lune" became a big focus of my practicing, and I got to the point where it was a polished part of my repertoire.
But I still never completely memorized it....
Until now.
Yesterday was my Grandpa Beecroft's birthday, and so I finally decided to post this video in his honor. My good friend allowed me to go play this beloved song on a beautiful grand piano, and I was able to record it, for a few reasons. A teeny-tiny part of me likes to have proof of my accomplishment, quite frankly, but a much bigger part of me wants this opportunity to pass the incredible legacy of music I have been blessed to receive on to my posterity--and this is one of the best ways I can think of to do it.
Now, no judging, please...I know there are a lot of mistakes; bear in mind that I'm just a humble little piano teacher, in, yes, her silky pajama pants (I didn't know the camera had the angle quite like that...I thought it would be only from the waist up) who is playing on a piano she isn't used to, and be charitable, please and thank you.
The point of this exercise, more than anything, was to prove to myself that I could actually memorize it, and to hopefully feel a little closer to my grandparents as I did so.
And I did.
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