🍂 Drifting Leaves: Autumn Tag 🍂

 Autumn Grace at Shades of Art has tagged me for the Autumn Tag Challenge (how appropriate), and since autumn is in fact my favourite season, I'm quite thrilled :)

The Rules:
1. Download the cover photo and use it for your post2. Acknowledge the person who tagged you3. Tag others and comment on their blog to let them know!4. Slip into autumn vibes

And here are the questions!
1. If autumn isn't your favourite season, what is? And if autumn is your favourite season, why?
Well, it has already been noted that autumn is my favourite season - or rather, one of them. I suppose I love each season when it comes around, but I always get most excited about autumn. It's so cozy and delightful with tea and hot chocolate and blankets and scarves and fuzzy socks and reading by the fireplace and there's nothing else quite like it.
2. What is your favourite thing that you do each autumn?
I love cozy things. We decorate the house (sometimes, usually right before Thanksgiving which is far too late for my taste), I pull out the sweaters and scarves, and I can actually drink tea and hot chocolate without thinking about how it’s the wrong season.

3. What are a couple of your favourite autumn memories?
Something I love every year is getting to see more of my family around Thanksgiving time, and also baking and cooking a lot. It’s just so comforting and cozy to have warm apple pie and pumpkin muffins. Also, especially when it gets cold enough (summer likes to linger around where I live) lighting the fireplace and reading whilst wearing a cloak blanket is a delightful thing.
4. What book most reminds you of the autumn? Movie?
Hmm probably The Hobbit or Anne of Green Gables, both because they are autumn-y and are also best read while drinking tea near the fireplace.

5. What is your favourite drink for the season?
Tea, hot chocolate, pumpkin spice lattes
6. What is one new thing you want to do this autumn?
Despite all my violining and college audition-ing, I really want to have dedicated time to read and write for myself and also spend time with the LORD more consistently. And also drink as much cinnamon tea as I can get my hands on.
7. Do you decorate for the autumn? If so, how soon? If not, why?
Yes, my family does, but as I mentioned earlier, we take our sweet time doing it. By the end of the season, we’ve got pumpkins galore all around our entryway :D
8. What is your favourite way to celebrate Thanksgiving?
Making food. Lots of it. And consuming it in great quantities with family.

9. What colour makes you think most of autumn?
The colour of pumpkins. The colour of leaves slowly dripping to the ground. The colour of the sunset.
10. Type up a list of ten words or names that encapsulate the season of autumn for you.
- pumpkin spice- cinnamon- fuzzy sweaters- warm hugs- scarves- hardcover books- warm chili- hot chocolate- adventure- comfort

And I shall tag…
- The Hopeful Pen at With Joy for the Work- Ruth at A Bend in the Road- Eva at birds, sky, and stars- Iona at Story Blossoms- Olivia at Meanwhile, in Rivendell
And whoever else would like to fill it out!
Soli Deo Gloria,Hannah

Book Recommendations for Autumn

cozy comfort books

• Anne of Green Gables
• The Hobbit
• The Chronicles of Narnia

victorian classics

• Jane Eyre
• The Scarlet Pimpernel
• Little Women
• Emma

“I-have-time-to-read-a-Russian-novel”

• Anna Karenina
• The Idiot

mystery

• The Phantom of the Opera
• The Murder on the Orient Express

Au Revoir,

Hannah

Happy Birthday, Mr. Shostakovich

    

Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (fondly nicknamed Shosty by most classical musicians) was born on September 25, 1906, and died on August 9, 1975. He was a famous Russian pianist and composer battling the challenges of being an artist in Soviet Russia. He had a complex relationship with the government and Stalin in particular, especially after writing his infamous opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. 

    If you listen to Shostakovich’s music, you’ll notice it’s got an extremely distinct and identifiable style. Atonal, grotesque, mocking, but also beautiful and grand and picturesque. Some of his most famous compositions are: 

* String Quartet No. 8

* Symphony No. 5

* Symphony No. 10

* Symphony No. 11 (“The Year 1905”)

* A score for Hamlet

* Cello Sonata

(I’ve played the ones in bold)

    Happy birthday to an amazing composer, pianist, one of the founders of modern classical music, and personally one of my favourite composers!

Пока (that’s goodbye in Russian),
Hannah

the music tag

    “Music is life.” - Ludvig van Beethoven

    Thank you to The Hopeful Pen at With Joy For The Work for tagging me :)

    

    The Rules:

1. pick ten songs/pieces that come on shuffle (the original rules say no skipping but must I really?)

2. write your favourite lyric from each song (seeing as how classical music is 99.9% of my listening repertoire, not sure how this is going to work)

3. tag some people (everyone reading this, consider yourself tagged)

—

1. Shostakovich Symphony No. 11 (The Year 1904)

I played this over the summer and it’s such an amazing piece of music. I highly encourage listening to it; not only is the music itself brilliant and impactful, but so is the storytelling.

2. Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2; second movement

One of the most romantic pieces ever written. It’s beautiful.

3. Theme from “Schindler’s List”

Heartbreakingly beautiful.

4. Dvorak Symphony No. 8

I got to play this over the summer as well (as concertmaster; the solo is so beautiful!) and it’s just so playful and exuberant and joyful and I love it so much.

5. “The Last Goodbye” by Billy Boyd

“Many places I have been / Many sorrows I have seen / But I don’t regret / Nor will I forget / All who took that Road with me.”

So beautiful and so sad and so amazing.

6. Shostakovich String Quartet No. 8; second movement

According to sonata form most second movements are quiet, but this is definitely not. This piece is sooo fun to play and it’s crazy to boot. How exactly like Shostakovich.

7. “Give Me Jesus” by Bethel Music

“You can have all this world / Give me Jesus”

One of my favourite worship songs. It’s so powerful and beautiful.

8. Elgar “Enigma” Variations No. 9 (Nimrod)

I played the entire Enigma Variations two years ago and it’s just amazing. (Warning: will make you sob. I am not kidding.)

9. Sibelius Violin Concerto; 1st movement

This is the piece I’m playing for college auditions. It’s one of the most difficult concerti written for violin, but it’s also incredibly distinct, beautiful, and virtuosic.

10. Mahler Symphony No. 2 (Resurrection) 

I highly recommend this. It’s long, but incredibly well-worth it. 

Soli Deo Gloria,

Hannah

you, a coward

 “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32

You, a coward.

I do not know who you are. The world does not know.

It doesn’t matter.

You may have some reason in your mind, some justification

for what you did. 

It doesn’t matter.

You, a coward. You, a murderer.

How dare you?

Kill an innocent man, a man who speaks truth,

a good man, and you think it makes you a hero.

You fool.

You coward. 

You murdered a man with children, a man with a wife,

a man who asks questions

and tells the truth.

You do not understand, perhaps,

that you

will never

win.

———

Yesterday, a man named Charlie Kirk was murdered. Why? Because he was speaking truth and goodness to people who didn’t want to hear it. He stood firm on the Word of God and someone thought it was okay to kill him because of it.

“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” John 3:19-21

In Which I Say “So Long, Farewell” To Summer

A sad fact: It’s been ages since I’ve posted anything on here.

A happy fact: The reason being, I was off on the other side of the country playing violin and (on occasion) buying books.

But now I am back. 

A crazy fact: School starts soon (bebother summer homework 😠) and so do college auditions, and I shan’t have much time.

But!! I will be posting and sharing still (as time permits) on both blogs, which is very exciting because it’s been so long since I’ve been able to.

Summer was amazing. I got to do so many amazing things while at music camp, and I’m SOOO grateful for my experience there. 

After the six weeks I spent there, my family and I went vacationing and (as one does) we stopped at a bookstore. I acquired many delightful books (nevermind I had to carry them home on the airplane) and so here’s a brief outline of my post-summer-reading TBR: 

The sequel to Little Women and a journal to go along with Gatsby 🤩

A book with love poetry and a historical fiction, which I’m super excited about!

And of course, who can go wrong with Dostoyevsky?

Adieu,

Hannah

Chasing Sunbeams: A Summer Book Blog Tag

    Exciting newsflash: I was tagged by Cecilia from Craft, Coffee, and Cake for a Summer Book Blog Tag not too long ago, so here are the rules and my responses!

    The rules are: 

1. Acknowledge who tagged you! (Thanks muchly, Cecilia :D)

2. Answer the questions!

3. Tag friends!

4. Have fun!

    The questions:

1. What's a book you read with summer vibes?

2. If you could travel anywhere this summer, where would you go?

3. What's a poem or quote that reminds you of summer?

4. Describe your favorite summer memory.

5. Your ideal summer is filled with _______, _________, and _________.

6. What is your favorite summer food?

7. Favorite summer activities?

8. How do you usually celebrate 4th of July?

9. What's a song that reminds you of summer?

10. What are you most excited for this summer?

    Answers!

1. What's a book you read with summer vibes?

It has (sadly) been a while since I’ve read this, but Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery always felt rather summery to me. It’s such a beautiful book—and actually, the entire series is lovely. Please go read it.

2. If you could travel anywhere this summer, where would you go?

I’ve wanted to travel around Europe for a long time. Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, Norway, Austria, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Italy, France…

3. What's a poem or quote that reminds you of summer?

“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.” (Predictably, this is Tolkien. The first lines of The Hobbit. Don’t ask me why it reminds me of summer. I don’t know.)

4. Describe your favourite summer memory.

Oh, dear, why must this be so difficult?? I’ve so many. For the past three summers (this’ll be the fourth) I’ve attended an intensive violin program. We get so many amazing experiences there; meeting famous conductors and artists, getting leadership experience, making friends with other passionate musicians. Some of my favourite memories are of us making music together and improving as musicians and people.

5. Your ideal summer is filled with violin, books, and God.

6. What is your favourite summer food?

Watermelon. I don’t think this needs any explanation.

7. Favourite summer activities?

Besides practicing? Reading, pretending to be a lizard in the sun, sleeping in (too much), walking at the beach.

8. How do you usually celebrate 4th of July?

So I’ve unfortunately been gone at aforementioned summer camp during 4th of July for the past three years, so I haven’t really celebrated it, other than texting HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY to various group chats. But before I started doing this, my family and I would usually go see fireworks and all that fun stuff :D

9. What's a song that reminds you of summer?

Not exactly a song per se, but Dvorak’s New World Symphony, perhaps because I played it at camp last year as concertmaster.

10. What are you most excited for this summer?

Violin, reading, writing, spending time with family and friends, and actually, getting up early and spending time with God. I’m terribly bad at both mornings and consistency, so I want to develop the habit now :)

    I tag…

Anyone who would like to fill it out! I’m not picky ;)

Blessings,

Hannah