the end of the LONGEST LSS

pardon the rather macabre start to the workweek of the year with this piece BUT, blame it on my belief of divine comedy and how i keep finding myself a victim of it. what perfect timing, i thought to myself, that after almost 13 years of waiting, i finally was able to put to an end what probably must be the LONGEST CASE OF LSS (Last Song Syndrome), ever, on the last day of my vacation.

i first heard of this piece a very long time ago. i still remember it then, cable TV was just new and i, being the utter sponge that i was, was just lapping up whatever these new and very foreign channels were throwing at me. at one particular, fateful afternoon, while watching STAR TV, i happened to chance upon a brief snippet of the HK fashion week. the clip showed a rather dramatic performance involving a rotund lady stumbling over the catwalk, quite deranged looking and in a tattered dress, while other, more statuesque figures, walked down the runway in wedding gowns and carrying chandeliers. what got me transfixed however was not the unusual show but the music they used. it was powerful, sinister, emotional, and utterly intoxicating. it was predominantly strings, violins actually, and was played crisp and raging with ATTITUDE!! i loved it but had no idea what it was called!!! i knew it was classical, that much is obvious, but what was the name of the piece? where was it from? who composed it? sadly, i had no means of answering any of those questions. we still didnt have internet back then so "google"ing was out of the question... then again, 13 years ago.... there was only YAHOO. i was in highschool too and knew no one else who had the same obsession to classical music as i (well, except for an ex-BFF). so, stuck with no means to an answer, i had to rely on memory and patience, hoping that i would one day, eventually, stumble upon the piece again and finally get my answer.

years went by and i still had this hum in my head, for it would plague me every so often. even with the internet at my disposal, i still could not find it, for how can you type down a hummed tune on google? i tried putting down keywords, hoping to find a match. indeed, this proved to be useful once when i tried to find "dies irae"by verdi, but this haunting piece was more illusive than i thought.... that was, until last night.

while watching a movie on youtube, the creators were kind enough to use this piece on a particular scene. the moment the first bit of violins started playing, i KNEW it was my piece... and i KNEW my answer was at hand.... for MOVIES always pay credit to borrowed music and most often would have a SOUNDTRACK. so after a brief cross referencing on google and youtube.... my classical piece FINALLY revealed itself to me.

may i present, "Dance of the Knights/ Montagues and Capulets" from the ballet "Romeo and Juliet" by Sergei Prokofiev!!!!!

syempre, i spent the entire night last night and the whole morning today just watching every bit of clip i could get of this piece!!! PUCHA, 13 years ba naman!!!!

these three would be my faves. pardon the video overload.....





and with the russian ballet....