# @michigandaily on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq0kHv9IBPL
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/5463073-michigandaily-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/21a1463ef0.jpg
- **Posted:** 2023-04-09T16:00:10.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** The Michigan Daily (@michigandaily) — https://gondola.cc/michigandaily

## Caption

#Statement: I’m sitting down at a public piano in East Quad.

An old piano professor of mine, when I was first learning this piece five years ago, once mentioned that “Sarabande” from Pour le Piano was actually Debussy’s favorite composition, more so than “Clair de lune” or “Rêverie.” I agree: I think it’s his most intimate piece, and whenever I am playing it I feel like I am having a conversation with the piano instead of a proper performance, with listeners almost unnecessary.

Performing quiet works like this are deceptively difficult, as the intense legato the piece seeks throughout requires the utmost finesse within each fingertip; a mistake made here rings out, bare, whereas similar errors in faster, busier compositions become disguised under its frenzy.

But wait, here comes one of my favorite parts. Pay mind to how the murmuring D# on the second beat approaching rises into a pleasant E. 

That right there is the soul of Western music. Let me elaborate further: come take a little detour.

Western classical music is a form of applied mathematics. It’s built on a framework that revolves around harmonic tension and release, expressed fundamentally as ratios between the frequencies of two notes — a musical interval. For example, a third (listen below) is defined as a ratio of 5:4, meaning that if the bottom note’s frequency is 440 Hz, the top note’s frequency will be approximately 550 Hz. This translates to an A to a C# on the piano, which happens to be three steps apart, hence the interval’s name.

More importantly, feel how that interval sounds: it’s at peace, whole, even, beautiful. Physically, it’s because the sound waves between those two notes constantly align — due to the simple ratio between them — which produces a pleasing effect neurologically.

To read more, click the link in our bio.

✍️: Darrin Zhou
📸: katehuaphotography

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- **Likes:** 435
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- **Comments:** 6

## Credits

These are the roles credited on Gondola. Credits may be incomplete.
A brand, account owner, or featured person is not necessarily the creator.

| Name | Username | Profile | Role |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| The Michigan Daily | @michigandaily | https://gondola.cc/michigandaily | Newspaper |
| Kate Hua | @katehua24 | https://gondola.cc/katehua24 | Photographer |

## Tags

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