ave maria

Hosanna has been playing/singing the "Ave Maria" by Gounod (sp?), which is sung over a Bach prelude. Aria LOVES this piece. Every time Hosie starts to play it, Aria comes and lays down on the blanket by the piano, and just quietly listens.

One day, Hosanna was looking for a performance of it on YouTube, and found this rendition by Bobby McFerrin:



Bobby McFerrin is now Aria's hero. She wants to watch this video at least twenty times a day, and everything else we can find by him. It's amazing what an impact this piece has had on her.

Once, while Kathy was babysitting, Aria announced "I'm going to sing for you." She went and stood in the doorway between the family room and the laundry room, on the little piece of carpet we have there that covers up the TV cable. She then started waving her arms around like Bobby McFerrin does as he is directing the audience, and started singing the Ave Maria. At first, Kathy couldn't figure out what it was, but later she put it together.

Also, sometimes she sings the song to herself as she is lying in her crib at night, just before she goes to bed. She's literally practicing this piece, and we can hear her getting better at it as she learns the words and even some of the pitches and musical phrases. We try not to get too caught up in the idea that she's already showing all this musical talent (we're way too biased being her parents and all), but it does seem like she is showing a pretty good ear already.

All I can say is, the joy this piece has brought to us is limitless. What magic, to share music like this with her. And hearing her absorb it and then sing it back to us is unbelievable.

My Grandma Ruth would have been very pleased to know that, so far, Aria doesn't care for rock music too much. When I try to play the bass or guitar, she always says "That's too loud, Daddy." And she always asks us to turn off the music when we have rock music on. She wants to hear Raffi, or something classical. As Grandma would say, she only likes "the good kind" of music. :) This association to Grandma is furthered by the fact that Aria sometimes has facial expressions that look just like her. It's pretty crazy to see her mirror someone from three generations before her.