MENI Theme- Frustration and Pain
Recording Transcript
Selina: It was extremely difficult to communicate with people in English. And everything seemed so frustrating after I came because I could not communicate. It’s just like the tree in the picture, all barren. It has lost all its leaves, all barren. I lost everything I had in China, my social influence, my confidence, my voice…everything, just like that tree, all barren, all barren.
Nick: At the very beginning of my studies, one Canadian student asked me very curiously “Why do Chinese students always only hang out with Chinese students?” Canadian students might think Chinese students do not want to hang out with them, but it is the opposite. It’s just that when I constantly found myself not able to say things that I wanted to say, I felt frustrated. The more excited I was to talk, the more frustrated I got. That feeling of being unable to even open your mouth to talk like a normal person is beyond what words can describe. That kind of pain cannot be described in words; it can only be felt.
That kind of pain cannot be described in words; it can only be felt.
Composing Process
In this piece, I used a very slow minor piano melody to communicate the sad undertone of the theme. The chromatic motif communicates the frustrations and psychological stress participants experienced from communication barriers during their academic acculturation process. When the chromatic motif resolves upward, it represents painful emotions closer to the surface. The fully accompanied variation of the melody at the end represents pain of increased magnitude and indescribability.
