Valses nobles et sentimentales, M.61 no. 7 - Maurice Ravel

Hi there👋 I'm Noah Vazquez, a baker and collaborative pianist based in Cincinnati. I created the Program Notes Project for others to share their stories and help introduce classical music to more people. You can find my work on Medium @programnotes or follow the project @programnotesproject on Instagram.

Whirling

Have you ever listened to music in black and white?

An old film reel whirring and clicking up to speed,
spinning images into life.
You find yourself stepping into a scene,
this bright projection a portal to a bygone era.

A full ballroom, a big band,
the sound of a hundred joyous strangers.
Golden Age expressed in greyscale.

All the noise cut to black by a single spotlight,
reflecting like pure sunlight;
silvery radiance in a room of transfixed shadows.

A lone dancer,
the leading role in a movie played just this once.
The poise of a figure on pointe
moving in total confidence.
A boisterous kind of elegance,
flitting back and forth, forever
just out of reach,
betrayed only by a coy smile that says
I know your eyes are on me.
Performing romance like a celebration just for itself.

Now spinning, dizzily,
in and out of black and white
the spotlight barely keeping up.
Arms outstretched, ever onward,
frames rush by, unspooling
as if too quick for reality.

Taking off toward an endless horizon,
assured, windswept, ecstatic,
a being in full flight,
willing itself toward a world in color,
irising out to roaring applause.