La Jeune Fille, 1994/95
The Story Behind the Piece, By Rebekah Griffin Greene
Originally titled "The Girl", this piece was my first "foray" into serious composition. Although I had studied
composition with Peter Lewis at summer camps growing up, I had vehemently hated every second of chorale
analysis and was annoyed at having to write music, since all I wanted to do at that point was perform on any
instrument I could get my hands on.:)
Life has a funny way of changing us...
My freshman year at USC (now it's USC Thornton School of Music:), I found myself once again analyzing chorales in
theory class. However, for whatever reason, since I was gaining a deeper knowledge of the chords, and how they
progress, etc., I was actually fascinated and not bored, and I really enjoyed creating my own little pieces. (I credit
Neal Desby, my theory teacher, for being a great teacher, and even making theory class fun.:) My sophomore year
(1993-1994), my roommate (Awesome flutist Michelle Baker-Wright!:) and I were hanging out at the fountain by the
main library, journaling and stuff, and this poem literally fell out of me. I was experiencing some pretty intense
heartbreak at that point in time, and writing this poem not only expressed how I felt from a human perspective, but
also how my faith in Jesus helped me to get through this trying time.
After writing the poem, I started to get kind of excited about pairing the word imagery with sounds, and I called my
cellist friend Becky Osterberg (now she's Becky Kutz Osterberg:) and read her the poem and asked her what she
thought of the idea, and she and I had fun talking about what instruments could illustrate certain images, and so I
wrote the piece for piano and bass in about two hours, and it was really the first time that I experienced this creative
rush of excitement as I was sitting at the piano, and I had no idea what this would lead to, but I played it for my
teacher, Paul Ellison, and he loved it, and has always been so supportive of my bass playing and creativity, so the
school year ended...
Unfortunately, in June of 1994, I lost the use of my right hand, due to "overuse syndrome", which is related to
tendinitis. This was DEVASTATING for me, as I had spent my entire life up until that point practicing and preparing
to be a virtuoso musician. Many sacrifices had been made by my parents to bring me to this point, where I was at a
conservatory, and the utter disappointment and confusion and "What do I do now?" was horrible. I saw an
occupational therapist, who gave me a brace, and some good exercises, and that summer I spent living in
community with other members of my Christian fellowship. I had to be dependent on others for the first time in my life.
It was really hard for me!! I needed help undressing and everything. My pride was at an all-time low.
That fall, since I couldn't use my wrist, I enrolled in choir and voice lessons, and continued therapy sessions, limiting
myself to 5 minutes a day of practice (I had to set an alarm). I went to a retreat with InterVarsity, and I remember
praying and asking God what He was doing with my wrist. He showed me a vision of a light coming down and shining
through the bass to a lot of people. I had no idea what this was, but it certainly was a cool picture in my head!
Although months passed, there didn't seem to be much improvement, and finally, in December of 1994, while visiting
family in Monterey, a chiropractor told me exactly what I was fearing the worst: "You should think about changing
careers." I spontaneously started bawling immediately, because all I ever wanted to do with my life was play music,
and although he tried to say something nice after that, like "Well, maybe you'll be one of those people who will
overcome their injury..." (clearing throat and adjusting glasses furiously), the damage was done, and my life as the
star performer was over. My mom said, "Maybe you're supposed to be a composer," as we were grocery shopping
after that, but that was no comfort to me. Once someone has experienced the joy of creating music on an
instrument, there is nothing that can replace that.
The chiropractor called my mom back later and told her that my wrist was very weak and needed to be
strengthened, so he recommended only wearing the brace during the day, which I did. The occupational therapist I
was working with recommended practicing for longer and longer amounts, always measuring the endurance by the
pain.
I went back to school in January, and my cello teacher from high school called me and said "Do you still have
tendinitis? There's a competition you should enter called the Alice Nelson Music Competition." I was barely able to
lift a fork, let alone practice for 10 minutes, and she was telling me to enter a competition! I thought she was crazy!!
But as crazy as it was, I entered, and had 2 months to learn the required repertory, which fortunately was only 2
contrasting pieces: a movement from a concerto (I played the first movement of Bottesini's Concerto in a minor), and
I decided to play my own piece, "The Girl", which by then had been renamed "La Jeune Fille" on Paul Ellison's
recommendation.
Between January and March of 1995 I worked my practice time up from 5 minutes a day to 30 minutes a day,
somehow managing to learn that difficult Bottesini. There was a lot of visual/mental learning going on in those 2
months!! I also enrolled in a dance class so that I would be forced to be flexible and move my body for better
circulation. The first round of the competition was in March, so my pianist friend Phillip Placenti and I drove up to
San Luis Obispo and played. I didn't know how the panel would react to me playing my own piece, but they
absolutely loved it, and I passed on to the final round, which was in late April. Lots of prayer and as much practice
as I could handle went into preparing for the final round. I believe God was the one with the final say though, since I
ended up winning 1st place, $1500, and a chance to play a concerto with the San Luis Obispo Symphony. It was a
miracle! Just 5 months earlier I could barely lift a fork, and now here I was, the winner of this competition.
The most thrilling part of all of this, however, was when the conductor of the symphony, Michael Nowak, asked me to
orchestrate my own piece, instead of playing Bottesini with the orchestra. WHOA!! I had not taken any orchestration
classes, and this all seemed really overwhelming!! However, of course I was totally thrilled, and set to work right
away scoring the piece for orchestra. Since I had not yet learned Finale, I had to copy the parts by hand, and I was
running out of time, so many of my dear Christian music friends helped me to copy parts from the score. I was not
alone in this process!!
The day of the concert came, and what an amazing experience it was. As I stood on the stage, about to premiere
this piece that God had given me, I closed my eyes and lifted my spirit to heaven, and was filled with gratefulness
and joy. I began to play, and I realized that this was the fulfillment of the vision that God had given me when I was
still injured and couldn't play. I had wanted to become a performer. He had given me more and made me a
composer, orchestrator, poet, and performer. Not only that, but He had blessed me through the wonderful
community of friends who were so faithful to love me through this whole process. I had put God in a box, and He had
exploded out of it and changed my life from a sparkler to giant fireworks, and this while I was still recovering from a
serious injury!! When I finished playing there was silence, and then a standing ovation. I was overwhelmed, and
praising God for His goodness to me.
That summer I played "La Jeune Fille" for the Music Academy of the West concerto competition finals and won
Honorable Mention. I had a composition lesson with Thea Musgrave, who was there for a brief residency, and
showed her the piece, asking her if I should study composition more, and she greatly encouraged me to pursue
further studies. In the fall of 1995, one year after I thought I'd never play again, I completed my junior bass recital. I
also applied to be a composition major at USC and played "La Jeune Fille" for the composition faculty, particularly
Erica Muhl. They really liked the piece, so I was accepted into the program, and a new journey began!
HALLELUJAH!!
Originally titled "The Girl", this piece was my first "foray" into serious composition. Although I had studied
composition with Peter Lewis at summer camps growing up, I had vehemently hated every second of chorale
analysis and was annoyed at having to write music, since all I wanted to do at that point was perform on any
instrument I could get my hands on.:)
Life has a funny way of changing us...
My freshman year at USC (now it's USC Thornton School of Music:), I found myself once again analyzing chorales in
theory class. However, for whatever reason, since I was gaining a deeper knowledge of the chords, and how they
progress, etc., I was actually fascinated and not bored, and I really enjoyed creating my own little pieces. (I credit
Neal Desby, my theory teacher, for being a great teacher, and even making theory class fun.:) My sophomore year
(1993-1994), my roommate (Awesome flutist Michelle Baker-Wright!:) and I were hanging out at the fountain by the
main library, journaling and stuff, and this poem literally fell out of me. I was experiencing some pretty intense
heartbreak at that point in time, and writing this poem not only expressed how I felt from a human perspective, but
also how my faith in Jesus helped me to get through this trying time.
After writing the poem, I started to get kind of excited about pairing the word imagery with sounds, and I called my
cellist friend Becky Osterberg (now she's Becky Kutz Osterberg:) and read her the poem and asked her what she
thought of the idea, and she and I had fun talking about what instruments could illustrate certain images, and so I
wrote the piece for piano and bass in about two hours, and it was really the first time that I experienced this creative
rush of excitement as I was sitting at the piano, and I had no idea what this would lead to, but I played it for my
teacher, Paul Ellison, and he loved it, and has always been so supportive of my bass playing and creativity, so the
school year ended...
Unfortunately, in June of 1994, I lost the use of my right hand, due to "overuse syndrome", which is related to
tendinitis. This was DEVASTATING for me, as I had spent my entire life up until that point practicing and preparing
to be a virtuoso musician. Many sacrifices had been made by my parents to bring me to this point, where I was at a
conservatory, and the utter disappointment and confusion and "What do I do now?" was horrible. I saw an
occupational therapist, who gave me a brace, and some good exercises, and that summer I spent living in
community with other members of my Christian fellowship. I had to be dependent on others for the first time in my life.
It was really hard for me!! I needed help undressing and everything. My pride was at an all-time low.
That fall, since I couldn't use my wrist, I enrolled in choir and voice lessons, and continued therapy sessions, limiting
myself to 5 minutes a day of practice (I had to set an alarm). I went to a retreat with InterVarsity, and I remember
praying and asking God what He was doing with my wrist. He showed me a vision of a light coming down and shining
through the bass to a lot of people. I had no idea what this was, but it certainly was a cool picture in my head!
Although months passed, there didn't seem to be much improvement, and finally, in December of 1994, while visiting
family in Monterey, a chiropractor told me exactly what I was fearing the worst: "You should think about changing
careers." I spontaneously started bawling immediately, because all I ever wanted to do with my life was play music,
and although he tried to say something nice after that, like "Well, maybe you'll be one of those people who will
overcome their injury..." (clearing throat and adjusting glasses furiously), the damage was done, and my life as the
star performer was over. My mom said, "Maybe you're supposed to be a composer," as we were grocery shopping
after that, but that was no comfort to me. Once someone has experienced the joy of creating music on an
instrument, there is nothing that can replace that.
The chiropractor called my mom back later and told her that my wrist was very weak and needed to be
strengthened, so he recommended only wearing the brace during the day, which I did. The occupational therapist I
was working with recommended practicing for longer and longer amounts, always measuring the endurance by the
pain.
I went back to school in January, and my cello teacher from high school called me and said "Do you still have
tendinitis? There's a competition you should enter called the Alice Nelson Music Competition." I was barely able to
lift a fork, let alone practice for 10 minutes, and she was telling me to enter a competition! I thought she was crazy!!
But as crazy as it was, I entered, and had 2 months to learn the required repertory, which fortunately was only 2
contrasting pieces: a movement from a concerto (I played the first movement of Bottesini's Concerto in a minor), and
I decided to play my own piece, "The Girl", which by then had been renamed "La Jeune Fille" on Paul Ellison's
recommendation.
Between January and March of 1995 I worked my practice time up from 5 minutes a day to 30 minutes a day,
somehow managing to learn that difficult Bottesini. There was a lot of visual/mental learning going on in those 2
months!! I also enrolled in a dance class so that I would be forced to be flexible and move my body for better
circulation. The first round of the competition was in March, so my pianist friend Phillip Placenti and I drove up to
San Luis Obispo and played. I didn't know how the panel would react to me playing my own piece, but they
absolutely loved it, and I passed on to the final round, which was in late April. Lots of prayer and as much practice
as I could handle went into preparing for the final round. I believe God was the one with the final say though, since I
ended up winning 1st place, $1500, and a chance to play a concerto with the San Luis Obispo Symphony. It was a
miracle! Just 5 months earlier I could barely lift a fork, and now here I was, the winner of this competition.
The most thrilling part of all of this, however, was when the conductor of the symphony, Michael Nowak, asked me to
orchestrate my own piece, instead of playing Bottesini with the orchestra. WHOA!! I had not taken any orchestration
classes, and this all seemed really overwhelming!! However, of course I was totally thrilled, and set to work right
away scoring the piece for orchestra. Since I had not yet learned Finale, I had to copy the parts by hand, and I was
running out of time, so many of my dear Christian music friends helped me to copy parts from the score. I was not
alone in this process!!
The day of the concert came, and what an amazing experience it was. As I stood on the stage, about to premiere
this piece that God had given me, I closed my eyes and lifted my spirit to heaven, and was filled with gratefulness
and joy. I began to play, and I realized that this was the fulfillment of the vision that God had given me when I was
still injured and couldn't play. I had wanted to become a performer. He had given me more and made me a
composer, orchestrator, poet, and performer. Not only that, but He had blessed me through the wonderful
community of friends who were so faithful to love me through this whole process. I had put God in a box, and He had
exploded out of it and changed my life from a sparkler to giant fireworks, and this while I was still recovering from a
serious injury!! When I finished playing there was silence, and then a standing ovation. I was overwhelmed, and
praising God for His goodness to me.
That summer I played "La Jeune Fille" for the Music Academy of the West concerto competition finals and won
Honorable Mention. I had a composition lesson with Thea Musgrave, who was there for a brief residency, and
showed her the piece, asking her if I should study composition more, and she greatly encouraged me to pursue
further studies. In the fall of 1995, one year after I thought I'd never play again, I completed my junior bass recital. I
also applied to be a composition major at USC and played "La Jeune Fille" for the composition faculty, particularly
Erica Muhl. They really liked the piece, so I was accepted into the program, and a new journey began!
HALLELUJAH!!
Click here to read the
poem and listen!
poem and listen!
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