Yesterday I presented the adorable Nora, a pianist cat. Today’s video is even better: Mindaugas Piečaitis, a Lithuanian composer, managed to put together a piece inspired by and containing various fragments of music that Nora spontaneously executed. A live orchestra was used to accompany the video montage of Nora’s own solo improvisations.

What makes this “Catcerto” unique is the fact that Piečaitis came up with a compelling, catchy music composition, while at the same time retaining the flavor of the original inspiration… something that came from a cat!

Nora tends to play on keys that are close together, due to her physical limitations (being a small animal!) which translates into melancholic tunes; at times she reaches for a distant note, inserting some high-pitched variations that sound whimsical and experimental. Piečaitis put together the two styles obtaining a balanced mix, where the sad sections are interrupted by a sudden change of pace, with upbeat tones and a playful mood that really goes well with the curious and elfish spirit of a feline little rascal.

Lovely.

 

Here’s where I go off on a tangent and somehow insert God in the  discourse

 

This episode made me think. Now I’m addressing religious people. Isn’t it true that God operates with us in a way that is similar to what the composer did with the cat?

You try to do your thing, to make a difference, but you’re in over your head. God takes your stammering and your fragile constructs and turns them into something worthwhile.

The thing is: I feel moved imagining Someone cheering for my meager efforts, guiding my steps, filling the blanks in my life, generously rewarding some small sign of goodwill …the same way Piečaitis inserted a note Nora tried to play, corrected and lengthened a passage that was cut short, salvaged her meandering fragments and gave us a self-consistent composition that is way beyond what a cat could comprehend, yet true to its spirit.

 

Love. God’s love. Finding value in something defective, limited, messy, immature.

Like when a small child is “scoring a goal” by kicking a big ball towards his father, who’s patiently waiting the slow ball to overtake him, while pretending to try and catch it.

Kintsugi: the Japanese art of repairing a broken piece of pottery with gold. Transforming “damaged” into “precious”.