What makes your heart beat? Your favorite movie star? Your brand-new shoes? In my case, seeing legendary people who are enjoying or have enjoyed their own job makes my heart beat faster. That is why they may be distinguished from ordinary people, as not everybody can make others feel so. About ten years ago, a brilliant musician was seen on TV by accident, and surprisingly, her performance was impressive enough to make the audience thrilled. I too was mesmerized by it, and strove to find out the name of the cellist, Jaqueline Du Pre.
This stunning gifted musician began her career at the age of three. When listening to the radio, out of the many sounds of the orchestra, she pointed out just one of those —the cello— and asked her mother to teach it to her. She soon cultivated and showed off her talent. Her performance was always charismatic, and her passionate bowing made the audience totally focused on her. She was a bright cellist, as she surely enjoyed playing the cello as well. “I love the physical thing of being on the earth that bore you,” she said in an interview. “I have the same feeling when I walk in a very beautiful place that I have when I play and it goes right. Playing lifts you out of yourself into a delirious place.”
Unfortunately for Du Pre, she had a short period of time in which to show her talent. At the blooming age of 26, she started to lose sensitivity in her fingers and other parts of her body. She made frequent mistakes when performing, and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Until she ended her life in 42, the disease dominated her with its paralysis. Even shedding tears was not allowed for her in the end. In her last years, she lay in her bed absent-mindedly, playing a record of her performance known as the best ‘Cello Concerto in E minor, op. 85’ by Elgar. Separated from fame, she was forgotten little by little.
Some say that she ended her life too early as she had concentrated too much energy on her early days. Whether it is true or not, it is clear that she impressed others with the cello she loved. For Jacqueline Du Pre, playing the cello seemed to make her proud and she enjoyed what she was doing. That’s why she and her performances are still loved by many people. She bowed as strongly as she could. At the end of her performances, she used to show a bright smile. Even though it didn’t last that long and she lived an ironically miserable latter life, it’s great that she moved people by doing what she wanted to do.
