Performing Schubert's A minor Sonata (Op. 42) last evening I let my newly-charged definition of moderato guide my reading. It revealed the extent to which barlines can be ruinous, unrelenting quarter-note beats a disaster.
In the first movement, marked Moderato, the four bar phrases are made up sometimes as follows: 4/4 followed by 5/4 + 3/4, then again 4/4. Especially because Schubert does not do this consistently one's attention is galvanized by constant shifting between balance and imbalance, symmetry and asymmetry.
I would now say with conviction that, in this movement, Moderato means not a strict 4/4.
Dramatically this set up the variations movement designated Andante con moto, as a highly lyrical inwardly-directed 3/8 meter at times divided into 3/16 + 3/16 then, later, when it is in triplets, the triplets may be 3 + 2 + 2+ 2 but are rarely a straightforward multiple of 3's. Con moto indicates movement outside of the arithmetical meter.
The Scherzo recalls us to the physical pull of the dance beat though, because based on the minuet rather than the waltz, it contains many hemiolas.
The Finale moves dramatically, like a storm wind. After all the subtle shiftings of the three preceding movements it wants to fly.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Music's Box
Why educate children to meet the standards set by an older generation when the standards they will have to meet are embodied in the needs of their own generation?
"Far From the Tree," Andrew Solomon's brilliant new book on identity, is really a book about community based on a dynamic of empathetic acceptance by both generations: parents and children. The community of learners I have fostered since 1985 is based on attentive acceptance embodied in music--principally contemporary music, the music of our time, including improvisation.
Children educated in such an environment learn more than subject matter. They learn curiosity about otherness; they learn to find themselves in a diversified culture. This, their future, was for many people in my generation a negative experience, i.e., an experience of having to hide otherness, whether because of brilliance, or intellectual, physical, or perceptual challenge.
Music study has long been associated with conformity. Let's get music out of its box.
"Far From the Tree," Andrew Solomon's brilliant new book on identity, is really a book about community based on a dynamic of empathetic acceptance by both generations: parents and children. The community of learners I have fostered since 1985 is based on attentive acceptance embodied in music--principally contemporary music, the music of our time, including improvisation.
Children educated in such an environment learn more than subject matter. They learn curiosity about otherness; they learn to find themselves in a diversified culture. This, their future, was for many people in my generation a negative experience, i.e., an experience of having to hide otherness, whether because of brilliance, or intellectual, physical, or perceptual challenge.
Music study has long been associated with conformity. Let's get music out of its box.
Friday, November 23, 2012
Conformity at the Beginning
Conformity is an issue for some of us the moment we are born when it turns out that we do not meet our parent's expectations of the facts of our existence.
As a young child, aware of the extent of my non-conformity, I was overjoyed to discover hints of a kindred spirit who had lived 200 years previously, Mozart. It was literally a hands-on discovery, as some of the sounds in his music completely engulfed me as I played them. These sounds were in no way independent of me,but were as if intrinsic to my being. I knew that I was not alone.
This is not to presume kinship with Mozart, not at all, but to assert the power of specific sounds to evoke human recognition beyond the everyday.
I play music of the Classical period because its freshness never ceases to amaze me. But I wonder sometimes what the neighbors make of it. They have young children; do they assume that my involvement with music should be a model for everyone? Do they think that because I play this repertoire I require of my students that they do the same?
In fact, for most children, arriving at fascination with the 18th century comes naturally as they ease into self-confidence at the instrument. The music is truly great and will speak for itself if not forced upon the child.
As a young child, aware of the extent of my non-conformity, I was overjoyed to discover hints of a kindred spirit who had lived 200 years previously, Mozart. It was literally a hands-on discovery, as some of the sounds in his music completely engulfed me as I played them. These sounds were in no way independent of me,but were as if intrinsic to my being. I knew that I was not alone.
This is not to presume kinship with Mozart, not at all, but to assert the power of specific sounds to evoke human recognition beyond the everyday.
I play music of the Classical period because its freshness never ceases to amaze me. But I wonder sometimes what the neighbors make of it. They have young children; do they assume that my involvement with music should be a model for everyone? Do they think that because I play this repertoire I require of my students that they do the same?
In fact, for most children, arriving at fascination with the 18th century comes naturally as they ease into self-confidence at the instrument. The music is truly great and will speak for itself if not forced upon the child.
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Community is Viable, Classical or Otherwise
We all crave community, even the most outrageously individualistic among us. My teaching is based on the assumption that we are all highly individual, our children even more so. Their givens are for us adults, parents and teachers alike, to nurture and support.
Community is nowhere more evident than in a space in which people are listening together, whether it be Carnegie Hall or Barbes in Brooklyn. In my teaching I foster an environment in which dissimilarity is assumed. Parents, siblings, students, and the teacher all become better listeners when the particulars of each student take precedence over uniformity of expectation or result. In this setting students--all students--surpass themselves.
In this setting I have learned to expand my own definitions of meaningful music-making.
Community is nowhere more evident than in a space in which people are listening together, whether it be Carnegie Hall or Barbes in Brooklyn. In my teaching I foster an environment in which dissimilarity is assumed. Parents, siblings, students, and the teacher all become better listeners when the particulars of each student take precedence over uniformity of expectation or result. In this setting students--all students--surpass themselves.
In this setting I have learned to expand my own definitions of meaningful music-making.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Classical Musician:Is This a Viable Identity?
Not so long ago, having still not recovered from the trauma of hand surgery, I hesitated to have business cards printed on which I would be identified as "Pianist." Now that I am back to playing, and with greater wonderment than ever, I realize that I am a pianist. But what does that mean to anyone else?
I am interested in music composed for the piano when it was a new invention, i.e., principally music of the late 18th through 19th centuries, for the piano underwent multiple inventions as notes were added, improvements made in its mechanical design, and the tuning changed. Of what relevance is that in this era of easy-come-flip-the-dial "music?"
Even though my students know what it feels like to listen as they play -- a now-eminent pianist once remarked on hearing a tape of one child that he "could hear her listening" -- quite a compliment! -- and even though they listen to one another with the most focused attentiveness, they are ill-at-ease when it comes to listening to me play a recital.
Surely the reasons for this are extremely complex and I cannot pretend to understand what is happening from their point of view, nor do I expect them to articulate as much.
Because I prefer to think of myself as a listener among listeners I am very much enjoying playing in my home on my piano for small groups of people whose conversation about the music is increasingly revelatory about the viability of my life focus.
I am interested in music composed for the piano when it was a new invention, i.e., principally music of the late 18th through 19th centuries, for the piano underwent multiple inventions as notes were added, improvements made in its mechanical design, and the tuning changed. Of what relevance is that in this era of easy-come-flip-the-dial "music?"
Even though my students know what it feels like to listen as they play -- a now-eminent pianist once remarked on hearing a tape of one child that he "could hear her listening" -- quite a compliment! -- and even though they listen to one another with the most focused attentiveness, they are ill-at-ease when it comes to listening to me play a recital.
Surely the reasons for this are extremely complex and I cannot pretend to understand what is happening from their point of view, nor do I expect them to articulate as much.
Because I prefer to think of myself as a listener among listeners I am very much enjoying playing in my home on my piano for small groups of people whose conversation about the music is increasingly revelatory about the viability of my life focus.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Active Listening with Infants
Do you want to build a strong musical bond within your family? There are effective ways to achieve this even if you are not yourself "musical." Some of my most rewarding students are unmusical; as I have learned to listen objectively that term has lost its meaning.
Forging musical ties is a matter of activating listening. This requires a daily commitment to mutual enjoyment beginning with what I think of as structured noise and moving from there through games that stimulate improvisatory as well as communicative skills.
If you or anyone you know is a candidate for this kind of familial music-grounding do get in touch.
Forging musical ties is a matter of activating listening. This requires a daily commitment to mutual enjoyment beginning with what I think of as structured noise and moving from there through games that stimulate improvisatory as well as communicative skills.
If you or anyone you know is a candidate for this kind of familial music-grounding do get in touch.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Magic
I never tire of magic. Light, color, vibrations--the elements of perception that most enliven my day and my dreams.
Can it be written down? Poets attempt it; some succeed. Composers attempt it; some succeed.
It is extremely difficult to teach children to read music for magic as content. But it can be done. It takes a while, partly because it is so surprising as the child begins to catch on (I was going to say "to grasp it" but stopped in time).
As one of my more interesting students learned to read music, she would be overwhelmed at the rich experience of sound that arose with every note she played. It clearly felt out of proportion to the dots on the page.
For several weeks each lesson began with her affirming: " I know how to read music!" As a teenager her reading surpassed in both comprehension and beauty my own reading as a young professional. Proficiency and artistry are two different things.
Can it be written down? Poets attempt it; some succeed. Composers attempt it; some succeed.
It is extremely difficult to teach children to read music for magic as content. But it can be done. It takes a while, partly because it is so surprising as the child begins to catch on (I was going to say "to grasp it" but stopped in time).
As one of my more interesting students learned to read music, she would be overwhelmed at the rich experience of sound that arose with every note she played. It clearly felt out of proportion to the dots on the page.
For several weeks each lesson began with her affirming: " I know how to read music!" As a teenager her reading surpassed in both comprehension and beauty my own reading as a young professional. Proficiency and artistry are two different things.
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