One of the amazing things about music is that we all experience it in our own way – two concertgoers, or even two members of the group playing, can have wildly different reactions to the same performance. In ensemble playing, as I’ve noted before, this is both the challenge and the reward – while rehearsing, we have to shape our different perspectives into something cohesive and unified. This is often exhausting but well worth the effort – the whole is definitely more than the sum of the parts.
I regularly ask my cello students to make up a story to go with the piece they’re working on, and the answers I get are quite amazing. From a lamb’s journey through the woods to someone recovering from a car accident, these stories often reflect what is on the mind of the player as much as the music itself, but that’s fine – verbalizing these ideas helps the student play the piece in a much more engaged way.
Recently, I met Elsa Kennedy, a young voice student, when I was playing at Second Sunday on Main, a big street festival in downtown Cincinnati. It was very hot that afternoon, and most people who came by my spot seemed much more interested in the StreetPops vendor nearby than the Bach I was playing. But Elsa stopped and stood for a couple of minutes with her eyes closed, listening intently.
When I finished the piece I was playing, she came over and explained that she sees colors when she hears music, and that those colors change depending on the notes and keys being used. This condition is called “synesthesia” and is actually not uncommon – here’s a list of some well-known musicians who have reported some connection to color in their hearing. Russian pianist-composer Alexander Scriabin, who may not have had the condition himself, still became so intrigued with the idea that he designed a special keyboard, with each pitch having a different color.
There was some chalk nearby, thanks to the intrepid Margy Waller, of Art on The Streets, and so Elsa sat down and drew what she heard as I played pieces in different keys. Here’s what she came up with – each title and picture is linked to an audio file of the piece so you can hear what she saw.
Playing in situations like this is often a roll of the dice – bad acoustics, weather and a less than captive audience can make for an experience many performers would rather skip entirely, and I’ve played many an outdoor gig that I swore would be my last. However, this particular afternoon reminded me that a successful performance need only reach one person, and that you never know exactly how that will happen.
As I said before, we all experience music differently, and it’s quite mysterious how that works – there’s much research being done now on how music affects the brain. What is clear, though, is that though each of us may react differently to what we hear or play, music touches our very core. Let’s close with a video from a London home for dementia patients, where music is reaching even people whose way of interacting with the world has otherwise been radically diminished or even cut off – a powerful reminder that though our experiences with music may vary, they are an essential part of being human.
In concerts, pieces are performed straight through, with (one hopes) little evidence of the challenges the players faced in putting it together. Many audience members have not had the chance to watch a group rehearse, and I think that’s a shame, for a couple of reasons.
I’ve heard many audience members use words like “magical” and “mysterious” to describe an ensemble at work, and though that’s flattering, it’s also a little misleading. Though a great performance will contain both magic and mystery, how that performance gets assembled is really interesting, and witnessing the process makes the players and our work seem less unusual, something I think everyone benefits from. This Friday night, if you’re in Cincinnati, you’ll get the chance to see how it all works.
The give and take of rehearsal is, to me, the most satisfying (and sometimes, frustrating) part of being in a chamber ensemble. Each member may have wildly differing opinions about how fast the piece should go, how long or short the notes should be played, or whose part should be heard most clearly in a given section.
Results may vary.
In all seriousness, the compromise and collaboration that take place in rehearsal make playing chamber music so special. As I’ve written before here, it’s also a great model for human behavior, one which is particularly needed these days, and one which we look forward to sharing with children in our school program next fall (more details on that in the days ahead – we are finalizing arrangements with Cincinnati Public Schools to be the ensemble in residence at a school newly designated as an arts magnet!).
We also want to share it with you – and you’ll get the chance to watch us rehearse this Friday (June 3), from 6 to 9 P.M., at the Kennedy Heights Arts Center’s beautiful Lindner Annex (6620 Montgomery Road). The KHAC is 4-Way’s fiscal agent, and has graciously included us in this month’s Open Studios, where resident artists show and discuss their work. There will be food and drinks, as well as the opening of Kate Kern’s new exhibit, “Drawing on Second Sight,” in the gallery pictured above.
So get some wine, pull up a chair and watch us put together quartets by Haydn and Brahms. We’ll pause from time to time to answer questions, too. Maybe you’re interested in seeing musicians collaborate, maybe you’re thinking about hosting a house concert for us, or maybe you just want to hear some great music – whatever your reason for coming, it should be a lot of fun. Hope to see you there!
Today would have been my father’s 78th birthday. Last year on this day, I wrote a post about pieces with family connections, including ones I had recently played. Well, it’s happened again – this weekend, I played another piece that takes me back to the beginning of my musical life, and it was my dad who introduced me to it.
When I was about 7 or 8, my dad got me a Superscope cassette recorder (pictured above) and a few recordings of pieces he thought I should hear, including Stravinsky’s Firebird and Mozart’s 39th Symphony. One of them was of Schubert’s 9th Symphony, with Eugen Jochum conducting the Bavarian Radio Symphony.
Last night, ProMusica performed this monumental piece – you can read the review here. Before we played, our music director, David Danzmayr, talked to the audience about how his dad had introduced him to the piece as a kid, too.
Schubert 9 is a massive piece, lasting just under an hour. Its nickname is is “The Great,” but I think it should be called the “Ginsu.” Those of you old enough to remember the TV commercials for those knives will understand – “Now how much would you pay? Don’t answer yet – you also get…” Each movement is twice as long as in his other symphonies, and Schubert makes sure you get your money’s worth. Here’s a link to a recording on Spotify – make sure you’re not in a hurry!
And for those of you to young to who missed out on the commercial, here it is:
And in the spirit of Ginsu – but wait, there’s more! On my way home last night after the concert, I turned on the radio and heard Miles Davis’s remarkable “Godchild” from the “Birth of the Cool” album my father treasured. It was a nice reminder that I can still feel in touch with him, meeting up in the musical world where he spent so much of his life and was my first and most important guide.
Today is Bach’s 331st birthday! 4-Way celebrated yesterday, with a performance at Cincinnati Museum Center, as part of Bach In The Subways, the annual celebration of JSB’s big day. If you haven’t already, take a few minutes today and play or listen to some Bach – it’s a nice way to wish him a Happy Birthday, and will make up for the present you forgot to get him.
It’s Election Day where I live today, and unless you’ve been off the grid entirely, you know that politics isn’t bringing people together as much as it might. But there is hope – I offer you this picture as proof that people can overcome their differences, no matter how great they may be.
In 4-Way rehearsals, Will and I look past his unfortunate choice of football teams our contrasting views, and work together. So, when you go to vote, and feel discouraged by the distance you feel from the “other side” (whichever one that is), take comfort in knowing that Will and I, along with Kevin and Sujean, are setting a better example, forging our often competing and conflicting views into a better interpretation than any of us could come up with alone. Maybe our elected officials could follow our example.
If you want to see the power of cooperation and compromise in action, please come see us this Sunday, March 20, at 2 P.M. at the Cincinnati Museum Center – we’ll be performing as part of Bach In The Subways 2016 to celebrate JSB’s 331st birthday! Bring the family (the Children’s Museum is right downstairs), and while you’re at it – bring your congressperson – they might learn something!
