I'm committing the horrific sin of quoting this entire message because I wholeheartedly agree with every word. I wish this letter were part of the standard conservatory education.
Isabelle B.
--- "Lloyd W. Hanson" <lloyd.hanson@n...> wrote: > Dear Naomi, Mike and Vocalisters: > > This discussion has taken on a life of its own. I > enjoy that. But I > must say that my quoting Bernstein in his definition > of differences > between classical music and popular music was take > from one of his > children's concerts with the NY Phil. For that > reason it is simple, > not a bit overstated (it was Bernstein, remember) > and valuable only > in the sense that one considers it in the broadest > perspective. > > Without a doubt there is a continuum of expressive > requirements for > performers from the most most loosely knit assembly > of musical sounds > to the most exacting pointillistic expression of > minimalistic works. > Near one end of this continuum would be the > expressive freedom of the > blues and near the other end the music of Mozart, > for example. > Somewhere about the middle of this line one would > began to consider > the music "classical" in the broadest meaning of > that term. > "Classical" in this sense would encompass both of > its recurring > extremes, Romanticism and Classicism. One could as > easily say the > music is becoming more exact and is to be recreated > with proper > attention to not only the written score but also the > stylistic > "score." > > Performers of this music must not only be aware of > the particulars of > the score they are preparing but also of how this > score relates, at > least stylistically, to other works that are within > the gamut of such > "Classical" works. Mozart style is different from > Bach style, etc. > Of course, this brings up the never ending question > of how do we know > exactly what Mozart style or Bach style is or should > be. We now > enter the rather new musicological field of > "performance practices" > > Performance practice concerns require that the > artist give due > consideration to the "how" of performing. Do I add > ornaments in da > capo arias of Bach the same way I would in da capo > arias of Mozart? > Or, are there differences between the ornaments of > Bach as compared > with those of his contemporary, Handel? > > But for all of these concerns there is still a > reality that the > performer is primarily a re-creator. Opera arias > were most often > written not only for a particular voice type but for > a particular > person who was already selected to sing the role. > When performed by > another singer of even the same voice type, > adjustments are often > made, and correctly so, but they are made within the > evident intent > and style of the score. This is a performance > adjustment that is > seldom required of an instrumentalist because the > potential of any > given instrument is so similar from one make to > another. By > comparison, the voice presents more extremes of > difference and > potential between voices, even of the same vocal > type. These are > accommodations to allow the performance. > > Within the continuum there is also a change in the > opportunities for > the performers own personality to become a part of > the re-creation. > The opportunities available for a concert violinist > to impress his > listeners with his personality or lack of > personality is markedly > different when compared to the violinist in the > country group, Dixie > Chicks. > > Singers, by the nature of their body being their > instrument, will > always have more opportunity to "present" themselves > as a > personality. Consequently they must become aware of > how much of > themselves is to be expressed and how much the music > should > subordinate their personality expression. The ideal > is that > personality is expressed through the music when one > is performing > music on the classical end of the continuum. When a > performer of > classical music imposes his/her own personality on > the music to the > extent that the musical content is obscured, the > performer is guilty > of the sin of "mannerism". When Elizabeth > Swartzkopf and Dietrich > Fischer-Dieskau (as found in his later recordings) > overly stylize > their performances they are displaying a manneristic > approach that > makes us more aware of them as performers than we > are the music of > Schubert. This is not the basic intent of classical > music. > > A comparison between Jazz and those areas of > Classical music that > specifically call for musical content from the > performer is logical. > But there is a very substantial difference between > what is requested > from the classical performer and what is requested > from the Jazz > performer. The degree of freedom left to the > classical performer is > more limited both in matters of melodic content and > rhythmic > alterations if the performer is to remain in the > Baroque or Classical > style. The Jazz performer is, in reality, only > limited by the > chordal structure of music and even this building > block may be > assaulted if the chordal structure itself is not > destroyed. > > I express a concern here that many young performers > seem unaware of > stylistic and score demands placed upon them by the > music they choose > to deliver. We may disagree with our likes and > dislikes about > performers but there are standards of performance > that should be > recognized if the music is to retain its integrity. > The standards > of performance are not hard and fast nor are they > always blatantly > obvious but one should know when the line has been > crossed and the > music basically destroyed. > > > > -- > Lloyd W. Hanson > > > removed]
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