Klarinet Archive - Posting 001234.txt from 2000/10

From: MVinquist@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Moving While Playing - Heifetz
Date: Wed, 25 Oct 2000 20:46:41 -0400

On October 23, Kevin Fay wrote:
>I have also had the opportunity to see Jascha Heifetz perform. A pretty
good fiddle player. Other than the left-hand fingers and the right arm, he
didn't move much. (I suppose he was breathing, but I wasn't that close to
see.) So I guess it is possible to play with beauty and emotion without
histrionics.<

Kevin -

Absolutely. There's a wonderful film of Heifetz playing the Bruch Scottish
Fantasy that is shown on PBS every few years. They have frequent closeups of
his head and shoulders, with the bow and fingering. He hardly moves a muscle
other than in his right arm and left forearm and fingers, yet there's a
twinkle in his eye and a tiny raise of the eyebrow, coinciding with little
nuances of finger and bow movement that show he knows exactly what's
happening and is enjoying every second of it..

When I have trouble with a technical passage, I always do better by keeping
my body completely still except for my fingers, which make the smallest and
lightest possible motions. I also make better music when I control the
nuances with my mind instead of body motion.

Here's to the motionless twinkle.

Ken Shaw

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