 The Fingering Forum
|
Author: d-oboe
Date: 2004-01-10 14:47
It's nice to finally be able to watch a performance, and not be in one!
(This is probably a less spoken of topic and is more for your reading and thinking pleasure than anything else.) I'm a professional in the making right now, and as one would guess, I have to perform ALOT. Almost so much, that I hardly ever get to hear music from "the other side"-the audience. So, what IS it in the music that I, or either my colleagues and I produce that makes for such thunderous applause? It could be the way we played or the way we articulated our notes, but I believe that to be a superficial *physical* aspect of performance. What I believe to be the cause of all the clamerous auditory remuneration is the *spirit* of the music that we produce together; because after all music is an expression of the composers thoughts, obviously. But, especially in live performance, there is nothing in between the audience and the performer but an instrument. And it's strange that sometimes putting someone to an instrument allows them to express themselves more clearly perhaps than using words.
I guess the simple answer to many of those above questions could to figure out what exactly one sounds like. Easy as it may seem to just "listen and find out", I, personally, have never gotten to that special point, that point where the oboe (or what have you) and myself, the performer, disappear, and what's left behind is the music. Now you may ask: "if you've never gotten to that point, why did the audience go crazy?" Well, that really still baffles me, and that's why I'm a sucker, and always go back for more!
But really, to consider *what* the music is doing and how you can go *with* it, not just *to* it; it's a serious consideration that may help us as performers, if we understand what makes the difference between good music and great music. I think it's something that we all need to discover.
Later!
D-oboe
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: flaming oboes
Date: 2004-01-25 05:50
Personally, even when I watch performances I have trouble because I have inside knowledge of what it's all really about. Actually, my bassoonist friend and I were watching a live concert by one of the pro orchestras in our area for a class we're taking, but we couldn't help going backstage afterwards to talk to the players and the conductor.
Other than that... I am very unaware of myself when I play, so it's almost like I disappear, but I must remain aware enough to know if I am off or out of tune. I think to some extent the audience just WANTS to applaud. They think that if they applaud it makes them better or that they can pretend to know something about music.
Of course, it could be the awesome playing, you never know. I myself think that rehearsals are more impressive than the concerts. You know, when the director cuts you off and you jump in at the bar after a big crescendo and you just then realize what you were building for the last 60-odd measures. Very very powerful. I do think that a lot of it is to realize where the music is taking you instead of imposing your own impurities on it.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
