Kicking the Caviar Habit

A couple weeks ago I had a fascinating conversation with a man named Markand Thakar. Markand is the Music Director for the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra, as well as a co-director of graduate level conducting at the Peabody Conservatory of music. He was in Wichita as a guest conductor for the Wichita Symphony, and he was my captive audience for an hour long car ride to and from a radio interview. I learned a lot about his family, his background and in turn I divulged a little about myself. He said something about music, though, that I feel I already knew yet had never heard put quite so simply and accurately.

The gem: Music has two functions. One, to facilitate reflection and/or meditation on one's own life, or two, to connect us the world.

It was so simple, yet so profound in my mind. Too often classical music's defined function in society is "culture". Yes, music is culture, but culture for the sake of culture is useless. Aspects of culture survive because they reflect upon those the culture represents. This could explain why the concept of classical music is seemingly lost on a generation of music lovers- what part of them is reflected by classical music? When I ask this question, the typical response is more or less "nothing".

Ooooohhhhh how I wish they knew it wasn't the case, but who can blame them? Classical music has been embodied as the caviar of musical tastes only to be enjoyed by the elite, and really for no other self-gain than to say, "Yes, yes, I went to the Symphony last weekend and it was absolutely spleeendid." It's all of a sudden something that boosts your social stature rather than your sense of self and sense of what is all around us. As a 23 year old cellist from Kansas, whenever I share my occupation it never fails that I am told how wonderful that is- it's cool to be the cellist walking around with a big blue case. But when I ask them if they've been to a concert, 9 times out of 10 they will say, "No, that's not really my thing."

I know the picture in their head- 1,000 senior citizens gathered in concert hall, dozing off for an afternoon nap. I wish so badly they knew the picture in my head when I play. The pictures of loved ones; images of dreams; stories of history. The music serves the exact functions Markand explained to me. Here's an example.

This past concert season the orchestra I'm in performed Sibelius' 5th Symphony. I had never heard the work and frankly was not too terribly excited to play it. I did my homework and did my practicing- found out that parts of the piece were based on WWI and its horrors, and then randomly the last movement's theme was based on swans- weird. I listened to recordings on Youtube and thought okay, this sounds cool but there was no connection right away. About 3 days into rehearsal we were going over this "swan theme"- Now according to Markand, when you pinpoint something for a listener to listen for or think about, you take away music's highest potential. So, disregarding imagining swans flying around in my head, I let my mind wonder.

Have you ever had a dream where you tried to run but you couldn't? You were giving all you could to move but it just wouldn't work? Now, have you ever had a dream in which you could leap 20 feet with every bound? Knowing the feeling of not being able to move, having this second dream feels absolutely wonderful. You feel free and able to do anything, and I found myself imagining this feeling when I played. Having this feeling and this image in mind when I performed made me feel weightless. The music threw me back into this euphoric state where I felt like I could literally do anything.

This is what we must convey. Classical music is not caviar- it's moist, chocolate cake full of rich textures and enjoyable for everyone. Once this generation feels that classical music can tap into their most wonderful thoughts, that's when we can stop worrying about whether classical music still holds value in today's society. To wrap up my point, I encourage you all to watch this video with Benjamin Zander, conductor of the Boston Philharmonic. His energy is contagious, and I think you'll be hard-pressed to hold onto any hardened feelings you may have for classical music.

Love Always,

Gnarleigh

YouTube- A Classical Musician's Best Friend and Worst Enemy

As a classical musician in a professional orchestra, there are a number of frustrations to overcome when practicing/preparing for a symphony performance. I'm not just talking about the difficulty of music; we all know that Don Juan makes us want to throw our instrument against a wall. For me, the most difficult part of this process is fitting my part in with the rest of the orchestra. Being in rehearsal with the entire orchestra and practicing alone in your home are two entirely different experiences. At home all you have is your part- the rests are filled with silence as opposed to being brought to life by the rest of the orchestra. The sound of your metronome is like chinese water torture.

As someone who has trouble multitasking, it's hard to hear the music in my head while trying to perfect my part. A way I overcame it as a young musician was to buy a recording. Once I was fairly proficient in my part, I would play along with the recording so I could hear what else was happening. Eventually I stopped counting rests and listened for the oboe solo that cued my entrance. I realize that there are downsides to this method- the recording does not necessarily portray your own conductor's vision. Tempos may slightly vary, nuances may be adhered to differently; It's not a perfect system. However as someone who does not see relationships by studying a score, the recording is what pieces the orchestra together for me.

Now, let's bring this method to 2011. When I was growing up, I loved going to Borders to browse the classical disc section. I would purchase the recording of a piece I was preparing for about $15, then take it home to practice with. Much of the time this couldn't take place unless music had already been provided. This puts me in a bind present day, simply because music sometimes isn't available until 2 weeks before my concert, and the process is accelerated considerably. There are two resources that put me in control of this dilemma: YouTube and imslp.org.

The general population does not realize the gold mine that YouTube provides for classical musicians. Some of the best recordings, be it merely audio or a video of a live performance, reside in the search box. Now instead of spending $15 on a recording, I can literally be practicing with Leonard Bernstein on my computer screen. Incredible.

Now as to the dilemma of accessibility to music, there is almost no excuse for a musician to not be prepared. That 2 week window is now infinitely expanded with www.imslp.org, an online resource that provides scores and individual parts for instruments for virtually every staple in the symphonic repertoire. You may not have the luxury of set bowings, but the time you get to master the notes of your part is now increased to the time you know what piece you'll be performing. The best part? It. Is. FREE.

We know this is great for professional musicians, but what about amateur or aspiring musicians? What we have now is the opportunity to have an entire orchestra at everyone's disposal. Great orchestras at that. Now a high school musician who dreams of playing Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov (okay, that was me) but does not have the resources to pull an orchestra together or buy a $15 recording has everything he/she needs to do it, even if it's just for fun. Young musicians of the world don't have to wait to see if their youth orchestras are performing their favorite pieces- they can print the music for free and play along with top orchestras of the world, right in their home.

Before I go further on my endless possibilities rant, I want to acknowledge the downside- and it's a big one. Orchestras struggle. Recordings they sell don't do a fraction as well as their popular music counterparts, and having these recordings available online for free robs them just as much as copying a disc does. Is it really in an orchestras best interest to have these recordings on YouTube? Should they police YouTube and take their recordings down?

Many orchestras have taken this approach, and rightfully so. The endless database, however, goes on. We live in a society where so much information is available, it's hard to get off of the wave of knowledge it provides. My opinion is this. Orchestras have every right to take down their music, and I shall never condemn an orchestra for protecting its property. But as for the recordings that will inevitably remain available on YouTube and the accessibility of free, downloadable music on IMSLP, I can't help but marvel at what is now possible for the modern musician.

Get to practicing.

LoveAlways,

Gnarleigh