Staying Young at Heart
I just got back from an orchestra rehearsal for a concert tomorrow that I'm pretty excited about. We're playing an all-Russian program and I have family coming, so it will be really fun. I enjoy playing in this orchestra, and I'm grateful for the chance it gives me to get my cello out at least once a week. All the same, after tonight's rehearsal I couldn't help but dwell on one observation.
We sound, well ... old.
This post isn't meant to be a soapbox rant--I say it observationally... and affectionately. It sounds a bit like we've all been working our full-time jobs all day and have too many things to do and not enough time to do them, and like we're all pretty tired. Why is that? Oh, I guess it's because it's all true. When we come to rehearsal, we are so worried about staying together and hitting the right notes that there's no time to rehearse the expression. I think we also consider ourselves "experienced musicians" so maybe we think we're already expressing when we're not. Or we expect the piece to do it for us.
I remember being in orchestras during summer camps where our conductors would talk about how great it was working with "young people." They said we were full of life and energy. I didn't really know what they were talking about. Now I know that it's totally true. What is it about being a young musician? Is it that you're playing your best because you're trying to one-up your stand partner? Or impress the conductor? Is it that you just have more time to practice? (I don't remember there ever being enough time to practice...) Or is it that young people are actually more in tune with what a new piece of music has to offer? I think that because they're still discovering their own musicality, they pick up more on the expressiveness that's written into the piece. They also don't have the problem of thinking they've already "arrived," so they're still trying to be expressive.
The problem with playing like the above-depicted "experienced musician" is this: Music-making is not just about the notes. I know we say that a lot, but all too often we forget that the notes on that page are really just a tool for the composer to communicate something fantastic. He/she wants you to express something to the audience. Once we forget that, and we make "hitting the notes" or "staying together" our primary objective, we are missing the point. Don't get me wrong--hitting the notes is important. But I am a firm believer that the audience will forgive a few wrong notes if they are made to feel something. Without the expression though, what's the point?
I know this post is full of sterotypes, and we all fall somewhere different on the spectrum, but I think we "old musicians" would benefit from playing like we're a little younger, like we still have energy. We may not we have the energy, but if we can create the illusion, we'll probably get a lot more out of the music. And the audience will, too.
4 comments:
That is cool that you are playing Russian pieces! I bet Jeff likes that, he went to Russia on his mission right? I would say when you get older it is just hard to devote the time you did to any "extra circular" activities, let alone put much passion into it. I liked hearing your thoughts.
Hey, I thought the Arapahoe Philharmonic sounded fantastic tonight, and not in the least bit old, at least to the untrained ear.
(There were some old, old folks in the audience, however.)
I'm sure that to a trained musician, the subtleties and imperfections in performance and expression are often all-too-conspicuous. But to most of your audience tonight, you put on a stirring concert that filled the auditorium with beautiful music. You could have told me I was in Carnegie Hall listening to the Vienna Philharmonic, and I would have believed you.
It was a sublime musical night for me, and for that I thank you and your fellow musicians.
It IS so much more difficult to devote what is needed to a piece once there's more in your life. I've gone months without touching the piano or singing a piece on my own outside of teaching and have just recently decided that's not good. So I've joined a fabulous community choir and am working on my own piano pieces in what little spare time I can dig up and you know what? Even though the music doesn't always get what it deserves, I am sooooo much more appreciative of it now that I have to make the time and prioritize it into an already full and prioritized schedule.
This is an interesting discussion, Nanger. I have to say I think there's a difference between being "old" and sounding tired when you play. Another way to look at it is that the older you get, the more life experience you have, and hence the more emotion you can communicate through your performance. I don't know if that's true or not, but I remember Bro. G commenting on that before. Sometimes you just have to live life a little longer before you can understand and can feel the meaning of the music. I don't know. I think both points are valid.
I'm glad you have a chance to get out your cello once a week. That's fun.....and it makes me feel tired. :) Just kidding. I am going to call you now.
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