“I find little in the works of Beethoven, Berlioz, Wagner and others when they are led by a conductor,” says Franz Liszt, a renowned composer. This quote depicts conductors in a negative light, as if they’re a superfluous part of a greater whole in the profession of music. Music, an art purely dependent on interpretation, is a form of entertainment to the general public whether it’d be a live concert or a recording. Those that attend the live concerts witness the breathtaking silence as well as the intrinsic beauty of the music conveyed by the orchestra, all of which lie within the baton of the conductor. Igor Stravinsky like Liszt, however, captures a largely unseen side of conducting, one which he perceives with disdain as well as disrespect. …show more content…
He begins this portrayal by pointing out irony in the situation itself, “A conductor may actually be less well equipped for his work than his players…” This example of situational irony exemplifies as well as amplifies what Stravinsky believes not to be an integral piece to an orchestra. Stravinsky displays his disrespect towards the art of conducting, portraying conductors as less-abled and unjustly leading a group of people more adequately equipped in terms of the essence behind conducting:music. Moreover, Stravinsky augments his sarcasm towards how “great” conductors are through his verbal irony, “He soon becomes a ‘great’ conductor… ‘Great conductors,’ like ‘great’ actors, are unable to play anything but themselves…” The quotation marks around the adjective great proceed to display how Stravinsky puts a twist on the connotation and denotation that he utilizes here. Great, typically associated with expertise, actually, in this case, mocks what Stravinsky perceives to be the overall uselessness of conductors. Later on, Stravinsky says that conductors through their “style,” results in conductors actually achieving an undesirable effect. When conductors and orchestras alike try to convey the passion and enjoyability of music itself, conductors, through these instances of sarcasm as well as irony, are shown by Stravinsky to actually draw the audience’s attention away from the music and back to the conductors themselves and their physical “gestures.” This depiction of the failure associated with conductors accentuates Stravinsky’s negative point of view regarding conductors and goes to show how conductors may actually detract from the musicians and the music as a
I was impressed by the range of the pieces that were performed as they were from 18th century classical symphony arrangements to contemporary techno pieces. However, the pieces that moved me most were Mozart’s Molto Allegro, Oaken Sky by Chris Rogerson and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. In hindsight, I am surprised that the two pieces from the Classical Era had such an impact on me. Perhaps, “classical” pieces were what I expected to hear at a Symphony. Oaken Sky evoked the most imagery for me and the conductor’s introduction of the piece was perhaps partly responsible for my ability to go from the earth to the sky in my mind’s eye. Oaken Sky was definitely a pleasant surprise and very pleasing to all of my senses. I was fully engaged in body, mind and soul with Rogerson’s composition. Cielito Lindo was interesting and the soloist really enhanced the piece with a stellar performance. Warehouse Medicine caused an incongruent stirring in me; perhaps I was not prepared for electronics to be added to the symphony. Ravel’s composition, Le Tombeau de Couperin, was a moving piece, but did not engage my senses, only my intellect. This work essentially left me feeling confused and although I appreciated the description of the dedication of the work by the composer, this was my least favorite piece. The “CPCC” soloist, Juan Caljero’s, rendition of Cileito Lindo was mesmerizing. Charlotte
Peyser, J. (1986) The Orchestra: Origins and Transformations. New York: Charles Scribner’s and Sons. Sadie, S. (1980) New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.
Zaslaw, Neal. Mozart’s Symphonies: Context, Performance Practice, Recteption. United States: Oxford University Press. 1989, Print.
Stravinsky explains how he feels that conductors are untalented musicians that are an unnecessary part of a musical through the presence of diction. In the opening paragraph of the passage, conducting is expressed as a field in which a conductor can be a “incomplete musician” but must be a “compleat angler.” The passage conveys a negative view of conductors in which the most important talent they should have is exploiting their audiences’ lack of understanding of good music while needing very little actual talent in order to become successful. Conductors have an “ego disease” that encourages them give off an “egotistical, false, and arbitrary authority” ...
Conductors are seen as the leader of an orchestra or band and are given most if not all the credit for the music played. For such a simple task that consists of counting the beats, showing the mood for the music, and giving people cues to enter, conductors are as good as their orchestra or band, not by their talent. In this passage by Igor Stravinsky, Stravinsky discusses that the work the conductor puts in is negligible to the work the orchestra it self and that concerts should be about the complex qualities of the music played instead of how the conductor impacts the performance.
Each individual player in this orchestra is a soloist of sorts, playing a completely different piece than the musician seated directly next to them or across the stage. Rather than being written as a concerto, this piece, written in three movements, allows for each of the accomplished musicians to display their skill individually though each solo is not brought to the forefront of the piece, creating a what sounds like a disgruntled compilation of individual pieces that come together. This piece both begins ends with the Funeral March of Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony directly tied into the basses, at first it is quiet and difficult to recognize but as the third movement is introduced it becomes more pronounced and evident. Those who were present for this pieces introduction to society were able to see its emotional effect on its composer who had obvious emotional ties to the music. Strauss never showed up to see his work debut instead he attended the dress rehearsal, asked Sacher if he could conduct this work. Strauss was said to have given a beautiful reading of the score that many view as his most...
As indicated by musicologist Stephen Walsh the colossal advancement of the ritual is not the discord or the stationary nature of the consonant movement in light of the fact that both of these thoughts were by and by before Stravinsky's work. The genuine development was Stravinsky's utilization of musical parts and convincing rhythms to give a structure to drive the sensational activity and therefore free the solidified consonant riggings. Arrangers of the late nineteenth and mid twentieth century found a situation as the customary part of discord as a vehicle for consonant movement was deserted. The issue with disharmony that does not prompt an unavoidable determination is an aggregate discontinuance of consonant and in this way musical motion.Walsh refers to Debussy's Et la Lune Descend Sur le
During a musical performance many elements to be looked are not easily recognized by the average critic. A musical performance has multiple interactions taking place between the music, text, performers, audience, and space that all can contribute to a great performance. Overwhelming majority of the audience does not realize so much can be looked at during a single performance. At a performance by the University of Maryland Marching Band I was able to analyze the Musical Sound, Contexts of the Performance, and Interpretation of the Performance.
In the passage by Igor Stravinsky, he uses not only comparison and contrast, but also language to convey his point of view about the conductors of the time and their extreme egotism. Stravinsky believes that conductors exploit the music for their own personal gain, so rather, he looks on them in a negative light.
In readiness for the concert, I enjoyed a special dinner prepared for the audience. More specifically, LA Phil staffers introduced us to the evening classical concert amidst cheers from the audience. It was such a refreshing and joyous feeling to be part of this audience. The pianist and concert conductor, Christian Zacharias opened the Los Angeles Philharmonic Classical Music concert with a fascinating performance that left the audience in party mood and in happy feelings.
Putman, D. (1990). THE AESTHETIC RELATION OF MUSICAL PERFORMER AND AUDIENCE. British Journal of Aesthetics. 30 (4), 1-2.
Born as Jan Václav Antonin Stamic and later Germanized as Johann Wenzel Anton Stamitz, he was an influential composer and violinist. He was born on June 19, 1717 in Deutschbrod, Bohemia, now called Havlíčkův Brod, Czech Republic. Stamitz received a musical education from his father from a young age, and attended the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Prague for the academic year of 1734 – 1735, and shortly thereafter left the university to become a violin preformer. In 1741, he was employed as a string player in the court orchestra of Mannheim, Germany. Stamitz went on to marry Maria Antonia Luneborn on July 1, 1744, the couple had 5 children, two of which died in infancy. One of their children, named Carl Phillip Stamitz went on to have a successful musical career. By 1745, he was appointed as the concertmaster of the court orchestra at Mannheim, with a role as the conductor and lead violinist. In the years of 1754 – 1755, he travelled to France to conduct for the Concert Spirituel and the Concert Italien, which were the two most important concert series of 18th – century Paris. He returned to Mannheim in 1755, his health rapidly deteriorated and he died in Mannheim on March 27, 1757 at the age of 39. The entry of his death contains the following quote: “March 30, 1757. Buried, Jo'es Stainmiz, director of court music, so expert in his art that his equal will hardly be found “. Overall, he was an accomplished individual and died at a very young age.
Dmitri Shostakovich was one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century. He achieved fame, but with much hardship along the way. He was censored and threatened with not only his life but that of his wife and children by playing the role of a public figure in Soviet Russia. The question is was he a committed communist or a victim? The events in his life, good or bad, shaped the music that he created and led to one of the greatest symphonies of the 20th century, his Fifth Symphony.
'It seems to me, my dear friend, that the music of this ballet will be one of my best creations. The subject is so poetic, so grateful for music, that 1 have worked on it with enthusiasm and written it with the warmth and enthusiasm upon which the worth of a composition always depends." - Tchaikovsky, to Nadia von Meck.
Cyclical structures were used by different composers in the 19th century such as Wagner (programmatic dramatism) and Dvorak and Brahms (make whole and create logical structures). Once again in the 20 the century, Debussy, Bartok and Stravinsky were drawn to cyclical structures to create a systematic formal coherence on a larger scale. This can especially be seen in the neoclassical masterpieces of Stravinsky (Oedipus Rex, 1927) and Bartok (4th string quartet, 1928). In these two works a typical modern structure known as arch form or palindrome is created with a static midpoint and cyclical recalls that are grouped around it. The period in which theses pieces are composed also marks Janacek’s last creative period in where he discovered and experimented with a new style.