When we play a specific composition, it is not enough just to play the text written, to find the soul of a specific piece (Symphony, Opera, Ouverture, Symphonic Poem, Suite, etc) we need to understand exactly wich argument the composer wanted to expose in her/his musical piece, why he/she found so important to expose it, and also to understand how he/she does apply it in the score, with wich connection between instruments, with wich musical styles, from whom he/she takes the inspiration and tools to write his/her music, and to know if there is a political background.
To learn about all this is necessary to read much as possible about the specifics of each composer and musical work, from the most credible sources as possible; credible sources mean the musicologists and music scholars with the approval of the intelectual society like Carl Dahlhaus, Hermann Abert, Alfred Einstein, Franz Beyer, etc.
It is very important to understand the language of each composer, being that each one of them has a different one, also when they are from the same time and country, it differs greatly from each one to other one because each one of them take very different personal choices about what is most important to highlight in the music, and also that each one of them has/had a different idea of how music should be written.
For example if we play Beethoven and we don't understand his revolutionary "new way" of composing, that consists in his new chromaticism and his endless phrases, we can not identify where we should play more or less, with wich color, with wich sticks and how important or unimportant our voice is when we are playing.
And without understanding this chromaticism in Beethoven, we will understand less for example the music of Richard Wagner, wich uses this chromaticism more extremely, taking for inspiration to Beethoven and his "new way" of composing.
If one doesn't make this analysis, always more and more profoundly, and one just play what is written in the score by feeling, one invariably simply will play superficially the work of art that the composer wrote, decreasing considerably the quality of it. The feeling without knowledge is always potential not being used.
If we want and need to be the best musicians that we can be, we need to analyse always more profoundly the knowledge inside the music.
It has to be always an enjoyable, interesting and inspiring way to learn more about what we love. Great music!
Thanks for reading,
Daniel
Commenti