Some of the key points the author makes:
- Music is a shared human activity and should be thought of as activity, rather than things. So he argues that we should use "music" as a verb even more than the way we typically do, as a noun.
- While our classical-music culture focuses often on the "meaning" of "works" (compositions), this is not true in many other cultures.
- It is the relationships brought into being at a performance (formal or informal) that give an event its "meaning," as much or even more so than the actual works/compositions/pieces handed down by aural/oral tradition themselves.
- The type of relationships brought into being and modeled at a performance reflect a set of values. He goes so far as to say they represent someone's "ideal universe."
This is a challenging question that I'm posing to you, because we don't often think about these social aspects of performances as much as we do about how effectively the performers performed. It's an essential question, though, as we think about what it means to be a musician in the 21st century and how we get people to events.
In a comment below, describe a recent performance (informal or formal, so singing in church, or singing with friends in a dorm lounge, would count just as much as a formal concert) in which you participated, and describe as many of the relationships that were present at the performance, and then speculate on what values those relationships represent.
- We are using the term performance very broadly, to mean any situation in which someone sang or played music and one or more people listened.
- The kinds of relationships include how the people making music (performers) related to each other, how the listeners (members of the audience) related to each other, and how the performers and listeners related to each other.
- Examples of "values": Was there a conductor? That represents, among other things, the value of a leader in charge. Did performers interact with the audience? That represents a value of personal connection and interaction. Was the concert very formal with no direct interaction between performers and audience? That (usually) represents a value of focus on the music itself and not on the people playing it.
One of the most powerful performances I was a part of recently, besides the Quartet for the End of Time, was our most recent choir performance. The University Chorus performed an Eric Whitacre a cappella piece called This Marriage. We had to work very hard to get the piece together with very little guidance. Because we had to communicate and really work together while learning and rehearsing the piece, we had become very connected. Our passion only grew when it came time to actually perform because we had become very frustrated and wanted to prove that we could do it. We were all so motivated to have a wonderful musical experience. The fact that there is no conductor made it a much more immersive experience for us all.
ReplyDeleteWe were also separated from the audience, as we were performing in the rotunda in two circles, looking at each other. Yet, we were very aware of the audience and wanted to create a heartwarming experience. Because we had talked about the emotions and people we wanted to connect with, it was still a performance for others and ourselves.
One of the most powerful performances I was a part of recently, besides the Quartet for the End of Time, was our most recent choir performance. The University Chorus performed an Eric Whitacre a cappella piece called This Marriage. We had to work very hard to get the piece together with very little guidance. Because we had to communicate and really work together while learning and rehearsing the piece, we had become very connected. Our passion only grew when it came time to actually perform because we had become very frustrated and wanted to prove that we could do it. We were all so motivated to have a wonderful musical experience. The fact that there is no conductor made it a much more immersive experience for us all.
ReplyDeleteWe were also separated from the audience, as we were performing in the rotunda in two circles, looking at each other. Yet, we were very aware of the audience and wanted to create a heartwarming experience. Because we had talked about the emotions and people we wanted to connect with, it was still a performance for others and ourselves.
The most powerful performance I have ever been a part of was on a city bus during World Choir Games in 2012. My choir had just competed, and we knew we had done really well. Naturally, all we wanted to do was sing. One of the older singers gave starting pitches for an "Ave Maria" with which we had just competed. At the front of the bus was a foreign choir that did not even speak English. When we started singing, slowly, they turned around and joined in. Out of all the versions of Ave Maria, the version we knew, a rather obscure version, they had also learned. The "audience"--the other people on the bus--looked on with tears streaming down their faces as these two groups of young people from across the world sang together. We exchanged pins afterward, and, though we couldn't have a real conversation, I know they will never forget me, and I will never forget them. It was such a beautiful, powerful experience. We simply sang together. No one was "in charge," we didn't know each other, and we will probably never meet again, but we were all changed.
ReplyDeleteI guess the most recent performance I was a part of was today when we played our woodwind quartet in the small ensemble while the clarinet choir was meeting. It was to get a runthrough in with Randy before the Big Woodwind Bash tomorrow. Most of the connection was between the four of us while people watched us play. Although I got a snapchat of someone who recorded part of it the caption being "yeah kevin," and I am not sure if it was honest or sarcastic. But later on in the day the same person said that we did a good job. In the piece we all were leaders at different points with Randy being the one that would give comments at the end of the piece.
ReplyDeleteThe most powerful performance I have every been apart of was at the funeral of a man who was very close to my band program. He put it so much time and effort for students that weren't even his own kids. The connections that were there where between us as performers honoring the man and also as mourners remembering him.
ReplyDeleteThe most powerful performance that I have ever been a part of was at Andy's Jazz Club in Chicago. While this may not seem like the most extravagant venue, the experience was wonderful. My school was in Chicago to see the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and tour the city. The night before the concert some people from our band went to Andy's and saw that it was an open jam session. The atmosphere of the club was almost exact to what I hear the clubs were like in the time of Miles and Coltrane. We sat around for awhile and then decided to take part in the jam session. The guy who was calling tunes called up "What Is This Thing Called Love" and we played the head and some people started taking solos. We had about 9 or 10 people in line ready to take solos. I was towards the end and when it was my turn I just played and it felt magical. As cheesy as this sounds, I felt like I was in the 40's and that I was Miles Davis. There was chatter and shouting of things like "Yeah man!" or "Mmmmmmm, sing it" when I played. Everyone in the club seemed like they were loving what everyone was doing and cheered for everyone that played, considering a lot of us were pretty young. Obviously there was no conductor and we were using our ears a lot to hear what was going on in regards to form and harmony. The thing I love about jazz and jazz clubs is that everything is so free and you have all of these artistic liberties that you may not have in classical music. In my opinion, jazz represents and freedom and artistry. We were just playing and like Abigail's post, many of the people I met in that club I will never meet again but will always have a connection to thanks to this one night.
ReplyDeleteThe most moving performance that I was recently apart of had to have been the improvisation session. When I got there, I saw a ton a familiar faces and some that were not so familiar. We all sat down in a large circle, and soon enough we began playing music. Once we began, I felt a strong sense of unity in the group. People began having musical conversations with one another. There were moments of consonance that were then followed by strong dissonance and so on. It was moving how people who had never met before were able to communicate with each other using the power of music.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most memorable performances I took part in was in Universal Studios, LA, with my high school band. I really loved this performance because we all listened and connected with each other instead of keeping our heads stuck in the music. Our passion and enjoyment passed onto the audience as a bunch of children even got up and danced around us, and many would stop by and listen instead of rushing off to an attraction. In this performance, there wasn't a separation between audience and performers; even though we were strangers from complete opposite sides of the world, we came together and just enjoyed "musicking" :)
ReplyDeleteA recent performance that I was a part of was the Improve Concert last week. Even though i have been in an Improve Concert before, this concert was unlike any that I had been a part of before. The seating arrangement was a circle on Kresge stage and the audience and the performers were seated in the circle. The audience experienced a type of full immersion. As for the relationships in the concert, they were very responsive and inclusive. Having no prior planning or rehearsals for the concert, everyone was very interactive, responsive, and aware. It is important to be considerate of what happens around you in this kind of setting. The relationship between performers and audience can also be described as inclusive, because there were several moments when audience members felt inclined to contribute, which made the experience that more amazing. There was no conductor or leader. Everyone shared an equal role in contributing to the ensemble.
ReplyDeleteThe most powerful performance that I have ever been a part of, besides the Quartet for the End of Time, was when my high school band performed "One Life Beautiful" by Julie Giroux at one of our end the year performances. This piece was written in memory of a young mother that was hit by drunk driver while she was riding her bike. Most of the piece played the role as a soundtrack of her joyful life, then all of everything stops. The last 30 seconds represents her death and her rise up to heaven. At the particular performance, the band was able to connect and express this piece in a way that we hadn't done before.
ReplyDeleteThis was also the experience I was planning to describe (Sal and I went to high school together, for those who don't know). I think one of the reasons this performance was particularly memorable for us was that in the weeks proceeding the contest we performed "One Life Beautiful" at, our ensemble struggled with connecting and emoting together. Our band had many exceptional players, capable of producing a stirring performance, but there was always a sense of disconnect between members, sections, and the conductor. I'm honestly not sure what happened during that performance, but somehow everything came together in a way we hadn't expected. After finishing the piece, there was almost a tangible feeling that we had done something extraordinary and the emotion that lingered long after the last was something we had not expected to achieve. Though our director has alluded to the experience many times and we have acknowledged the feeling as an ensemble, I don't know that anyone can really put what we felt into words except that it is those kinds of moments that keep people performing music.
DeleteOne of the most powerful performances I've ever been a part of was when I performed with my marching band last year in New York City for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We had woken up at roughly 3 am on Thanksgiving day to rehearse and it was freezing cold. Despite the frigid weather, the performance was extremely fun and something I'll never forget. I was performing with my closest friends, doing something that we had been preparing for for almost 5 months. It was significant in that it was the end of my time in marching band, and was the last time I performed with many of my friends who weren't in the same band as I was.
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