share your thoughts...

While I was watching this video I got the feeling that perhaps the demand for technical perfection in standard repertoire is pushing performers to be perfect machines. Are musicians approaching the limits of standard performance pieces or is there much room to grow? Where is the improvisation? the musicianship required in rebounding from mistakes with style? is it even acceptable to not play what was written? or am I just ranting again?;):P

YouTube - Suzuki 10-Piano Concert 2003 - Polonaise in A-flat major

(Just for the record, I was unable to watch the video because I’m on dial-up)

The answer to your question though I would say that this obviously highly subjective. There are those who believe that prefect imitation with respect for traditions is what music should be all about, this is often the attitude associated with classical music genre.

I think there is some fear that if they allow for individualistic expression then the original spirit of the pieces will degrade over time and be lost. So when you ask a question like this the answer would depend on the people you ask and what they associate with.

I personally prefer individual expression, although that doesn’t necessarily include changing the actual pitches played. After all, once pitches have been changed it’s no longer the same piece of music, it has now become “so-and-so’s arrangement”. There’s nothing wrong with that, but that would be rejected by people who are trying to preserve the classics as they were originally written.

However, even when staying with precisely the same pitches used in a piece of music, there can still be quite a wide variety of different interpretations regarding cadence and phrasing.

As an example, I became interested in the Bach partitas and sonatas for solo violin. I was extremely interested in hearing how various people played these pieces. So I bought CD’s of all the famous violinists playing these pieces, Milstein, Szeryng, Perlman, etc. etc.

As much as I appreciated their art, I totally disagreed with much of their choices of phrases and tempo. I felt that the played too fast, and their phrasing often sounded mechanical to me, almost as if they were all trying to play the piece according to some “standard interpretation” of it. An interpretation that I personally felt was all wrong.

I actually bought a violin and decided to learn how to play it so that I could play these pieces that way I felt they were meant to be played. But then I found a recording by Hilary Hahn. My ears were in ecstasy! She played these pieces precisely how I imagined they should be played! She didn’t change a single pitch, but her phrasing and cadence was totally differnet from the “standard interpretation”. I mean, TOTALLY DIFFERENT in many pieces. She plays them precisely how I had hoped to play them. Now it’s not important for me to learn to play the violin anymore because Hilary has already played them correctly.

Yet, her interpretation of these pieces seems to have been well-accepted by the musical world. Possibly because they simply can’t deny her excellent virtuosity. Not only does she play them musically well, but she has superb technique. A technique that I could probably never master anyway.

So this was a ramble, but I couldn’t help but put it out there. I personally believe that there is a lot of room for individual interpretation and I would frown on any society that demands that a piece be played like a midi file.

I personally don’t felt that this was ever the purpose of musical score. Writing music down in score should be seen as nothing more than preserving the general idea. The actual interpretation should be left up to the artist who is performing the piece.

In other words, I view performers as artists and not simply robotic midi machines. I think a performer should be given the full artistic liberty to play a piece however he or she feels it should be played (barring major rearrangements of course, which would actually constitute new music altogether).

There. That was my rant. :D

I completely second all you said. Damn those technically perfect yet uninspired asians.

I personally prefer individual expression, although that doesn