Comments on: Finally getting it

By: Kenneth Woods- A View From the Podium » 2009 KW Repertoire Report- discussion and analysis

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 12:22:58 +0000

[...] However, as a poet of feeling, he is without equal- the profoundly tragic, anguished, even angry 40th Symphony and the Requiem, the enigmatic, autumnal and nostalgic 23rd Piano Concerto and the [...]

By: Theresa

Theresa — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:41:55 +0000

When I was teaching Introduction to Western Music to annoyed undergraduates, there were a few pieces that were always “sure fire.” One was the first movement of Mozart’s 40. Its transparent structural clarity, and its undeniable momentum always got and kept the kids’ attention.

By: Kenneth Woods

Kenneth Woods — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:48:28 +0000

Hi Cary

Thanks for the comment. I enjoyed exploring your blog.

There are some very famous and interesting examples of interpreters slowing tempi with age- Celibidache is probably the most extreme, but there’s also Sandor Vegh, and, of course ,Klemperer. Celi’s tempi were tied up with his study of phenomenology and perception, and I’m pretty sure that Klemperer’s really had a lot to do with this health. He saw and heard the world fundamentally differently after his stroke.

On the other hand, Gunter Wand, who stayed active into his 90′s never lost a step- be it Brahms or Bruckner, he stayed lively. Likewise, Jochum and Karajan. HvK’s often maligned late recordings certainly can’t be faulted for being to slow- his Pastoral from the end his life sounds a bit like he’s on meth.

Lenny did tend to no push fast music as insanely later in life and some of his slows got slower, but some of them were already pretty damn slow! But he did slow with such style.

Then there’s Solti- he wrote in his Beethoven 5 score (you can see a facsimile on his foundation’s website) that he finally achieved Beethoven’s metronome marking of the 1st mvt in, I believe, 1992. He most definitely wasn’t slowing down. When asked in his 80′s why he was re-recording Figaro for the umpteen-millionth time, he said “because I think I’m starting to understand the piece now”

By: Cary Stewart

Cary Stewart — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:33:39 +0000

This is quite true, and goes hand in hand with another idea: conductors tend to take fast works faster in their younger years, then gradually slow towards moderato on the same works/movements in their later years. The impatient young turk in the back of the ensemble might quip that the rust of old age has slowed the baton. However, deeper inspection might reveal that most high-caliber conductors learn to give up speed for golden expression in their golden years.
And probably within a more focused repertoire!

By: Reid K

Reid K — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:32:33 +0000

“Takes me back to watching Bernstein’s Norton lectures in a back viewing room in a midwestern college library.”

By: Bill in Dallas

Bill in Dallas — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:28:34 +0000

I have thought that one attribute of a “great” work of art (incl. music) is that you can see / hear / approach it many times and hear/see/learn new things each time. Such art is essentially inexhaustible.

Bill in Dallas

By: Michael Monroe

Michael Monroe — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:48:34 +0000

Just think how good it would be if Haydn had written it. (Just kidding...)

By: Elaine Fine

Elaine Fine — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:24:08 +0000

Perhaps the most wonderful thing about Mozart, particularly the G minor Symphony, is the more we mature as musicians and as people, the more we can see and hear. With Mozart, particularly the last three symphonies, we are mere mortals in awe of something that, in every musical gesture, allows us to experience something that, when all goes right, is able to help us (those performing and those listening) feel free from the bonds of mortality.

The difficult part is that the closer we think we get to understanding what Mozart was able to notate (he, himself understanding–and in awe of– the same kind of sublime musical possibilities that we, as performing musicians, face in his music), the larger and more awesome it becomes.

When I was young I craved musical maturity, but it just couldn’t happen. It wasn’t possible. It is possible for young people to appear to have mature musical understanding, but it is not possible for young people to actually have it. It, like all things, comes with time and with perspective.