{"id":65,"date":"2006-07-06T17:31:33","date_gmt":"2006-07-06T17:31:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/2006\/07\/06\/after-rcicw-sustaining\/"},"modified":"2006-07-06T20:37:44","modified_gmt":"2006-07-06T20:37:44","slug":"after-rcicw-sustaining","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/2006\/07\/06\/after-rcicw-sustaining\/","title":{"rendered":"After RCICW- Sustaining"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been my intent since starting\u00a0 this blog to avoid autobiographical content as much as possible. I find it hard to believe that anyone is going to be particularly interested to know how excited I was to have my first authentic Cincinnati-style chilli in 4 years while at the <\/span>Cincinnati<\/span> airport on Tuesday. In fact, my initial response to Skyline Chilli and its many imitators was a mixture of bafflement and moral outrage. Cincinnati Chilli is not chilli at all, but meat sauce flavoured with cloves and nutmeg served on over-cooked spaghetti and covered in mountains of shredded cheese. By all rights it is an abomination and an insult to both chilli and pasta, but, in spite of this, its aroma and flavour haunt one, and eventually we all succumb to its delights and ache for its return\u00a0as years go by without its delicious comforts.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sorry, that wasn\u2019t what I meant to write about at all.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>My sole autobiographical point is that I am back home after my time in Portland (with the Rose City International Conductor\u2019s Workshop) and Durango (playing chamber music at the Clocktower Chamber Music Festival), and that, while my recent travels and projects may have left me tired, they\u2019ve also left me feeling more excited about music and inspired to study and practice than I\u2019ve felt since the end of the season.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, I want to re-visit one idea from the RCICW. One of the most surprisingly rewarding aspects of both year\u2019s workshops has been how helpful pedagogical frustration is to my own thinking as a conductor. In other words, I can think of many examples where I\u2019ve come away feeling like there was something I still wanted to get across more deeply and completely to the students than I did, so I keep thinking about it and obsessing over it, and that process greatly enriches my own understanding and mastery of the question.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>So, in this post, I am going to talk about sustaining.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>First, lets make clear what I don\u2019t mean- sustaining is not playing loud. Sustaining is not playing without shape, release or diminuendo. Sustaining is not pressing, Sustaining is not forcing. Sustaining is not strangling. Sustaining is not beating. Sustaining is not slowing down. Sustaining is not grinding. Sustaining is not keeping the same level of intensity.<\/span><\/p>\n

For the conductor, the act of sustaining cannot be applied to one note, one phrase or one musical idea. Sustaining the sound is an act that can only be expressed in terms of the form of an entire musical work.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t have a vision and an understanding of the shape of an entire piece, you cannot sustain the sound.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you have a vision and an understanding of the shape of an entire piece, you can\u2019t help but sustain the sound.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>Sustaining is direction. Sustaining is revitalizing. Sustaining is spinning. Sustaining is flowing, Sustaining is both opening and closing. Sustaining is varying the intensity of the sound constantly, but by just the right amounts. Sustaining is the result of rhythmic energy expressed as a combination of flow, cycles and impulses. Sustaining happens when there is a natural balance of predictability and surprise in the musical line. Sustaining is the opposite of both stasis and mania.
\n<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>For the conductor, understanding and expressing the sostenuto <\/em>aspects of performance is one of our most important tasks, and perhaps the most widely ignored. The gesture that initiates a forte<\/em> sound is not the same as the one that sustains it. The preparation that initiates a quick tempo is not the same as the ones that allow it to continue and to unfold naturally and\u00a0inexorably. It is easier, and more obvious, to show the violence of an accent or sforzando<\/em> than the resonance of the sound that follows it. It is easier, and more obvious, to show an entrance than to connect two entrances.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

We think that events are important- cues, dynamic changes, beats, arrivals. Really, these are, at best, a mixture of roadmarks and scenic overlooks on our journey through the piece, and, at worst, they are detours, potholes and distractions. We must not mistake road-signs for the road. The piece is the road, and the engine by which we travel it is sustain. Call it line, call it long-range planning, call it architecture, but in sound, it is sustaining.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sadly, I think that it is the least taught and understood aspect of conducting technique. The various loops, circles and bounces taught in the great texts and methods can much too easily chop up the line, ruffle the sound \u00a0and destroy the shape of the piece. Beats are the worst. We hammer, we chop, we carve away at the sound. When the orchestra is not together by even the slightest bit, we hit them harder with more verticality. Not cool.<\/span><\/p>\n

Next, a musical example and technical discussion\u00a0inspired by\u00a0the RCICW.
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