{"id":823,"date":"2009-05-08T22:46:30","date_gmt":"2009-05-08T22:46:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/2009\/05\/08\/hitting-a-metaphorical-brick-wall\/"},"modified":"2009-05-08T22:46:30","modified_gmt":"2009-05-08T22:46:30","slug":"hitting-a-metaphorical-brick-wall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/2009\/05\/08\/hitting-a-metaphorical-brick-wall\/","title":{"rendered":"Hitting a metaphorical brick wall"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was reminded tonight of why we try to avoid talking about metaphor and meaning in rehearsal. <\/span><\/p>\n

As it happens, in the midst of a long and very happy day of trio rehearsals, one of my colleagues and I found ourselves in complete and profound disagreement about one passage. It\u2019s not unusual for people to disagree, of course, but in a certain sense, chamber music disagreements are different,\u00a0and often more intractable,\u00a0because of the lack of a\u00a0hierarchy. A 2nd<\/sup> oboist may disagree with the principal oboist’s\u00a0articulation in an orchestra work, and may well discuss it, but at the end of the day, the principal will win that argument. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Unless, of course, the conductor agrees with the 2nd<\/sup> oboist. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But the real issue in our case is that we both had strong metaphorical constructs in mind, and that they were pretty antithetical. I was using words like \u201crarified, elevated and ecstatic,\u201d and he was using \u201crustic, earthy and carnival.\u201d It\u2019s not hard to see why we got stuck. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But of course, although we have different sound concepts, I think the difference in sound concept is much smaller than the difference in metaphysical concept. This is the problem with rehearsing in terms of meaning and metaphor- when we agree, it\u2019s wonderful, but when we don\u2019t we cut off each other\u2019s psychic room for perception and response. The whole beauty of abstract music is that a single piece, even a single performance, can be experienced spiritually in profoundly different ways. That experiential space is something very personal and very profound- it is us at our most honest. To take that away can be quite cruel. I never picture cathedrals in Bruckner, I picture the cosmos- the dances of galaxies and the destruction of stars. However, I don\u2019t have the right to destroy another listener\u2019s mental imagery. Likewise, people can disagree about whether the end of Shostakovich 5 is happy or sad, but only fools take it twice as fast as he intended it (see, even that makes you tense up, even if you know I\u2019m right! Still, better a fool than a politician who splits the difference between Shostakovich\u2019s tempo and 2x Shostakovich\u2019s tempo). <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

So, we agreed to leave it for now and record it later. I have a feeling that when we listen to the playback, it will be obvious if it needs to be louder or softer, longer or shorter, more or less articulate. If you boil it down to \u201csounds-good\/sounds-like-shit,\u201d life gets easier. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Then he can have a carnival while I contemplate the\u00a0fragile\u00a0wonder of the undiscovered country. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n