Frequently,
while giving master classes, I will ask students to play a passage several
different ways and then ask the class to vote on which they preferred. The
results are always interesting and enlightening, but then I ask the class this
question; ‘Is music a democracy’, and do their vote results necessarily
indicate the best musical option? With that question, people are usually reluctant
to show an opinion; that’s a good thing, I hope
it means they’re thinking about it.
Symphony
orchestras, for example, are probably among the last vestiges of a
non-democracy we have and possibly could
be called a “good dictatorship”! A successful musical performance needs a
strong musical personality and strong musical personalities occur far more
frequently in the individual than the collective. The conductor of a symphony
orchestra holds a very powerful position, a position that almost requires he be a dictator; musical
decisions need to be made singularly. Assuming the conductor is a powerful musical personality, and a wise, kind and sensitive person,
everything should be okay! … Well, that’s a huge assumption! We all know that
not all conductors are powerful musical personalities, kind, wise and sensitive.
Still, music needs that individualism to project to a listener. How to deal
with conductor incompetence and power abuse is a delicate matter to be
addressed by orchestra committees and administrations, however, this article is
about the need for individualism in musical performance.
I once
played in a brass quintet made up of five men with five very strong and
distinct personalities, musical and otherwise, each of who were qualified to
make musical decisions and to present memorable performances. Sometimes, during
nostalgic moments, when I listen to the old LPs we recorded (now safely stored
in my computer), I hear very little of those strong personalities which should
have been apparent and extraordinary; quite simply, the powerful musical
personalities just weren’t there! Why? Was it that perhaps the personalities
were too strong; perhaps it was just
easier to compromise the individualism for the sake of peace in rehearsals; or
perhaps those five strong personalities were simply incompatible? I may never
know an accurate answer.
Since I
moved to Europe it has been a pleasure to be invited as a judge for many brass
ensembles, especially brass quintet competitions. In listening to hundreds of
quintets, three things have become evident:
1.
There could be no weak link in the ensemble, all the members had to be great
players.
2. They
had to project some kind of positivity
while performing; this could be called “joy” for want of a better word.
3. And
all the truly great groups, the winners, had a leader. It was abundantly clear
that the winning groups had a musical leader that, with his or her strong
personal musicality, influenced the other players. This became very apparent
when the same quintet participated over the years and we, the judges, could
hear the influence of that musical leader growing in the other players through
time.
There
were groups that played perfectly together and projected no musical personality
whatsoever. These groups, absolutely amazed by not being advanced to further
rounds, were invariably the ones who would approach the judges, demanding an explanation
as to why. Trying to explain was not easy.
It’s
interesting to vote in a master class situation and see what pleases most
people, but just like testing mouthpieces for a group of colleagues, the final
decision has to come from the individual.
Have
the courage to be an individual, have the courage to be unique, it will serve
you well and take you further.
Tokyo,
September 6, 2005
Revised
Tokyo, July 20, 2012
