Con Spirito

Jane Austen is ALWAYS right

2010-06-03T10:49:00.003-04:00

Just finished re-reading Sense and Sensibility, as necessary a spring tonic for me as sautéed dandelion greens. A few pages from the end, Ms. Austen's caustic wit jumped out and gave me a quick slap on the cheek. 200 years have passed, but our culture of single-minded, mindless self promotion still predominates:

"The whole of Lucy's behaviour in the affair, and the prosperity which crowned it, therefore, may be held forth as a most encouraging instance of what an earnest, an unceasing attention to self-interest, however its progress may be apparently obstructed, will do in securing every advantage of fortune, with no other sacrifice than that of time and conscience."

That last clause is a killer. Snap!

True American hero

2010-03-23T05:10:00.002-04:00

"I'm not ashamed, I'm not finished. Not guilty."

--Lt. Dan Choi in court March 19 after he was arrested a day earlier for handcuffing himself to the White House fence to protest "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

"When you get arrested, it's difficult because your hands are restrained and the movement is a little bit stymied or halted on the physical level. But it's my hope that the larger movement, even with the chains on, can do nothing but grow to the point where it cannot be controlled by anything but that freeing and that dignified expression of getting arrested for what you know is absolutely morally right. There was no freer moment than being in that prison. It was freeing for me, and I thought of all of the other people that were still trapped, that were still handcuffed and fettered in their hearts. And we might have been caged up physically, but the message was very clear to all of the people who think that equality can be purchased with a donation or with a cocktail party or with tokens -- that are serving in a public role. We are worth more than tokens. We have absolute value, and when the person who is oppressed by his own country wants to find out how to get that dignity back -- being chained up and being arrested, that's how you get your dignity conferred back upon you. ... We're going to do it again. And we're going to keep doing it until the promises are manifest. And we will not stop. This is a very clear message to President Obama and any other leader who supposes to talk for the American promise and the American people: We will not go away."

--Lt. Dan Choi on March 19 after he was arrested a day earlier for handcuffing himself to the White House fence to protest "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

The tortoise's shell

2010-03-18T05:00:00.004-04:00

In my readings as I continue to prepare Ives' Concord sonata, I am inspired by these remarkable comments by Thoreau, from a letter to H.G.O. Blake in 1850. 160 years ago, stunningly sharp observations on the challenge of living the life of a contemplative artist in a distracted, event-driven society. Sound familiar?

I find that actual events, notwithstanding the singular prominence which we allow them, are far less real than the creations of my imagination. They are truly visionary and insignificant-all that we call life and death-and affect me me less than my dreams. This petty stream which from time to time swells and carries away the mills and bridges of our habitual life, and that mightier stream of ocean on which we securely float-what makes the difference between them? I have in my pocket a button which I ripped off the coat of the Marquis of Ossoli, on the seashore, the other day. Held up, it intercepts the light-an actual button-and yet all the life it is connected with is less substantial to me, and interests me less, than my faintest dream. Our thoughts are the epochs of our lives: all else is but as a journal of the winds that blew while we were here.

And then a sort of artist's ten commandments:

I say to myself, Do a little more of that work which you have confessed to be good. You are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with yourself, without reason. Have you not a thinking faculty of inestimable value? If there is an experiment which you would like to try, try it. Do not entertain doubts if they are not agreeable to you. Remember that you need not eat unless you are hungry. Do not read the newspapers. Improve every opportunity to be melancholy. As for health, consider yourself well. Do not engage to find things as you think they are. Do what nobody else can do for you. Omit to do anything else. It is not easy to make our lives respectable by any course of activity. We must repeatedly withdraw into our shells of thought, like a tortoise, somewhat helplessly; yet there is more than philosophy in that.

After this brilliant manifesto, a return to his characteristic modesty:

Do not waste any reverence on my attitude. I merely manage to sit up where I have dropped.

Künstlerleben

2010-02-08T05:56:00.004-05:00

The vast majority of blogs (and I admit, the ones that are the most fun) are of the outrageous-shocking-appalling-humorous variety...daily snapshots of a world gone mad or brain dead, depending on your point of view. They entertain us and satisfy our need to feel superior, which is easy to do when you watch a clip of, say, Sarah Palin reading crib notes scribbled on her palm during a interview staged on her own behalf. While attempting here to express the urgent NECESSITY of art music to our survival as a species, I realize that no one can really compete with our popular culture for quick digestibility and gratification. Should we even try?

Last night I had a rehearsal with my trio at exactly the same time as the Super Bowl; no surprise that the hall where we have been working was easily available. While a teragatrillion citizens were being stupified by The Who and high sodium snax, we were exploring subtle shades of dynamics and phrasing in Mozart's glorious, quasi-operatic trio for clarinet, viola and piano, and trying to find the intrinsically "right" tempi, colors and moods for a selection of Max Bruch's achingly beautiful pieces for the same instrumentation. This was our third or fourth rehearsal, and the layers of understanding are beginning to build, both collectively and individually. This process takes preparation, patience, willingness, diligence, inspiration and intelligence, and a magical belief that this music WILL at the end of this mutual effort take on a life of its own, and jump out of our hands and hearts into the hungry souls of our listeners where it could possibly nourish them far longer than the corporate happy meal of popular entertainment.

There is a trend now away from older traditions of concert presentation, programming and marketing, the goal being to lure more and younger patrons into the fold. Of course this is sensible, but it's nothing new. Art music presentation has never stood still, it is constantly evolving, as it should. But I think it's a mistake to believe that the answer to this problem of a dwindling audience base exists in dumbing down our aspirations to the level of the popular media-driven culture. There is a big difference between crackers and cassoulet, even though they are both tasty.

Vote NO on 1!

2009-10-05T05:14:00.004-04:00

I was thrilled to play for a packed house yesterday afternoon at Bowdoin College in Brunswick. This was a benefit performance for the "No on 1/Protect Maine Equality" forces; we are attempting to fight off an ugly referendum on the state ballot Nov. 3 which would overturn Maine's recent same sex marriage law. I am proud to say the event raised $30,000 for the cause, and more importantly brought together and energized an amazing coalition of people, gay and straight, from the midcoast community and beyond. Many thanks to all who contributed and attended.
Keep the faith,
Martin

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens Concert

2009-09-26T08:42:00.001-04:00

Many thanks to all that attended my concert on this glorious fall evening. As promised, here's a list of what I actually ended up playing. While you're here, please feel free to leave me a comment on the performance, or anything else that's on your mind!

American Ballads by Roy Harris (1946)
Streets of Laredo
Wayfaring Stranger
The Bird
Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair
Cod Liver Ile

from Brazilian Suites by Oscar Lorenzo Fernandez (1938)
Song
Serenade
Song
Dance

Largo from First Piano Sonata by Charles Ives (1902-1910)

The Garden of Eden by William Bolcom (1969)
Old Adam
The Eternal Feminine
The Serpent's Kiss

Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues by Frederic Rzewski (1979)
from 4 North American Ballads

5 Piano Stylings by Cy Walter (1941-1959)
Body and Soul (Johnny Green)
Embraceable You (George Gershwin)
Lover (Richard Rodgers)
Isn't it Romantic (Richard Rodgers)
Clap yo' Hands (George Gershwin)

2 Piano Stylings by George Shearing (1955)
Love is a Many-Splendored Thing (Sammy Fain)
Over the Rainbow (Harold Arlen)

While everybody else is worrying about the economy...

2009-02-26T05:22:00.004-05:00

Dutifully reading the music criticism in the Times daily, once in a great while I am shaken out of my perpetual state of mild bemusement with a "what the ....?" moment of amazement. James Oestreich's recent coverage (can't call it a music review because actual musical values weren't explored) of Christopher Taylor's performance of the Goldberg Variations on a rare two keyboard Steinway deemed his performance "praiseworthy", then went on to criticize "a modicum of missed notes" and "wayward phrases", and especially his taking of an intermission in the 90 minute work. The final dismissive phrase (really, do they go to a special school for this?): "It was a fascinating evening but still mostly on the level of experiment rather than finished performance."

Well, I'll say from the start, I wasn't there and haven't had the pleasure of hearing Christopher Taylor's playing. But...what's wrong with experimentation? When I read the reviews of most new or improvisational performance (as well as theater, opera and dance for that matter) the spirit and courage of experimentation and originality is usually the most compelling and celebrated component discussed. And last time I checked, it was quite impossible to be experimental and finished at the same time. Why must classical performance be judged first (or solely) on it's "security" and "technical command", while the real life blood of passion, heart and soul-the part that we actually experience and listen to music for- hits the cutting room floor?

I'm excited by the courage and drama of experimentation in the arts-aren't we all? So I say "bravo" to Christopher Taylor for taking it to the mat and challenging the status quo. Maybe it wasn't squeaky clean, but maybe it didn't need to be, either.

Turn, turn, turn

2008-07-28T15:55:00.006-04:00

About a year ago I started using a Freehand Systems Music Pad for my non-memorized concert work, such as performances of complex new music or chamber music. This is basically a notebook computer that stores your scanned or downloaded scores and displays them page by page, controlled either with a foot pedal (the most practical) or a touch screen method.

The advantages over a human page turner are obvious. No more early, late, missed or double turns, no missed repeats or frightening da capos. No one on stage bobbing up and down every few minutes, upsetting the visual equilibrium. No imposing on musician friends to turn pages for you when they would rather just relax and enjoy the performance.

So, kudos to the folks at Freehand for at least stepping up to the plate. Overall, I like the box, but it has been a bit of a bumpy relationship so far. Scanning and downloading my own scores is pretty time consuming and complex (lots of emails to tech support), with mixed results regarding clarity. I find the onscreen annotation process (fingering, dynamics, etc.) a bit unwieldy and laborious . Freehand does offer a large selection of downloadable scores for purchase, not unlike many other sites on the internet, and like them it is a hit or miss proposition as to quality. A recent download of the Brahms Piano Quintet revealed three wrong notes in the first movement alone, and several omissions of phrasing and misplaced clefs. I suppose I can overlook a missing slur here and there, but actual wrong notes? And of course, there are no indications of editorial provenance or critical notes that would accompany printed editions. Perhaps this is why usage in the classical field does not seem very widespread at this point. However, if you crave an instantly transposable version of "The Way We Were" you are in business.

For me, the pluses still outweigh the minuses, but for the cost of the unit I'd say the folks at Freehand have a ways to go if they want more serious musicians as customers. Speaking of which, I'd love to hear from you about your Freehand experience; it's a bit of a lonely world out here right now!

When worlds collide

2008-07-21T21:19:00.002-04:00

If you haven't been following Greg Sandow's riff on the nature of music criticism-or, the adventures of Ms. Popula and her evil twin, Sir Classical Drymouth-then get on over there.
It's up to part 4, with no end in sight.

Fuel

2008-07-14T09:48:00.006-04:00

I just plunked down a sizable chunk of money to "pre-buy" my heating fuel for this coming winter here in the northeast, and it makes me wonder how folks are going to handle the looming economic crisis, and what might change in how we live and share with others. And what does my life as an artist have to do with it? For instance, of what earthly use will my upcoming performances of Ives and Rzewski this fall be to the common good?

My answer is, probably not a lot, since at this point in time the majority of people aren't touched in their lives much by classical music. But what can I bring to people who are open to this experience, and by extension the family and friends they interact with? Will these performances be merely a diverting evening out for them, a wash of somewhat comprehensible sound play, a chance to admire or criticize my pianistic abilities? My hopes are otherwise.

Can th e recitation/sound illustration of Oscar Wilde's searing letter from Reading Jail in Rzewski's brilliant De Profundis reach beyond its melodramatic surface to prove the radiant power of acceptance over the soul-crushing injustice and prejudice so rampant in the world today? Can the Concord Transcendentalists' courageous message of universalism speak across time to the modern day listener when she hears the thunderbolt of Ives' Emerson? Will the sensual strains of Thoreau remind her of the fragility and power of nature as we hurl down the path of ecological destruction?

Charles Ives asked in a slightly different context: "Can music do this?" Whether it can or not, I'm willing to go down trying. If my listeners leave the experience somehow transformed, moved to take some different action in their daily walk, then there is ample reason to carry on this tradition. Besides, I will need the money to pay the gas bill.

More than meets the eye

2008-07-11T21:39:00.002-04:00

Next month I’ll be making a recording that includes Bela Bartok’s Improvisations, and even though that work is fully written out, its title turns my thoughts to the role of improvisation in classical music. We know that great composer/keyboardists like Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin (to name only a few) were consummate improvisers. But from the late 19th century on, classical musicians have been learning and performing music exclusively from score, with little emphasis on spontaneous music making. This was certainly the case for me, until recently. My friend and mentor Titus Abbott, a terrific composer and saxophonist, has been introducing me– coaxing, luring rather–to the heady world of on-the-spot composition, and the result has been transformational.

Granted, I’m not a completely hopeless or resistant case. My previous work in musical theater required a great deal of comping in various styles, and many of the new music scores I have played over the years have included improvisational elements. As a re-creative artist, I spend a good deal of time decoding the compositional processes in the works I play, and I always try to ground my phrasing in heart-based, emotive spontaneity, informed and tempered by style considerations. But some part of me has always wondered, like Peggy Lee, is that all there is?

A simple truth is unfolding for me: a few minutes a day spent in free composition, even improvising on something as simple as two or three interval groups, opens my ears more directly and completely than any other musical activity. As a result, my desire to work within the confines of notated music is refreshed, and my interpretive insight seems more honest and true. That’s a sound improvement in my book.