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On the topic of concerti, one of the best ones to get introduced to in the violin literature is by a composer you probably haven’t heard of - a German named Max Bruch. His is one of the standards for players and can be heard here by the magnificent Hilary Hahn.
Let me know your thoughts as and after you listen. Enjoy!
I was speaking with a student this past week about the importance of goals - they can be very driving forces that help us to achieve great things. Musicians are primarily performers, so it makes sense that performances are usually markers for our goals.
Thinking on a grander scale, however, I thought it might be fun to look at the end of the Suzuki books over the next few weeks. One of my advanced students will be performing a wonderful piece named ‘Elegie’ by Gabriel Faure from the end of Book 8 in the upcoming ‘virtual recital’. The final book in the Suzuki cello method are the three movements from the Concerto in C Major by Haydn. It’s a wonderful work for solo cello with orchestral accompaniment. By definition, a concerto is
a musical composition for a solo instrument or instruments accompanied by an orchestra, especially one conceived on a relatively large scale.
Generally speaking, a concerto will have three movements, or sections, that allow the player to showcase their skill on the instrument. They usually start with a fast movement, then have a slow movement and end with a fast and light movement. So…FAST, SLOW, FAST.
A concerto is all about showcasing the solo instrument and the player. Probably the three instruments that have more concerti written than any others are the violin, cello and piano. The instruments know very few limitations.
Here is a very nice recording of the Haydn Concerto in C Major. Notice at 8:05 when the orchestra drops out and it’s just the cellist playing by himself. That’s called a cadenza and is often written by the performer themselves rather than the composer. It allows the player to insert some of their ideas into the piece.
I would love to hear some of your thoughts and ideas after listening, so I will turn the comments on to allow for some discussion.
Enjoy!
Yesterday marked an interesting day in history as so many people celebrated religious holidays remotely rather than gathering in large groups and with families. Andrea Bocelli, a famous tenor, performed an Easter concert which I thought provides an interesting opportunity to introduce (briefly) some opera stuff to students.
Probably the easiest way to think of opera is like the movies of the time. Before there was recorded audio and video, composers like Mozart, Verdi and Rossini would write operas. They would combine a story (comedy or tragedy) with amazing music in the form of Arias (pretty songs) and Recitative (plot happens that are less lovely). Listening to opera takes some getting used to for sure, but it’s a short learning curve when you listen to the beautiful, soaring melodies. I remember not caring for opera at all until I was doing my undergrad in my 20s, but now they are some of my favorite things to listen to.
A ‘soft’ introduction to opera that is enjoyable for kids are two short Bugs Bunny episodes - What’s Opera Doc and The Rabbit of Seville. I remember loving them as a youngster. There is some mild, suggestive violence as was often the case in cartoons back then, so please be aware.
One of my favorite operas is Rossini’s classic The Barber of Seville. Here’s a quick synopsis that’s good and pretty funny:
And the full opera:
With all the social distancing, musicians are still finding creative ways to collaborate, socialize and create beautiful music. The Internet has a lag (latency) that prevents us from playing together in real time with video. That being said, enjoy this video of orchestra members from the Rotterdam Orchestra playing Beethoven’s famous ‘Ode to Joy’ theme. My future brother-in-law, Ian, is from the Netherlands, so I thought it was especially fun. They also have a wonderful message to share!
For those looking to dig a bit deeper, this famous theme comes from a massive work - Beethoven’s Ninth and final symphony.
Each of Beethoven’s 9 Symphonies is a stand alone masterpiece for the orchestra. Most music historians would consider his final, Ninth Symphony to be his crowning achievement. He brings together a huge full orchestra, chorus and soloists! You will no doubt recognize the famous ‘Ode to Joy’ theme first played by the orchestral instruments and later sung by the chorus and soloists.
The first portion of the text, from a poem by Friedrich Schiller, personifies Joy and describes the “intoxicating,” spiritual feeling that joy gives. Schiller also states that, in a new age, the old ways will no longer divide people and that, with joy, “all men become brothers.”
Joy, brilliant spark of the gods,
daughters of Elysium,
heavenly being,
we enter your sanctuary
intoxicated with fire.
Your spells reunite
that which was strictly
divided by convention;
all men become brothers
where your gentle wing rests.
Over the last 200 years, “Ode to Joy” has become an appeal for people to come together with a common voice! Did you know that it was first called “Ode to Freedom”? Do you think that the poem still speaks to people who yearn to be free from barriers, divisions, and oppression? Does it speak to you?
The entire Symphony is made up of four movements and runs 70 minutes in length. This is the final movement, marked Presto: Allegro assai.
The annual Winter Recital marks the end of another semester and indeed of a decade! It was a fantastic night for performances and I’m so pleased with how much each student has grown.
One of my favorite moments from our Winter Recital was a conversation I had with a parent after the performances were finished. They are a new family and the mom was very impressed with the positive vibes and support that was shown to all students from everyone in attendance. Building a true sense of community has been my number one goal over the past 9yrs for my studio. It would not be possible without such terrific students and wonderful families. Thank you so much for helping create something truly special.
As always, students performed exceptionally well at our recent recital and I am of course, very proud of their work, dedication and smiles!
Two additions that I really enjoyed at this concert were the:
Free-will donation of a shelf stable food item that went to the SOS ( South Oakland Shelter).
I've always believed that recitals should be open to everyone at no additional cost. My sister is a dancer and her performances required tickets which limited who could come and be a part of the experience. I'm all about inclusion and community, so this doesn't sit well with me.
In the spirit of helping others, however, I thought that perhaps a free will donation of a shelf stable food item (canned good, cereal, pasta, etc) that could go to one of the charities the church works with might be nice. Families that were able, brought one item per person to donate to the church. We collected these and made sure they got to families in need. So a family of 4 brought 4 cans of something, etc.
We had a wonderful showing of this beta trial, so I think we’ll do the same thing come winter. The picture is somewhat deceiving….there’s a LOT of food there!
Food donations
End of recital Play-in piece.
At the end of the solo and small group performances, all the students, siblings and parents (who were willing and able) came up to the stage and played as a mass ensemble. This is cool for a whole bunch of reasons and made it easier for us to take a group photo to commemorate the evening.
I hope everyone had a great time and I can’t wait until our next recital in December!
Step by Step 1A
DRESS REHEARSAL - The dress rehearsal happens a week before the recital and allows students an opportunity to have a trial run of their solo with the piano accompanist (Ms. Irene) prior to playing it for a large audience. Despite the name, there’s no reason to dress up for this run through…
RECITAL - The recital performance generally lasts about 90 minutes total in length. The goal is always to keep things moving since there are usually younger siblings in attendance. Students should dress nicely (no blue jeans) and all cellists should plan on wearing pants.
Students are responsible for an introduction for their piece. Public speaking is a very important life skill and there’s no better time to start working on it then when students are young. There are 3 big rules when it comes to speaking to a large group -
Speak slowly - the audience doesn’t know what you’re going to say until after you’ve said it. They need time to process the information so slow down!
Speak loudly - the people in the back of the room needs to be able to hear you just as well as those up front. Speak in a loud, confident voice.
Speak clearly - even if you’re loud enough, you need to make sure that people can understand what you’re saying.
Here are some guidelines on what to talk about...
INTRODUCTIONS
Each student should please prepare a few words about the piece they will be playing. Some ideas on what to say:
- what did you learn while studying the piece?
- is there a story behind the music?
- what do you think of while playing the piece?
- what does the title mean? what are some of the musical terms throughout and how do they add to the piece?
- who is the composer, when was the piece written, what was going on in their life at that time?
- what technical challenges were introduced in the piece?
If you have trouble coming up with something let me know and I can help guide you. This is not meant to be a huge stressful assignment, but rather a chance to dig a little deeper into the music and pass along what you've learned to the audience. Student comments can either be read from paper or told to the audience from memory.
Also please remember that the goal is to present something substantive and relevant to the audience.
FINAL THOUGHTS ON RECITAL PREP…
One of the best ways to prepare for a performance is to make a video recording of your introduction and solo. Sometimes when we are focused on playing we don’t hear everything so this gives a chance to assess the things that are sounding good as well as the things we’d like to continue working on. Bring a recording to your lesson and I will give you my thoughts too. Good luck!
I love PBS. Everyone who has a show on PBS is a top contributor in their field. It’s not a commercialized beauty pageant, but rather is based on merit and quality.
This past Sunday PBS aired a wonderful documentary on the life of Itzhak Perlman - one of the most wonderful violinists of our time. If you weren’t able to catch it, I highly recommend you check it out!
Click the post title above to go to the video.
I find myself using technology all the time with my students and also in my own playing (and of course out in my workshop as well).
In my teaching, I find my iPad and Bluetooth speaker indispensable - thanks for the speaker Rice family! With the iPad, I have all the music I need to teach five year olds up through the most advanced young adults, right at my fingertips. There’s no downtime, no searching for CDs, etc. I also have powerful apps that are very useful tools for both myself and my students. I’d like to outline some of those below for those who aren’t using them yet...
ANYTUNE
This is a fantastic free app that allows us to do two things: change the speed of music without changing the pitch and alter the pitch up/down if desired. For younger students, this is especially useful since the Suzuki CD tempos are notoriously FAST! By slowing things down 15-30% students are instantly much more successful at playing along with the recordings. Many parents tell me their child prefers to play without the CD. 97% of the time this will be remedied by slowing the speed down a bit...
Here’s a quick tutorial on using Anytune on the iPad. I haven’t used the PRO version - I’d recommend starting with the free version and going from there. I highly recommend this App!
ITUNES
If you have never added music - via CD - to a phone, tablet, etc it can be a bit confusing. The good news is it’s a very simple two step process. You’ll be a pro in no time! This is an older video, but the basic idea is the same. Using iTunes makes things pretty user friendly with prompts.
GARAGEBAND
This is another App that is incredibly powerful and depending on the age of your device, might be completely free! Use it to create any type of music - an original composition, background music or a custom accompaniment for the solo currently being worked on. How cool is that?! There are a ton of tutorials on YouTube, but here’s one I found useful…
The above should serve as a way to get started using technology in at home practices to improve the student’s overall experience. I look forward to hearing how things go and what other great Apps and programs you discover!
A little over a week ago, on June 8th, my students had the opportunity to perform solo and ensemble works for a very excited and supportive audience. It was a terrific night and it was such a treat to hear everyone play so well.
Because I have so many students, I try to keep things moving along and limit how much I interrupt the playing with interjections on my part. I learned long ago that there is no such thing as a performance that's too short...there is, however, such a thing as a performance that's too long! To me, the night is all about the students, supporting them and helping them shine as much as possible.
It would be very remiss of me, however, not to tell a quick story that I should have shared before my final student, Alec, played. In retrospect I should have told it at the recital, but he was facing the Prelude of Bach's first cello suite and I didn't want to make him nervous!
I've known Alec a long time. I'm not exactly sure how many years? I do, however, remember the first conversation I had with his mom, Aly. I was on vacation with my family down in North Carolina. We have been going down to a small island off the Outer Banks (Emerald Isle) since I was a little guy. We were out to dinner and my phone rang. Aly was inquiring about cello lessons for her son and whether I might have room in my studio and be willing to teach him. We had a nice talk and I told her I would get back to her when I was back to Michigan and could sit down at my computer to find him a lesson time. She asked where I was vacationing and I replied, "A small island off the banks of North Carolina." She got excited and told me that she grew up in NC and her family in fact just got back from Emerald Isle the previous week!
I guess at the end of the day it's a pretty small world we live in and sometimes we bump into each other in interesting, comical ways.
As I write this entry I find myself tearing up a bit because I absolutely hate goodbyes. I don't even like it when a favorite TV show has its final episode. Anyway, I doubt very much that my students know how lucky and privileged I feel to teach them each week. When I have a long relationship with a family it's often bittersweet to see them go. I'm of course very happy for all the new opportunities my student will have, but what can I say...I hate goodbyes.
Best of luck Alec and don't be a stranger.
“I’m a musician because of the public school system in Los Angeles,” says David Lang, the Yale School of Music professor who composed the original piece for Symphony for a Broken Orchestra. “I’m completely a product of the public schools. So when [Blackson] told me he had access to these 1,000 instruments, my first thought was that each one of those instruments was an opportunity to change the life of a student that wasn’t going to happen.”
I believe in addition to the cello ensemble and group class, there were 28 solos performed last night.
Students all did a wonderful job even with instruments that weren’t cooperating because of the cold weather. Congratulations to all!
Nice work and have a great holiday break. See you in 2018!
Here is one of my little students perfecting his bow distribution on Oh Come Little Children. Conquering the bow on this song is a huge achievement for a young player! He almost has it nailed - just one missing string crossing at the end of the song.
I like to start students on just the E string so they can focus all their attention on correct distribution, speed and location on the bow. Then on the repeat we add in the string crossings so it’s exactly as it will be played when the left hand is added.
This is a funny little reminder that classical music isn’t always “relaxing” as this audience member is violently awoken by an intense change in the mood of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite.
Now this is fun...everyone loves dogs!
To musicians, nothing is more important than intonation. It should be the one thing in the back of our mind at all times...
As a string player, we should be hypersensitive to our intonation. No one plays perfectly in tune - I don't, my students don't, Yo-Yo Ma doesn't. What we're after isn't perfection, but rather a finely developed ear and quick reflexes so we can adjust before our audience hears something they don't like.
One of my favorite ways to work on intonation with students - once they get to an appropriate level of technique - is by using chords and double stops. Here we are working on the ending of Musette and trying to fine tune our left hand notes so it sounds very beautiful!
As cellists, we are constantly feeling like acrobats...of maybe that we're playing a game of Twister on the instrument. We have to shift (move our hand) much more often than our violin friends. Another very important technique is what we call an extension.
There are two types of extensions - forward and backward. They look the same, but are very different in nature. It's all about where we are coming from and where we are going to. In Musette, we use a backward extension to play a note (C) in 2nd position. It can be a bit tricky at times, which is why I like to introduce it to students in an exercise prior to learning this piece. This tends to set students up for success and make it easy.
Here we are starting to learn a new piece - Musette from Suite No. 3 by Bach. We often learn a new song by starting with pizzicato (plucking) since using the bow adds a layer of complexity. Once our left hand is solid, then we can add the bow (right hand).
I like to talk to students about the tonal patterns we find in music and also a methodical approach of how to go about practicing at home. Professional musicians don't play long sections of songs when they are working on them. Isolating the tricky spot is generally the best way to conquer it. Then it's all a matter of repetitions!
As players it's incredibly important to be able to communicate non verbally with our colleagues during performances. Making sure the group starts together is probably the most obvious thing! Here's a short video where I help a young student with her cueing.