-
Keeping the beat – or not
I have always been fascinated when I hear an orchestra play without conductor. Interpretation issues aside, how do the musicians stay so expertly in sync through all of the nuances and flexibilities of tempo? A few weeks ago I heard the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in a concert that included the Beethoven Third Symphony.…
-
ET and the musician
Some of you may remember the story from a few years ago about the violinist who played the violin during his own brain surgery. It’s a powerful statement about the impact of medical professionals and musicians working together in creative ways to address the specific medical problems that musicians face. The story has recently…
-
Making music together syncs brains
When musicians play together, we always try to be “in sync,” unless, of course, we are playing Steve Reich’s Piano Phase or Violin Phase. And then we find how difficult it is, when two musicians are playing the same music, to be purposefully “out of sync” or out of phase. So are we hardwired to want to play…
-
Four-hand music and peripersonal space
A former student from France recently spent a weekend with us while she was in the States on vacation. We had a lot of years to catch up on, enjoyed good food and wine, and found some time to play four-hand music. Four-hand music is fun to play, but it can be notoriously awkward…
-
What you see is what you hear: mirror neurons and music, part VI
Robert Schumann wrote in a review of a Franz Liszt concert in Dresden in 1840: “It is unlikely that any other artist, excepting only Paganini, has the power to lift, carry and deposit an audience in such high degree. . . In a matter of seconds we have been exposed to tenderness, daring, fragrance and…