Richard Jernigan -> RE: Physicality/expression in music (Apr. 21 2020 7:06:52)
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ORIGINAL: tele Well I understand classical guitarists tend to keep a blank face but that music doesn't move most people [:)] I go to at least a half dozen classical concerts per year, and sit in the center of one of the first three rows. I have a good view of the players. The local guitar society has as good a concert series every year as any place I know of. The players all show emotional engagement and response to the music. They don't put on a show with stadium-sized gestures like Jethro Tull or The Who, but they respond. Julian Bream, one of the greatest, was notorious for his mugging that was quite obvious to the back row in a big auditorium. I just now remembered a master class I attended during the International Classical Guitar Festival at Cuernavaca, Mexico 20 years ago. The student was a young woman. I remember fair skin and light brown hair. I guessed her age in the range 18-22 years. From her accent in Spanish I assumed she was from a family of fairly high social rank. Her manner seemed prim and reserved. She reminded me of girls I had known when I was her age, who had been educated in a convent. Did they still do that in the year 2000? Her playing was competent, but stiff and un-expressive. I have seen lots of nerves in master classes, so I thought that might be a possibility. The teacher, a well known and highly respected South American, offered some suggestions how to shape a phrase. The student's response was tentative. The teacher was a nice looking man, maybe in his late 30s, with a friendly and engaging manner. He had put other nervous students at ease fairly quickly. He praised the accuracy and poise of her playing.Then he asked her what she felt was the emotional content of the piece. Her response betrayed to me a lack of emotional engagement. The teacher asked her to play some more. Then it seemed to occur to him on the spur of the moment. He got up, stood behind her, placed his hands lightly on her shoulders, and made her sway slightly in time with the music. The student's surprise passed after a few beats. She responded by swaying in time with the teacher's prompting. The music immediately loosened up and became expressive, charming and emotional. For the first time the student smiled. RNJ
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