PROMPT 3

The section of Bach’s Goldberg Variations that I chose to compare is the Aria da capo. Rather than a variation, this is entirely a return to original aria. When listening to the two different recordings of it, the first thing I notice is the tempo. The 1955 recording is much quicker than the 1981 recording, so much so that the 1955 track on Spotify is close to half the length of the track of the 1981 recording. This creates a straighter and more even sound in the 1955 recording, whereas the 1981 recording is more dynamic and delicate. I think that this really reflects Gould’s life and musical journey, as the 1955 recording sounds and like a young virtuosic artist introducing himself to the world. It sounds bright, complicated, and impressive. The 1981 recording shows us a version of Gould who doesn’t need to be showy. The melody is thoughtful and simple, and the bass line is steady, moving one note at a time. To me, it sounds like the biggest difference is that the 1955 recording focuses more on the notes, and the 1981 recording focuses more on the music. By this I mean that the 1955 recording sounds more technically difficult and impressive, while the 1981 recording feels more like it’s telling a story. Listening to the 1955 recording, I feel inspired and amazed, and listening to the 1981 recording, I feel like like I am being drawn in, and that every single note is incredibly important to hear in its entirety. I think this speaks a lot to the concept of interpretation in music. A lot of the time, musicians are pulled into wanting to sound correct or the best that they can, myself included, which is something I’ve personally been exploring quite a bit this past semester. “Trying your best” of course feels like the right thing to do, but it can end up creating problems, a big one being a performance that doesn’t mean anything to the performer. These two separate recordings show how different a piece can sound based on interpretation and the thoughts of the individual performer, even if that performer is the same musician just in a different point in their life.

PROMPT 4

As much as I absolutely love Western classical music, the majority of it is written by dead white men, most of whom were quite racist. This obviously creates a lot of issues in regards to it being performed today. I don’t think there is anything inherently wrong with performing or listening to this music, but it is incredibly important to by mindful of this, which is something I have always tried to do. But something that I had not thought about very much before is what it means to only perform music by these composers. Personally, I love listening to music of today, but I very rarely perform it, which I am realizing is a little bit problematic. As performers, we are given an opportunity to share music with others, and we have the ability to use this opportunity to share the message and art of female, non-binary, and/or BIPOC artists. If we use this opportunity only to share the message of dead white men, we are doing a disservice to those around us. On the other hand, while I think it should be with a sort of mental annotation, I still think it so important to continue to perform these works, for so many different reasons. When I first imagined all traces of past music being erased, it was a truly terrifying thought to me. Personally I am a singer, and while I think it is fun to sing contemporary music of today, I cannot compare it to the feeling I get singing music of the past. If I could no longer perform these works, I would have to completely change who I am as an artist, which again is not something I’d thought about before, and it’s making me realize that even though I’m sure I will always sing classical music, there is also so much contemporary music of today that I could also be sharing with people. In regards to the Nietzsche quote, I fully agree. I think that it is important to continue to perform music of the past, but to look at it in a contemporary light, and understand the context in which it was written versus the current climate of today.  This also brings up a question of what physically separates music of the past from music of today? When I answered this blog prompt initially, I implied that I sing music of the past because of specific differences from music of today. Which of course is true, as musical styles have changed over time. However, there is no reason why a composer today would not be able to write a piece of music in the same style as composers of the past. Acknowledging this causes me to re-evaluate my response to the thought experiment. I do truly love to sing a lot of music that was written by composers that are now dead, but I think that that factor should not be the correlation. There is nothing musically that did exist before that cannot possibly exist today, and the world has been exposed to so many musical styles and composers who we can celebrate just as much as composers of the past.

PROMPT 7

The discrepancies I noticed in “Polacca” were in the rhythm. The voices and the drums are technically moving at the same tempo, but it feels as though the drums are moving at a quicker pace, as they are sounding a fraction of a moment before it feels like they should. That quick fraction of a moment serves as that empty space for the individuality to live. The discrepancy I noticed in “Spaced Cowboy” was between two different sections of the piece. At about the 1:25 mark, the pulse and overall feel of the music seem to completely shift, feeling almost like two separate songs which have come together. The moment of discrepancy last for a bit longer than just that specific moment, as the voice seems to fit better with the second section, even during the first section, so that discrepancy lasts for that whole moment of overlap. Lastly, “Agua Que Va A Caer” seems to have some discrepancy in the intonation and the rhythm with the entrance of the supporting voices. It sounds to be closer to multiple people singing the same piece at the same time, rather than a group of people putting most of their focus on vocal blending as is often a focus in ensemble music. This prompt, and the idea of discrepancies in music ties in very interestingly with Prompt 3 and the concept of musicians “trying their best”. Discrepancies are often looked down upon in music, perpetuating the idea of an “objective right way” for something to sound. This is not to say that every performance should specifically have certain discrepancies. These discrepancies can occur when the idea of trying to sound right disappears and the idea of creating music replaces it. Even when performing works by other people in a group setting, there are discrepancies and there is individuality.

PROMPT 9

In these Covid times, there are many different obstacles musicians and all artists are facing.  It is really wonderful that art is becoming more accessible but with this accessibility comes a  feeling of entitlement to that art for free. With so many online listening and viewing options, general audiences find music as an art form to be less valuable. Because of that, many people don’t want to pay to watch concerts online, because to many it seems like an almost identical experience to watching someone play a piece on YouTube. Without the in-person experience of hearing live music, it is very difficult to keep paying audiences engaged and connected to performances. Additionally, a lot of musicians are keeping their income up by designing and selling merchandise. In some ways, this is a good alternative, but it is also a bit of a problematic solution. This is because this current environment is forcing musicians to do something else besides create music and labelling it as a sort of equal replacement, devaluing the music itself. This is not to say that these musicians should not be doing this, because it is a smart way to be making money in this time when most people are not making money from live performances. But I do not think it should be viewed as the sort of “ideal solution” we should be striving for. I think that the best thing we can do is to find ways to succeed by creating music. I think that no matter how much innovation and accessibility comes out of this situation, there is no way to find something that replaces the magic of live performance, and I think that because of this there will be no exact “ideal situation” where musicians are all working as often as they used to and making as much money as they used to. But I think that livestream performance methods are the best options right now. Something about a performance only existing for a brief moment before disappearing forever makes live performances really special and I think it makes audiences feel more connected, and more likely to attend. I think this also creates a situation where people are more likely to pay for a ticket, rather than something that is recorded and posted on a website. I don’t think there’s any true answer to this problem, because I am someone who finds live in-person performances to be a really special thing for both the performers and the audience, and I don’t think there’s any way to truly recreate that virtually, but I think that musicians can continue to build a social media presence, and create as much music as possible for livestreams and other projects before we are eventually all able to gather again. This is not to say that I think virtual performances don’t have advantages. We currently live in a society that allows for incredible amounts of technological innovation to enhance performances with things like specific camera angles or visual effects. Additionally, videos and livestreams are available literally anywhere in the world, so musicians are technically able to reach a much broader audience. However, I think that digital media is a different medium of art than live performance, with different struggles, different advantages, and an overall different experience for the performer and the audience. I think that right now it is important for musicians to  hone these digital media skills, because I think that even once live performances are possible again, digital media will continue to exist. I do not, however, think that it will replace live performance in any way, because like I said, it is a completely different medium.