Comments for thirteen ways

Comment on Andy Akiho wins inaugural 8bb composition competition by timothy munro – representing eighth blackbird « The Glass

timothy munro – representing eighth blackbird « The Glass — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:02:55 +0000

[...] Please talk about the recent Composition Competition you guys had where Andy Akiho came up the [...]

Comment on Andy Akiho wins inaugural 8bb composition competition by Andy Akiho « The Glass

Andy Akiho « The Glass — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 00:48:22 +0000

[...] happened with the Finale Composition Contest–Your piece “ERASE” was the chosen winner. Can you talk a bit about this [...]

Comment on the upside of quitting? by Juli

Juli — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 15:13:20 +0000

Fantastic writeup. I’ve spent a life in the business world “justifying my behavior!” Carpe Diem; I applaud your decision to go out on a limb.

Comment on the upside of quitting? by Connie

Connie — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 23:35:33 +0000

I love this post! You are so witty!

Comment on the upside of quitting? by Paloma

Paloma — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 06:07:12 +0000

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for writing this! I am also a violinist and a quitter…and what you have written is extremely validating for me (not to mention a great, hilarious read)! Viva quitters! Congratulations.

Comment on Andy Akiho wins inaugural 8bb composition competition by 8bb Composition Contest Results | Beyond Words

8bb Composition Contest Results | Beyond Words — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 17:49:17 +0000

[...] at the actual event, I'm not going to build the suspense any more: I thought Andy Akiho's ERASE should have won and it did. And it won by having the right balance of stuff going on. And [...]

Comment on Should hard music sound hard? by Angel

Angel — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 15:26:38 +0000

I guess anyone who’s performing not only needs good musical skills, but also something of a performance skill. Call it a touch of drama.

Comment on Should hard music sound hard? by liz garnett

liz garnett — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 18:06:25 +0000

Two stylistically distant, but resonant thoughts are curling round the edges of my brain reading this discussion:

1. Beethoven and the aesthetic of the sublime
2. Rock and the aesthetic of effort

Sometimes the point of virtuosity is to make it sound like any idiot could do it; other times the point is to make it sound like it’s actually impossible but somehow being achieved nonetheless.

Repertories carry these expressive expectations with them to a significant extent, but I guess it’s also the performer’s prerogative to take a view about specific passages and/or entire movements.

Interesting discussion – thanks for asking the question.

Comment on Should hard music sound hard? by john pippen

john pippen — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 14:55:33 +0000

@phot

Maybe it doesn’t break the fantasy for a lot of the audience, but it breaks it for you, an accomplished performer, and for others who have made the exceptional part of their everyday lives. Maybe you just need a bit more magic (or something, not sure about word choice, there) in your performances.

Comment on Should hard music sound hard? by phot

phot — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 20:43:54 +0000

@John: At it’s heart I agree with Said, in that any artist producing any “event,” whether music or any art form, is trying to construct something beyond the everyday—I think that’s why most people go see or do anything, whether reading a book, seeing a movie, etc. But I don’t think that has much to do with the fact that the audience can’t emulate the performers, as he mentions in the first bit of that quote, else why would any professional musicians go to concerts at all?

But it brings up a good correlation to this post–when presented with a dichotomy of an artist performing something that seems “irreducibly and temporally not repeatable,” and yet for all the world looks like they could (and often does, on subscription orchestra concerts) toss it off on 3 consecutive nights, does it break the fantasy for the listener and make it an “everyday” experience, since it literally is for the artist?