music

I watched an amazing recording by Artur Rubenstein on YouTube. What struck me was the effortless ease with which he performed a difficult piece.

Listening and watching that video alerted my slow brain to how many performers are more interested in an audience appreciating their PERSONAL skill over the integrity of whatever piece they are performing!

A few weeks back I came across a meme by a Veteran who implored performers of the Star Spangled Banner to simply sing the song as written in honor of the composer and more importantly the REASON it was written rather than drawing attention to themselves.

there are a lot of examples:

Lang Lang
Yula Wang
Maria Carey
Beyonce

You can find loads of them in almost every performing discipline — I think it’s the current trend (as in several decades already). In order to make a living people have to like your product more than others — so having something unique about your performance is one way of assuring that. The integrity of the composition or work no longer matters; what’s important is what YOU do to it.

I think it’s important to realize that hundreds of years after they were created musicians (for example) are still performing pieces as written to avid audiences. I wonder how many years from now people will care about the manipulations being added to performances today?

I’m a pre-TV baby. I grew up through the vast technical and recording boom that took place in my lifetime. Recording quality was a far cry from the sterility of electronically produced, perfect-pitch adjusted modern performances. I’m still fascinated by the sounds of the early 20th century compositions and choreographies performed again now. It’s the art of the composition not the virtuosity of the performers that matters. But in out $$$$$$ crazy culture all that seems to matter is crowded venues and high ticket prices.

Surely there’s still room for real musicians and artists and people who want to be like them with a passion for their art that exceeds their lust for $$$$.

Yeah, I know I sound a little put off. Maybe I’m just tired of being fed popular music with 13 words of lyrics repeated 235 time in one song. Yeah, that’s a sarcastic response. But compared to the artistry, harmony, intricacy and shear beauty of past music we sure seem to have declined. Says a 75 year old who loves his kids, his grandkids, and his great-grandkids in spite of what they listen to! ❤️