| Author |
Subject |
Tim
Finholt 
Global user
(5/4/00 10:43:07 pm)
Reply |
To
memorize or not
A while back there was a discussion
about whether playing from memory or from music was better. There's
an article (by Aaron Williamson, Ph.D., research fellow in
Psychology of Music at the RCM in London) in the latest ASTA that
addresses this issue. The following is merely a summary:
Two
studies are quoted that demonstrate that visual information is even
more important than sound in enabling audiences to understand a
performer's expressive intensions (Is this why non-visibly "emotive"
performers are sometimes accused of being "cold" players?). Hiding
behind a music stand doesn't help in this regard either.
A
study is also described in which a "professional" cellist plays
Bach, and the performances are video-taped and viewed by an audience
of 50 musicians and 36 non-musicians. Five conditions were presented
to the viewers:
1. Non-memorized performance with a music
stand in front of the cellist.
2. Memorized performance with
empty music stand in front of cellist (the viewers do not know it's
empty though they see the stand).
3. Memorized performance with
no music stand (after practicing for a month).
4. Though the
cellist could play from memory, she is asked to play using the
music. The stand is clearly visible to the viewers.
5. Same as
condition 4, except that the camera angle is adjusted such that the
viewers can't see the stand.
Audiences consistently rated the
memorized performances higher than non-memorized, regardless of
whether the stand obstructed their view of the cellist. Musicians
rated the memorized performances even higher than
non-musicians.
Audiences felt a more direct psychological
connection with the performer when no music stand was visible,
whether or not the performance was actually from memory (i.e.
condition 3 vs. 5).
Admitted limitations of the study by the
author are:
1. The cellist wasn't of a concert soloist
quality.
2. Tonal music was used, which is more readily
memorized.
3. Audiences were viewing a videotape, not a live
performance.
Hmmm.
An aside: the article also talks
about the benefits of the extra practicing it requires to memorize a
piece.
Another aside: Siegfried Palm, in recent Strad
interview, recommends that one play from music when playing
contemporary music. The audience will then trust that you are
playing the right notes.
|
quarles
Global user
(5/5/00 6:45:58 am)
Reply |
Re: To
memorize or not
Every thing should be memorized.
Leonard Rose had all his students memorize etudes for lessons, yes
Popper, all forty, Piatti, Servais, etc. As to performance, if
performing a duo sonata, that is one with a piano part the equal of
the 'cello (Beethoven, Brahms, Strauss, Chopin, Debussy, Carter,
etc, these should not be played from memory (inless the pianist also
plays without score). Works of this nature are really chamber music
and should be approached as such.
There is a freedom about
playing without music that moves you one step closer to the audience
and if you put in the time needed to prepare, say the Bach Suites,
Kodaly Solo Sonata, Locatelli Sonata and a host of others then
memory is the only way to go. Try memorizing etudes as described
above, it's quite amazing how much better one's memory gets as it
becomes part of your routine.
Peter Schenkman, Toronto,
Canada
|
Bob
Local user
(5/5/00 6:55:59 am)
Reply |
Re: To
memorize or not
It may have been me who started the
earlier discussion about memory, and it was kicked up by remarks
Sviatoslav Richter made in the recent documentary video about him. I
have been a memory geek for my entire cello career, routinely doing
entire recitals without music, including big duo sonatas. But
Richter's remarks really made me stop and wonder. How much are we
really "memorizing"?
|
Tim
Janof
Global
user
(6/13/00 9:53:15 am)
Reply |
Strings
Magazine
I see that there is an article in
the latest Strings Magazine about memorization. I'm blanking on her
name, but the author is an ICS member (and a cellist). I have a
hunch I know where she got the idea for the article. Go
ICS!
|
Walter
Lenel
Global
user
(6/13/00 11:42:06 am)
Reply |
Re:
Strings Magazine
Yes, the author is Sarah Freiberg,
and the article is on page 20. However, she only says that she "has
been ruminating on the subject of musical memorization since last
year, when I read an article in the New York Times..." So, Sarah,
did the ICS discussion influence your article, too?
|
Nicholas
Anderson
Local
user
(6/13/00 11:58:03 am)
Reply |
Re: To
memorize or not
There's the story of the time Casals
was asked if he memorizes orchestral scores when he is conducting,
and he said, "No, because I don't believe in useless
accomplishments." As usual, his logic was right-on. It seems to me
that at the very least, it should be viewed on a case by case,
situation by situation basis, like anything else in life. Just
because humans may be capable of great feats of memorization doesn't
mean it's appropriate to EVERY situation, or that it's even in the
nature of music to approach it with an absolutely rigid rule about
that. What about Myra Hess? And even Jaws (Sharker) performs
Schelomo with the music; I'm sure he's every bit as capable of
memorizing that as he is the Kodaly, but he has his reasons. Just
another perspective!
|
OyOy
Global user
(6/13/00 12:26:21 pm)
Reply |
Re: To
memorize or not
Then there was the time that a
journalist asked Knappertsbusch, "Maestro, I notice that you always
use a score when you conduct. But Maestro Toscanini almost always
conducts without a score. Why don't you conduct without a score?" To
which Knappertsbusch replied, "because I can read music."
|
Paul
Tseng ICS Staff 
Administrator
(6/13/00 3:51:09 pm)
Reply
 |
Re: To
memorize or not
Good point, Nick!
OyOy's
anectdote was pretty funny too! 
I guess what we are discussing is using the music during a
performance or not, right? After all, all music must be memorized to
some degree even if you DO use the music.
To illustrate this:
My piano trio back in college recorded the Brahms B major trio for
WQXR's McGraw-Hill Young Artists' Showcase. On the same program was
Mendelssohns C minor Trio. My violinist, Keng Yuen Tseng (an
outstanding violinist but not related to me) had a page turn in the
middle of the scherzo and the entire booklet fell off the music
stand! I'll never forget how cool he was. He couldn't stop playing
amidst all those fast 16th notes we had so he just pushed the music
aside with his foot and without even flinching, finished the entire
movement by memory! Nerves of STEEL! (I have the whole thing on
video tape!). Keng wasn't prepared to perform any of that concert by
memory but he was so solid that he could probably have performed the
entire concert by memory if needed. (No wonder he went on and placed
in the Queen Elizabeth competition some years later).
I've
found times where the music in front of me served more as a
hinderance when I suddenly found myself lost on the page. Also, if
one uses the music then there are unhappy issues such as page turns,
endless photocopied-taped-on pages and music stand
extensions.
All that said, I think it is important to have
the entire program committed to memory but it is not absolutely
necessary to perform it that way. (I'm sure that is the case with
JAWS and his Schelomo)
Paul Tseng, Cello Chat Administrator
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