All this criticiem of Segovia continuing to perform into his "golden
years" reminds me of Wynton Marsalis' reply to criticisms of Louis
Armstrong for continuing to perform into his 70s even though his range
and technical abilities had diminished, "Nuance is the epitome of
technic."
Regarding bullying as a pedagogical tool: When I was 13 and had been
studying guitar from the Nick Manoloff books, I auditioned for my high
school "stage" band (that's what high school jazz ensembles were called
then). The instructor stopped me and announced in front of all
assembled, "You'll never be a guitarist." I left the room in despair and
quit playing for a couple of months. I then came to two realizations: 1.
I was studying guitar because I loved the instrument and its music. If
my playing was so horrible that no one would want to play with me, so be
it, but I was going to continue my studies. 2. The instructor was
teaching at an obscure high school in a small town in the midwest.
Obviously his own talents and judgements had not carried him very far.
Later, some of my own students had the misfortune to come under the
tutelage of a particularly acerbic instructor at a local College who
would stop a performance to single out a particular student and yell
out, "You suck!" My advice to my students was to reply, "Of course I
suck. That's why I'm studying with you. Teach me not to suck."
Gary
On 2013-12-16 10:41, Alain Veylit wrote:
Granted: Segovia was a grumpy old teacher who could no longer play
effectively in his 90's.
However, he did achieve a number of things that might deserve some
praise and even passing admiration:
--He not only contributed to the revival of the classical guitar, but
he evolved his own technique of playing and phrasing, and inspired
many contemporary composers to create a new repertoire for his
instrument: Castelnuevo-Tedesco, Manuel Ponce, Villa Lobos, etc. He
was a master at arranging music for his instrument: Bach, but also
S.L. Weiss and quite a few others as well. He also revived interest in
lute and baroque guitar music. He did not disdain the popular roots of
music for the guitar and helped insure some respectability for that
music and his instrument.
We are 2 or 3 generations removed from Segovia by now and can evaluate
his considerable contribution without feeling overly oppressed by his
personality quirks during his platinum years.
Also, remember, during the dark ages of the twentieth century, the
education system still involved a decent amount of whipping, caning,
slapping, spanking, hair pulling and kicking... The student at the
master class got away with a couple of stiff remarks but physically
whole. Not so negligible.
Other musicians have not always been so lucky -- See among other
instances: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdR6MN2jKYs
Alain
