Maybe this is why many players, myself included, reach new levels of
satisfaction, substance and beauty when they become church musicians. The
worship experience brings out a feeling of connection not only with God, but
also with the other musicians, the worship leaders, and the congregation. I
remember being greatly touched when a member of our faith community that I
did not know well at the time came up to me after services one day (when I
had NOT played horn in the service, incidentally) and said, "I heard a
Beethoven Symphony that I know pretty well on the radio the other day and
noticed the french horns in the work for the first time, and I thought of
you."
Mr. Rider and Professor Pizka, thanks for (again) giving me some food for
thought.
Jennie
Hans wrote:
>But today, we have started to pervert the horn to a just
>technical instrument without any specific character, when we
>just hunt for the faster, louder & higher, neglecting tone
>quality.
This is so true. As much as I have noted with pride that more and more
pieces are being written for the horn, most of them are eminently
forgettable and lack much emotional content. Its a sign of the times. Our
societies are the same way. No one wants to be so uncool as to make a
personal statement of emotion. At the Tuscaloosa workshop, the trend
continued with more new works, mostly mediocre at best, that were played
with great technical aplomb by the finest players of our time. Emotional
satisfaction level- 2 on a scale of ten.
Exceptions that I heard: Chris Watkins playing a piece for horn and organ
from the loft- fantastic personal statement. Frank Lloyd playing the
Britten Serenade- just plain beautiful. (I didn't hear all the concerts
because I was busy exhibiting during the daytime hours)
I mention emotional content because I really believe that that is what
music can bring into our lives better than just about anything. It is
unfortunate that since before the middle of the last century, that
classical music turned away from the "romantic ideal" and embraced the
intellectual/emotional emptiness of the times. Or if that is too strong a
statement then at least we at least have to wonder how many atonal or
minor keyed moments we can endure before we can hear something that
actually makes us happy or uplifts us in some way. The "too cool to be
happy" syndrome. The ancient Greeks had this all figured out a long time
ago.
Now we live in the age of "The Cult of the Bottom Line". Everything is
analyzed and projected, stripped of "subjective" content (except our TV
news stations) and put through the filters of political correctness. We
don't say someone has a less than enjoyable sound because that is "their"
sound. We marvel though at technical gymnastics and accuracy because that
is quantifiable. If something is quantifiable it is good because then you
can jump in with your judgments without fear of contradiction. This is
how conductors and managers operate.
I think my next book will be called "The Cult of the Bottom Line" because
that is what we have done to our culture. Whether its politics, sports,
sex, education, medicine, business (of course), or horn playing (any
instrument for that matter), its all about the bottom line. I'm glad I
got to play in more "romantic " times.
Cheers,
Wendell Rider
For info about my book, "Real World Horn Playing", and the summer
seminar, please visit my website at www.wendellworld.com
Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts
can be counted.
-Albert Einstein
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